Tuesday, December 05, 2006

bummer

these last few days are hard... the process of packing is going slow and we had to take all of our stuff down from the wall this morning. It is very strange to go into our room now... nothing on the walls, it is almost like we just moved in and we have yet to go around the world.

anyway... before I get too emotional...

I've put up some more pics from around the ship that I haven't had the chance to put up yet.
http://joeandjoy.com/ship2/index.html

I'm off to pack up some of the books I've bought back... not fun but someone has to do it.

joe

Saturday, December 02, 2006

España

Arriving in Spain was very bittersweet. I was in full denial that we were docked in our last international port. Having been to Spain previously, I didn’t have the same feelings of anticipation that I had for all of our previous ports. However, our experience in Spain exceeded my expectations in many, many ways.
We arrived in the port city of Cadiz at 0800 on 11/23. Joe and I decided to explore the city of Cadiz and planned to rent a car the following morning. It was wonderful to step out into the streets of España, hear the beautiful Spanish language, and peer out onto the Atlantic Ocean! I could hardly believe that we were on the edge of the Atlantic.
We wandered around the streets of Cadiz and ended up at a sweet little restaurant for lunch with our friends, Alden & Kate. We drank a few generous mugs of beer, ate many small sandwiches (only 1 Euro each!), and found ourselves out on the streets in the middle of Spanish siesta. I am so intrigued by the timetable in Spain… breakfast between 10 & noon, lunch between 3 & 6, and then dinner after 10pm. I think I could get used to that lifestyle in the summer months, but it’s a little tough in the winter months with so little daytime sunlight. Anyway – we went with the flow and found ourselves eating many lunches post 4pm.
So… calling the following morning “scary” or “an adventure” is an understatement in my book. Joe had booked a rental car in Cadiz, but it turned out that the rental company was actually a few miles up the coast, north of Cadiz. No big deal, right? We had the option of taking a bus ride up there, or taking a ferry to the northern end of the Bay of Cadiz. Heck, why not take the ferry, right? WRONG.
So, when you picture a ferry, what do you see? I see a large, stable vessel, often with the capacity to hold many, many people and a significant number of cars, trucks, etc. No.
This was not one of those ferries. It was a very small passenger ferry that held – at maximum – maybe 100 people? I’m not sure. But, again – no big deal, right? WRONG.
Joe and I were the only passengers on the ferry on this particular morning, and let’s say that it was bit windy outside. Thinking nothing of this fact, Joe and I decided to sit in the front row seats of the ferry for our 25-minute ride across the bay. OH MY GOSH. I am not kidding you when I say that this ferry ride made any other boat experienced seem tame. The wind was out of control, and the waves & swells would – literally! – launch the entire boat into the air, CRASH down on the sea, rock back and forth at disconcerting angles, only to be launched again – sometimes sideways – into the air again. I was NOT loving it. I was hanging onto my seat with clenched fists, letting out the occasional whimper, and holding on for dear life. Beyond the fact that I was scared out of my mind, my stomach started to lurch in every direction, too. Joe was trying to calm me down, (unsuccessfully) but he eventually started feeling the effects, too. SOMEHOW, I made my way to the back of the boat by shimmying along the handrails so I wouldn’t fall down. Twenty-five minutes have never seemed so long. I have dubbed this ferry the “Scary Ferry” also known as the “Scawy Fewwy” (say this in a little kid voice).
The good thing about the Scary Ferry? Nothing on our gigantic ship seems scary anymore. Hurray! So, after gathering what was left of our stomachs and lying down for a bit, Joe went to get our car and off we were to Sevilla!
We didn’t arrive in Sevilla until the late afternoon and spent much of our time trying to locate the hotel we had booked online. We knew the hotel was located approximately 10 minutes outside the heart of downtown, but we had printed out the wrong directions and found ourselves totally lost on small cobblestone streets in the center of the city.
Since Joe speaks a teeny bit of Spanish, he was able to ask a few people for directions to our hotel. After many unsuccessful attempts, we finally found it! It turned out to be a fantastic hotel – our room was a two-level loft with hardwood floors! Pretty cool.
So, once we were settled, we went back into the city to meet our friends at the main Cathedral. I love looking at old cathedrals in Europe. The detail and architecture are so beautiful and so powerful. If you look at Joe’s pictures, you’ll see pictures from far above the city. These are taken from the very top of the tower in the Cathedral. A very beautiful place, but I’ll let you make your own determinations from the pictures.
We concluded our evening by attending a traditional flamenco performance. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but I figured it would be a good time. As we were standing in line to purchase tickets, a man (named Jeff) asked Joe about his SUNY New Paltz fleece jacket. Joe explained that he doesn’t actually work at SUNY New Paltz but at UC Santa Cruz. This lead into a long discussion about student affairs, and it turned out that Jeff was in the same field, working at a university in Switzerland. But, there’s more. After sitting down and sipping our sangria, Joe mentioned that we were with a few friends on Semester at Sea. “Oh yeah, I did Semester at Sea in 2001,” says Jeff. WHAT?!? Isn’t that amazing? We’re at a random, small, quaint flamenco show in the middle of Spain, and he just happens to not only have been a staff member on Semester at Sea, BUT he was also wearing a Semester at Sea t-shirt under his sweater. Small world.
The flamenco show was fantastic! I cannot believe how fast the dancers move their feet and their bodies. The singers and guitar players are incredible, too. I was very, very impressed. It made me want to learn how to dance flamenco!
The following day was very rainy, so we spent much of the day in the Royal Alcazar, a beautiful palace once occupied by royal families. This place is incredible! The detail of the architecture, stone & woodwork, and gardens were absolutely gorgeous. As you look at the pictures, you will see the influence of Muslim design and Arabic writing throughout the Alcazar. It was so interesting to see the blend of Muslim and Catholic influences all over Spain. I’m not sure I would have appreciated this blending of religio-cultures quite as much if we had not just traveled through Egypt and Turkey.
I loved the city of Sevilla. It has a wonderful Spanish European feel and is very inviting. I wouldn’t mind living there for a year or so, get involved in a Spanish immersion program, and learn to eat dinner at midnight!
The next day we headed for Granada. Having never been to Granada, we felt that we should go the famous Alhambra Palace. The Alhambra is on a short list to become one of the “new” Seven Wonders of the World. We spent over 4 hours at the Alhambra, just taking in all of the architecture, history, gardens, ceramic tiles, and amazing views overlooking the city of Granada. I don’t have the patience to spend 4 hours at most historical sights, but this place was worth the entire afternoon. Wow. Take a look at Joe's pics.
We traveled back to Cadiz on our last day in Spain and found our friends at an outdoor café sipping mugs of beer and reminiscing about our amazing voyage together. Many students were in tears as they boarded the ship and swiped in their official shipboard ID into the on-ship computer. I was trying to hold it together, but I was feeling the same way. We’ve all been a big, interconnected family – for good times & bad – over the last 3 months. It’s hard to believe it’s coming to an end.
The mood on the ship currently is pretty quiet and solemn, as the students are busy writing papers and studying for finals. Some people have started packing, but I can’t bring myself to do that quite yet. It would mean that I have to drag myself out of full denial that I am leaving this ship, our floating home. There are so many things I will miss, they are almost too difficult to name, but I’m going to try – for my own sake – and hopefully you’ll enjoy them, too.
What I will miss:
1. Our cabin (#4055) with our little mini bathroom and super comfy bed.
2. Eating meals out on the back deck of the ship, overlooking the ocean and contemplating how amazingly lucky we are to be on this ship.
3. Waking up just in time for the last 5 minutes of breakfast, and seeing all of the others doing the same thing… dragging themselves into the dining hall in their PJs with bags under their eyes.
4. Gaining an hour - 24 times - over the course of our voyage!
5. Playing euchre, hearts, Texas hold ‘em, and spades up in the faculty lounge with Joe, JB, and Tim.
6. Eating all of our meals together with different groups of people, sharing stories from the different ports and planning new adventures.
7. Walking down the ship’s hallways during rough seas and seeing everyone swaying into walls, looking like drunk fools, and laughing at ourselves.
8. Doing an abs workout or yoga class on the 7th deck, overlooking the ocean & peering up at the big “Semester at Sea” logo on the side of the ship.
9. The excitement on the ship whenever we have “Taco Day!” for lunch.
10. Looking at the world map on the wall of our cabin, incredulous at all of the places we’ve been.
11. Never having to make our bed or do the dishes.
12. Bonding over such things as seasickness, the sound of our morning wake up call, and how long the iceberg lettuce has been sitting around.
Most of all, I’m going to miss the people. This voyage has surpassed my expectations in so many ways, and I never could have imagined how much I would MISS these people. There is something really special about living on a ship for 108 days. You get to know people in very different ways. I honestly feel as though I’ve been living in an alternate reality, a life that is an offshoot of my regular life, but one that has no basis or connection to my former life. I don’t want to walk away from these people. I know I don’t have to. My biggest goal, and simultaneously my biggest fear, is to keep this experience close to me – to walk around with it every day and not allow it to drift too far from my consciousness. I know I have been affected significantly, and that is a good thing.
Only 4 more days at sea.
I’ve got some hugging to do!!!
See y'all SOON!
Can't wait to see you in Ft. Lauderdale, Mama & Dad!!!

still rocking and a rolling out here on the Atlantic

Well our almost perfectly smooth voyage has ended... the Atlantic is paying us back for all the nice smooth seas we have had.

It is tough to even think about packing when you can't stand up, but it seems to be getting better and since we don't really want to pack, it is ok. Today is a study day for the students, first day of finals tommorow.

Had an amazing Talent show last night, we have a large group of talented folks on the ship and it was fun to watch.

The Spain pictures are now up and hopefully Joy will get to do her blog today.
http://joeandjoy.com/spain/index.html

Brian S. - thanks for the pictures... Jackson sure is cute
NO takers on the airport yet... I guess I should look up when we are coming in.... ok we get in at 1:50 p.m. on Dec. 10th into San Jose

Hope everyone is GREAT!!!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The ocean is.... SWELL

wholly crap we've got some movement as we head across the atlantic towards Florida.

The Croatia pictures are up http://joeandjoy.com/croat/index.html

and I hope to get Spain up real soon. We rented a car again and it was a little more hair raising to drive in Spain, especially while in town. You can't get any narrower... I thought Ireland was narrow but Spain has it beat. But of course we had a great time and saw some wonderful sites.

Only endulged in Churros con Chocolate once which is my big regret... I'll have to go back.

Look for the Spain pics soon... enjoy your last weeks without us cause we are going to be cranky when we get home!

oh yeah and who is picking us up at the airport?

