Suzanne's visit to Chennai, India

Oct 25, 2010

I’m writing at this late hour, 11:30 pm, because of what I saw this evening. I was on a yoga retreat for the past three days where I was well fed with South Indian food. When we returned to Chennia this afternoon,  Louisa and Gail, my good friends, and I decided to go out for another South Indian meal. Paul preferred to eat on the air-conditioned ship but said we would eat out tomorrow evening.

We left the safety of the ship to wage war with the auto-rickshaw drivers who stand around like vultures waiting for customers. After negotiating a fee for a ride to the restaurant, we got into the rickshaw and headed out. We ate at a vegetarian place where no one spoke English. In fact, we were the only non-Indians in there. After a while, a young Indian student from our ship and his girlfriend came in, thank goodness! They helped us communicate with the waiter and get some pretty darn good food for very little money. We all decided to walk around the street together after dinner and then head back to the ship. It was 9:30 pm.

I wish you could see the streets and the people. Try to picture this. The streets are chaotic - packed with cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and people. The sidewalks are almost completely covered with wooden palettes of various fruits and vegetables. Palette after palette. Block after block.



A rather poor photo of the streets



Woman at her flower stand



On many corners an enterprising woman sits on stool stringing and selling jasmine flowers which are used as hair decorations or as offering at the temples and altars.

Food vendors on portable wagons sell all sorts of delicious looking items like samosas, naan and many other Indian fast foods. These vendors pay no taxes and no license is required to set up a stand. No McDonald’s or Burgher King here! Litter is piled in corners and along the sides of streets. Sometimes cows and ravens pick at the litter. The streets are dirty, but “untouchable” women lean over with short brooms of thin sticks sweeping the streets in their not so pretty saris.



Our party with the girls on the street in Chennai



One barefoot girl about 12 came up to us with her brother and just wanted to shake our hands. She smiled and was happy to just shake our hands. Her little brother, however, held back. We walked on and pretty soon she showed up with another girl. Before we knew it there were four girls and a bunch of boys surrounding us. They wanted us to take pictures of them with us. We did. They laughed. They spoke no English. They did not beg but asked for a kiss. They were very pretty, but somewhat dirty. They also, most likely, lived on the street. That is the hard truth. Untouchables for life!




As we walked home, we came across entire families with their mats laid out, the children all in a row, some with light covers. One woman was asleep on a mat on the concrete sidewalk on a busy corner at the bus station. She held two tiny naked babies close to her. People were all around them, but they slept. We walked on and came across more families bedded down for the night on the sidewalks. Those who were still awake said hello to us. In fact, all the people everywhere have been so warm and friendly. They smile. They seem genuinely happy to see us! They have soooo little. No place to keep their things except on them. No closet or chest of drawers or bed or roof over their heads. Over 70% of the population live in poverty. And the population of India is going to double by the year 2025!!!

When I awoke in the morning, the streets were all wet. It had rained during the night. What do you suppose all those sleeping people and children did?

Chaos on the streets! Buses, cars, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles with families and women in saris, bicycles! Oh, my gosh!! We road through the streets with a fun driver who headed straight for the black cow in the busy road main road but swerved deftly around it while we screamed with glee and he yelled, “He Haw!” The next day I shook hands with a student in another rickshaw. We were that close! All the vehicles are so close! Honking is constant! It means, “I’m coming!” But surprisingly, it was all very civil. The drivers, polite. No anger here! It was just like dodge’m cars only one tries not to hit the next car.

On the other side of life, gold jewelry is very important – it is the woman’s security. The government offers micro-loans to set up a business especially to women. The churches and temples offer free meals on certain days. The government helps. The attitude exists that people can work if they want to. They are just lazy and can exist on just $9 a day in India. But I hate to think of the future of the street dwellers’ children, especially, the girls.

I visited a 14th century temple in Chennai twice, once on a tour with Paul and another after we learned there were weddings going on there and we were next door in a silk shop. We dashed over, removed our shoes, and went in. What a splash of color!! A feast for the eyes. The temples are not just places of worship, but community gathering places. They also have a stall for donated cows and a rooster or two.  On this day, eleven weddings would take place. We got to see three of the brides and their guests. Some of our students who had also happened upon the scene were actually invited to one of the receptions after they helped the bride change into her next outfit!



They requested our presence in the photo

 

Guest family








Note the .stunning saris on the wedding guests


Over and over, the Semester at Sea voyagers were invited into the homes of those they met. In India, Atithi Devo Bhavah or The Guest is a god, is practiced and many experienced this warm hospitality.




