Why my head looks like Challah

The last day,
        Recall a scene in HIMYM where Marshall asks Ted, “If you knew you would have one day left before you lost your leg, would you sit and more or run around, jump, dance?” Ted, inspirationally responds by saying that the scenario is ridiculous. If I were going to lose my leg tomorrow, how would I be able to do all that. AND, would I be getting a fake leg? See, his point was this, don’t be sappy, don’t be deep, just have fun. I think he was trying to tell Marshall that they should both get their hair braided. See the connection?
        Well, neither one got their hair braided, but I did. I look hotter than the Brazilian women I couldn’t stop checking out. Honestly, I didn’t do much else on this last day, walked around Salvador a bit, had lunch, walked some more and came back to the ship. It probably didn’t deserve a blog of it’s own. UNLESS I GOT MY HAIR DID.
I will have one recap blog coming soon.
Until then, peace out hombres/

If Jesus is playing Lebron I'm playing Dwayne Wade

Domo OBRIGATO Mr. Roboto’s,
           So on day number three we did a lot, a whole freakn, lot. Normally, it would consititute a 3-4 page blog. Today, however, finals are coming up and I am far to busy (Portugese for lazy) to write that much. Prepare for the quickest synopsis you have yet received. Don’t get too excited though, it’s not that short.
       8 am: I wake up, don’t brush my teeth because Tahlor and I both realize we forgot tooth paste, and I go down stairs for a really good complimentary breakfast. Meet up with the girls, Carly, Jill and Ivy, and by 8:30 load the bus for a day-tour of Rio de Janeiro.
        Real talk, it was awesome. There was an eclectic group on our trip with an older woman from London, his mother from Australia, a few from Argentina, and a tour guide who was extremely multilingual. We all joined together, and the day started with a trip to my boy JC.
        Christ the Redemer, as it is so called, is the second Jesus I have seen with a killer view. Problem is, this one was covered by scaffolding. Every few years it goes under routine repairs (hence the scaffolding—the cause was not that it was struck by lightning or that someone spray painted on it as SAS rumors would have you believe). The statue is on Corcovado (Camel—like Scottsdale) Mountain, and has a panoramic view of the entire city. It is much bigger than I had imagined, and was awesome. Whiel there, a man shooting some documentary asked me questions; one was if I was disappointed that Christ was covered. After ruling out the answer that Christ is always covered and it is our duty to uncover with through acts of worship and faith, I simply said, I was disappointed to learn that Jesus is not fully visible, but I pray for his quick return. Lechaim.
        From the statue of the original J-man we returned to Maracana stadium. It looked so much more massive in the day time. While we didn’t get a full tour one really interesting cultural tidbit is this: like we have the places, such as the NBA store in NYC, where you could compare your hand size to the likes of Shaq or MJ, here they have a place on the floor where you can compare your shoe size to that of Ronaldo or Kaka. It was really interesting to see.
        From the stadium we made two brief stops. The first was at the street where Carnaval takes place. Interestingly, it is such a significant cultural event that the bleachers for it are permanent. You can drive down the street thinking there will be some field or something around you, but realistically it is seating for Carnaval. The second was a church. I don’t know the name, and the reason is that when I asked our tour guide for al sit of what we saw, he gave me on in Portuguese. Quite helpful. It looked hideous from the outside, like a fake mountain made in the 1800s designed by an architect quickly losing his sense of vision. The inside, however, was huge. It fit 5,000 people, had gorgeous stained glass, and had really nice cross in the middle. They are starting to convert me. It was great.
        From the church we went to lunch at an all you can eat buffet where I had Sushi and some other goodies. Did you know (dun nun un dun nun un): Rio has the most Sushi restaurants per capita of any city in the world outside of Japan. At least that’s some SAS rumor, and though those tend to be drastically wrong, I’m going to believe this one. The tour concluded with a trip to the Sugar Loaf mountains. Another great view of the city, and a really tired Jordan.
We went back to the hotel, used internet for a little, napped for a little, used the sauna for a little, and went out to dinner. A great day, and another great day at the beach was going to follow.
        Well that day at the beach was stopped by friend rain. Jordan went to one of the world’s most famous beach towns, and never once stepped foot on a beach. Explainable? Easy. Day 1 we got in a late and had to scrounge around making plans, eating and going to a Soccer game. Day 2 we toured the city. Day 3, it rained yo. So, we went to the beach anyway, but before even stepping foot on the sand, we gave up and walked into a nearby hotel. Turns out we had some friends staying there, so we joined up with them, did some shopping (well, that involves buying stuff so I guess we did some looking), had lunch (I had the best fries ever) and had to go back to our hotel to check out.
        Flight home was fine, got back around 7, was safe, went out to some bar. They were having a country concert. In Portuguese. Talk about awesome. Stayed there for a while and went to bed. Tired, voiceless, and still very white I went to bed a very happy man. That tends to be a common theme when you’re on SAS. It also tends to be one when you have family and friends like I do (whoever doesn’t thank me for than closing, it means you don’t read this—this is your final test).