GOOD LUCK ON FINALS to all the Crownies
Someone send me a picture of that Stevens kid

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Croatia

Arriving in Croatia was fabulous. The coastline is absolutely beautiful in contrast to the red tiles on all the roofs, the intrigue of the old walled city, and the giant mountains looming in the background. Joe and I decided to rent a car with our good friends, J.B. & Theresa, which totally made our trip. Having the freedom of our own vehicle was wonderful, and of course – Joe was our official driver and the three of us were happy to be sightseeing passengers.
On the first day we ventured into the walled city – built in the 1600s, which is a fascinating place. We had a beautiful blue-sky day, so we walked around the entire exterior of the walled city on top of the passageways on the outer wall. Joe and I took hundreds of pictures – it was such a beautiful day! (You’ll see the pictures SOON!) Some students decided it would be a good idea to cliff-jump off the cliffs below the city’s walls. Many of them had a great time, however, we learned later on in our trip that one of the students jumped from over 60 feet, hit the water wrong, and broke her back. Scary. Luckily, her spinal cord was not affected, so she was rushed to the hospital and eventually transferred via a medical evacuation plane to a different hospital in Vienna for immediate surgery. One of the RDs, our friend Kate, went with her to Vienna, and she just wrote me and let me know that the student is doing okay. It’s amazing that more stuff like this hasn’t happened on this voyage. I’m just glad the student isn’t paralyzed, although her voyage is over and I’m sure she’ll have permanent physical damage. Scary.
Anyway – after exploring the walled city, we were on a mission to rent a car. Dubrovnik, and the entire coastline of Croatia, is a huge tourist destination in the summer, but it is very serene and quiet in mid-November. Thus, tourism offices are not exactly prepared, nor excited, to deal with tourists. I can relate to this, having lived in Steamboat where the winter and summer are absolutely brimming with tourists, and the mud-season is barren of visitors. I used to relish those months where we had Steamboat back to “ourselves,” so I didn’t blame the Dubrovnik folks who seemed a little off-put by our presence. So, it took us a little while to find a rental car, and once we did – we decided to book the car for the following 4 days, stay on the ship the first night, and venture out early the next morning. And that’s what we did!
The next morning the four of us hopped into our Ford Focus and hit the coastal road. We knew we wanted to find a little villa along the sea, but we didn’t have a solid plan. So we just started driving. What a gorgeous drive!!! After about an hour and a half we arrived in the small town of Orebic on the Plejesac peninsula. We decided to stop and have lunch and check-out one of the tourist agencies to see what was available. The gentleman at the tourist agency was pretty doubtful, at first, that he had anything available by the sea. Then, after making a few phone calls, he directed us toward this house that didn’t have a seaside view from our apartment, but was attached to a home with a large terrace overlooking the sea. We decided to go check it out, and it turned out to be perfect and became our home for the next 3 nights. It was set right on the coastline amidst a grove of orange trees. So perfect! It was also within 5 minutes walk of local markets, so that we could make dinner in our little kitchen, drink wine, and kick back & relax.
This was the first port that truly felt like a vacation. All of the other ports have felt like a mental and physical challenge in some sense – which is good. Croatia didn’t feel that way. It is a tourist destination, and – beyond its recent history – I’m not quite certain why it is a port on Semester at Sea. Particularly in the off-season, it’s not a place that has a whole lot going on, and for the students it’s not easy for them to get around because they are not allowed to rent cars.
It’s hard to believe that Dubrovnik was a war-torn area in the very recent past – the beauty and serenity of the place masks its ugly past. The one aspect of the city that reveals the effects of the war is the tiled roofs. Many roofs have very new tile work, which we’ve been told indicated that those homes or buildings were bombed during the war and had to be re-built. You’ll be able to tell the difference in the pictures… some roofs look very new, while others are clearly worn.
Some highlights of our trip:
1. Croatia is wine country, but – again – since we were visiting in the off-season, most wineries were closed. But that didn’t stop us!! We ventured into one particular winery (that looked closed) and asked if we could do a wine tasting. Not exactly what you’d expect in the states… The gentlemen were more than willing to allow us to have a taste, so the man who spoke the most fluent English led us through the winery, arrived at one particular vat of wine, picked up the hose that was lying on the floor, brushed it off, picked up a glass that was sitting by the vat, brushed it off, and proceeded to pour the wine from the hose into the glass. We all thought this was hilarious, and – wow! – it was good red wine! So, we decided to buy a few bottles. Again, this was a little different in that we were asked – “Do you have any bottles with you?” Stunned, we looked at each other and said, “Well, we have some empty plastic water bottles..?” The gentlemen nodded that this would be a perfect solution, so we got our plastic bottles, he promptly filled them with the wine hose, and we went happily on our way. Pretty funny, huh? This was only one of a few times that we received wine in this manner.
2. Another highlight of our trip was being able to play Bocce Ball in an outdoor, lighted court while we drank our hose-filled wine, ate pizza and french fries, an d laughed the night away. We were certain the Bocce ball court was going to be closed, but were delighted when the not-so-helpful woman behind the counter said, “yes, you can play.” Woo-hoo!
3. Joe and I were itching to go for a hike in the mountain range behind our villa, so we went on a 2-hour hike to the top of the ridge and it was absolutely beautiful! It felt SO GOOD to be out in nature, taking in the fresh crisp air, and d getting our heart rate up after so many countries where we were breathing the intense pollution and humid air. We also ventured on many mini-hikes to old churches (which reminded me of the missions in California), old villages, and a few quaint local towns.
4. At one such old village, Joe happened upon a sign that read, “This site protected by the law.” This intrigued Joe, so he decided to check it out. Lo and behold, we were met by a wonderful woman named Vesna who was very surprised to see us in the off-season. After concluding that we seemed like nice people, she led us on a personal tour of this old, mostly abandoned stone village where only she and one other couple currently live. Wow. Her stories were fascinating. She was originally born in Bosnia, moved to London for much of her young adult life, was a journalist for the BBC, and then – somehow – found herself on the coast of Croatia inquiring about a home in an old broken-down village. And she’s been there ever since! She was definitely – and expectedly – a little quirky, but that only added to the charm of the place. She invited us into her very simple but amazing stone house, and offered us some homemade herb brandy, which she said she gets locally from “the brandy man in the van.”
This is one of the most amazing things about Semester at Sea… that you can end up totally off-the-beaten-path, in a small village with someone like Vesna. On most cruise ships, you are only in a port for 12 to 24 hours, which does not allow for these off-the-beaten-path experiences. I value these moments so much because they really give one a true taste of the people and the culture of a place.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Croatia. I’ll let Joe fill in the blanks with his picture commentary, but this is our story for now. We are currently docked in Gibraltar for a re-fueling session, and we arrive in Cadiz, Spain in the early morning. I can’t believe this will be our last international port!!! Where has the time gone? I’ve already asked some of the crew members if they will hide me in one of the closets so I can stay on the ship for the next voyage. The laughed and said they’re not allowed to do that. WHAT?!
See y’all SOON!!!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Here's a quick blog about our port arrival... don't worry - I'm planning to write about our experience in Croatia later today, so check back a little later...

This was the absolute best port arrival ever. We were told the evening before our arrival in Dubrovnik that our ship’s captain was planning to blow the horn as we sailed around the corner near his family’s home. One official administrator had said that the captain would be blowing the horn at 0630, and then the executive dean said that he would be doing this at 0730. Being the optimist that I am, I decided to believe that this would not occur until 0730.
So… at approximately 0625, what do I hear? The freaking horn!!! I instantly jump – literally leap – out of my bed, mutter to myself “shit, I’m going to miss it!,” throw on my clothes, and sprint up four flights of stairs to the seventh deck. I burst out of the doors onto the deck to find that I am not too late. Whew!!
Our fabulous captain Roman is not a shy guy. He was not messing around when it came to blowing that horn. He did a couple warning horn blows when we were still about five minutes away from his home, and then just let it LOOSE with that horn! Wow. There was DEFINITELY no one left sleeping in his quaint little village by the sea. I was CRACKING UP, I thought it was so flipping hilarious. But then when I saw his family waving from the deck of their home, I burst into tears! I was doing the ol’ laugh & cry at the same time. Some of his family’s neighbors had made big banners and were waving, too. When Captain Roman stepped out onto the little winged platform that jets out from the bridge and started waving to his family, I totally lost it. It was such a cool moment.
I just read this blog to some students who rolled their eyes when I said I cried, but c’mon… that’s good stuff.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

one more to go... (tear)


So of course we had a great time in Croatia... a highlight for me was that we rented a car and I got to drive... not a real fancy car but it was fun to drive. It was a Ford Focus Diesel 1.6 L engine and it moved pretty well. If I could get that car in the states I would consider buying it... especially since they are building bio-diesel pumps in Santa Cruz County.

more on Croatia later... but I am finally putting up the Cairo pics... and for those who think we slack sometimes on our blog, we have friends who haven't written about Viet Nam yet and you get the treat of all of our pics... and of course it is great for us too... we are glad we have been able to share with everyone who reads.

so yeah... Cairo is loading as we speak and I will try and get Turkey up tomorrow and then hopefully Croatia up before we get to Spain... we shall see how we do.

Hope everyone is well!!!! Happy November!!!!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Let’s talk Turkey!

