GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!

The view from on top of the great wall! absolutely breathtaking!


Can't believe I'm actually here!


Amazing weather, great friends, and on top of a wonder of the world...life couldn't be better!!


In the cable car on our way up the great wall!


Here we go!

Orphanage Visit and Local Family Visits In Shanghai!

Learning some great Kung-Fu skills from the famous Kung FU school in Beijing! We taught them the maccarena and soldier boy while they taught us the art of Kung Fu!


At an orphanage in Beijing with 300 kids who were abandoned by their parents...
This was such an emotional moment, and I truly hope I can go back to this same orphange one day and provide them with the care that they each deserve! I taught this little boy my famous "cutting off my finger" trick..he was AMAZED and then showed it to all of his friends!


My badminton buddy at the orphanage..we played for one hour straight!


Tug of war between the kids from the orphanage and the Semester at Sea-ers...I joined the kids' side :)


Rickshaw ride with my fellow Cincy buddy, Katie, as we went to a local home for dinner and dumpling making in Beijing!

A Few Pictures!

Chi-Chi and I on the 7th deck of our home on a beautifl sunny afternoon!! (In Feb)!




My amazing friends and I getting ready for the mis it up PARTY on the ship!

So I as at a restaurant in Beijing where the sea food lovers had an amazing opportunity to pick and choose their meals LIVE before they ate it! AHH! This guy thought I wanted to catch some food as well...All I wanted was a picture !


My friends and I up and ready for our 4am flight from Shanhai to Beijing!


As soon as we got off the ship in Shanghai! This was our port site...beautiful!

Getting married in a traditional Chinese outfit in the floating village in Shanghai!!

In front of the emperor's home in Shanghai!

Shipboard Updates and 1 MORE DAY TIL JAPAN!

Hello all!

 

Hope everyone is doing well…I’ve definitely had an eventful past 10 days on the ship. I've had my fair share of ups and downs, but overall, I'm having a blast!

 

A few updates about life on the ship:

 

-         I had the flu/laryngitis for about 5 days. I’m recovering now…so hopefully I’ll be good by Japan!

-         My friend, Jenny, and I participated in the International Date Line Competition. We explained the IDL by singing to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and won 3^rd PLACE! (which was prepared in 20 min! we are very proud ;) )

-         Lost my IPod Touch .. and all my Bollywood music! Yes, that was a huge bummer.

-         There was an earthquake in southern Japan, and thus the waves are HORRIBLE! People keep falling out of their chairs during class and the books in the library go flying off the shelves during the swells! (very funny sometimes!)

-         I’m leading an explorer seminar on BOLLYWOOD! (no surprise there) I’ll be showing Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham!

-         I’ll also  be helping in a student panel on India, talking about arranged marriages in India.

-         Made pretty good friends with a lot of the Indian crew/staff! They update me on Bollywood gossip, and I sharpen my Hindi while talking to them!

-         I’m taking some piano lessons from a great piano player on the ship .. he’s currently teaching me some great songs from my favorite musical – WICKED!

-         My friend, Chi-Chi, and I are the main anchors for LOST AT SEA-TV News. We have a 20 min broadcast prior to each port where we talk about world news, local port news, sports, celebrity gossip, good food in ports, and more! Our first broadcast will be aired today!

-     Best of all, I'm making some great friends on this trip! Allie, Alyssa, Chi-Chi, and Jenny - just to name a few! I'm so excited to see the world with these girls - it's going to be amazing!

 

 

So tomorrow we finally reach Japan! I will be staying the first day in Yokohama and then travel to Tokyo the following day. A few of my friends and I are planning on spending the night in Tokyo and then heading to Kyoto. After Kyoto, we will meet the ship in Kobe!

From what I’ve heard, public transportation in Japan is great! I’m excited for bullet trains, udon noodles, shopping in Tokyo, and so much more! It’s definitely going to be an adventure!

 

Can’t wait!

 

Hope everyone is doing well! Looks like they are broadcasting the Superbowl now.. So I guess I should go get a little connection with the outside world!

 

So long folks..