GOALLLL

Hi there, Face here,
I think I may have used that opening line once, but I liked it so I’ll use it again. Plus it will be a test to see if anyone actually reads this Pulitzer Prize winner. So day 2, off to Rio.
      Got up at 8:30, got some breakfast, and headed to the airport to catch a noon flight. Got a milkshake, learned to play Sudoku (and got pretty freaking good), and caught a cab to the hotel; besides that the day until 2:30 was pretty uneventful. From 2:30 to four we got situated, went to an ATM, and really didn’t do much. 4 o’clock the fun starts. We get tickets to that nights soccer game—tickets were expensive, but seeing Brazilian soccer in the world’s largest stadium is priceless. Or so we thought. As we strolled around we went into a tourist agency to inquire about a day tour for the next day; there prices seemed reasonable so we asked them about the soccer game and they told us they could give it to us for $40 dollars less. They told us that we could get our money back from the other place, we just had to threaten to call the cops. So, I strolled back to my hotel, demanded that they lower the price, and after a while, they agreed to drop the price by $30 and upgrade us to a better section. GOOOOOAL. We went to a beach front shack for a quick dinner, at 7 met up with our friends to go to the game.
          The game was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever been to. It was at Maracana Stadium. The stadium was, for a long time, the biggest in the world with a record crowd that eclipsed 200,000. Now, in an effort to make it look nicer and less like it was built in the 50’s (which it was) they are reducing capacity by half, and when construction is done it will hold just 80,000 (it’s going from two Big Houses to one Camp Randall—sounds like a pretty amazing trade off to me). There were about 15,000 at the game because it wasn’t of that much importance. If, however, you were to judge by how loud it was, you would probably assume there were 100,000 people squeezed into Camp Randall for a game against Michigan in which the winner goes to the Rose Bowl. AND Wisco won.
       The game began with us quietly sitting in our own section; it ended with me in the middle of the cheering section, think student section, shirt off leading cheers in a language I don’t know. I remained up top in the expensive seats (higher up=more expensive in Brazil because you avoid stampedes), but got really into it. Like, more into it than I get at Maccabiah. Only one of my friends joined me, the others were afraid a riot may break out, but none did and it was well worth it. I did not do much today, but what I did will probably go down as my greatest memory of SAS. Andalay!!

At Least the Rain Drops Weren't Gun Shots or Jail Locks, Oh What a Good World It Is