Hi Everyone! Sorry it’s been a little while. We were without Internet on the ship for a few days, so folks had to find different ways of entertaining themselves. Right now I am watching a tourism video about Croatia, which looks absolutely beautiful, so I’ll have to get my brain out of Dubrovnik and the islands of Croatia, and rewind to our experiences in Turkey.
Coming into the port of Istanbul was an incredible sight. It was the first time that we stepped out from the interior of the ship into VERY chilly weather. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. I absolutely loved it! I’ve been missing that chill of fall weather that makes one want to put on a fuzzy sweater, drink hot coffee, and cuddle up in a blanket. Everyone was busting out their puffy jackets, stocking caps, gloves and scarves. It was a pretty quick transition from the sweltering warmth of Viet Nam through India to the mild temperatures of Egypt to seeing our breath out in the streets of Istanbul.
The picture I had of Turkey in my mind’s eye was nowhere near what it represented in reality. I had not imagined that we were entering into the western, very European-feeling, world quite yet. Istanbul and western Turkey have a very European feel, which I had not expected. To be honest, it was almost a little disappointing to emerge into a more familiar, western environment. That is not to take anything away from our experience in Turkey, but – again – it is marking the transition to the final stages of our voyage. I'm not ready yet!
Istanbul and western Turkey have a unique feel because of their European setting amidst a predominantly Muslim culture and texture. Turkey’s history and the story of Turkey’s national hero, Kemal Ataturk, are incredibly fascinating. I did not know much about Turkey until this voyage, but the tensions and controversies surrounding Turkey’s bid to become a member of the European Union have put Turkey’s history and culture under a magnifying glass. If you haven’t done so already, I would encourage you to research Turkey’s struggle with the European Union from multiple perspectives; particularly seek another viewpoint than the western viewpoint.
Anyway – Istanbul is a fascinating city. Joe and I spent many hours just walking through the cobblestone streets of the city, exploring the sights. On our first day we ventured to the Grand Bazaar in the old city, which is among the largest public market places in the world. It was fun to venture through all of the shops, the spice market, the quaint cafes serving Turkish tea & coffee, and seeing the Turkish “Evil Eye” everywhere!!! The evil eye is a symbol, in the likeness of an eye, which is traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits. We learned from our guide that the eye also represents a solar eclipse, which was something to be feared in ancient times, marking the eye as “evil.” At first I thought the evil eye seemed like a tourist trinket or souvenir, but the more we ventured around Turkey, I saw the evil eye embedded into walkways and hanging above doorways in restaurants & homes. So, don’t worry – you’ll probably get one of your very own when we return!
One of the other highlights of our first day – and definitely one of the highlights of our voyage, too – was stumbling upon this wonderful restaurant in the middle of the old city. Our friend J.B. had noticed a few rooftop bars, but most of them had looked closed and dark. However, there was one that had lights shining from above. J.B. and Joe both said, “Hey, this place looks open,” and simultaneously an attendant of the hotel/restaurant beckoned us to follow him upstairs. All I can say is “WOW.” We were ushered up seven or eight floors to a rooftop that was higher than all of the other rooftops around, nestled between the gorgeous looming sights of the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque, both absolutely beautiful in architecture and grandeur. As if that wasn’t enough, we were the only people on the rooftop, so we had our own private 5-star dining experience. My favorite part was right around sunset when the speakers of Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque rang out with their calls to prayer. Both calls to prayer echoed back and forth between the two religious sites, and it is really indescribable how beautiful, alluring, and spiritual it was to be standing up there. Luckily, Joe took a video of it, so you can experience it, too!
The following morning, Joe and I left on a Semester at Sea trip to Western Turkey. Joe was the trip leader for this adventure, along with 27 other faculty, staff and students. We had a really great group of people – very mellow folks who were interested to learn about the ancient sites of Western Turkey. As one student so poignantly put it: “There were no douche-bags on our trip.” Ha! What this comment is referring to is that there can sometimes be a select group of students who end up partying too hard during the trip, ignore the guide, arrive late for everything, and are generally a pain in the butt. We didn’t have any of that.
Our flight from Istanbul to Izmir brought us into some phenomenal weather! Our entire trip was full of blue sky and sunshine, with temperatures between 50-65 during the day. Chilly but refreshing. It is more difficult for me to write about all of the ruins we saw because I am by no means a history buff. However, I can say that we were able to walk down the marble streets of ancient Romans and Greeks, climb the steps of ancient amphitheatres from the 4th century, and walk amongst the looming ionic columns and structures of Ephesus. All of this will be better appreciated through the pictures, so I’ll defer to Joe on most of this.
Our experience was similar to that of seeing the ancient pyramids – it is absolutely incredible to see and learn about the histories of these ancient cultures that have literally been unearthed from the ground to tell stories of the past. The only time I had to really stretch my imagination was when we visited the remains of one of the seven ancient wonders of the world – The Temple of Athena – which was – literally – a lone column standing amidst a field of pieces of marble. Much of the ancient temple had been carried away and used to build other structures and buildings, so I had a hard time envisioning this massive temple from one remaining teetering column with a giant bird’s nest sitting on top. Joe found it interesting, so I tried to follow his lead.
Our second day in western Turkey took us to the smaller seaside town of Kusadasi, which is set on the Aegean Sea. A very beautiful town that we imagine is perpetually brimming with tourists in the summer. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to stay there very long before we were off to more ruins and museums.
Have I told you about the food yet? YUM! We got to sample many Turkish treats such as Turkish tea (yummy), Turkish coffee (mudlike), Turkish pizza (yummy), lots and lots of breads and cheeses, lentil soups, hummus, delicious salads, and crepes. Very similar to Greek cuisine in a lot of ways, but unique as well.
We also went to a carpet-weaving factory, as Turkish silk carpets are a hot commodity. While the factory provided a fascinating look at the process involved in making a handmade Turkish carpet, the prices were – um – not exactly in our price range, so we apologize if you were expecting a carpet for the holidays. The silk-on-silk carpets were – no joke – approximately $25,000. Do you have anything smaller?? Oh, yes, that one over there that one could place on an end table? That’s only $4500!!! They were beautiful, but c’mon people.
Once we arrived back at the ship from our trip, we had one more day in Istanbul to explore. Joe and I went inside the Aya Sofya and Blue Mosque which were amazingly massive and intricately decorated with paintings, mosaics, stained glass, beautiful archways and unique lighting. Again, we walked miles around the old city and ventured into the “new” city – the area around Taksim Square. When we arrived there, I felt as if I had been immediately transported into the Times Square of Istanbul. All of a sudden it felt like the Turkish culture had been absorbed into highrise 4-star hotels, McDonalds & Pizza Huts, department stores, and the hustle bustle of a modern city. It was interesting to experience, but I definitely enjoyed the old city feel. Before going back to the ship, Joe decided to go to a Turkish football (soccer) game. WOW. The scene in the stadium could barely be described by the words CRAZILY INTENSE. I’d say the ratio of men to women around the stadium was approximately 100:1, and the testosterone levels were through the roof. There were riot police everywhere, men pounding beers outside the stadium walls (no alcohol inside), and men sprinting to get to the game on time. I felt incredibly uncomfortable and out of place as a female in this particular environment, so my friend Kate & I watched the game from above on a street that overlooked the stadium. You could hear the crowd cheering in unison from many, many blocks away. It was amazing. Joe can tell you more about it.
Well, it’s getting late and I need to go to bed so I can wake up bright and early to see us pull into Dubrovnik. This is one of the most exciting ports for our voyage because the captain of our ship is from Dubrovnik, but his family hasn’t seen him sail into Croatia for over 14 years. So, his plan – at around 0730 tomorrow morning – is to blow the horn repeatedly as we come around the bend by his home on the coast. Hopefully we’ll be able to see his family waving to him!
Hope all is well over in your neck of the world!!
We miss all of you but will see you SOON!

ahhhh Internet

Hey Kids... sorry if you have been going thru withdrawls without any updates but we were pretty darn busy in Turkey and then had no internet access for a few days... sorry!!!

Turkey was ... very ROMAN... at least for us. We did a big trip that took us to many amazing ancient Roman sites... good times!

Trying very hard to get all these pics up but it is a challenge... but you can now go see the pics from Alexandria.

http://joeandjoy.com/alex/index.html

and I'm gonna work on the Cairo ones... but there are a ton of those and a ton from Turkey... oh man ... plus we are in Croatia tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2nd to last country... very crazy.

Oh and something I will write about briefly is my trip to a soccer game the last night in Istanbul... wow... we had passed the stadium on a walk around town and noticed that it looked like they were getting ready for a game so we asked around and found out that there was one that night at 7. We continued our walk and headed back to the stadium around 6:30... you could feel the energy in the air. It was right out of the news... 12 soccer fans get trampled to death at a soccer game in Brazil... I was with Joy and Kate and they did not feel to comfortable with all the testosterone and I even felt a little unnerved by it. We had decided not to go in and were walking up the hill to a space where you could watch from the road, when I realized I might not get another shot like this so I decided I would go in and go to the top of the stands where there wasn't many folks. It was AMAZING! The crowd was singing the whole time. I unfortunately had to leave with 15 min still left to play because there was thick tension in the air. The home team was down 0-1 and they were clearly the better team, so the crowd was very anxious for a goal. Wish I had some pictures but I decided it would be a bad move to bring my camera in.

ok... more later...

joe

Monday, November 06, 2006

En Route to Turkey

Well… we were supposed to leave for Istanbul at 2300 two nights ago, but we didn’t end up leaving until about 1830 last night. The seas were SUPER rough as a result of major storms in the Mediterranean, so our captain kept stalling our departure - for good reason! As a side note, our captain and his team are awesome guys. After hanging out with them at the Captain’s dinner, I feel totally comfortable chatting it up with them anytime I see them. Before meeting them, they seemed like untouchable high-ranking officers – but now – they’re just regular guys out at sea! Our captain is from Croatia, so I know that he is really looking forward to steering us into Dubrovnik. Anyway – as we finally began to pull away from the dock last night, one could look out past the breakwater and see all of the large white caps!! My body was clearly not ready for the rough seas – I had my first major bout of seasickness. Boo. I guess it was bound to happen eventually.
I felt like total crap until curled up on my bathroom floor and felt the coolness of the tiles on my body. There was something about that spot that really helped, but I also knew that Joe would probably be a little disturbed by the fact that I was sleeping on our teeny-tiny bathroom floor. So… I forced myself to get up and moved into the little hallway outside our bathroom door and curled up by our closet. This spot was also helpful, so I slept on the floor all night! Pretty funny. I actually slept really well, except for the few moments when the ship would lurch into the air and then CRASH down from the front end. I was expecting to be a little scared, but it was actually kind of cool (once I felt better).

Anyway – we are VERY excited to be on our way to Istanbul! Everyone was getting very antsy to get underway because we had all been stuck on the ship in the port of Alexandria for almost 24 hours. It’s no fun to look out the window at a city and not be able to get off the ship. Istanbul sounds like a fascinating city, so everyone is psyched. Joe and I are going on a 3-day/2 night Semester at Sea trip all over Western Turkey, which sounds like a great trip. I’m really looking forward to it.

Life on the ship has transformed for me into a much more relaxed, almost cruise-like experience. Imagine that! Having the Sea’Lympics over with was a major load off, so I’m trying to take on a few other projects to help lessen some of my colleagues’ loads. Other that, I’m trying to hang out with the students on my sea, read books, and enjoy all of the amazing aspects of being on a ship… I don’t want it to end!!!

Until next time…

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Stuck in Alexandria

We were supposed to leave Alexandria at 10:00 pm last night, it is now 1:30 pm the next day and we are still tied up to the port. The Mediterranean Sea is a little on the rough side, so rough that the Port is closed, we could leave if we wanted to but we would not get a Pilot from the Port to take us out and once we got into the open seas the swells are large. Rumor has it that two ships "crashed" last night, not really sure what that means. At 2pm we are supposed to reevaluate the weather... so we shall see.

