Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Penang, Malaysia


Ahhhhhhh, Malaysia. Peace, tranquility, order, nature, water, trees - such a nice contrast to India. My heart is happy, I have that bounce back in my step, I feel light and joyous that we have arrived in a calmer port.
It is beautiful! Nice architecture on one side and the sea on the other. It is still hot and humid but the town doesn’t overwhelm you with crowds, vehicles and poverty. The people are polite and not desperate for your business haggling and pushing, a much easier place to visit for a few days. One thing that strikes me is after we visit Buddhist temples, mosques and Hindu temples is how everyone gets along peacefully here, not much tension or anger, an orderly existence where people are a bit reserved but friendly, Malay, Indian and Chinese all working together.

We have 4 days to explore around Malaysia and I have found have 3 friends who I enjoy traveling with, Kima, Scott and Erika, all professors in their 40’s. This time Erika heads for the beach, Scott for cooking school in Thailand while Kima and I head to a private island for relaxation and a spa day.

On our 6 hour journey in boats we meet quite a few Muslim honeymooners from Kuwait, Malaysia and Yemen. The young women are in full burkas with only their eyes showing, the men, in western clothing- shorts and a t-shirt. They are wonderful people, the women are the first to open up some chocolates or candies to share with me and start a conversation- these women speak a bit of English while their husbands speak much more. The couples tell me about their huge weddings, how they met- most arranged, one just married his 3rd cousin who he had never met, and where they work. The women’s eyes are beautiful and expressive, each holding a beautiful designer bag and wearing designer shoes. They tell me about the importance of their extended family, how most live within a few blocks from each other and every Friday night have a dinner where they gather together and share stories about their week. ( Reminds me of how great Friday night pizza and movies at home were with the boys! ☺)

Finally we arrive on Rebak Island outside of Penang and it is incredible! Beautiful, lush and clean. It feels a lot like “Fantasy Island”. The tropical plants surround us and a huge lizard walks across our path on our way to our room. We cannot believe the personal service and how lucky we are to be here for 2 days. The big swimming pool looks so inviting on this hot day with the beach on the other side! We spend the next day in the spa being massaged and covered with oils and lotions by the ladies. It is monsoon raining outside and I cannot think of a better way to spend the afternoon. The pinnacle of the experience was walking outside to bathe from a huge basin of hot water filled with herbs and flower petals. You take a wooden bowl and pour it over yourself while surrounded by tropical plants and listening to the rains all around- it was just wonderful!

Not only did we pamper ourselves with the spa but also indulged in the wonderful meals. This is my kind of cooking- love it all, noodles, fish, soups, fresh ingredients light and healthy- all the flavors are so delicious - lemon grass, ginger, curries, red chilis, dark sauce with soy and oyster sauces-- yum.
An interesting breakfast dish is called Roti- it is a heavy crepe they mix with some light seasoning and an egg, a bit sweet with a lot of flavor- wonderful. Reminded me of my grandmother’s crepes in Sweden.

Well, it looks like the toughest ports are behind us as far as reaching beyond our comfort zones and from here on the ports are more westernized. We just arrived in Viet Nam where 50 parents have come to join their sons and daughters to travel for a few days before we head over to Hong Kong and China. It was an emotional moment for everyone to see loved ones waiting on the pier for family. So many smiles and tears were touching to watch and a real treat for me was to laugh and talk with Cathy and Craig Small who came to see their son Chris.
I am off to a city called Nha Trang for a few days with Erika and Scott for a more cultural experience of Viet Nam than the big city of Saigon or Ho Chi Mihn city as they call it now. The updates will be coming fast as we head from port to port for the next few weeks.
Hope all is well.
Love
Margareta

Monday, October 20, 2008

India





Chaos, overwhelming, crowded, dirty, hot and humid are a few words to describe the mayhem and complete over stimulation of southern India- cars, buses, ric shaws, bikes, people walking- all sharing the same road. It is crazy!
I was petrified to leave the ship. It took all the courage I had to force myself into a taxi to leave the safety of my air conditioned home for the next few days.

On the up side, the people are very friendly and it is a colorful place, always a lot to see in an “in your face” kind of way. The people are very resourceful to live in this kind of chaos and I admire that they can. For me, this was the most challenging country so far but stepping out of our normal way of living is what this trip is about and India was by far the most transforming for most of the people on the ship who have never been here.

Stepped off the boat into the hot humid air and a strong stench wafted up from the ground. Filth, sewage, water, people, not sure what it was …..already I’m finding it difficult to continue to venture away from my “home”. My idea of hell is being stuck in a hot humid climate unable to cool off with no help and here I am in a poor, hot, humid country- traveling.