Muriel’s Story


One of the SAS student’s, Muriel, decided to visit the heart of India, Vernasi, the City of Light. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. People have been there since 2000 BC. It is a most important pilgrimage for Hindus. Here the Ganges River flows on its way from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, 3000 kilometers. Here, the Hindus come to bath, live, die, be cremated, and have their ashes put in the river. They believe if you have your ashes distributed in the river, you will not return for another life. Your life cycle will be complete.


Muriel’s twin brother had been there last year while on an SAS voyage. While standing at the edge of the Ganges, a young 12 year old girl engaged him in conversation. They spoke in Spanish. When he arrived at the river at 5:00 am the next morning, she was there. She stayed with him again. He asked her what she wanted. She wanted to be his friend, she said. She gave him her photo when he left Vernasi which he brought home and shared the story of the unusual girl with his twin sister.


Muriel walked to the river after arriving in Vernasi and stood there entranced by the sight. You would either have to be there or have seen a movie of the ceremony and activity to picture what she might have been seeing. Crowds of people are always present at the river side washing clothes, themselves, standing in the water, drinking it. Hindus who are able, go there to die, be cremated and have their ashes spread in the River. Muriel turned around and recognized that same young girl from the photo! Excited, she spoke with the child asking her questions that she would be able to answer if she was indeed, ‘the girl.’ The girl did not believe that Muriel was the twin of her friend – they are not identical twins and Muriel was not Spanish. But when Muriel began speaking to her in Spanish, they both began crying. Who would have believed that Muriel would meet this same child who had befriended her brother among the thousands of people at the river a year later!! When she left to return to the ship, the girl gave Muriel her ring which now Muriel proudly wears. The human connection had been made again!


Thai-Len’s story


Thai-Len left Viet Nam 14 years ago. She will complete her last semester at SAS and will graduate from UC Berkeley.  She joined the SAS trip this fall anxious about returning to her homeland when we dock in Vietnam. She and her mother are devout Buddhists. When Thai-Len learned that the Bodhi tree that Buddha preached under was far in the north of India near the Himalayas, she made plans to travel there with her friend. The two of them had a somewhat harrowing trip up north far from the ship and safety, but she did not explain that comment during her story. They finally arrived at their destination, hungry and tired but happy to have reached their destination. One of the first photos she took was of a monk sitting peacefully in prayer. They prayed together. They walked around the grounds of the holy site entranced.


After a couple of hours, a Vietnamese woman approached them. After discussing their backgrounds, she invited them to her home for lunch and they accepted. They shared their harrowing adventure to get there with her. She asked if they had a place to stay. No, they had not yet been to a hotel. She invited them to stay there and sleep on the patio with the rest of them at no cost if they would like to. She invited them to stay with her. She told them that she usually does not speak to strangers, but ‘gravity’ had pulled her to Thai-Len. Gravity holds us to the earth and attracts certain people to each other. That "Gravity" would protect them because they were good people. Nothing bad would happen to them.


At 4:00 am, they all arose and went to the temple to perform the morning rituals. After breakfast, they returned to the site, performed more rituals and went to sit by the famous Bodhi tree. Thai-Len had hoped for a leaf from the tree to take to her mother, but none were on the ground. The leaves are precious to the monks and gathered the minute they fall. Thai-Len’s companion noted a squirrel and stated he was getting her a leaf. About 10 seconds later, the leaf fell and a thrilled Thai-Len retrieved it for her Mother.


When Thai-Len returned to the ship and downloaded her photos of their pilgrimage, she realized that the monk in the photo she had taken upon arriving at the temple was actually the Vietnamese woman who "Gravity" had pulled her to!

India is truly a fascinating country. There is so much to see a absorb. The Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians live peacefully together, somewhat like the people of Mauritius. Religion and philosophy are a large part of everyday life and the signs of that are everywhere. Delhi reportedly looks lilke Washington D.C. Accra is more like Chennai. There are tea and rubber plantations, rice fields and lots of fruit and vegetable farms. Some construction methods are way out of date, but we saw a group of houses that looked like those in San Diego not far from the Art of Living area. I saw six men pulling a concrete railroad tie into place with a thick bamboo pole and ropes at the port where we docked. Scaffolding in Chennai was wooden poles tied together with rope.



Indian scaffolding



See me hold this up!