I've decided to split up the Egypt pictures into three sections: Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria. Because Suez has the least amount of pictures I've put that up first.

http://joeandjoy.com/suez/index.html

It isn't real exciting but we had an amazing sunset... of which I took way to many pictures of.

Once I get Joy's pictures of Alexandria and Cairo I can work on those two pages... Might have Alex done by the end of today (store isn't open so I'm bored) but Cairo is going to be big so it may take awhile.

The sad news is that our summer has ended... the weather in Alexandria is not too bad, cloudy and windy but Turkey is in the high 40s, low 50s so folks are starting to realize they should have brought some cold weather gear. I forsee a run on sweatshirt in the store tomorrow.

Hope everyone is well!!!!

joe

Friday, November 03, 2006

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Greetings from the Alexandria Library... which is amazing. It was just completed in 2004, I think and it is simply beautiful. By far the coolest library i've ever been in. The architecture is what makes it, I really have no idea how the collection is, I do know however that it has the second largest hard-drive in the world and has a picture of every website in the world (so they say)

http://172.16.0.6/English/Overview/overview.htm to check it out. You can tell by the picture how amazing the architecture is.

So far Alexandria has been good, we have a cute little hotel room on the sea, it overlooks the Stanley Bridge, we had Pizza Hut for lunch, which had an amazing view of the Mediterranean and we both wanted pizza. Then we toured some catacombs, and the grounds of an ancient Roman city, complete with large granite pillar. Then walked thru a street market that seemed to go on forever, someplace few foreigners must go, based on the looks we were getting. Finally got a cab to take us to the Library, very nice guy that spoke zero english but got us to the library, almost safe and sound. Right as we were about to get out of the cab... BAAAM... we had a little bumper bender... nothing hurt but the two cars and things got very heated as we tried to slip away from the commotion after handing the driver some money. He even tried to give me change... such a nice guy.

Not sure what we will do for dinner, there is a little ceasar's right next to the pizza hut... yum. We are celebrating our 4 year anniversary here since we will be at sea on the 6th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister... hope you have a good day.
also Adam Warrington's bday but i'm not sure he reads this.

Hope the baby stevens is here... can't wait to meet the little one!!!

hasta ...

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Egypt & the Suez Canal

I am writing to you from the narrow passageway of the Suez Canal! There are only about 150 of us who are making the transit on the ship through the canal. The others are off frolicking around Egypt. A tough decision to make… to stay in Egypt and find your way to Alexandria on your own, or experience something that not many people do – transit the Suez canal on a ship! Joe and I chose to do the trip not only because it seemed pretty intriguing, but also because some of our favorite people are here on the ship with us. Making the trip up the Suez definitely marks a pretty significant point in our voyage… venturing into the Mediterranean Sea makes it seem like we’re approaching the beginning of the end of our voyage, but I’m trying not to think about it that way.
Anyway – going through the canal should take anywhere from 12 to 18 hours. We started in the line-up of ships at about 10:00am, so we’ll be watching it unfold all day and into the evening. There are a series of three locks in the canal, but I’m told that one can’t really tell when the ship is in one. As I look out off the back deck of the ship I see a vast desert to the west and the city of Port Suez to the east. It is incredible and surreal to be here.
Speaking of surreal experiences, Egypt has – for me – been one of the most unreal ports we’ve arrived in. The history and culture is so ancient, it is difficult to wrap my brain around how OLD everything is!!! Joe and I went on a two-day Semester at Sea trip into Cairo, which was about an hour & a half away from where our ship was docked. It felt like we were traveling through the southwest – the desert is so vast here, but I’m not used to seeing the desert rolling into a great big sea. The Red Sea provides a lot of blue in contrast to the endless dust, brown and orange earth of Egypt.
The first sight of the pyramids in the distance once we arrived in Cairo was absolutely unbelievable. The pyramids are the only wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world still in existence. They are over 4500 – forty five HUNDRED – years old. The first pyramid we visited is called the Step Pyramid because (shockingly, I know) it was built in the shape of large steps. The construction of the pyramids is mind-blowing; particularly considering the wheel had not even been brought to Egypt at the time of the pyramid construction. Most of the granite stone blocks used to construct the pyramids ranged from about two to fifteen TONS. Until the 19th century, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest building in the world! Anyway – we visited the Step Pyramid, and then went to the Egyptian museum which was almost as fascinating as the Hong Kong museum. I’ll spare you museum details, but – again – absolutely incredible to think about how intricate, beautiful and detailed all of the artifacts, jewelry and tombs were… I was blown away.
In the evening we went to “The Sound & Light Show” at the Great Pyramids. This is something that sounded incredibly hokey and cheesy, so I wasn’t expecting much. I didn’t understand why something so historically amazing needed a sound and light show, BUT… just as expectations always help to change your perspective, we actually truly enjoyed the show! It was definitely Vegas-esque, but it was well done, very informative, and illuminated (literally & figuratively) the intrigue of the pyramids. We were very much looking forward to seeing the pyramids at sunrise the following morning.
Our wake-up call was at 4:15 the next morning, so we were a little groggy. The pyramids were located very close to our hotel, so we didn’t have far to travel for the sunrise. In fact, I was shocked to see how close modern civilization bumps up next to the pyramids. It’s an odd sight to be out in the streets of Giza and feel like you can reach out and touch the pyramids.
The sunrise was incredible. They had arranged a special sunrise experience for us at the pyramids, so our Semester at Sea group was the only group there. I won’t try to describe it… Joe has some sweet pictures of it. We spent the entire morning roaming around the three main pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We were also lucky enough to be one of 100 people per day to go into the Great Pyramid. It was almost like being in a cave at first, then we had to shimmy through a claustrophobic tunnel up into one of the shafts that leads to the top of the pyramid. We got to stand in the room where the king’s tomb once lay… is that amazing?!? It felt very spiritual to me. The echoes of the past were definitely present.
After leaving the pyramids, we went to one of the local shopping bazaars in Islamic Cairo. The markets are always one of the most culturally interesting places to me… you really get a sense of the day to day life of Egyptians. It’s very powerful to be going about your daily business, and then to hear the “call to prayer” for the Muslim community. It was very interesting for me to be in a Muslim country after studying Islam and the Qu’ran in grad school. The Middle East is not somewhere I ever thought I’d be… but now that I’m here, I realize what I already knew – that the Middle East is not the stereotypes we hear on the news and in the media of the west. They are beautiful, wonderful amazing people whose culture has not been overly tainted by western influences. While I definitely struggled to comprehend the oppression against women (through my western lenses) and the widespread military presence, I also gained a respect for the conservatism of dress and culture and the importance of religion in everyday life.
Joe and I spent one more night and day in Cairo before returning to the ship late last night. What a great city. We could have stayed longer, but we are off to Alexandria! By late tonight, we’ll be in the Mediterranean Sea!!!
LOVE TO ALL OF YOU!!
Shout-outs:
JOY & JOE’S PARENTAL UNITS: Thanks for being such avid readers of our blog and for commenting so often… we love it!!
CRISTINA – We finally got your card from China – thank you, thank you!!
SARAH & DANNY – No worries about Croatia – we totally understand. You will be missed, though!! We’ll have to plan a different international adventure together!
TNT FRIENDS – KICK SOME BUTT out there in all of your training & events. You’ll have to help whip Joe & I back into shape when we get home. My longest stint on the elliptical machine is about 20 minutes and I’ve only been on the treadmill twice. DOH!
HEIDI & THE PROGRAMS CREW – I miss you guys!!! Hope all is well at C8!!

Friday, October 27, 2006

New Page

so some of you might have noticed that joeandjoy.com has a new look. It is much easier for me to update when I put new pictures up... speaking of which if you tried to go to the India link it wouldn't have worked until now and it still won't work all the way for awhile... it is uploading as I type and it takes a little while.

Halloween dance tomorrow night... not sure what I'm going to be yet, if anything...

We are now in the Red Sea and yesterday we sailed within 2 miles of Yemen, which we could see out our port. Learning a lot about the history of Egypt, which I, like most of the other countries, knew nothing about.

The third global studies test is tomorrow... plan on taking it but I haven't done all the reading for this one so it might be ugly.

Had a noon intramurl basketball game today... way too hot to be playing basketball at noon on the red sea. It was a good game but we couldn't pull it out at the end. I play with RD Gail and a professor named Michael Pearson. We aren't that bad but we usually get out sized and we have no subs. I think that might have been our last game as we didn't make the next round.
Also played my first volleyball game on the ship last night, was a little dark but still a lot of fun.

*** just had a Deja vu moment, but I can't imagine ever writing about playing volleyball on a ship in the middle of the red sea***

Ok, I'm gonna go now... keep checking the India picture page, should be working sometime today.