Greetings fellow earthlings,
    BRASIL! Brazil: One of the four growing tigers (China, India, and Russia). The world’s fifth most populous country. The world’s greatest soccer players and the most beautiful women. Home of Havaianas, Copacabana and Ronaldinyo. But, you can read all that in a book—what’s it really like? Is it dangerous like in the film City of God, or is it and up-and-coming country set to host the Olympics and the World Cup? This is the final rendition of Jordan Went to Sea Sea Sea, so, let’s find out.
   The day was Wednesday April 21st 2010. It was a sunny day in Salvador, Brazil. Well, that didn’t last very long but we’ll get there. Let’s start at the top. I was kind of nervous getting off the ship—I have been safe this whole trip; on the one hand law of averages says something is bound to happen, on the other so does the trend that all other laws are not enforced.  I strapped on my money belt, joined up with Tahlor, Pierce and Griffin and headed into town.
   Salvador is situated on a hill with the historic district, referred to as Cidade Alta, on top and the bay area, Cidade Baixa, down by the water. Our boat was in the lower area and to get up to the old city, a world heritage site, we had to find the elevator. No one told us that even in the day 2 blocks away from the elevator was a pretty unsafe area. So, we walked into this unsafe area, saw run down houses, scores of homeless people, and general disarray. Luckily, we got out unscathed, and eventually found the Lacerda Elevator. The elevator cost 15 cents, and with no bills lower than a 20 getting up proved to be more difficult than expected.
TO get smaller bills we walked over to the adjacent Mercado Modelo; a cute little market that had many crafts and souvenirs. Someone bought a little gismo or gadget as we all used the change to pay the fee and enter the elevator. After being elevated we took a left and walked into the heart of town. There are two large square connected by the Salvador Cathedral which are filled with street peddlers and vendors. We walked around a bit with our first stop being the San Francisco Church. A beautiful piece of baroque architecture, it started a trend of flat front buildings, where the exaggerated art and architecture was truly on the inside.
We continued down one of the streets, went into a craft shop or two, and noticed that it was about to rain. Hoping to make the best of our time we figured we’d eat while it rained and then continue on with our day. So we ate, and, lo and behold, it stopped raining. We continued walking but saw that it was about to rain again so we walked into a market and, lo and behold, after 15m inutes it stopped raining. So we continued on to the famous area of Salvador with all the colorful houses (ala Cape Town), and what we saw next changed my life. Well, I may be exaggerating but it was awesome.
     Remember the strange dude I told you about who sat next to us at the restaurant? You know, the one with the crazy braided Brazil hair, the flamboyant Brazil outfit, and the girl friend who was barely wearing any clothing? WHAT?! I forgot to tell you. O well, now there’s not much to tell I guess. So, turns out he’s not some crazy, but actually a famous Brazilian dancer. AND he is Salvador filming Brazil’s commercial for the world cup. As we arrived they started filming again (after their brief lunch break) and it was awesome. Hot Brazilian women dancers, men doing awesome stunts, really cool, can’t wait to see it on TV. But wait! There’s more! At one point they brought out all the flags of the teams who have made it to the world cup; seeing that we were there, they asked us to hold the flag, and a group of us got to dance with them while waving the American flag. Hopefully that part makes the commercial and I’ll be world famous. Catch me on the TV any given Sunday, win a Super Bowl and ride off in my Hyundai.
   With not much to see in the surprisingly small Upper part of town we headed to the elevator and were planning on taking a cab to the Bay Area. However, once we got out of the elevator it started pouring again. SO, this time not caring about our time, just not wanting to get wet, we chilled in a little ATM machine, 3 of us, and waited 15 minutes for the heavy rain to subside. Then, we took that cab.
Once we got to the new part of town we went into the lighthouse, walked around that museum for a bit and continued on to wander town. But then we saw it. Glimmering in the sun light that suddenly began to peak through those dreary clouds. SUBWAY. How could we not. I don’t want to remember how awful the Tuna was, so I will not mention that. Instead I will note that I had subway in Hawaii, China (3 or 4 times), India, and Brazil. China was the best one, but America still wins. So we ate quickly and continued our aimless walk.
   Unfortunately, two blocks in it started to pour again. At this point you may be wondering, did you guys contemplate buying a poncho, umbrella, or any form of protection? The answer is no. The reasoning is simple. Well, I assume it’s simple, but I have no clue what we were thinking so I couldn’t tell you. Anyways, after about 10 minutes we left our overhang and walked to a little statue of Jesus on a hill. I’m just saying, Jesus gets some awesome views in this country. I guess it’s not a rough life being 2 billion peoples Messiah.
   At this point we were gross, so we went back to the ship, showered, got dressed, and headed out to a steak dinner. Keeping kosher comes in handy when all your friends get a $140 bill. Score one for the good guys. Overall it was an amazing day, though Salvador was an unremarkable city. It felt dangerous (I heard at least 40 stories of people being robbed), dirty and not very large. But, we saw all the hot spots, got s’more gifts, ate Subway, and had a heck of a day. The last port was off to a great start. 