Our first journey is down the coast to what we think is a quaint small town called Mallampuram, 2 hours away from Chennai, our port. Finding a taxi with air conditioning was a major accomplishment. The first guy we met said “yes, yes I have air conditioning”, once we got in he started winding down the windows, that was his idea of AC, hmmmm, jumped out at the next road and kept looking, the taxi driver follows me and says “oh, my brother has a car wait, wait, he is coming, I am calling him” He does this head bobble thing where you have no idea what that means- yes, no, what? Frustrated, my friends and I continue on walking, sweating and finally find a car with both AC and seat belts on our way out of the city.

Next we have to battle with the traffic to make our way to the coast. This is amazing how it works. There seems to be a pecking order of size to see who is allowed to squeeze through the road. No one pays attention to lanes, just inch up and push your way through- buses have priority, then trucks, cars, ricshaws, bikes and pedestrians. If a bigger vehicle wants to get through you better make room or they will knock you out of the way. Once out of the city it gets even more scary. We are on the road and this pecking order is now in effect going 70 mph. We are a car and can pass the motorized ric shaws easily but when the taxi wants to pass a truck or oxen pulling crops we head down the middle of the lane with oncoming traffic and seriously miss being hit by inches at the last second over and over for the next two hours. I am a wreck, many times squeezing the thighs of my friends as we near miss buses and trucks many times, talking out loud to Alex and Chris to always know how much I love them.
Finally arrive in Mallampuram to what we imagine to be a calm quaint town- I could use it at this point but arrive in another destitute town with merchants and beggers on both sides of the street. All I can think of is I want to get back to the ship. Finally make it to the hotel where again I am disappointed. The rooms are awful with old soft beds, hot, with loud fans and an old leaky AC unit near the ceiling. This is by far the best hotel in town but had no idea at the time, it is all relative and I am feeling like a spoiled American princess. OK, I am going to stick it out and explore the town once it cools off from 95 to 88 in a few hours. The journey continues with more of the same, we travel further south the next day to Pondicherry to meet 3 more friends who love to shop. I can’t take it anymore and end up at the hotel pool and in my room reading while my friends spend hours bargaining with the silk weavers and marble sculpture merchants.

One thing that is wonderful is the food! We do make it to some great meals with interesting spices of cardamom, turmeric and many others that I am not sure about. Delicious.
India is a conservative country, more so in the southern area where we are. For women, most skin is covered. It is hot and humid and all the women are dressed in long colorful saris that are beautiful against the ugly muddy streets of the city.
Drinking is frowned upon and when we order beer we are told that the preservative is formaldehyde so don’t drink more than two or you will have a horrible headache. I don’t realize it but women do not go into bars. In the hotel three of us decide to have a drink at the bar, two guy friends and I walk into a very dark bar hidden in the back of the hotel. As we walk in there is not one woman, the place is packed full of dark Indian men drinking, eating, smoking and talking. As I walk by they all stare and wave at me, I am happy to have two men friends around me as I am feeling they think I am a prostitute. A very strange feeling and so happy not to be a woman in India.
After another day of the same we turn around and head back for the ship, YEAH!

Processing all the events takes time and we all cope differently to the experiences. Amazing when there are 700 of us all sharing different experiences in the same country, all coping differently- some shaken to the core, some hardly affected. Some experiences more harrowing than others; a bus driver being beat up and left on the street, maimed children begging, young boys groping and feeling the breasts of the students, young Indian guys and girls meeting students and welcoming them into their families, other Indian people spending the entire day with the students taking no money for their time or excursions, stating that you are insulting me by offering money, friendship is more important.
Having this community on board with so many perspectives makes it easier. We all need each other at different times to process the events, vent and sometimes share a tear or two, young, old, men and women…everyone has a story or experience that wants to be told. Everyone has stepped out of his or her comfort zone many times and this is where the real learning is taking place.
There is much more poverty here than the last ports but I couldn’t deal with seeing more. I realize how important family and community are and appreciate my lifestyle more than ever.
Personally, am glad to see India, happier to leave it, proud of myself for sticking through it- no interest in returning.

On our way to Malaysia, this time I am spending a few days at a beach on an island. Sounds like the infrastructure of the city is better and looking forward to more wonderful meals and a quieter, calmer experience while learning about the people and culture!