 

Love, Neha

 

P.S. How are my beloved Pistons doing?? Can anyone fill me in? I've used up all of my allotted internet minutes :(

 

Beaches, Pineapples, and Coconuts...Mahaalo Hawaii!

Aloha!
Hawaii was absolutely amazing! We first arrived in Hilo, Hawaii (a city located on the Big Island of Hawaii). Although Hilo isn’t the most tourist friendly and glamorous city, as is Maui or Honolulu, it still had its own charm! The locals were extremely friendly, as they talked to us about the Hawaiian traditions and native foods of the area. (Taro is a commonly grown vegetable, and they make a certain pasty dish out of the taro called “poi”)

The first day I attended a Semester at Sea trip at the Kona Coast. Kona is on the other end of the big island. A tour guide took about twelve students on a scenic 2 ½ hr drive from Hilo to Kona that morning. We passed by the volcanoes, lava flows, beautiful golfing areas, and my personal favorite –getaway homes and resorts for many Hollywood stars. (including Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage) Kona is BEAUTIFUL! There we saw the picture perfect white sand beaches and blue waters. Our tour guide also took us to a historic site which served as a place of refuge for the native Polynesians. For the Polynesians, it was known that if you had found this sacred area, then you were saved by the gods and escaped any punishment.

Next, we visited the Kona coffee mills. We had the opportunity to taste at least 20 different flavors of coffee including Hazelnut, Mocha Cappuccino, Pearberry, and of course the most famous, 100% Kona coffee. I like coffee once in a while, but what I enjoyed the most was tasting the chocolate covered coffee beans … mmmm! Those tasted heavenly!

The following day in Hilo was pretty relaxing. I went out with one of my close friends, Chi-Chi, to a local Thai restaurant (both of our favorite types of food!), and then we met a few people and headed to the wonderful Walmart… We loaded up on snacks and deserts since we knew the next 12 days nonstop on the ship to Japan were going to be long 12 days!

It was fun to see the crew and our captains dressed in regular clothes at Walmart as well.. I actually have gotten to know the Indian crew members pretty well! We speak in Hindi to one another, and I even found out that they have Hindi movies in their cabins!! So, naturally, I am going to be borrowing those very soon! One of them is from Goa, one from Delhi, and the other from Bombay…we all came to a general consensus that the ship food is WAY to bland, so they nominated me to go to the chef and get some paneer and chole to be made too!

We got back to our ship around 6pm and then headed to the island of Oahu. We docked the next morning in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii. Honolulu is a much, much different experience; not only is the city more populated and developed, but because the island is much older than many of the others, the sandy beaches are much nicer! Honolulu had its own charm. We docked in the Aloha Towers, which is located in the heart of the city. A few friends and I left the ship at 7am and walked all around the downtown, including China town! (It’ll be interesting to compare that experience to the actual country, which we’ll be in very soon..)

Shortly after, I took a Semester at Sea trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Although I’ve been here with Mom, Dad, and Neeraj before, this time I had a better background going into the trip and appreciated the display of cultures much more than I think I did when I was ten years old! The center is actually run by college students, as all the profits go towards their education and tuition costs. There are a number of programs run by the students and they each display the dance/culture/traditions of the region. A total of seven cultures were portrayed, including Samoan, Hawaiian, Tonga, Indonesian, and Fijian.

My personal favorite demonstration was that by the Samoan chief! He showed us the proper way to break a coconut, shave the inside flesh, and finally, make the tasty coconut milk with his bare hands! He then showed us how to start the fire with bamboo and wood! I was obviously very excited to find out that in Samoan culture it is the man’s responsibility to cook and clean for the entire family....(so maybe the perfect man is out there after all … )

At the end of the evening we had an AMAZING buffet dinner. I honestly think I ate two entire pineapples that night! We concluded the evening with a cultural show put on by about hundred of the students from all of the cultures which were depicted. The show was titled – “Ha – The Breath of Life”. All the cultures that were portrayed merged together in this grand finale show and through singing and dancing, while portraying the story of a boy and his struggles as he grew into a man. Definitely a great trip!

But, although this trip ended at 11pm…the night was still young in Honolulu…I came back to the ship and my friends waited for me patiently as we got ready to go explore downtown! There were free shuttles from our ship to the downtown areas…I felt like I was in NYC; It was a night to remember!