My three days of breathing, meditation and yoga were wonderful and so relaxing. I slept like a log for two nights after that. The shopping with my three friends, delightful. The prices of things in India are about one-third of what you could expect in the US. I did go to Mamallapuram too and enjoyed seeing the centuries old temples that were carved out of huge boulders the size of those at Elephant Rock State Park in Missouri. The temples were never completed.  The carving tookover a century and were never totally finished, so they are considered monuments, not temples.



Frank on far right with SAS students Catherine and Drew



Relaxing


I’m ready to come back to India and see more including, by many experts, the most beautiful building ever built, the Taj Mahal! Anyone want to go with me?

On to Singapore in two days!!






Betty, Suzanne, Gail and Louisa - happy shoppers!

 



Mammalapuran carving



Paul in Chennai

Arrival Chennai, India: Friday October 22, 2010.

Suzanne and I went on the 5 hour City Orientation Tour the first day and experienced the overview of the City of Chennai – the fourth largest city in India, five million people.




Typical Street scene in Chenai

 The next day Suzanne went on a 3 day overnight Art of Living trip where she learned and practiced Indian Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises. She was in hog heaven as everyone knows how much she loves Yoga. She will explain in full when she returns since now she is out on the town with some of her girlfriends likely talking and visiting every vender in the entire city. Ha

While she was on this 3 day mind and body experience, I went on a few tours myself. The first was an all day tour to Kanchipuram and Mamallapuram (K and M for short). The city of K is known as the Golden City – one of seven places of pilgrimages for Hindus and Temples. We spent all morning in the hot and humid weather visiting several Hindus Temples. I had to go barefoot or wear my socks in some of them which don’t allow shoes out of respect etc. My forehead was painted with white, yellow and red dots all meaning love and peace. I looked like a true Indian. Ha



After 4 hours of these tours, I was Hindued and Templed out. Lunch, which everyone was ready for, was not until 2:00PM . We went to this very nice, large Indian Restaurant and had a private room set up for us. The AC felt really good and we ordered a local beer which was 16or 20 oz and very good. The placemat was a large green banana tree leaf folded up in half. It was unfolded when we were ready to eat. The waiter first put what looked like a pancake on my leaf – then he scooped a yellow, green and purplish pile of something on it. I asked him what this was and he related “ Vucuwapis” or something like that. He continued to attempt to explain each item in Indian which was Greek to me. The blobs looked oily. Finally he put some white rice on my leaf and I was excited to know at least that. Suzanne wasn’t there to explain this meal which made it funnier to the rest of us. There was no silverware on the table and we were told to eat with our right-hand fingers only since the left hand is tarnished for wiping ourselves. This became very comical as I am trying to keep my left hand out of the way. I took a glob of rice and mixed it in the yellow blob and tried to get it to my mouth – only to miss some of it as it hit my upper lip, lower lip, side lips and likely some in my nostrils. Everyone at my table was of course laughing at my comical eating habits.

Yummy and pretty

There were very few napkins available and after we finished – the waiter asked if I wanted more. I folded my hands in a prayerful manner and said “Oh no, sir, it was very good”. Now I have all this oily food on my hands and face when we left the room. There was a small water sink in the hallway to wash your hands which I did but could not get my face under the sink to wash it. Again everyone was laughing as I refused to wipe my left hand on the wet and used towel as I knew other people used their dirty left hand on it. Ha. Now I am starting to worry about having another canopy experience with all the spicy and oily Indian food. So I went over to the male restroom to check it out in case I had to make an emergency run to it in the near future. I got to the restroom and opened the john door and starting laughing out loud and said someone stole the toilet. The only thing I saw was a hole in the ground, a pail of water and no toilet paper. I started saying “Lordy Lordy what am I doing here”. Ha. My forehead was sweating beebes and my left hand started to have muscle spasms and tremors. It was trying to tell me that it didn’t want anything to do with cleaning me without toilet paper. I suddenly had another MAJOR FLASHBACK – here I am over half the way around the world and no one warned me to eat food I cannot pronounce only with my right hand and someone stealing the toilet out of the male restroom and leaving a hole in the ground, a pale of water and no toilet paper. Ha Ha. Anyway, the Lord was with me and I got back to the ship without any crisis. YEA!!!!!!! Thought you all would enjoy another laugh at my expense. Ha .

The next day I went on an all day tour entitled “Rural India and Dakshinachitra Heritage Village”. It took 2 hours by AC bus to get to this small Indian village named Thirupour. Each home was very small and poverty stricken. However, the entire village came out of their homes excited to see and meet us. The President of the Village was there and he was responsible for getting electricity and water system for the entire village. He obviously was well respected by all and very friendly to us. They showed us how they planted rice patties on their farm – had the students help do it at their request – and I saw this large King Cobra coming close to them and I got a hold of its neck and had to kill it. Hope you all believe this. You know I wouldn’t BS you. They were so happy that I saved their lives. They looked upon me as the Crocodile Hunter.