http://joeandjoy.com/india/index.html

Thursday, October 26, 2006

INDIA

I know, I know! Could I take any longer to write about India?!
It’s funny because I used to be SO BUSY on the ship that I’d make myself write a blog in the twelve minutes of free-time I had each day… and NOW… I have so much free time, I keep putting it off!!
Anyway – here goes…
So, as I alluded to earlier, India was a tough port for many people. (Thank you, Nancy, for suggesting the trip to Erode – it was definitely the way to go!!!)
Even though we knew that we would encounter some harsh realities in India, many people were not emotionally prepared for the human hardships they would face on a daily basis – extreme poverty, rampant begging, etc. At our previous ports, when everyone returns to the ship during our last day in port, we hear endless accounts of positive experiences, adventures, quests and heart-to-heart moments with local people. This time was different. I heard a lot of: “I don’t like India,” or “I’ll never go back to India.” This was very sad for me to hear for a number of reasons. First, Joe and I had a totally different experience of India and would DEFINITELY go back someday. Second, I was disappointed that so many people (students, staff, and faculty alike) would so easily write off an entire country because of a few tough experiences. Granted, some folks who went to the Taj Mahal were burdened by a trip that was WAY TOO LONG and involved way too much travel and too little cultural immersion. But still… it makes me sad to think that some people will never go back because they didn’t get the chance to see another side of India – beyond some of the touristy spots that do not reflect the soul of India.
It had been recommended to me by my friend Nancy to do a homestay in one of the rural villages of southern India. This turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice on our voyage so far. I was the trip leader for a group of 30 students, staff & faculty to a town named Erode, southwest of the port city of Chennai. Chennai itself is the 4th largest city in all of India, so it is definitely an overwhelming, big, hustle-bustle city with fast-paced, slightly unnerving rickshaw rides all over the city. I can’t really describe what a rickshaw is, so I’ll wait for Joe to show y’all pictures of them. (P.S. Brian Holtz, you would want one of these rickshaws as your personal vehicle. They are awesome!)
Anyway - On the evening of our first night in port, my group traveled by sleeper train overnight to Erode. The sleeper train was so much fun! We had heard nightmares of bed bugs in the blankets on the train (yikes!), but we didn’t experience any bug attacks. We woke up from our little train beds at about 6:00am with bags under our eyes, but ready to experience rural India. We were met by our gracious guides who took us by motor coach into their small village of Jayaramapuram. When we reached the village, we were greeted by our host family and welcomed into their beautiful home. Our hosts brought out endless cups of hot tea & coffee, which immediately warmed our bellies and our hearts. The heads of the household were joined by their son and daughter in law, and a few other family members who served as our guides, friends, and hosts for our trip. They were amazingly accommodating and were willing to answer endless questions and tell many stories about their lives, arranged marriages, Hinduism, the caste system, etc. This particular family has been hosting Semester at Sea groups for 18 YEARS!! They love the opportunity to share India with the students and, as our wonderful friend Bharathi put it, “send more ambassadors for India out into the world.”
On the first day they took us on a tour of their farm, to the rice paddies, and adventured with us to the local markets. In between our outings, we were treated to some AMAZING homemade Indian food. Let me tell ya – I was in vegetarian’s paradise in India! The food is incredible, and since the cow is sacred in India – no cow meat and very little other meat is served. For dinner we were served a traditional Indian dinner on banana leaves. We all ate with our right hand – not our left because it is considered offensive. We got very accustomed to eating with our right hand! Did I tell you how good the food is??!! Coconut rice, chutneys, curries, naan bread, and endless yumminess!!! I was in food heaven!
We played games, told stories, and just hung out with the family and their children.
The following day we had to leave our wonderful host family, but it wasn’t without drawn-out goodbyes. We were sad to have to leave our gracious hosts, but it was time to join up with our guides and travel to the Bhavani temple in Erode. This temple was incredible… intricate, detailed Hindu stories and gods depicted on buildings… beautiful shrines… and an elephant that blesses each person that gives him (or her?) rupees! (see pictures).
We also had the pleasure of visiting two different Indian schools – one was a school for physically challenged young children, which was an incredible experience but way too short! The children performed for us – dances, martial arts and more – and then we performed for them, too! We had developed a routine the night before which included some acrobatic moves, an African stomp dance, and a traditional dance from Java.
Next we traveled to a large school in Erode to experience a day in the life of an Indian student. It was so fun! We got to look around the classrooms – 4000 students attend the school!! – talk with students, play a little basketball, see more traditional performances, and then – get ready for it – for our performance (we were not aware we had to perform)… our group pulled off a synchronized, country-style “Electric Slide” on stage in front of the whole school! It was hilarious.
Some of the students from the school accompanied us throughout the day, visiting temples, local factories, etc… this was really the highlight of the whole trip… to have such incredible travel companions who were so willing to share themselves and their culture. It was wonderful.
As the day came to end, we knew it was time to leave but none of us wanted to get back on the sleeper train. Our trip was too short, but we’ll always remember it!!
We slept like rocks on the way back, had another early wake-up call on the train, and arrived back at the ship around 6:30am. Joe and I took a nap and then traveled to Mamalapurum (south of Chennai on the coast) with the Exec. Dean and his wife, their son, and our friends J.B. and Theresa. Mamalapurum is a coastal town that has a resorty feel to it. It was very beautiful and we got to visit some ancient ruins that date back to 500-600 AD, yet were only discovered very recently. Joe has some great pictures of these…
All in all, we had an incredible experience in India. Our homestay provided us with the opportunity to see another side of India outside of Chennai and to truly interact and “just be” with our newfound friends in rural India. We definitely plan to return someday!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

No Pics but more Video

So I don't have the pics ready yet from India but I've got a little video clip of some of the things we saw. It is really short but it will give you a little taste at least.

http://joeandjoy.com/india.mov

I've been hoping to totally redesign the website to make it easier for me to update and for you all to find everything but I can't seem to find the time or rather the energy to do it. But we still have 4 days until Egypt so maybe.

I'm currently reading a book called "The 13.5 lives of Captain Bluebear: a novel" found it in India and it is pretty amusing. Not sure if you can find it in the states or not but you might be able to get it online and I highly recommend it. Those of you in santa cruz can borrow it when I get home. The books I've read so far goes like this:
Populaiton 485 - so so book about rural life in Wisconsin... Kristi and Brad might like it
Best Women's Travel writing 2005 (I think) - thanks Brian and Nicole it was great
Norwegien Wood - Japanese author... supposed to be the most widely read book in Japan and I enjoyed it.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - given to Joy by Marilyn... she hasn't read it yet but I liked it very much.
Burmese Days - I think George Orwell's first (we all read 1984, I'm sure) It was a pretty interesting book about what life was like in Colonial Burma under British control.
Now on Bluebear...

Ok the video is up so I'm gonna sign off!!!

joe

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Captain's Dinner last night

Last night we finally got to go to a Captain's Dinner... I think it was the last one and it turned out to be a pretty good time. Pretty much what it boils down to is a fancy shmancy dinner with all the high ranking ship crew, faculty, staff, and adult passengers. We were not at the captain's table but at the Chief Engineers and I got to sit next to Biff, who is an adult passenger from Seattle and she is a hoot. The food was very good and I actually drank 3 glasses of wine.

Unfortunately, I was pooped and didn't last long after the dinner.

So it isn't there yet but within the next 12 hours (It is 3:07 a.m. in california right now) I hope to have this video up... if doesn't work the first time you try, wait a few hours and try again.

http://joeandjoy.com/eledance.mov

peace... joe

Monday, October 23, 2006

Sea’Lympics

Whew. What a day!
The Sea’Lympics was a huge success, so I’m feeling pretty good right now. It was a great day for the whole shipboard community – lots of smiles and laughter… and some pretty amazing, crazy energy!!! I think we needed a day of fun, particularly since India was pretty tough on some folks, and also because we’ve had some negative energy recently with 5 students being discontinued from the voyage.
It was hilarious to see everyone up and awake by 7am – out practicing for their events, yelling their cheers and dressing like fools! Usually we can’t drag the students out of bed for Global Studies at 9:20, but for Sea’Lympics… it was no problem.
One of the best parts of the day for me was that I got to be “the voice” for the day. For those of you who have done SAS before, you know what I mean! It’s fun to be the one who gets to make all of the announcements over the loud speakers broadcasted throughout the entire ship.
I was running around literally all day – from 8am to 11:30pm – just making sure that everything was running smoothly, people were happy, and that each event was as fair as it possibly could be.
Just so you have an idea of how this works, there are 9 “seas” and 9 Resident Directors that go along with each sea. In addition to the 9 seas, we dubbed the remainder of the shipboard community (the faculty, staff, family, and other adult passengers) the “Pacific Ocean.” So, there were 10 teams competing all day in different events ranging from tug-o-war to synchronized swimming to egg toss…
Some highlights:
o My sea – The Caspian Sea – bringing it home with 1st place wins in dodgeball, volleyball, and root beer pong… gives you a sense of my sea, huh?
o My boss – the Director of Student Life – winning first place in Ping Pong (with his fancy-schmancy $60 ping pong paddle!)
o The executive dean, academic dean, global studies professor, doctor, and a few professors doing a HILARIOUS synchronized swim routine in the pool. I could not breathe, I was laughing so hard.
o An absolutely ENDLESS game of 10-cup root beer pong – we’re talking 4 hours long… which MY SEA WON. (proud mama).
o Our incredibly intricate obstacle course, which involved spinning around a bat, pushing one cheerio on the ground with your nose, crab walking, playing Catch Phrase, tossing water balloons from one deck to another, eating peanut-butter filled saltine crackers, crawling under deck chairs, and finally shooting free throws… it was a little dramatic to try and judge this event, but everything ended up being okay. Small controversies, but I kept trying to remind people that the Sea’Lympics are a day to have FUN, not to get crazy over winning.
o Joe almost bringing in the bronze at the hot dog eating contest (yuck!!) It was absolute CHAOS at the hot dog eating contest. I had to yell at the top of my lungs to get people to shut up so we could start the competition – people were cheering for their seas SO LOUD! Each person had to eat as many hot dogs as they could in 3 minutes. Of course, after 3 minutes we had a tie for 1st place (14 hot dogs – no buns), so I had them do a 1-minute playoff. Not a good idea. They tied again (4 more each), so I just gave them both first place. I wasn’t about to make them eat another freakin’ hot dog.
o The Talent Show to close out the evening was definitely one of the highlights. My sea did a skit called “Joy’s Night Out in Vegas” which started out with one of my students singing an “Ode to Joy” on the acoustic guitar, which had… um… slightly inappropriate lyrics. He is an amazing singer, so people were very impressed & laughing hysterically. Then some of my girls performed a fancy ladies dance – Vegas-style. And THEN… 7 of my most burly, athletic, testosterone-filled boys performed a choreographed “Chip ‘n Dales” type dance that they had practiced for 3 days straight. It was H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. I love – absolutely love – my sea. I start to get teary-eyed when I even think, for a second, about having to say good-bye to some of these guys. You form such a different sort of bond on an adventure like this.
o We were winning the whole thing for much of the day, but in the end – we got beat in the Talent Show, and came in 2nd place overall. My sea had lots of sad, puppy dog faces, but I told them that they are ALWAYS number #1 to me!!!!

It was, by far, my most favorite day on the ship so far. But… I’m glad it’s over!!!
I know, I know… I haven’t even written about India yet, but don’t worry – it’s coming!!!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Sea 'Lympics Today

Today is Sea 'Lympics day which is very exciting, as well as the biggest thing in Joy's job description... so she is a little on the busy side. I will be competing in Tug-o-war, Flip Cup, and the Hot Dog eating contest.

Should be fun.

Since folks are wanting us to post more things, I'm really going to give it a try during this long stretch to Eygpt...

Today you have a fun treat of watching some cane ball in action.

http://joeandjoy.com/caneball.mov

The quality is not great cause it would take way to long for me to post it if I made it big but you will get the idea.

Hope everyone is well... Joy sends her love and she will put something on tomorrow when she is less stressed.

Oh and finally we are starting to see some wildlife ... yesterday there were some whales (which I missed) and just 20 min. ago I saw some dolphins chasing a school of fish around. Good Times.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Looking out on Sri Lanka...


(tried to post this last night but it didn't work... so here it is now)

If you have been paying any attention what-so-ever to the goings on in the world you will know that Sri Lanka is in the midst of a "civil" war. In the last 2 days there have been a couple of battles that have happened at sea. I kind of thought we would swing out way away from the island but as it turns out we just spent the last 3 hours looking out on its eastern coast. Many thoughts went through my mind, especially as we past all the small fishing boats. People going about there business, trying to make a living, as their home land is in constant strife. It also is the coastline that was hit so hard by the tsunami 2 years ago.