Complexity in simplicity

   Wednesday came way too soon and it was our final day in Ghana. I went to breakfast and at 8am took the shuttle into Accra. I took the same shuttle the day before but I had Andrew and Lizzy Finn (two lil staff kids) to entertain me—this time I was just exhausted. We got in by 9, walked around the Kofi Citizen Center (aka the purple hotel where the shuttle dropped us off) and finally met up the Dada and Isa around 10! Awesome. The day started with a trip back to the market—people needed stamps to send postcards home (don’t get excited, I’m not talking about myself, sorry).
    We walked around the market for a bit, and, much to our fight, Dada and Isa cameo ut with even more gifts for us. This time they just threw stuff in our bags. We fought but they claimed “the orders have come from the top.” I still don’t know what that means.  We walked around the market and then around Accra for a while. Some in our group waned CD’s so we stopped for that, others wanted to go to the beach but unfortunately we didn’t have time. I just wanted to chill with the guys because they are seriously amazing.
    We went to lunch by 12:30 but chilled for so long we didn’t leave until 2. We walked around for a bit more and then caught the shuttle back to Tema. Right before getting on the shuttle I saw a man selling a shirt I liked—I didn’t have any money left so I took the grateful red shirt off my back and made a trade—I think I can find a Wisconsin basketball shirt more easily than a Ghana one hahah. I thought about exaggerating this day, making it sound more exciting than my blog currently does, but, honestly, its simplicity is what made the day so special.
    These two guys just chilled with us and we became legitimate friends. We didn’t have a plan, we didn’t do much, but we hung out. We were the first Americans they had ever hung out with and they our first Ghanaians. Tom Friedman claims the world is flat, but I beg to differ. The world is very round and the only way to truly realize that is to open up both your arms and fully embrace it. Dada and Isa taught me that from the very first moment that we met.
Until next time, see ya!

Joba saves the day

   On day number 3 Isaac and I wanted to do Habitat for Humanity. Though SAS offered trips we wanted to try and do it on our own. Though my SAS trip the day before had been great, often SAS trips aren’t so wonderful so we did it indi. Well, kind of. First 4 other people came, though I didn’t know any of them before they were all great. Next, we ended up at the same sight as the SAS trip. I had emailed Habitat separately and organized it but apparently thy only have one sight in the area. Luckily, SAS got this one right and we worked hard and had a great day.
   We got there noon (Kibi was further away then we had anticipated) and immediately got to work. SAS had been there for a bit already and they were all already exhausted (Ghana is pretty close to the equator) so we were their Joba (if you couldn’t tell by my unyielding baseball references it kills me that I can’t watch Yankee games—starting Sunday these will switch to Suns references as I’ll miss the entire series vs. the Blazers).
   We worked for a bit and then had a nice rice lunch (as I did everyday) and were supposed to get back to work. I, however, had a revelation: I am much better at having fun than at doing manual labor. So, for a while, I just played ball with some of the local boys, taught them to throw a baseball and realized that my camera was gone. Wait, no, but seriously. I mean I found it 30 seconds later, one of the kids had taken it and ran off to take pictures, but I got a lil nervous na-mean?
   Raymond, the guy who helped organize the trip with me, helped me find the camera and along the way was telling me about their struggles. He said that honestly it is nice to have people building homes but their problems are much bigger than that. Gold has been discovered on a hill by where they live and miners have come in and destroyed their landscape. He took me and my friend Kareem, through bushes and over streams, to the lake that he said was at the heart of their village. It was dirt brown—hands down the grossest thing I have ever seen. He said in the past that had been their drinking water, it had been the water they used to bathe, and now? Nothing. They couldn’t use any of it. The miners come in, destroy the land, get their gold and leave the place a mess. And, when he tried to complain to authorities, they threatened his life and forced him to move. The affects of pollution are not necessarily as prevalent throughout the developed, affluent world, but small changes can destroy communities in the developing world. Unless we start to actually play close attention and stop climate change and pollution the affects could be awful.
   Well, on that happy note, I continued building for a bit. I shoveled dirt and wheel barreled it over to what was going to be the foundation of the house. Once I got tired I returned to my new friends and played somemore. Then it came time to leave they asked for gifts, but unfortunately I didn’t have anything with me. So, I gave them my sun glasses, sun screen, and hand sanitizer. They didn’;t know what the later two were, but they were still thrilled. They kept shouting “cold on my skin” and smiling. Hey, whatever floats their boat.
A few minutes later we got back in our cab and headed back to the ship. Once we got back to Tema and after a brief dispute over the price (we had agreed to pay for gas, but they wanted us to throw in an extra 40 for the cost it would take them to drive home, that wasn’t part of our deal) we got dinner on the ship and called it a night. A tiring, emotional, draining, awesome day. Good job Joba.