They showed us how the rice was dried – aired and processed by man- made wooden machine which eventually emptied the rice into large 75.lbs. gunny sack to be sold to outlying villages for profit and sustainability for the entire village. They also grew fruits, vegetables and coconuts. They climbed the coconut trees for us which was extremely difficult to say the least. They showed the students how to do it. Afterword, they cut open several coconuts for us to drink and to eat the inside. I personally didn’t want to drink it without Malibu Rum. We then rode on 2 large bullock carts around the village to greet the villagers. The kids in the village were all excited about seeing us – wanting us to take their pictures and show the photos to them – talking and playing with them – and yes I lost control and had to do silly dances and makes funny faces at them. They truly loved all the attention and it was difficult to leave them after a short stay. The afternoon was spent at the Dakshinachitra Heritage Village which I found out later was where Suzanne was doing her Yoga, but I never saw her. They took us on a long tour where they make pottery, weave saris and various craftsman skills and we had another lunch on banana leaves. Suzanne will share more about this interesting place.

Nine days to make a sari on this loom

The last day that Suzanne was away, I went on a tour to the Missionaries of Charitable Orphanages that were developed by Mother Teresa. There were approximately 29 students and 2 Life Long Learners including me. As many of you know, Mother Teresa became a nun at age 18 and served as a teacher in a school in Calcutta. At age 36, she received a calling from God to serve the poorest and disabled children in Calcutta. Her Missionaries of Charity have grown to include 2000 sisters in its order, 100 slums schools serving 14,000 children, 200 relief centers where 45,000 are fed each day, 200 sewing and typing classes serving 8,000 girls, 750 mobile clinics and 103 homes for abandoned children. We visited one of these homes with several severely disabled children who were mentally retarded. They were so happy to see us – our students were truly outstanding in their love, attentiveness, caring to these kids. We brought coloring books, balls, and painting supplies. What they enjoyed the most was blowing bubbles and taking pictures of them where they can see themselves in the cameras. Their head directress (Nun) was very moved by our love and financial donation of $4500.00. It was very difficult to leave them as we hugged and kissed them good-by.

Please help me!

Ellie Nolan

Ellie after her hair cut

Ellie Nolan is a delightful, vivacious young woman with large, lovely blue eyes. She had brown hair to her waist when we first met, but on Neptune Day (see the We Are Shellbackers blog,) She was one of 22 students who bravely cut off and donated their locks to Locks of Love. When we pulled into South Africa and the immigration officers came aboard, they were concerned about all the shaved heads and wondered if there were lice on board!





The path to the filter hut

Ellie teaches Zumba every day to shipmates. She works two hours every day as a work-study student. And she takes three classes for credit, including a leadership class. The professor, Jeff Glazer, emailed each student two months before sailing and challenged them to complete a service project during their voyage with SAS. Emails of ideas flowed among those registered for the class.

Ellie, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, knew about Edge Outreach, a Louisville company whose mission is to bring clean water to those needing it. They supply clean water to Louisville. Ellie wanted to do something with water purification in one of the countries she would be visiting with SAS. Edge Outreach was very supportive when she called. All she needed was $1000 for a filter system and some training.

Ellie emailed other members of the class inviting them to join her and Erin jumped right in. Through Facebook Erin found Fred, a nineteen year old Ghanian tour guide, whose village in Ghana needed a fresh water supply. Meanwhile, Ellie took two days of training learning how to gain community support, install, and maintain. Erin and Ellie purchased the equipment with their own money and set up a PayPal account in hopes of getting some of their funds recovered. Fred went to the Queen Mother at the village to get her approval, a step necessary in his culture, and to buy the 55 gallon drums and a car battery needed for the system.

SAS students with village children

Once Ellie was on the ship, she organized a group of students to travel to the site to install the water treatment system. They traveled by bus on the muddy dirt roads of Ghana about six hours. The bus got stuck which caused them to get to the town late in the evening. The next day, in the rain, with the help of the villagers, they managed to build a hut to house the system. The sun was setting by the time the system was installed and clean water flowing.

The villagers were skeptical and insisted the students taste the water first! Then the water was presented to the Queen Mother, the Village Chief and the Council of Elders who tasted and accepted it. Then they joyously celebrated with a drumming and dancing ceremony!