How are things going with you? Am always happy to hear about your life, some normalcy is so welcomed!
xox
Margareta

Monday, October 6, 2008

Cape Town, South Africa




There are so many stimulating events and emotions after this next port that it is difficult to sort them into a coherent letter for you. Life on the ship is stimulating enough with all the great people, discussions, classes and social events that by the time we get into port we are excited but exhausted! Arriving in South Africa I was a little glazed over and numb to more adventures but in awe at the natural beauty as soon as I walked off the gangway. Table Mountain frames the city from a distance with the Atlantic Ocean coming right to the edge. Outside the city the townships and miles of handmade shacks reinforced the disparity between the rich and poor with the struggle that ended apartheid front and center in our minds.

Highlights:

South Africa is beautiful! The natural beauty in every direction is gorgeous; water, mountains, cliffs, and absolutely stunning sunsets. There are penguins on the Cape of Good Hope, elephants and giraffes on the plains up north and whales in the ocean. It is somewhat similar to the California coast with mountains and big animals! I had a wonderful adventure with a few friends driving around the Cape and hiking up to a lighthouse at the most southern point in Africa. The view was gorgeous with the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meeting in the distance. (Sailing around a few days ago was a bit “sketchy” and made for a sleepless rocking night!)
Traveled on safari for a few days which made me appreciate what a good job San Diego has done on the Wild Animal Park. There was not that much difference where I was at Kruger Park, a little disappointing for a long, expensive trip but did enjoy the watering hole with hundreds of animals and incredible sunsets.

Desmond Tutu came to speak to us! He rallied for non-violent resistance to apartheid with Mandela, chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Committee and also won the Nobel Peace Prize. It was a real thrill to listen to him. He must be in his late 70’s, a very funny, down to earth man and big supporter of young people to make a difference in the world. When asked what his biggest accomplishment was he said, “my son, being involved in the struggle and able to see the outcome- freedom”

Insights:


Well, I thought this trip was about becoming more independent, making decisions on my own and exploring new places but am realizing it is also about seeing the world as it really is… there is major poverty. 50% of the world population lives in sub standard conditions and I have had an opportunity to see it first hand. It is overwhelming to experience the disparity between the rich and poor in every port and have been in tears more than a few times at heartfelt moments.
One sweet experience was when I went to visit a microfinance company called Kuyasa. They fund loans to people the bank will not lend to, the poorest of the poor who live in shacks on the outskirts of the city. We traveled out to a black township to visit a few clients where we met a wonderful little lady, named Granny, a small black woman about 65 years old with a wonderful expressive face and personality to match! As our group of 16 arrived she was so excited that she danced around with her hands covering her tears because she couldn’t believe that we were interested in what she had accomplished. She had earned enough credit by repaying her loans over the years to transform her shack into a brick home with toilet, water and electricity. She was so proud of her house and the credit cards that she earned by working that I had to give her my credit card case as a gift for allowing us into her home. I felt like the 16 of us would never forget the experience and was hoping to give her something to remember us by, a very touching exchange with hugs all around. (Thanks Martha, my case now has a new proud owner!)
You really feel for these people and how they have struggled for both freedom from white oppression and poverty.

I guess the real question that keeps coming up is why are we so rich? I have learned a great deal in my classes about colonization, imperialism and exploitation of people and countries. How we consume more than our share of resources and waste much more. I am not becoming a socialist, you can relax Mom ☺, the United States is still the land of choice and opportunity but there is a lot we can do to help all people, especially in the way of corporate responsibility and awareness in our communities.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said it best while speaking to us:

“Americans are very generous people, why not export your generosity rather than your bombs. The U.S. can be a compassionate leader, we can win the war on poverty, the people will be with you, but we will never win a war on terror as long as there are conditions that make people desperate.”

Interestingly, people out here are very aware of our political system, looking at us to lead the way in a direction that is good for all. I think it gives them hope for a better future. The influence of our power is very apparent. I realize this is a tough time at home too with the economic crisis and political debates but it is a big world and believe me, we are still relatively in great shape.

Am leaving South Africa a more caring and aware person. India is going to unglue me… maybe a few days at the beach is the best plan! I have some new friends on this adventure and it is great to share perspectives as we navigate the globe.
Communicating with you is wonderful as well, there is no place like home, most of us are missing our family and friends as we are a long way from home and feeling it - laughing that even a stuffed animal would be nice to get a hug from, keenly aware of how important you are to us, at the same time thrilled for this experience.

Sailing along past Madagascar on our way to India now, some rough seas ahead they tell us. Going around the Cape of Good Hope was no picnic, big swells made for a sleepless night but happy to have a smooth ride for now…… stay in touch!

Love
Margareta