Sad news on the ship is that we lost a fabulous staff member. The amazing NAM, has gone to be with her family in Florida , and help her mother battle cancer. We will miss her very much but she will be glad to know that folks kept their word last night and had a gin and tonic for her. It was bound to happen sooner or later but with Nam being gone, I have volunteered my services to work her DUTY shifts... just can't get away from the Res Life life. :0)

There is a lot to say about India but you all haven't even seen the Burma pics yet so I will save writing about India for another night but the long and short of it is WOW... in good and bad ways... WOW.

So with any luck the Burma pics will be up before I go to bed (23:19 here at the moment)

http://joeandjoy.com/burma/index.html

A couple of quick shout outs:
B. Stevens: YOU READY????
White: Congrats... when do you leave?
Upper Quad RAs: keep on keepin on... you all rock
Holtz: I got Apps
David P: Hope your feeling well and will be hiking soon
Karen P: twins and mets... DOH
The Fam: Love Ya!
Yum Yum: We love ya and miss ya already!
M Stevens: what happened to your blog?
Sarah W., Sarah H, Christina B - Thanks for the mail... keep it coming

Sunday, October 15, 2006

FYI... we made it to India

sorry for the short update and no pics but things are just happening so quick. We are already in India and WOW... is all I can say for now.

We are very sad because one of our favorite people on the ship (and in life) is leaving us on Thursday. RD Nam is flying back to the states to be with her family. She found out her mother has cancer and it is fairly far progressed. We will miss her very much and are sending good vibes out into the universe for her mother.

More on India and of course pics in a few days!!!!

joe

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

BURMA

We have a day and a half left in this beautiful country and I don’t ever want to leave. The anticipation and trepidation I felt as we arrived in Yangon has been transformed into pure amazement and bliss. I have been looking forward to visiting Burma ever since I began researching its history and culture. I was especially anticipating the opportunity to be in a country that is 89% Buddhist. It is so apparent that their religion is intertwined with their culture and humanity. Every single person you meet on the street or in the market greets you with a humongous smile and a wave. While the country is stricken by widespread poverty and oppression by the government, there is not a poverty of spirit.
The past few days have been the best of the voyage for me. Yesterday Joe and I visited the Shwedagon Pagoda in the early morning, which was a very powerful experience for me. What an enchanting, beautiful place. The shimmering gold main stupa towers 326 feet above the city of Yangon and is visible for miles. The Shwedagon Pagoda is considered one of the wonders of the religious world. The very top of the stupa is encrusted with 4531 diamonds, the largest of which is a single 76-karat diamond! The entire grounds of the Pagoda are beautiful and very powerful. I felt as if I could spend the entire day there, looking at all of the hundreds and hundreds of different Buddhas, carvings, and ancient architecture. It is a very holy place for the Burmese people. Many people come to the pagoda in the morning and evening to say prayers to the Buddha. There are different statues of the Buddha encircling the stupa, for each day of the week. Depending on which day of the week one was born, the person offers cooling water to the Buddha by pouring small cups of water over the Buddha statue’s head. Each person pours the number of cups as his/her age, plus one year. The extra year isn’t for good luck, but for the (almost) year one spends in his/her mother’s womb. All of this is deepening my passion for Buddhism and reminding me that I need to reintegrate a regular practice into my daily life, now, and when I return home. I am thankful.
Next we visited the Kalaywa Monastery where we got to interact with about 200 young novice monks and nuns in their school. They learn English throughout their education, but they had been practicing even more knowing that we would be coming to visit. They had lots of questions for us! What is your name? Where are you from? What is your parents’ name? What is the name of your ship? Please sing a song for us! Please tell me your favorite hobby…
It was so fun to sit and talk with them. We also got to play a giant game of tug-o-war with the monks. (Joe has great pictures of all of this!) Then, they taught us the traditional Burmese sport of Chinlon (Cane Ball), which is similar to hacky-sack, but played with a woven cane ball. They were VERY good at it! They let us try to play with them, but we weren’t too talented… except for Joe, who is always good at games. Joe also showed the monks how to juggle, which they loved! J It is difficult not to fall in love with these people. If only you could be here, you would see.
Today, I had the pleasure of leading a trip to a small rural orphanage. The orphanage has 2 main one-room schoolhouses, a meditation room, and a separate kitchen. The kids were SO HAPPY to see us! Right when our bus pulled up, they ran out of the school with big smiles on their faces. They greeted us with a traditional song of well wishes and welcome. We were so happy to be with them! When we arrived in their schoolhouse they offered us a demonstration of their prayers and chants to the Buddha, they recited their alphabet and lessons, and sang us some traditional songs. At one point they sang their national anthem and expected us to return the gesture. Our national anthem isn’t the easiest song to pull-off on a whim, but I think we did a pretty good job. Then, we got to PLAY with the students! This was the best part. I sat and drew pictures with a bunch of different kids, while other students demonstrated how to make origami, how to play the recorder, and how to play ping-pong with mini paddles. It was so fun! Everyone was glowing with happiness. It was very difficult to leave once it was time to go.
I had already decided that I was going to try to make it back to the ship in time to leave on a different trip back to the Kalaywa Monastery to see the Buddhist Novication Ceremony. I made it just in the nick of time, as my bus returned at 12:59, and the next trip was leaving at 1:00. Each male in Burma, in accordance with tradition, must become a monk during his lifetime. Before they become monks, they must participate in a Novication ceremony. On this day, the boys are dressed in glittering clothes to look like a prince. The boys’ families and relatives (and us!) follow the procession accompanied by singing and dancing. The journey symbolizes the Buddha’s life as a Prince, which he renounced in his search for enlightenment. At the end of the procession, the boys recite some ritual prayers with the head monk and then they have their head shaved. Once their heads are shaved, each boy asks for admittance into the monastery. Once accepted, each boy is given his monastic robes and remains at the monastery away from his parents. Tradition is that a boy does not enter the monkhood before the age of 7, but there were some very young boys at this particular novication ceremony. Our guide said that some families choose to have their son enter the monkhood at an early age because it is considered good fortune to have a monk in the family, particularly if a relative is in ill health. There were two boys today who were barely 2 years old!
I did not expect that our group would actually participate in the procession, but it was explained to us that our donation allowed some of the families to “give” their sons to the monastery. So, we are considered symbolic parents in the ceremony as a result. The whole experience was one of the best of my life. It is so amazing to see how interwoven Buddhism is in the lives of the people. Their rituals and ceremonies revolve around family and community and permeate every single person. I felt honored to be a part of it.
We’ll tell you more stories soon!
MISS YOU ALL!
A BIG thank you to Oakes College and to Sarah & Danny! It was so fun to receive your cards in Burma!!! Joe says Crown and College Eight better get on it… Oakes is showing you up!!!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Vietnam is UP...

THEY SHOULD WORK NOW!!! GIVE THEM A TRY!!!!

http://joeandjoy.com/vietnam/index.html

for pics

http://joeandjoy.com/vietnam/sand.mov

for movie

ALMOST TO BURMA

I forgot to mention in my last blog that have been at sea without our ship’s doctor since Vietnam. Both Dr. Bob and his wife were caught in the typhoon that hit central Vietnam the day we left port, so they were stranded with no way to get back to the ship in time. The ship doesn’t wait for anyone… not even Dr. Bob! He and his wife flew back to Saigon and will be meeting us in Burma tomorrow. We have two nurse practitioners on board, and the ship’s crew doctor is also available in case of any emergencies, so don’t worry… we’re in good hands.
I also forgot to mention that a lot of people on the ship were hoping we would cross the equator because, apparently, there is a nautical tradition to shave one’s head once you cross the equator. We made it to ONE degree of latitude after leaving Singapore, but never actually crossed the equator. Oh well… some other time, I guess.

BURMA/MYANMAR
I find this port to be the most fascinating, by far, of all the ports we will be journeying to, and we haven’t even arrived yet! When I first saw Myanmar on our voyage itinerary, I had absolutely no idea where it was located on a map, nor did I know that Burma was renamed Myanmar by the military regime currently in power. For those of you who don’t know Burma’s history (as I did not), the country has been under a military dictatorship since 1962. It is also is the home of the leader of the Burmese National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has won many prestigious international peace prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize. Apparently she has won more peace prized than even His Holiness the Dalai Lama! How is it possible that practically none of us have heard of her?
In 1988, the Burman people staged huge demonstrations against the military government and a military coup handed control to a new General, Saw Mung, who promised democratic elections in 1989. The elections took place, but Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest by the military. Despite her imprisonment, the National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory at the polls (over 80%).
Unfortunately, the military regime did not, and has never to this day, turned power over to the NLD. Aung San Suu Kyi has been released and re-imprisoned under house arrest 3 times since 1989 and remains under house arrest today.
The United States has imposed major sanctions on Burma, and we have been told that only approximately 8000 Americans visit Burma each year. We have also found out that no one can reach Burma, legally, by sea, so Semester at Sea must fall under some sort of exception policy in terms of travel and tourism. I will find out more tomorrow at the Diplomatic Briefing when we arrive in Burma.
The people of Burma, as evidenced by the election results in 1989, largely do not support nor do they represent their government. The people of Burma are primarily Theravada Buddhists and are under extreme pressure and threat not to speak ill of the military regime. We have already been warned not to engage any Burmese person in political conversations that may put them at risk. I have also heard that the Burmese people are absolutely wonderful, caring, beautiful people who are anxious to meet foreigners since they are so isolated and repressed.
I am SO curious about this country. I cannot wait to meet the people who live there! We will tell you more soon! We arrive at 1600 today but we don’t get off the ship until the next morning.

Heading into Burma...

So if you don't know anything about the history of Burma, now called Myanmar, I highly suggest looking it up. It is very interesting and something that we know very little about in the states. The only thing I had ever even heard regarding Burma, at least that stuck with me, is when J. Pedermen went a little crazy on Seinfeld and went to Burma to live in a cave. Pretty sad that that is all I knew about a country but I def. know more now.

Of all the places we are going this is probably the place with the most tension happening as we speak, though Turkey has been making more news. I think Joy has written more about the history so I won't repeat but it is really going to be interesting, I'm not sure if we will even feel it while we are there but the country is very unstable.

A Crown RA was kind enough to contact me this week and tell me his parents just moved to Yangon, which is where we will be porting. We are hoping to get together for dinner tomorrow night. They are teaching at an international school and I think just arrived two months ago.

My favorite thing at sea so far is when I step outside or look out a window and I am expecting to see water upon more water but instead I see an island. It is very exciting, I think because I have fantasies about being shipwrecked and it is handy to have an island near by to live on.