The Ghanain Migrash

    Once I decided not to go with Tahlor and Pierce the first day I kind of lost all plans for the second day as well so on Sunday morning I saw Isaac and we agreed we’d do whatever together. Whatever turned into an SAS trip to a traditional drumming circle. I got a ticket from my friend Chris (he decided not to go) while Isaac and Zach (who also came with us) got the benefit of extra spots opening up. While I was originally disappointed that I couldn’t go out with Dada and Isa, it turned into a great day.
    We sat down, got a brief tour, and saw outside some women making cloth. It was actually awesome. They had a plain white sheet, had stencil like devices that they would stick in wax and then place on the sheet and then, once the wax hardened, they would die the sheet and, upon peeling off the wax, have an awesome design. We watched the women doing this for a little bit and then our drum circle began.
Well, kind off. In the beginning it was actually learning a dance. I think that they expected this to be a quick intro but, due to lack of skill on our part, it ended up taking a while. A long while. It reminded me of my first day at Nyack CIT summer trying to learn all those dances. The steps seemed so simple, but put them together and, man, it was tough.
    After practicing for about an hour and a half, and dripping through a shirt and a half, they gave us a “5 minute water break.” However, once they saw that none of us could move the program shifted slightly and they brought us fruit (little bananas, coconuts and mango (I don’t think I’ve ever had one before)). After the fruit, still physically unable to move our legs, they brought out the drums and taught us how to play. Interestingly they actually use drum sticks on bongos and it makes a cool sound. Some people chimed in with cow bell, and I added my part by shaking some morocco like instrument.
    The music went on for a while and once it was done we had lunch and preformed our dance. We had split into 2 groups and unfortunately for me, the other group was awesome. Ours, well, it wasn’t. They had to stop us midway. It was still fun. As was the final dance they taught us before giving us a performance of their own.
    The trip ended later than expected but it was more than ok because we were having a blast. On the way back we were making good time, until our bus backed into a truck while maneuvering its way through the industrial port. From there, were we could see the ship, it took an extra 30 minutes. Whatever it was kind of funny and no one was hurt. On the ship we showered, had dinner, and took the 8pm shuttle to Accra. We went to some outdoor bar, got interviewed by a Nigerian news station—no, I am not kidding and yes, I did claim I was from South Africa visiting Ghana for a dance recital, and took the 11pm shuttle home. Well, just like South Africa Ghana was pitching a perfect game through 2, but unlike CC and SA Ghana didn’t give it up. Keep reading to learn more about how Ghana is like David Wells.

