Heaven

Before I begin my post on Mauritius, it might be helpful to give yall a little background on the small island, because if you were like me, I had never even heard of Mauritius before going on Semester at Sea. Mauritius is an island off the coast of Madagascar (which is near the southern part of Africa), with a population of 1.2 million and an area of only 787 square miles. It is melting pot of cultures, with descendants from Africa, India, France, and China. They are an extremely tolerant island in terms of religion, where all people celebrate holidays from Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Perhaps the most interesting little known fact about Mauritius is that is was the only known habitat of the dodo bird. The dodo bird was about 3 feet tall and flight less. The meat actually wasn’t too tasty, so the main reasons that it went extinct was because of the introduction of foreign animals, like pigs, as well as the sport of “clubbing the dodo”. Okay now that we have completed the history lesson (there will be a quiz at the end), I will now move on to my adventures!

We arrived on the small island early Tuesday morning and to the entire ship’s dismay, the skies were dark and cloudy and rain was pelting the decks. Luckily after a few hours the clouds parted and the sun came shining through. Jason and I had about an hour to kill before our taxi driver was supposed to pick us up so we spent our time participating in illicit activities. Although it was 10am (it was like 5:00pm in the states so it doesn’t count), we stopped off at the closest bar to try Mauritius’ famous locally brewed beer, Pheonix, which is considered one of the fifth best beers in the world. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it was a nice light and refreshing brew. To continue our trend, our next stop was, of course, a casino. We exchanged a whopping $6 for coins, and made our way to the slots. I had a good time pulling the levers, but after about twenty minutes when all my money was gone and throughout the time I had maybe won the equivalent of thirty cents, I decided it was not my calling.

Harbor:




Our taxi driver, Silas, picked us up right outside the casino, and we made our way to Chante au Vent. The small hotel was located right on the water, and our room opened up onto a spacious porch overlooking the beach. It had no added amenities, including no air conditioning or hot water, but it was quaint (and it was only $80 with a waterside breakfast included, can’t find that kind of deal many places).



View from our room:


After a satisfying lunch, we walked about two minutes down the road from our hotel to reach a small public harbor where we had arranged to go snorkeling. We took a glass bottom boat out onto the blue water, and our guides pointed out different coral and fishes to us. After a nice boat ride, we suited up in our snorkeling gear and hit the water. Mauritius has the largest intact coral reef in the world, which circles completely around the island. The coral was filled with tropical fish and other sea-dwelling creatures. Our boat driver would throw out bread and swarms of bright yellow, blue, orange, and every other color fish would surround us. It was a great experience.



For the rest of the day we spent our time on the beach, drinking the locally made rum and making friends with the hotel dog, who we named Sam. Sam would later become inseparable from us and protect us when strangers would walk near us on the beach by barking loudly. This eventually became a little annoying. That night we went back to the same restaurant down the road, and had a long leisurely meal. We had learned earlier that the deep sea fishing trip we had scheduled for the next day had been canceled due to rough seas, so quite conveniently, our taxi driver happened upon to ask if we wanted to tour with him. We committed to a boat tour around the island the next day, and spent the remainder of the night getting to know him better. He told us about his life on the island, his childhood, and what the culture is like. We asked if he got a lot of American tourists, and he said not many, but people from all countries, from Japan to Italy, come to visit. He told us, “I stay in one place, and travel the world”. I really like his philosophy.



I couldn't sleep the next morning, so I got up and watched the sunrise and walked the beach looking for seashells :)


After a breakfast of fresh fruits, breads, and jellies, we met up again with Silas to begin our day. We made our way to a harbor, where we boarded a small speedboat. We traversed around a gorgeous lush and green island, with huge mountains and beautiful palm trees. The ocean was the most turquoise-colored water I have ever seen. I’ve been to a lot of amazing tropical islands in my life, from St. John to Jamaica, and I must say Mauritius tops them all. We took the boat into a small cove that opened into a stunning waterfall. From there, we went to a white sand beach and swam in the warm, tranquil water. For lunch, we got off at another little island and had just off the grill fish and lobster, and we finished with fresh pineapple. As we took the journey back to the harbor I tried to take in just how beautiful and incredible it all was, but two days would never be enough to really take in all the remarkable landscape of Mauritius.