Students have their second global studies test today, I'm going to take it again, though I don’t think I will do as well on this one as I did on the last.

We didn't have any pirates thru the straights of Malaka but we were going so fast I don't think we were much of a target. You could have waterskied behind the ship, we were going 27 knots and we usually go 17. Good times.

Ok... chat with you later.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Viet Nam pics up...

The Viet Nam pages are now all the way done, thumbnails and all.

Also... I"m hoping to have a small video clip up in the next 15 min or so.

Try going to http://joeandjoy.com/vietnam/sand.mov

It should work if you have quicktime. The video is of crossing the street in Saigon and Sand Sledding.

Did we mention that the last 2 days we have had students doing Pirate watch? Good Times!!!

joe

No thumbs yet but we got Pics

so for all you die hards out there... I have Viet Nam pics up but they don't have any thumbnails yet so you will have to go through all the big pics... but I'm sure that is what you do anyway... here is the start

http://joeandjoy.com/vietnam/pages/page_1.html

need to go to bed it was 1 am then we lost an hour so not it is 12:22 a.m.
Later today we will lose a half an hour... that is right a half a freaking hour

Oh yeah and just in case you wanted to try it yourself, it is illegal to travel to Myanmar by ship... breaking the law, breaking the law

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Free Day at Sea!

The students have the day off from classes today, so it feels like a day off for us, too.
Last night we stopped in Singapore to refuel, but no one was allowed to get off the ship. We’ve heard a lot of stories that the straights around Singapore are the most dangerous in terms of potential pirate attacks, but we haven’t seen any yet!
I had SO MUCH FUN last night with my sea! We had our “Sea Social” in the Faculty/Staff Lounge. This is the only night when students are allowed in the faculty/staff lounge. It’s a special treat for them with drinks, snacks, and the chance to schmooze with the staff and faculty in the lounge. Everyone got all dressed up and looked beautiful!! It was awesome because a lot of the staff and faculty showed up to hang out with my students, which is relatively rare. We did karaoke, too, and one of my fave professors (and good friend), Alden, started off the evening singing “Baby, One More Time.” Ha! The students LOVED seeing their profs up there on the mic. I even got up and “sang” twice, too. Eventually, the students lost their embarrassment and started belting out the tunes. It was SO FUN. We ended the evening with an impromptu dance party until about midnight. Good times. I love my sea.

Viet Nam
I’m going to attempt to write about our experience in Viet Nam, but it is so jam-packed that I may not get to everything. You’ll have to ask us more about it the next time you see us. So… when we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), it was immediately evident that this was going to be a very different port experience than Japan or Hong Kong, particularly because of the history surrounding the war and the impact on the Vietnamese and Americans, alike. Joe and I had the pleasure of traveling with one of my fellow RDs, Nam, who is Vietnamese and visits Viet Nam on a regular basis. She has 4 siblings, all of whom were born in Viet Nam. She was the only one born in the States – in Minnesota, but her connection to Viet Nam is very strong and she speaks Vietnamese fluently.
I had been imagining the traffic in Saigon because I had heard so much about it, but you can’t really picture it until you’re walking through it. It truly is chaotic, but I LOVED IT. It totally gives you an adrenaline rush to cross the streets at rush hour. Luckily for you, Joe took a few videos of us crossing the streets, so you’ll get to experience it for yourself. Saigon is a city of 8 million people and 3 million motorbikes!! Motorbikes are the primary means of transportation, and they are EVERYWHERE. Helmets don’t seem to be a high priority, but it appears that helmet use is increasing. Some of the ship’s crew said that Saigon is nothing like it used to be. They said if I think it seems chaotic now, it was 10 times more chaotic 10 years ago. Wow.
The people of Viet Nam are wonderful. I watched as Nam was taken in by almost everyone we interacted with as immediate family. The people are so giving of themselves and their culture. We stayed in Saigon the first night and adventured around the city, eating delicious food – at a place translated as “Tasty Restaurant” – shopping at the markets, and drinking Vietnamese beer.
The following day we headed to the coastal town of Mui Ne, which turned out to be an unexpected 5-hour bus ride. The tour guide had told us it was a 2-hour bus ride, but – oh well. It was totally worth it. We found ourselves in a place that represented the exact opposite of the energy of Saigon. Mui Ne is a beachside resort area with white sand beaches, thatched-roof bungalows, and a slow, relaxed pace. We stayed in a bungalow literally right at the edge of the ocean. So beautiful! It was nice to get in the ocean and play in the waves in the South China Sea! We lucked out because it was a gorgeous partly-cloudy day, and it had been dumping rain for the past few days.
The food is SO YUMMY and SO CHEAP. We ate like royalty the entire time we were in Viet Nam, and the most we paid – in total – for the 5 of us to eat dinner was MAYBE the equivalent of 20 dollars. TOTAL.
I made the decision before coming on this adventure that I would bend a little on my vegetarianism, so that it wouldn’t be as difficult for me to eat in the countries we’d be visiting. I think this was a good choice because I’ve been able to eat seafood and enjoy the local cuisines.
The next day we went on an off-road adventure in the back of a rusty, old Jeep to the giant sand dunes of Mui Ne. I wasn’t sure we were going to make it after the 20th time the transmission grinded an awful sand-crunching noise through its gears. But! We made it and had a blast. Who knew we would be sand sledding down dunes of sand in Viet Nam?! You’ll understand when you see the pictures. We also got to see some red sand canyons, which reminded me of a miniature Bryce Canyon. All in all, we had a great time at Mui Ne… a little get-away for all of us!

Next it was back to the hustle-bustle of Saigon to go on our next adventure to the Cao Dai temple in Tay Ninh. Caodaism is a religion that originated in Viet Nam and attempted to create the ideal religion through the fusion of secular & religious philosophies from the East & West. Primarily, it combines the philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. There is an estimated three million followers of Caodaism, mainly in Viet Nam. (Thanks to Lonely Planet for helping me with the description.)
The Great Cao Dai Temple was a very interesting place, with beautiful multicolored murals, columns of dragons, and a ceiling full of sparkling stars. There are some other random aspects of Cao Daism that I need to read more about in order to understand, such as why Victor Hugo is one of the important figures. It was a little confusing, but very interesting. We got to witness one of the ceremonies while we were there. Check out the pictures.
After the temple we made our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels that the Viet Cong built and utilized during the Vietnam/American war. The network of tunnels is incredibly impressive, but very stifling and constrictive. I definitely had an emotional response to the whole scene. It was very intense to be in the actual area where the Viet Nam war occurred. There were examples of booby traps and a shooting range where people were able to fire real guns. Walking through the jungle in the rain, hearing the sounds of ammunition, and crawling through the tunnels myself gave me a icky, heavy feeling. It made the Viet Nam war more real for me from both sides.

On our last day we took a trip to the Mekong Delta, a more rural area of Viet Nam where enough rice is produced to feed the entire country. It was a trip of multiple modes of transportation as we took a bus to the Mekong River, hopped on a small ferry to the small canals of the Mekong, and then hopped into smaller boat to get to a particular canal, and then we got into a 4-person row boat and scurried through the intricate twists and turns of the delta. It was awesome! I think Joe has a video of it. Check it out.

I know this is getting too long again, so I’ll stop. Viet Nam is an amazing country – I’d definitely love to return someday. It was especially rewarding to hear how Viet Nam impacted so many of the students on the ship. I heard so many of them say that Viet Nam was their favorite port because it challenged them to see life differently through the eyes of others… and, ultimately, to look at themselves differently, too.
We have so many fascinating students on this ship. I love sharing the voyage with them!

BIG SHOUT OUT!!
A gigantic shout-out to my Dad who turns the big SEVEN-ZERO on Oct. 6th!! Dad, you are the youngest looking 70-year old out there! And everyone knows you can hike them under the table! Ha!!
Mom & Dad – Have an awesome time on your cruise! Can’t wait to see you in Ft. Lauderdale!
Sarah Hoffman – THANK YOU THANK YOU for our very first piece of real mail! It was so exciting to get a card from you in Viet Nam!
Zoe & Jake – I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I’m thinking of you guys!!
Brian & Nicole – All of your gifts and books have come in SO HANDY!! We absolutely love all of them and think of you guys all the time!!
Heidi Ho! Thanks for the notes and the pictures! Sounds like things are going smooth! MISS YOU!!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Vietnam was Amazing...

We had an amazing time and of course Joy will tell you all about it... I'll try to write more this time as well but for now, you can all enjoy some fun HONG KONG pics.

http://joeandjoy.com/hongkong/index.html

more later.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Twins make the Playoffs, Twins make the Playoffs

We're gonna win Twins
we're gonna score
we're gonna win Twins
watch that baseball soaaaaaaaar.
Crack out a homerun
Shout a Hip Hooray!
Cheer for the Minnesota Twins Tooooooooooodayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

Go TWINS!!!

(Molly I want a 2006 homer hanky if they come out with one!!!)

Around the ship pics UP...

While you all are waiting for our Hong Kong pics, which I hope to have up sometime today... you can go and look at the Around the Ship Pics. You may have tried to do so from the Photo page before today and been rejected but now you may view them. Those of you who know Tim Trevin will enjoy some pics of him, I get a cut of any blackmailing that is to be done.

Also some good shots of how HUGE my head is.

PHOTO PAGE

joe

Goodbye Hong Kong, Hello Viet Nam!

There is so much to say!…
We had a blast in Hong Kong. On the one hand, I’m VERY glad we were able to stay in H.K. for four days because it feels like we barely scratched the surface of this amazing international, multicultural city. On the other hand, I feel like we missed out on a truer experience of China since Hong Kong is a former British colony and English is spoken practically everywhere. Well… since we already need to come back to Japan, we’ll just have to come back to China, too!
It was amazing to come into Hong Kong by ship. You get a real perspective on the immensity of the city and the endless rows of skyscrapers. It almost made NYC seem smaller than I remember.
We spent the first day exploring the city –walking EVERYWHERE. It’s a mesmerizing place to walk around in. I LOVED the hustle-bustle everywhere. It reminded me of NYC at rush-hour. Love it. Our ship was docked in Kowloon harbor, so we had to either take the “Star Ferry” over to Hong Kong island, or take the subway. Let me just tell you that during the 4 days we were docked in Hong Kong… not one, not two, not three, but likely 8 to 10 different cruise ships docked and left while we stayed. Almost all of the cruise ships were docked for about 12 hours… I only saw one that stayed overnight. Made me wonder what it is like to only have 12 hours in all of Hong Kong. We are lucky.
The first day, we explored Kowloon and ended up at the Hong Kong Museum of History. I love museums, but you never really know what you’re going to get. This museum? Totally amazing. It was a very interactive museum, where each room you walk into deluges your senses with sounds, visions, text, and interactive videos. We could have taken 4 hours – easy – to get through the museum, but it was almost too much to take in. It walked us through Hong Kong’s history from pre-historic days to the present. I would highly recommend going to this museum FIRST if you ever find yourself in Hong Kong. It set the stage for the remainder of our time in Hong Kong and provided rich context to all that we saw.
That evening, a big group of us rode the Peak Tram up to the top of Victoria Peak for a breathtaking view of Hong Kong.
p.s. Traveling with more than 5 people is too difficult. SOMEHOW we managed to travel with 12 people up the top of the peak, have dinner and drinks, and make it back to the ship with one extra person! But – in general – I’m the type of person who is too concerned about everyone having a good time that I can’t just enjoy myself if there are too many people around.
So – next day – Joe and I traveled as a duo, and we rocked the city! We decided to explore Hong Kong island and saw a ton. We took the world’s longest escalator (about 20 minutes!) up to the Botanical & Zoological Gardens and then headed over to Stanley Market via the double-decker bus!! Woo-hoo! It was an exhilarating ride to sit front row, Deck 2 of a double-decker on some pretty freakin’ narrow lane roads!! It was scaaaaawwwwwy. (you know the voice).