Dada and Isa

Asalam alekem:
    I remember a conversation before I left Semester at Sea in which I told somebody that the country I was most excited to experience was Ghana. I expected that everywhere else I would see would be relatively unoriginal and Ghana would be unlike anything I had ever seen. Well I was wrong, dreadfully in wrong, in assuming that the other countries would be banal, but I was right in predicting Ghana to be the most unique.
    Before arriving in Ghana there had been 2 real moments that I could point two as truly transformative. The first was my last day in Japan. I learned the beauty of walking aimlessly through a foreign town; devoting a day to stop and use all of my senses, to explore the unexplored, and to exit the touristy bubble. The second was my last day in Mauritius. Though I had interacted with people before it was at that SOS village that I realized how moving their stories can be and how much more special it is seeing the country through their eyes.
As I write this, just a day after I left, I’m not sure if I will look back at Ghana, in its entirety, as the third big moment on my trip, but I do know that I will never forget the people that I have met and the kindness I have experienced.
   Accra is a city of 2 million people, but one would only know that from reading a book. The tallest building could not have been more than 2 or 3 stories, the big stadium, though it had a fairly large capacity, looked like one built for a Texas high school, and the entire city seemed like a oversized, congested village. Women were carrying heavy object on their heads, men were in better shape than anyplace I had ever been (presumably because of the extensive manual labor), and, on a very shallow level, it was the same as the Africa you read in the books. Well, rather than staying in the shallow end, why don’t we dive in deeper.
   On the first day, Sunday, we arrived around 9am. Upon disembarking from the ship it was evident we were in a industrial port not designed for passenger ships. SAS provided (thanks to a $10 fee they charged everyone) a 5 minute shuttle through the industrial port to a nearby gas station in the city of Tema, or an hour long shuttle to the heart of Accra. Unfortunately, the shuttle to Tema was a small van and constantly filled up quickly, making it difficult to meet the people who were going to take us around. Luckily, someone in our group happened to make conversation with a cop who took us so that we didn’t have to wait for the shuttle.
   Wait, what’s that? Who were we supposed to meet? Great question! My friend Jill’s father works with a man named Solomon who is originally from Ghana. Solomon called up his cousin, Ishmael (who goes by his nickname, Isa), who offered to take us around. So, I joined a group of Jill, my friend Chloe, Sarah and Tolin and we, excitedly but frankly nervously as well, met up with Isa. As we got out of the car Isa was with his other cousin, Dada (Dada means father and is the name children often go by when they are a Jr./ share the same name as their father). We hoped into a shared cab an went into Accra.
   The ride was hot, sweaty and crowded and I began regretting my decision not to just go to the beach with some friends. Finally, when we got to the Accra mall I was able to stretch my limbs. We stopped by the local supermarket, got some water, chocolate, and juice and headed into town.
   Our first stop was the Osu Children’s village. Unfortunately when we got there most the children were still in church and unable to come hang out. We stayed there only for a brief period and then headed to lunch.
   For lunch we went to a little restaurant near Isa’s house. For rice, fries, and salad it cost 1 Cedi (75 cents). Not the greatest food I have ever eaten, at all, but it does help to show how it is even possible for 48% of the world to live on less than $2 a day (I am, by no means, saying this makes it easy or desirable, merely more comprehendible). From lunch Isa took us to his house to introduce us to his family.
   Isa lived in an area called Nima. His house consisted of 4 metal walls and a roof. Inside there was a mattress on the floor, a 2 person couch, a television, laptop, mini fridge and DVD player. He had his limited clothing hang above his mattress. The community shared a few communal toilets and showering consisted of filling up a bucket by the well and dumping it on yourself. Even so, he quickly invited all of us to sleep over, shower and completely make ourselves feel at home. While I didn’t take him up on his first two offers (for a variety of reasons), he made it impossible not to feel at home. How amazing of a person he and Dada were was becoming readily apparent.
  From his home we did a quick walking tour. We saw his village, saw parliament, the Supreme Court, the monument to the first president Kwame Nkruma and a variety of other attractions. The tour concluded at Jamestown. I had read about Jamestown and was excited to see it. The books said it was an attraction not frequented by tourists but those who go often claim it to be their most memorable experience in Ghana. Sounds about right. Jamestown is an old fishing village. The beaches are lined with shacks and the level of poverty is certainly high. Yet, as the kids frolic through the sand or jump into the water the level of happiness seems to be as high as possible. A local resident, who claimed to be friends with Dada, though Dada swears he had never met him before, showed us around. It truly was the place where the serenity of the ocean felt the hard reality of poverty. The two seemed to learn from each other. The impoverished people were given hope by the water, but the polluted water was jaded by a struggling people. Memorable seems to be the only fitting adjective.
  From Jamestown we went to the Kaneshie Market. This market is the second biggest (to Makola) in Accra. Isa’s family owns a shop there so we were all excited to purchase goods from him and try and pay him back for showing us around all day. He had taken the day off, refused to allow us to pay, and truly welcomed us into his home. Once we got to his shop he told us to put our bags down and said we’d come back to his shop later but that we should walk around the rest of the market first.
   After spending a couple of hours bargaining we saw the end of the market: the Drums. There, we played drums with some of the locals, danced, and sang. We met men like Baby Rasta and Ishmael who were so happy to just meet Americans. It was starting to get dark, so we continued back to their shop hoping to spend a few more Cedis and support Dada and Isa. Well, we never got the chance because they refused to let us pay. They gave us each a gift and said they just wanted us to remember them. Their kindness was unbelievable.
   It was already 7 and we wanted to catch the last shuttle at 11pm back to Tema so we went back to their place, some people showered, and headed to dinner. For dinner we had heard of a place called Frankie’s so we took them there. It was American and great and a nice break from being cultured—my pallet got to enjoy immaturity as I delved into a cheese pizza. The night ended with some ice cream at Frankie’s outside parlor downstairs and a walk to the shuttle. The day was so incredibly amazing (plus more awesome adjectives) that I kind of wished I was hanging out with them some more.

Stay tuned folks!

Table Topping is Dangerous...