Ellie and the Chief

Before the SAS students started back to the ship that night, they had trained five people to maintain the system which has the capacity to purify 20,000 gallons of water daily. As you might guess, many more 55 gallon drums are still needed. But the community of 4000 people in Senase, Ghana will have much easier days having clean water readily available to them thanks to this spunky young lady’s idea and her classmates dedication!

The celebration of the water filter installation

The Halfway Point

This week marks the half way point of our voyage. All the Life Long Learners celebrated with dark chocolate truffles, small cakes, ice cream cake and fruit with chocolate fondue. Many of us wore some indication about being half way like half- painted heads or faces. The best was Louisa who donned all the items she had purchased during the first half: a skirt from Spain, a child’s skirt from Morocco which she wore on her head, necklaces from Mauritius, shoes from Morocco, fabric from Ghana and a basket filled with little items. She called herself” halfway done with shopping!”   Paul and I wore caps with our world globes half blown up taped to them.  We also wore our Semester At Sea shirts with the countries we've visited taped out.  I would vote us second best, but I am prejudiced.  A friend has the photos but I forgot to ask her for them.  Perhaps you'll see them later!
Then we began working on the Sea Olympics which would be in 4 days. I think I mentioned before that the students were divided into seas according to their stateroom locations at the beginning of the trip - seas like Red, Bering, and Mediterranean etc. The Life Long Learners originally were the Tipseas, but we recently joined with staff and faculty to become the NoMer Sea.


So the BIG night, a HUGE night arrived! We kicked off the Fall 2010 Sea Olympics signing up to participate in the events, be judges of events and/or event leaders.  Then...at 2100 (9:00 pm), the pep rally took off with lots of yelling and excitement! Ten of our teammates from the No MerSea had worked tirelessly to put together our team skit. And, boy was it good! It was truly the best of the lot during the rally! Themed after Lion King. It’s amazing how many animal costumes were concocted from shirts, pajamas, ribbons, white plastic laundry bags etc. The wife of a faculty member did fabulous makeup.





Fortunately, two faculty members, Nancy and Geno Carr who are professional New York actors wrote the skit and acted and sang in it. Quite an advantage over the competition!! Our mascot is Griffin, the 8 month old on board!




MerSea's mascot


The No MerSea was the first because, heck, we go to bed early! We sat in the front because we're the biggest team which also includes the children of the No MerSea team members. Our color... WHITE. Painted faces. White shirts. White hats. White shorts. White Skirts, White sweatbands. Team pride!



      No MerSea! No MerSea!! No MerSea!!! No MerSea!!!!




I was bragging about our team to some students yesterday. One said, "Yeah right, you're just a bunch of little kids and old people." Pshhh...We’ll show them what's what!



Yellow Sea Excited Entrance to Opening Ceremony




But in the end, we showed them. After a raucous day of Opening Ceremonies, chants, cheers, various games, more cheers, and Closing Ceremonies, the MerSea came in third!!! And our banner took second place which made me proud since that was my responsibility. I did have help however. That’s the first time in history that the “old” folks have placed in the Olympics!

The dead fish represent the other Seas!

There were nine other Seas of students besides us. They were so creative with their banners, cheers, outfits and skits. Some 15 events took place, including dodge ball, tug of war, table tennis and Pass the orange, Lip-sync was the most fun to watch! Those groups of 5 -8 students were so creative. One group had me jumping out of my seat with cheers!

Other events included Synchronized swimming. Paul and seven others hobbled onto the pool deck pretending to be infirm and gracefully fell sideways into the pool. One group ended their bit like Esther Williams used to do in her films, sitting on the shoulders of others while disappearing slowly beneath the surface.



 

Ahhhh! Life aboard the MV Explorer. I swear I cannot figure out how the students ever have time to study!! I can barely get a book read! And Halloween is in a few days!! Oh what shall we wear???
India tomorrow. We have been told we will never be the same after being in India! I’ll let you know. Or maybe you will notice!   One of these days, probably when we get home, I'll figure all this photo handling out!  Here, the internet is so slow it takes forever, and I don't understand why certain things happen. like some of these photos being fuzzy when put into the blog.  But It's late and the slow internet keeps me from wanting to experiment more.  I already seemed to have wiped out my flash drive of photo storage tonight!  Drats!  Now that will have to be repeated, I guess!



Today's sunset



Paul lost his boobs!  See the pink balloon?