Disregard the fact Jason has his eyes closed.








Mark Twain once said,

“Mauritius was made first, and then Heaven, and that Heaven was copied after Mauritius”

I couldn’t agree more.


Annecdote:
3/24/10 Maybe more people in America would stop smoking if cigarette packs looked like this:

Last day in India!

After finally getting a full night’s sleep, we were ready for our last day in India. We hired a taxi driver to take us to an elephant park, located about an hour and half outside of Cochin. Riding an elephant in India was imperative to me. Our driver was named Thomas (I’m going to venture to say that was not his real name) and was a really friendly and considerate guy. We got to the elephant park a few minutes late and unfortunately missed being able to wash them in the river. My friends who had gotten there before us said you took giant brushes and scrubbed every inch of them while they wallowed in the water. The park had a small zoo with tons of monkeys and deer-like animals. It was definitely no San Diego, but it was cool. After about an hour it was finally time for us to ride the elephants! They came sauntering up, and we climbed up a ladder to board them. We went completely bare back, and let me tell you they have porcupine hair covering their whole body. Besides the fact I was in fear for my life because I thought I would fall off at any moment, it was awesome! Their ears were so soft and were a nice massager for my feet.





I was too scared to touch the baby elephant.


I just thought this guy's face was funny.


After saying a sad goodbye to the elephants, we were off once more to go on a sight seeing tour with Thomas. He would stop periodically to show us the local crops, including pineapple fields, cashew trees, rubber trees, and papaya trees. We stopped by a local beach and visited a local Catholic Church that houses the remains of Vasco da Gama. We went to Fort Cochin, which is home to the famous Chinese fishing nets. They are huge nets that are dropped in the water and then lifted up after a few minutes. The catch is then sold at vendors right up the dock. They are quite beautiful contraptions.







To end the day we did random souvenir shopping, where I bought some gorgeous Indian jewelry. As we took the long ride back where our boat was ported, I reflected on the last six days. Besides being livid at Semester at Sea and the tour company for having us sit on a bus for hours on end and then seeing the Taj Mahal for only forty-five minutes (I’m not bitter or anything), I had really mixed feelings on my experience. I found myself for the first time at a port wanting to get back on the boat. I was tired of side stepping over the mounds of trash, I was tired of only tasting dirt every time I ate, and most of all I was tired of constantly being surrounded by absolute desolate conditions. I tried really hard not to feel this way by thinking about all of the amazing experiences I had, but my yearn to leave continued to overshadow them. For me I could escape. I could go back to the sterile conditions on the boat, I could stop worrying about malaria and coating my body in bug spray, and I could trust that the water I drank at dinner wasn’t carrying a disease that would force me in the bathroom for hours. For all those people I left behind, these worries and many, many more would not end. This thought haunted me.

Since I left India I have struggled to end this post, not knowing my final thoughts. Tonight I think I found it. I went to a seminar on “Finding your bliss”, where a couple discussed their journey through life and, by disregarding pressures from culture, society, family, and stigma, how they came to find what really made them happy. At the end of the session, we were asked to close our eyes and ask ourselves if we could do anything in life what would it be. The answer that immediately popped in my head was that I would want to go back to India and help those beggar children that followed me in the streets lead a better life. I don’t know at what point in my life I will be able to go back, but it is a goal I want to achieve in the future.

Annecdote
3/15/2010: Sorry Mom and Dad for the short notice, but you should probably start preparing my dowry, I think I accidentally committed to marriage to an Indian stranger. We asked our taxi driver about his family, and he said he had two sons. I asked if they had families and he said his son who was an engineer was single. He then proceeded to ask if I wanted to marry him, and jokingly I said of course. This was a bad idea. Thomas immediately got out his cell phone, called his son, and put me on the phone. It was quite an awkward conversation, telling a complete stranger that his father wanted us to get married. Upon hearing this the son responded in a completely serious tone, “Ok, yes!”….oops.