       Gee Wiz! By Golly, I forgot my synopsis of South Africa. Well, heres it is yall. South Africa is a rose garden enclosed by barbed wire. The beauty is apparent and the awesomeness is evident but there is a leap that must be made for its true splendor to be unveiled. Racism has penetrated the essence of the society and racial lines still divide society. Crime is everywhere, making even the greatest of times dampened by fear. Though South Africa was my favorite country thus far, its draw backs are undeniable. I saw more civilians carrying guns in my few days here than I had previously seen in my entire life. Townships (which will be explained later) reinforce several of these notions, and an internal Us-Them mentality mars the society. The landscape is beautiful, the culture is so rich, the down town is awesome and the general life is wonderful, but the drawbacks put an asterisk on even the greatest of times.
      So, back to the happy stuff. Where was I? Ah, yes, Thursday morning. 7 am, I wake up, got to breakfast and meet Chloe (one of my closest friends) to spend the day with her and the people she was traveling with. Over breakfast we decide we will climb Table Mountain and decide from there. So off we go to Table Mountain. TM is a staple of Cape Town. The city lies in front of the massive, flat mountain that offers gorgeous views of the city and surrounding miles. As we began to climb some of the group struggled, as it is a challenging hike, while others wanted to move more quickly. So Chris, Kristen, Olivia, and Katie stayed back as Ethan Rob and I climbed more rapidly. Man this hike was tough. About half way Rob fell back and joined up with the other group. Ethan and I made it up in just over an hour (1 11 to be exact) while the other group took just under 2.5 hours. By the time they got up we had already eaten and were about to go down, but we waited with them and had some time to soak up the sun. Words cannot describe how amazing this hike was. Think Massada but with a better view; though the top had little history, the nature and landscape that surround it is truly second to none.
      We loved it so much that Ethan and I refused to join the other group on the cable car down and instead hiked it ourselves. It took a while and really hurt our knees, but it was well worth it. When we reached the bottom we got in a cab and went to the District 6 museum. We got there just before close, but had enough time to see most of it. District 6 was the last area to be cleansed by the apartheid government. People had been living there for generations and were kicked out simply because they were black. Seeing their faces and hearing their anecdotes made the experience pretty chilling.
      When we got kicked out of the museum we headed to the Castle of Good Hope (oldest building in Cape Town) but we just missed it’s closing time. Still the outside was pretty remarkable architecture. Rather than waiting for a real cab, we hoped in a share cab and, a half hour later, ended up nowhere near our ship. We laughed it off, found the soccer stadium that was built for the world cup, and toured a bit. We then went to Toys-r-us before getting a real ride back to the glorious MV Explorer.
     I got back around 6 and that is when the real fun began. I went with a couple of friends (3 of whom attend the elite University of Wisconsin) to a Rugby match. Though no big 14 games were being played (e.g. no MLB games) we went to the local club (e.g. AA baseball) and watched there. There were no seating areas so we stood right on top of the field. There were about 2,000 people surrounding the field and it was pretty intense. They seriously kill each other. Way too tough for my fragile body, but seriously an awesome sport. Chalk it up boys, two days, two amazing experiences!

