Mellow Malaysia

Malaysia was unlike any other port for a couple of reasons. We sailed to Penang, and due to the size of our ship, were unable to dock at the port. So we got to and from our ship by "tendering," which meant taking little ferries back and forth, that ran every hour. The novelty of tendering wore off after the first time, as we quickly realized how it affected your planning each day. I'm sure the students were more annoyed, because if you didn't catch the last one at 12:30 a.m., you were stuck till the next morning.

We're hitting the rainy seasons in a number of these countries, and Malaysia did not let us down. It poured the first day, but even in the rain Penang is a beautiful place, with a combination of old and new architecture, little traffic, and a charming Chinatown and Little India. The highlight, though, was the food. In addition to restaurants on every block, there are numerous "food courts" where vendors set up under large tents, you choose the food you want (I just pointed to pictures) and they bring it to you. Malay food is a combination of Indian and Thai, and generally spicy. My bill for anything in the food court was the equivalent of $1.00, and in nicer restaurants, where I'd have a glass of wine, along with atmosphere and terrific service, I'd spend a whopping $10.

A group of six of us left on the second day for three days on Langkawi Island, a little paradise that was a 3-hour ferry ride away. We stayed in a resort, surrounded by.....yep, more amazing restaurants, and probably the nicest beach and pool I've ever seen. Tourist season doesn't start for a month, so there were only a handful of people around. We had rain the first two days, but I ignored it and ran outside, and swam in the pool and ocean anyway. The sun finally appeared our last day, so we got a late checkout, and at least returned to the ship looking like we had been to a beach. I appreciated the lack of activity in Malaysia, especially after India and before Vietnam.

A few people have asked what happened to my library job, since apparently my blog suggests I'm on the longest vacation of my life. So I'm attaching a photo of Molly and me (the librarians) and our 5 student employees, although we are drinking smoothies at the snack bar and there don't appear to be any books. Perhaps I'll be more convincing at the end of the voyage, when for 18 days of sailing they'll be nothing to photograph but the library. Molly and I actually do keep the library open from 8 am - 11 pm daily when we're sailing, and we alternate early and late days. We mostly check out travel guides and reserve readings, but we also assist students with researching papers, since they have access to all of the UVA databases. I think the faculty and I felt there would be more faculty research going on, but after the first week, they realized how hard it was going to be to cram a semester's worth of material in half the normal number of class days. It's odd how we all shift gears constantly from ship to port and back again, especially in this last half of the voyage, with just a few days in between each place. So back to the library, and on to Vietnam!

Pictures: Molly and me and our library students; view of the beach from our Langkawi resort; the pool; the beach; me, Molly, and Christine (sociology prof.) having breakfast across the street from our resort.

India

I'm still recovering (along with half the ship) from the flu that I picked up the last day of India, and with just 3 days of sailing between there and Malaysia, I'm going to throw this entry together before I get behind. While a number of people traveled in the country (Taj Mahal trips, etc.), I stayed in the port city of Chennai. The people were gentle and friendly, but it was an intense city to spend 5 days in, because of the sheers numbers (7 million people), heat, trash, smell, and poverty like I had never seen.

On our first day I led a trip to a Dalit Village school, where we were told we'd do some chores and mingle with the children. But the minute our bus arrived, we were met by a group of people in the village who placed fresh flower necklaces over our heads, and were then led by the group and a marching band to the school. Next, we were introduced to several school administrators, who gave speeches and arranged for an Indian singer to perform for us. We were told repeatedly how grateful they were for our service, even though we had done nothing up to this point. And as the "trip leader" I was given a special seat in the front, presented with an Indian shawl, and asked to give a speech! Soon after, we were given paint buckets and began our painting assignments for the next couple of hours. My task was to paint blackboards with black paint (??!). The children were so excited though, that they kept interrupting us to shake our hands and ask our names and for autographs. We were told that none of them had seen anyone outside their village before. As trip leader, I was also interviewed by The Hindu newspaper, and a number of pictures of our group were taken---it was published the next day, so my status on the ship was elevated to "the queen" for a day or two.