Do I really look like that?

We woke up at 4:15am (if you haven’t already noticed we NEVER slept on this trip) to take the train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. The train station was pretty sordid, and served as a means of shelter for hundreds of homeless people. When we arrived at around 5:00am many families were still sleeping or just getting up for the day.



Once we arrived in Agra, we had another hour and half ride to Fatehpur Sikri. It was built by Emperor Akbar beginning in 1570 to honor a muslim saint who prophesized the birth of an heir. It is in excellent condition. The architecture was spectacular (the bathroom was not, it involved peeing in a trough…tmi?).









When we left the ancient city, we made our way back to the center of Agra. I stepped off the bus and I saw my first glimpse of the Taj Mahal. I was over a mile away, but I was still in awe at the immense beauty of it. This made my anticipation grow even greater as we still had one more stop before we went to see it. Our second sight was the Agra Fort, also referred to as the Red Fort. Emperor Akbar decided to make Agra his capital in 1558, and rebuilt the fort using red sandstone. He used over one million workers, and it was complete after eight years.







It is believed that Shah Jahan, the man who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife, died in this tower after imprisonment by his own son. His son, Aurangzeb, wanted the throne so badly that he killed his brothers and forced his father into life imprisonment. However, with the view of the Taj that he had, life imprisonment might not have been that bad:





FINALLY! It was time to go see the place I had probably been looking forward to the most: The Taj Mahal. As I said before, the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan in 1653 in memory of his favorite wife who died during childbirth. It is the tomb of both her and Shah Jahan. When we arrived, we were given only a little over an hour to see the monument and that hour included the thirty minute wait to get through security. I can not tell you how upsetting it was to only have forty minutes to see one of the most magnificent structures in the world. When I walked through the gates, I was spellbound. The white marble was so bright in the sun it was almost blinding. The ornate architecture of the 400-year-old structure was unbelievable. The sheer size of it was enough to impress. Beautiful gardens surrounded the building, and at the back there was an incredible view of the river. We were there for such short time that the only reason I know I wasn’t dreaming is the fact I have pictures of it.

My first up close view of the Taj:








The Taj is flanked on either side by two exactly identical mosques:


View from the back:


Entrance:


My global studies teacher collects students' pictures on what picture they think is the "essence" of that country. This was taken right outside the Taj and is what I believe the "Essence of India" is:



We left the Taj Mahal, and were immediately taken to a tourist trap bazaar with overpriced, obviously factory made souvenirs. While our tour guide enjoyed a cup of tea, the rest of us were fuming due to the fact we left the Taj Mahal to end up at another tourist shop. For dinner, Jason and I broke away from the group to avoid yet another hotel buffet and went to Pizza Hut. I must say it was the best pizza hut pizza I have ever had. My moods were lifted a bit after a few slices of pepperoni, and once more we were back on the bus to head to the train station. Before we left we were bombarded a final time by the souvenir-selling vultures. They are ruthless in India. This picture just gives you a glimpse:



After the two and half hour train ride back to Delhi and a bus ride, we were finally back at the hotel. We had to be up at around 8am the next day, which is a luxury to me now, for our plane ride to Cochin. Beyond just the flight being over three hours, it was delayed so we were stuck in an airport all day. We finally got to Cochin around 6:30pm, and wanting to avoid the long lines to get back on the boat, Jason and I found a cheap hotel for the night. Although it was a flashback to the 70s, it was comfortable and the clerk arranged a taxi to an elephant park the next day so of course I was ecstatic.