Choral Class

A choral class is offered on the ship, so I decided to take it to learn more about choral music performance and have a greater appreciation of the singers' and director's jobs. I really did not plan on singing, but I am. And tonight, after deciding on Sunday afternoon to do this, we sang the South African National Anthem at the beginning of the Pre-port lecture. Desmond Tutu and his wife, Leah, spoke to us earlier about the origin of the anthem, the reason for the four languages used in it and what is being said. Mainly, God bless our beautiful country. The two African languages were very challenging. Africaan is much like German. The English part was the easiest, naturally. The South African College student aboard for the week helped us with the pronunciation and recorded it so we all had it on our computers for practice. We also practiced many times out of class. Paul said it sounded great and our choral teacher was proud of our performance. Those hours of extra practice paid off! And only 3 classes! But how exciting to sing the anthem as we approached South Africa and with Archbishop Tutu! He is just marvelous and wonderfully approachable. He danced with the kids some South African dance they broke into after we sang the anthem for the second time at the end of the lecture! We were recorded too, but I don't know why.

We are preparing for a concert Dec 1.  It will be really hard for some of us, but we'll accomplish it.  We're determined and the professor is great! 

October 10, 2010



Glazer Lounge at the bow of the ship



It is the evening of October 10, 2010, and the seas are rougher than they have ever been during the trip, but we’re just cutting through the waves at 29 knots with only an occasional bump. (Those on the bow end on the 2nd deck, however, really feel the rise and fall of the ship!) The wind is so fast that all doors are locked! No one is to be outside on the decks, including the smokers. Our cabin is located in the middle of the 4th deck and the splashes are going right by our window! I just noticed lightning and decided to check it out by going up to the bow on the seventh deck, Glazer Lounge, which has windows all around. The lightning was spectacular and the waves were breaking over the 7th deck!

Earlier today was beautiful, warm and inviting unlike the week before South Africa when the sun never broke through the clouds and we had to wear sweats to stay warm. Today we had breakfast and lunch on the deck watching the whales cavort! We left Cape Town Friday night and traveled east along the coast of Africa along with several tankers all day yesterday and today. Now we are heading out to sea to go past Madagascar to Mauritius.

The meals in the dining rooms are usually quite good, at least, the vegetarian options are appealing. Tonight, for instance, egg drop soup and curried chickpeas and rice were served. What I really miss, however, are greens!! Thank goodness lots of other vegetables are served.

The night after next we are doing a special dinner with Louise and Frank to celebrate their anniversary. Just $25 per person includes Champaign, gorgeous appetizers and steak or fish option along with salad or soup and dessert. And then there’s the Captain’s dinner. All life-long learners and staff are invited at least once to a fancy dinner with the Captain. We had our opportunity a couple of weeks ago, got dressed up and were seated at his table thanks to my friend, Louise, who volunteers in the office and did the seating arrangements. The Captain is from Dubrovnik and when we shared that we thought that city was magical, he was so pleased.

Tomorrow night we are celebrating six birthdays (Jack, Whitney, Suzanne, Kate, Sally, Arch and Leah) that fall between October 7 and 15th, with Jack and Ann Clough and our extended families. We have ordered a Mexican dinner and ice cream cake for 17 since we have 10 extended family members between us. We invited Arch and Leah Tutu, whose birthdays are October 7 and14th, to share cake with their grandchildren. Since they consider Paul their son, or Paul considers them his Mom and Dad, our shipboard family considers them their grandparents! (They did come!)




Our extended family and the Tutu's



The cake part of the party was held in Sally Stemmons larger stateroom with large balcony which is across from the Tutu’s stateroom. Sally’s birthday was the same as Arch’s, October 7th, and he had invited her to the birthday celebration he and Leah gaver on the ship when we were in Cape Town. Sally holds an open house for Life-long learners at 5:00 each time we leave a port. We all bring wine and eats but and share stories.

One of these days soon, I’ll get more info about each of our sons and daughters and tell you about them. Right now, I can say they are really good kids, the kind who study, go to class, and take this trip seriously and offer enthusiastic “thank you’s” for anything we do.

Lots continues to go on the ship. Yesterday, one of the chefs gave a demonstration on decorating with fruits and vegetables.

I’m reading about India’s history because my Asian Art teacher said one must not visit India without studying its history. Paul has offered to help with the 12 or so “rascals” on the ship who are doing their best to ruin the reputation of the SAS program when we are in port. One kid has been kicked off for drug use. One of the professors’s had a detached retina as we pulled into Cape Town. Luckily we were there because immediate attention is imperative with that situation. Someone on the ship called a friend in Cape Town and he had laser surgery within hours of our arrival and returns to the ship in Maurituis in five days. A life-long learner fell off a bike in wine country and has a chip in her elbow. She is not certain at this point where to go have her surgery. And a student’s father died today. She had just been home while we were in Ghana to say good bye, but it is hard for her. Her extended family, Jim and Deena Behnke from Incline Village, were asked to tell her. They’ll be very supportive for her.