So… My friend J.B. just gave me shit for writing too much on our freakin’ blog. I already have a full single-spaced page of text and I haven’t even gotten to day 2. Maybe he’s right?!? You’ll know who to blame now when my blogs become bullet points. Shiggity-jiggity (a J.B. saying).

Okay – so, Day 2, continued.
Double-decker bus? Scary.
Stanley Market? Fun shopping, but Joy sucks at bargaining.
Times Square of Hong Kong? Super busy, hustle-bustle. FUN!!
Joe and I ended up at this British-style sports bar where they only served beers the size of my head!! Yahoo.

Day 3.
Joe and I went on our first Semester at Sea trip to explore “Historic Hong Kong.” We thought we had seen everything in Hong Kong, but it turns out – we hadn’t!
Our first stop was to the fishing village, which really provided a contrast to the city life of Hong Kong. Our tour guide said that the family fishing industry is dying out because the young kids of fishing families are being lured into city life to join the corporate world. It was amazing to see!
We rode the Peak Tram again to the top of Victoria Peak in the day time. We had a great view because it was very windy which helped to blow away some of the smoggy-froggy cloud layer.
We ended up leaving the trip a little early so we could change and get ready to see a performance by the Hong Kong Dance Company. Date night for Joy & Joe! We got a ‘lil dressed up and adventured to the New Territories via the uber high-tech subway system in H.K. When we arrived at the box office and I asked if we could purchase tickets for this evening’s show, the guy shook his head as if to say, “You’ve got to be kidding me, this show has been sold out for months.” I almost started to tear up when he said, “Wait – just for tonight, I’ll sell you these two tickets” (as he points to two seats on the seating chart with big X’s through them). He says they are obstructed-view seats, but we don’t care!! And… turns out? The only possible obstruction is if there is a small butterfly flying in the upper right hand corner of the stage. SUPER GOOD SEATS. The performance was aesthetically absolutely amazing. It was called “Dream Dances” and was intended to lure the audience into a dream-like state. It was so beautiful… they utilized all sorts of beautiful costumes, Chinese fans, draperies, petals floating from the ceiling… it was amazing. I didn’t want it to end! It was a real highlight of our trip!

Day 4.
Joe and I went on another SAS trip to Lantau Island, which is a beautiful, largely undeveloped island (minus Hong Kong Disneyland – don’t ask.) We ventured to the largest (seated) Buddha in the world, had an amazing vegetarian meal at the Po Lin monestary, and rode the newest gondola over the island (only open for one week!) It was absolutely gorgeous – I need at least a week to explore all the hiking trails on the island. It was fun traveling with the SAS students, too. There’s been some drama on the overnight trips, but the day trips are pretty tame.

Okay, I’m going to wrap this up now so I can have a Corona and try to talk J.B. into playing a game of Golf with me and some other peeps.

Hope all is well out there! We miss you!!!
We’ll be in Vietnam in 36 hours!!!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

phew...

so it is like crazy late and we pull into Hong Kong in less then 5 hrs... very exciting.
Our internet has been crappy since we left Japan but I finally have the Japan photos up and a new Photo page http://joeandjoy.com/Photo.html

There isn't a link yet from the main page but I hope to do that soon.

we had very little weather except for the first night out of Japan... we did a great job of avoiding the Typhoon

enjoy the photos ... and no one has won the trivia contest yet... check out the Hawaii photos for the question...

joe

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Hello from south of Japan!

Hello from the outskirts of Typhoon Shan-Shan!
Well… as many of you are probably aware, we are (were) in the vicinity of a pretty powerful typhoon named Shan-Shan. Its projected course overlaps directly with our original itinerary to Qingdao, China so we are experiencing our first redirected path! We are skipping Qingdao, China altogether, and are – instead – heading directly to Hong Kong. For the most part, everyone is okay with this decision because:
a) It is good to avoid typhoons!
b) Many folks’ trips to the Great Wall of China will still happen – they’re just going to be departing from H.K. instead of Qingdao.
c) Hong Kong is such an amazing city that many people are happy we will be there for 4 days instead of only 2.
A few reasons why students are NOT happy with this plan:
a) Some people really want to see what this ship can do in a storm. (I am not one of these people.)
b) Now we will have 4 straight days at sea instead of a quick 2 days, so nobody is too psyched about that.
c) Japan was SO MUCH FUN, I think everyone is super anxious for our next port.

We were rockin’ & rollin’ last night out on the open seas. We were told to secure our belongings from shelves and desks if we don’t want anything broken or falling down. They’ve also closed off some of the decks because of high winds. YIKES! :} I think it’s pretty scary when the ship rocks dramatically, but other people just think it’s fun. Maybe I just need to get used to it. It makes my head feel all swimmy, but at least I’m not getting seasick. Many people had a rough night last night.

Anyway – JAPAN!!!
Joe and I had an amazing experience in Japan. Definitely a place we plan to return! Our first day was spent wandering around the port city of Kobe with mesmerized looks on our faces with the expression somewhat like, “I cannot believe we are actually in JAPAN!” As I said earlier, I really enjoy the difficulty of communicating in Japan because it makes for some interesting surprises with getting around and, especially, eating!! Many times we just pointed to pictures on the menu, or pointed to the widespread use of plastic food replicas! It is funny to see plastic food displayed in the windows of many restaurants, but it is very helpful. Some of my favorite foods in Japan are udon noodles, green tea soba noodles, and all of the super yummy bakeries that seem to be on every corner!!

We already told you about the baseball game… after that we headed to the city of Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train), which is the home of many, many historical Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines, all of which are absolutely majestic and beautiful. We enjoyed trying to decipher the bus maps, jumping on the buses, and trying to find our way to the different sites. Sometimes it was very easy, and sometimes we found ourselves having to backtrack a bit. Once Joe posts our pictures from Japan, you will be able to see each of the shrines & temples we visited. I think Joe wrote a brief description with each picture…
Anyway, while we were in Kyoto… Joe, Gail, and I spent some major brainpower trying to decide whether to climb Mt. Fuji or not. The weather was not cooperating, and since it is the off-season, the trek to arrive at the mountain involves a six-hour train, bus and taxi excursion from Kyoto. After much deliberation, we decided against the Mt. Fuji adventure. And… I’m happy to say – it was very positive decision for us. It allowed us to go on many more culturally-centered adventures, and we heard from many students that their excursions to Mt. Fuji were – while amazing – very rain soaked and VERY COLD. Some folks spent a lot of time getting to the base of the mountain, only to turn around halfway up because of the weather.
So… since we skipped Mt. Fuji, we had to take advantage of our Japan rail pass which basically gives us the ability to ride the Shinkansen and many other modes of transportation without having to purchase individual tickets. The first place we went was to Osaka to ride the Giant Wheel (aka, Ferris Wheel), which is the 3rd largest in the world. WOO-HOO! It was fun, and also a little scary to be up that high on a ferris wheel! It gave us great views of Osaka at night, and – for me – it made up for not going to Fuji. Don’t ask why. The next morning we were off to Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum. I knew that it would be a powerful place, but I was totally overwhelmed by the energy of Hiroshima and the museum. First of all, I feel like I never truly learned about the dropping of the A-bomb beyond a quick paragraph or two in my history courses in high school. It was very interesting to learn about the events leading up to the end of WWII from the perspective of the people in Hiroshima. While the museum explains the history and chemistry/physics of the A-bomb, the real beauty of the peace memorial museum is that it is largely focused on creating peace throughout the world and avoiding nuclear war in the future. I found it to be an amazing example of humanity reaching out from the depths of an immense tragedy to bring positive messages and strength to the rest of the world.
After Hiroshima, we ventured to the small island of Miyajima, south of Hiroshima, which is a sacred island. It was an amazing contrast in the sense that it was super serene and quiet, whereas the other areas we visited in Japan were densely populated, hustle and bustle cities. Miyajima has a very tranquil quality to it, and after arriving on the short ferry ride from Hiroshima, we were greeted by a bunch of little deer, who Joe will have to describe for you to get the full effect.
We stayed at another ryokan, which had the added pleasure of a Japanese bath. If you have never experienced a Japanese bath, you need to do it. It is luxurious!! First you shower, shampoo, and soap up outside of the rock and wood surrounded bath, and then you soak in a super hot tub with water flowing all around you. It was wonderful!!
It rained a lot while we were on Miyajima, but the rain gave the island a somewhat tropical quality. Joe and I woke up early the next morning to hike 2/3 of the way up to Mt. Misen – the tallest mountain on the island. The path was largely stone and cement steps leading all the way to the summit. Very beautiful!
On our way back to Kobe from Miyajima, we stopped in Okayama to see one of my students, Yulin, from UC Santa Cruz who is teaching English to Japanese students through the JET program. It was so great to see Yulin! We had lunch with her and chatted for 2 hours before we had to head back to Kobe. TIME FLEW SO FAST! We were not ready to go back to the ship! Once we got back to the ship, we were informed that the captain wanted to haul butt out of Kobe because of the impending storm. So, we helped to hustle everyone onboard and we set said immediately away from the storm.
As I write this, we are still rocking pretty significantly. It is impossible for anyone to walk straight. It’s kinda funny actually.
Well… I’m off to get some work done. Thanks for writing comments!!
We miss all of you and love to hear from you, even if it’s a quick sentence or two!
A big shout-out to our UCSC friends: Hope move-in weekend goes swimmingly!! We’re thinking about you!!!