Annecdote
3/14/2010: The night we got back to Cochin, we had a very very very spicy dinner at the hotel restaurant (Indian food is SO HOT). While our mouths were flaming, a man came over and said he was an artist and wanted to draw our picture. It was only 100 rupees ($2), so we said what the heck and told him to go for it. He spent a good ten minutes studying our faces and frantically scribbling his pen. My friends, I have never laughed so hard as when he turned the piece of paper around and this is what was on it:

Varanasi

After approximately another 3 hours of sleep, we were up at 4:15 am to make our way to the River Ganges to see the holy pilgrimage at sunrise. We boarded small wooden boats and slowly paddled down the river. Varanasi is the oldest living city in the world , and the Hindus have celebrated the River Ganges for over 2000 years. We watched as men, women, and children cleansed themselves on the banks of the river and performed their morning prayer.












You would have to pay me a million zillion dollars before I went swimming in this river:


As I said before, the Hindus travel great distances to die in Varanasi. We passed a cremation facility during our stretch down the river. You could see the smoke rising from the burning bodies. Once the ashes have been collected, they are distributed into the river.



You only have to pay for the wood to be cremated at the River Ganges, which costs around $100 US dollars. Stacks of wood lined the streets leading into the cremation site.


After we got off the boat we took a winding walk through the back alleys of Varanasi. This walk was probably the most memorable experience I had in India. We swung through twists and turns, coming upon random shrines, holy men, and of course cows. Child beggars flooded us. Just like in the movies, five-year-old girls with babies on their hip would tug at your shirt motioning to the child’s mouth in a plea for money. We were told before arriving in India not to give the children money because it never ended up in their pockets. Instead, they suggested giving them pencils, water, or something else they really needed. I had one girl tail at my side for fifteen minutes, not saying a word, but just looking up at me with huge, desperate eyes. I had nothing on me to give and finally after experiencing much grief from staring at her sunken face we came upon a food stand and had her pick out whatever she wanted. She looked helpless with the food, obviously disappointed. It slowly became clear to me why she was distressed when I saw an adult man trailing and watching accusingly in the near distance. Soon after her, another girl with a silent baby on her hip became my next follower. Something we had been told before, and something I definitely noticed while in India, was the silence of the babies. The babies are giving sedatives to appear sleepy so as to look unhealthy. Some of the babies didn’t even look alive, and I constantly feared that they actually weren’t. The one duo that followed us stayed with us until we got back on the bus, and luckily there was a clothing shop right next door so we took her in and had her pick out a dress. The girl’s face broke into a tiny grin as she chose a very pretty purple ensemble. Although I wanted to feel happy for what we were able to give the kids, it was very hard. The poverty is so vast and so deep in India. No contribution, no matter how large that I could give, would even put a dent into the destitution. I came away very speechless and numb. The sights, the smells, and the feelings I had are something that I won’t ever forget and I wish everyone could experience them. I have never felt more blessed for how lucky I am to be born in the United States. I wondered why I was so fortunate, and why those little girls weren’t. India really invokes a sense of depression and inspiration in you. Depression in the immensity of the poverty all around, but inspiration in that it really triggers a strong emotion that makes you want to find a way to make a difference in the lives of people in such dire need.

Alley:


If you can't tell, I was a little freaked out.


Little girl and baby:


A happy part of my walk through Varanasi was seeing these adorable dogs:


After collecting all of our belongings from the hotel, we did some last minute sight seeing before we left Varanasi. Our first stop was a Buddhist temple located in the park where Sakyamuni Buddha (THE Buddha) preached his first sermon. We also went to a beautiful sculpture museum, as well as walked through the ruins of an ancient monastery.

Buddhist temple:






We were back on airplane that afternoon bound for New Delhi (the capital of India). After being delayed a few hours, we had little time for a tour, but we did see some famous government buildings during a short night tour on the bus. We arrived at our hotel (which was the biggest structure I had ever seen), and got settled in. The hotel had tons of shops, restaurants, and clubs in it. Although we were running purely on fumes, we went to one of the clubs, celebrated for being the best club in Delhi. It was pretty cool, but I was most impressed by the dancing. Indians can dance so well! From salsa music to rap, I was blown away by their moves.