Speaking of Jim and Deena and Jack and Ann, we all went to a fancy place for dinner while in Cape Town which was fabulous. Paul had ostrich! I’ll have to get the photos of the food from Deena. A funny thing kept happening while we were in Cape Town. We would each go our separate ways, but bump into one another! That happened over and again and again. Paul and I sat down to dinner, ordered and saw Ann and Jack being seated across the patio. Another time we walked over to get coffee and ran into Louise and Frank and Ann and Jack. Then here comes Jim and Deena! Now we bumped into other people we knew, but not quite as regularly as these friends. When our trip to Robben Island was canceled for the second time due to wind and rain, we bumped into Louise at the coffee shop. Paul gladly returned to the ship and Louise and I spent about three hours just walking, mostly indoors, and looking at stuff. I don’t recall that we purchased anything but we sure had fun. She and I like so many of the same things. She lives in Colorado Springs and enjoys designing and machine quilting wall hanging, purses and other items.



October Birthdays



Louise and Ann in Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa Continued

The internet was so slow when posting the Cape Town blog that I was unable to add any photos.  So I will try now, before the students come aboard in a couple of hours.  enjoy!!

Arch, our shipboard daughter, Jules, and Paul at the Tutu's home

The fog rolling down Table Mountain like a table cloth!

Made it to the top of this world!

Cape Town,South Africa

Cape Town has a truly lovely port - clean, gorgeous mountains, and lots of shopping places including a very high end mall where you  can get a great coat designed by a local woman for 5000R!  That's about $750 - somewhat over my budget and who needs it?  Or a Gucci purse or a $10 T shirt, but not a common turtle neck or  sweater.  Many of us have decided we need some warmer clothes and today proved that!  IT was windy and cold (about 50 degrees) and cloudy and our Robben Island trip was canceled for the second time. So Paul went back to the ship to entertain the troops and I went shopping with Louise, my new friend.

On Monday, after arriving, we were invited to a private lunch for a small group at Desmond Tutu's home in Capetown!!!!!! Can you believe that? This wonderful man is greatly impacting my life! And it almost makes me cry to think he included us! We're asked not to tell anyone, but we can tell you since you are not going to share it with any of our shipmates!!

But before we get to that great day, I want to share another wonderful adventure with you. I climbed to the top of Lion's Head Mountain (3000 feet) for a sunset picnic! The climb was more rigorous that I expected and I was really glad Paul decided not to go. We actually had to pull ourselves up with chains at two parts near the top. But I climbed better there than when we were in the Grand Canyon trip about 4 or 5 years ago. That’s lunges and lots of steps on the ship for you! I did have to get up during the night twice to take EmergenC and Traumel however.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has many God-given gifts. Just one of them is making people feel special and pulling everyone into his circle. Paul and I were so very honored to be among the 32 guests that he and Leah invited to lunch in their home in Cape Town today. The other guests included 6 students, 7 of the dining room crew, 4 professors and their spouses, 2 SAS staff members, 6 life- long learners and Ryder, the 4 year old son of a professor who has spent more than half of his life on this ship and enjoys a special relationship with the Arch.

The Tutu’s home is modest and loaded with family photos and those of a few special occasions and African art of various media. Leah is a wonderful hostess just like Arch portrays her in his books. She loves to entertain. Even when they were a young couple with small teacher salaries, she could always find a way to share a meal with friends.

Arch introduced Paul to his son-in-law as his son from a previous marriage! The two of them just keep this ruse going ever since Paul called him “Daddy” back when the voyage began in late August. Leah said Arch was in the dog house because he was late coming from his office and he was supposed to pick up the drinks on the way home!

We were served Guava juice, South African wines and beer, and a delicious repast of African foods with lots of turmeric, onions and peppers. His birthday is Thursday, so the students presented gifts they had made – a painting, earrings and a necklace of turquoise stones, braided bracelets, and a student autographed SAS t-shirt. Rocky, a fantastic Environmental Scientist and Ryder’s father wowed us with a magic trick that reflected his deep spirituality and concern for the future of society.