I also went (no leading) on a trip to the Bala Mandir orphanage, meeting children from age 6 months to 21. Most were female, since males are the preferred gender, and I was struck by the clean conditions and loving atmosphere. We met teachers as well as housemothers, and spent time in the classrooms and their living quarters. One group of girls asked a student and me to sing for them, so the only songs we both knew the words to were "Yesterday" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." They all danced and then played some of their music for us.

Our mode of transportation was the auto rickshaw, which was a 3-wheeled semi-open vehicle with a motor that sounded no bigger than a lawnmower's. But the drivers sped around and wove thru traffic (sometimes with goats and cows in the road) with the skill of a racedriver, and what seemed like sure death the first day soon became addictive. There were also bicycle rickshaw drivers that took us from the ship to the port entrance (a mile or so), peddaling up to 3-4 passengers barefoot. After seeing two rats in the port, I never walked this stretch at night, and was willing to pay anything to keep my feet above ground.

The food was a real highlight. I had several Indian meals out, which were spicier than what I've had at home, and ridiculously inexpensive....between $1 - $3 for an entire meal. I also had fabulous Thai food one night and one of the best chocolate desserts at a funky coffee shop called Mocha. I couldn't find a good cup of coffee, however. They put milk in their coffee and tea and my three efforts to get good black coffee failed.

A part of me was ready to leave Chennai, to return to the comforts of the ship, but another part of me wanted to stay and do anything to help. I would guess most of us were similarly affected, and we'll all figure out ways to not forget our Indian experience.

Pictures: People from the Dalit village watching our "parade" (pics 1 & 2), getting a lesson on how to paint a blackboard, me at the orphanage, Annamarie and me in a bicycle rickshaw on a foggy morning (notice no trademark UVA sweatshirt).

Capturing Cape Town

Our pre-port lecturer from Cape Town mentioned that this is one of the top ten cities in the world, and as soon as I got off the ship I could understand why. The waterfront is an area of upscale shops, hotels, and restaurants, with yachts and sailboats in the harbor, and the imposing Table Mountain in the background. South Africa has 11 official languages, but everyone speaks English, so I almost felt like I was in San Francisco.

I spent the first couple of days on trips to an ostrich farm (hey, they needed a leader!) and several wineries in the Stellenbosch winelands region (including one that we biked to), as well as shopping and eating at the waterfront. But on day three I visited the Khayelitsha township, where blacks settled after being pushed out of the city during the apartheid regime. Even though apartheid ended, the shacks made of tin, wood, and cardboard and about 1.5 million people remain. The government is slowly building concrete housing for them, but the townships feel that by letting tourists know about their conditions, it may attract funding for better housing, education and health care. Despite the poverty and high incidence of HIV, there is a surprising feeling of hopefulness and community there.

I also attempted to go to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned for more than 20 years, but rough waters cancelled the ferry rides the majority of the time we were there. I spent my last day at the Kirshenbosh botanical gardens, regretting that I had left this for the last day and only had a few hours. The highlight of Cape Town, though, was a last minute visit on the ship by Desmond Tutu. He only talked for an hour, but spoke humorously and eloquently about politics and issues in the United States and South Africa, as well as Iraq and the world.

We are now on our way to India, sailing for 12 days across the Indian Ocean. We have a day of Sea Olympics half-way through, where the faculty and staff and all the student "seas" compete in a variety of sports such as synchronized swimming, relays, paper boat floating contests and volleyball. I'm participating and judging, which tells you how low the bar is. Students are also in the midst of midterms, so there's lots of activity in the library. So it's back to work until Chennai.

Pictures: Cape Town waterfront (where our ship is docked), me on an ostrich (!), children from the township, flowers in the botanical garden, Desmond Tutu on the ship.