Slaves and such

        Move over Vietnam, South Africa stands alone as Jordan’s favorite country. I was going to start by giving you a brief synopsis of my deep, inspirational, and highly insightful comments about Cape Town, but I have decided instead to preempt such jargon with a brief recap of life on the ship from Mauritius to Cape Town.
        Having been in Mauritius for only one night it felt as though we were on the ship for two weeks (good preparation for the trek home from Brazil). After Mauritius I didn’t have too much work so I finished season 4 of How I Met Your Mother. BSE—Best Show Ever. On Sunday was Africa day, so we did not have class and had a number of optional lectures and workshops that we could attend. I went to a few. First I went to The Politics of Invictus where we discussed the true story behind the film and its ramifications. Next I went to an Aid Quilt workshop where we each were given a story and had to make a picture/ painting/ collage of our feelings. A picture of mine is already on facebook if you would like to see. After lunch I went to one about the South African economy and the World Cup. They were all good, but the best lecture had come the night before when the interport lecturer taught us the rules of Rugby and Cricket; I’m an expert now.
On Monday night was the first Seder. Rob, one of the LLC’s, led it. It was quite interesting—very reformed but I think most people enjoyed it which is great. For the second seder a group of 15 of us led it together. We sung all the songs, did most the readings, and had a much more traditional seder. It was great but I certainly missed home (a lot).
The next morning we arrived in Cape Town early and were briefed by Linda Biel. Linda’s daughter, Amy, had been a volunteer who was killed in South Africa during the weaning years of apartheid. Though she had arrived in South Africa to fight for the black cause, her murderers assumed all white people to be the enemy. Now her murderers help run the Amy Biel foundation; an organization that fosters open dialogue and coexistence. An assume story.
       Upon debarking from the ship (it was really quick immigration, no face to face or anything) I headed off on my FDP. The port we were at was gorgeous, by far the nicest we’ve been at, but more about that later. I was with my Professor, Crissman, for a walking tour of some of the religious sites of Cape Town.  The first stop was in Bo-Kaap. Bo-Kaap is the Muslim area of Cape Town known for its very colorful houses (they are so happy =-)). We went to a mosque known as the Auwal Masjid (the first mosque). The Muslims in Cape Town are pretty liberal and thus women were allowed in fully with men for a nice debriefing about the buildings history. One of the most interesting parts was when the man teaching us said “You cannot have interfaith dialogue when you simply drink tea together. You need to discuss the hard issues.” He said he has told multiple rabbis that he thinks Israel is an apartheid state and they have told him they think Palestinians are terrorists and they discuss it—such discussions are rare and, according to him, this is why progress towards peace is slow.
      From the mosque we continued to the synagogues of Cape Town but made two stops along the way. First we saw the building where they heard cases over a persons race. They have left two benches outside, a whites only and a non-whites bench, to show what it was like. Sometimes, when they were unsure of a person’s race, they would put a pencil atop the persons head and see how long it would take to fall (looks like Imus has some company in the morning). Next we saw a statue honoring Cecil John Rhodes (the guy who made the Rhodes Scholar program, North Rhodesia, and even South Rhodesia) in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. To some Rhodes was a hero (e.g. to people who don’t know how racist he was), to some he was the devil (e.g. to the people he made live like pigs). I did, however, learn of his interesting dream for peace. His goal was for America and Britain to take over the world (literally colonize the whole thing) and then make peace. Though that idea went terribly wrong and England took countries over for the absolute wrong reason, it seems that many still have a similar goal (though they are hesitant to say it).
     Then we arrived at the synagogue. Though it was closed because it was Chag the outside was gorgeous. Actually, there were 2 synagogues: to the left a very traditional looking one, to the right a gorgeous colonial building that resembles a public library more than a place of prayer. South Africa has many Jews (our guide said it has dropped from 120,000 at its peak to about 80,000 nowadays. Either way they have always had an enormous influence.
      From there we were going to continue to the Slave Lodge but, silly Semester at Sea, never planned a time for lunch on this day tour. So, they sent us to Long St., a main st. in Cape Town to fend food for ourselves—I got water and waited until later to eat. After this brief interruption we continued on towards the Slave Lodge. What a museum. This museum detailed the slave trade in South Africa and really the whole movement throughout Africa. It got me thinking; how awful is it that we even have the word slave in our vocabulary. Someone, at one point, had the evil thought to create a word for a man who is forced into labor without any reciprocity. Why must such a word, such a diseased concept, even exist? Fittingly, the museum ends by leading the visitor into a gallery honoring Madiba (Nelson Mandella). The way man is freed from such tyranny is by the leadership and devotion of such wise men. The awesome exhibit ended with a picture of him and Francois shaking hands; the real invictus.
     Our tour ended at St. George’s Cathedral. Though erected in the early 1900’s this cathedral has the feel of typical Renascence architecture.  We got to walk all around the Cathderal, through the side aisles and basilica, up to the aps. It really was a beautiful church and it was cool to stand where Desmond Tutu stood demanding an end to apartheid. Luckily most of his controversial/ anti-Semitic comments were stated elsewhere.
     The tour was complete so we hailed a cab and headed across Cape Town to Sea Point (one of the more expensive areas). I had been told by one of the Chabad Rabbi’s (actually Rebbi Deren’s nephew, named Rabbi Deren) that Checker’s had a good Passover section. Talk about the grossest understatement of my life. It put Wesley Kosher to shame. I ended up spending a lot; I bought 3 boxes of Matzo (all are gone and I still have a day left), Cream Cheese (finished), Salami (finished), Matza Farfel (plenty left), some snacks (obviously finished) and some soup and potatoes mix that I’ll eat tonight. It was a very successful journey. I got back to the ship, showered and got dressed and headed out with Tahlor to dinner. Isaac, Zach (the other Kosher guy on the ship) and some girls joined us for this wonderful evening. 
We went to Avaron’s; Cape Town’s only kosher for pesach restaurant. I got a steak and fires and it was incredible.  Think 2nd Avenue Deli on steroids. We then went back to Long St. for the night and it was an awesome town. People were out in the street, there was loud music blasting everywhere, and day one of South Africa was an absolute success.