After singing “Happy Birthday” which was led by Paul, we boarded the bus and proceeded to Arch’s office which is in an industrial office complex. When we passed the women next door, he introduced, “This is my harem.” He introduced everyone by name and their admiration was obvious. The two rooms of the office contained many of his awards, but not the Nobel Peace Prize. “I don’t know where it is!” Leah put it away and could not remember where she put it. Then someone broke into their house in Soweto some time ago, found it and stole it. But they were fools. They went to a bar and placed it on the bar. The bartender noticed and they were arrested and the Prize returned. But, alas, neither can remember where it is!! Arch says there are three requirements to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

1. You must have an easy name

2. You must have a big nose

3. You must have sexy legs!

He told us about another part of his work – building a college scholarship fund so students can put their knowledge to work to help their country grow to prosperity with health care and jobs for everyone. We learned just last night of another one of his missions – a foundation which feeds street children. As we were boarding the bus to return to the ship, many people from the other businesses around his office came out to greet him. Some even blew that raucous horn used in the world cup. He is a “Rock Star” in South Africa!

South Africa is a complicated place in contrast to Ghana.  Here land along the Atlantic Ocean is resort and high-end home oriented. But just outside the city, the poor live in squalor in tin-roofed squashed boxes of the townships (ghettos) with all the problems associated with poverty and too little of life’s necessities. Many of the older townships started in 1920 to get the blacks out of the city have no plumbing or electricity. There are no trees. They were cut down long ago by the Dutch settlers. When we were in a school in one of the townships yesterday, we saw a child’s paper on the wall stating he had never been to Cape Town (just 20-30 minutes away) because he had no money to go. The middle class is non-existent. Unemployment is 24%. Education is not very good because the black teachers are not well trained. Apartheid was officially ended in 1994, but the affects live on and will for many more generations. The fiery young leader of the ANC Youth League is calling for nationalizing the mines of mineral resources. Corruption exists everywhere. Seems like lots of potential for trouble. And yet, there is so much potential for this country to be the leader of Africa. Before, during and after Apartheid to this day, there are three basic classifications of people in South Africa. They are the affluent whites, the colored - mixed races (white and black) and the blacks who traditionally have been totally oppressed and impoverished.

It is Paul’s time to say a few words. Yesterday, Suzanne and I went on a service tour of the Amy Biehl Foundation. Some of you might remember her story. It was a TV special a few years ago. Amy was an attractive Stanford graduate, a Fulbright Scholar, whose passion took her to South Africa to fight against apartheid and help the impoverished blacks. She worked on voter education and registration in advancement of South Africa’s first election after apartheid’s end. The day before she was due to return home to California, she drove some friends home to an extremely poor black township outside of Cape Town where seven boys had just been murdered by the police – shot in the back. Neither Amy nor her black friends knew about the protest march that was taking place there that day. An angry and violent mob spotted a white woman, pulled her from the car and stoned her to death.

The four men who committed this crime were brought to trial and sentenced to 18 years. A couple of years later, during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, Amy’s parents came from California to ask for amnesty for these young men. The Beihl’s and the murderers shared their stories. The appeal was granted. Two of the men are now working for the Amy Biehl Foundation. Her parents, Peter (now deceased) and Linda, established the Amy Biehl Foundation to continue Amy’s work. They have been highly supportive of groups concerned with the lasting effects of apartheid and the continuing racial discrimination of today.

We toured these townships in the afternoon. Most of the people are living in shacks with no electricity nor running water. Yet they were so excited to see our bus driving through their neighborhoods and waving to us. We visited three primary schools in various townships and were entertained by the staff and children who were so excited to see us. We sang and danced in a large circle and for some reason the kids enjoyed my crazy dancing etc. Of course, they hadn’t seen the wonderful dancing steps of a man in 60’s doing the twist etc. They are learning English in the 4th grade, music theory and practice, the Youth Reading and Role Models program where the 7th graders read to 1st graders. At the Buthisizwe Training Center, students get instruction on block making, sewing, aluminum widow-frame making. They have a sports club with soccer and golf. The Foundation provides these children and youth the opportunity for constructive and safe activities after school. As you imagine, this entire day devoted to the children was exhilarated and emotionally charged. We left feeling so happy to bring joy to them but so so sad for the poverty and racial injustice they continue to experience. This has to surprise some of you as Paul is being serious for a change. Ha

Unfortunately, it is taking 30 minutes to download one photo, so I will send this one with out photos.  It is 1:00 am and the students are mostly off the ship getting drunk!  But I still can't make this work tonight so later.  I will resend the whole thing with photos, but wanted you to know we're working in this.  Future blogs will include info about what the good  kids are doing and some of the new friends we have been blessed to meet aboard the4 MV Explorer!