The next day was pretty relaxing. I met up with an old friend who now works as an army nurse in Honolulu. She gave me a nice tour of Waikiki and the surrounding areas! We ate outside in the sunny weather at Cheesecake Factory, and I then met a few friends at the beach. We all wrote some postcards while lying out on the warm sand with our toes in the waters of the Pacific…

And to think I’m going to by multiplying all that excitement by ten … pretty crazy!

So I’m back on the ship now and everyday consists of planning Japan, China, and Vietnam. We reach Yokohama, Japan in about ten days, but as soon as we reach, we will be hitting Tokyo, Kobe, Kyoto, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Ho Chi Minh City back to back!!

We have a few inter-port students who study in Kobe who joined us in Hawaiii! They have been teaching us how to wear a Kimono, speak in Japanese, and even make Oragami!

That’s it for now! If you made it all the way through this post, thanks so much for reading! I will be updating throughout my Japan trip and if you have any tips/suggestions for my travels, then please let me know!



Miss you all!



And I want to give a special shout out to my amazing brother, wishing him a very, very, very HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY in just 2 short days! I love you Neeraj, and I hope you have an AMAZING birthday! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you, but don’t worry, we’ll have a huge party when you’re back. Love you J



MAHAALO!!!

Reflecting...

The past few days have been amazing and shaky all at once! We are actually passing through very rough waters due to the storms in California. The Captain told us that all airports in California were closed yesterday, so that storm is affecting the waters of the Pacific. Hopefully things will be a bit better from Hawaii to Japan, but overall I believe the Pacific has the most turbulent waters!

It’s so funny because at lunch/dinner plates and food goes flying during big waves and it’s almost for sure that all of your books and journals will fall over from your dresser in the middle of the night! I’ve learned to just sleep through it…

But nonetheless, the journey has been exciting! I’ve had the opportunity to participate and sign up for student organizations and activities which I’m really passionate about! The set up for this program is amazing. We learn about the culture, religion, politics, economy of each country/port before we arrive. So for this week, we have been having guest lecturers from Hawaii. One in particular, Dr. Fisher, from Maui, has been explaining to us the rich cultural history of the Polynesians and the “spiritual being” the Polynesians believed in; “mana”. It was with this “mana” they sailed across the Pacific Ocean on double stranded canoes without any guarantee they would find land!

I’m looking forward to learning about the culture and traditions of the Polynesians and how they are conserving their practices…this will make my trip to Hawaii ten times more meaningful!

The Global Studies course is the only course which is required for all students aboard. We have a lot of our guest lecturers here and learn about the many problems that face the world today. Some jaw-dropping facts we learned yesterday included:

There will be more than 20 million orphans due to AIDS in Africa by the end of 2010.

Half the world lives on less than $2 a day.

The life expectancy for men and women in many African countries, including Uganda is 45.

I feel like although I’ve read about some of these facts in textbooks, for some reason, when I’m on this ship, looking at pictures taken by previous students, working with professors who have lived in many of these countries for a couple years, and knowing that I myself will be visiting some of these areas, I really feel a sense of obligation now. Although I probably should have felt that long before, I know the feeling is much more powerful now…. I am looking for ways to make differences with whatever knowledge/capabilities/resources I have at this point in time. I have become involved in a Vicarious Voyage program, in which we go back to elementary schools in our hometown and educate them on global diversity, and I’ve also signed up to volunteer at a number of orphanages and a school for the Blind in Saigon.

I have met a girl from New Jersey with whom I've become really good friends. Her name is Chi-Chi and she’s originally from Nigeria. We have discussed SO many things thus far, and we’re both really similar in many ways..it’s so interesting to see the many similarities between the Nigerian and Indian cultures. Another thing which we talked about was how incredibly lucky and fortunate we are to be on this voyage. We both know that so many people would die to just visit one of these countries, and here we are going to TEN! Sometimes I don’t even know what I did better/right as compared to the next person to deserve an opportunity like this! (But I have a feeling I should give the rents some credit here! Thanks Mom and Dad!)

I guess this time before going to the ports and enjoying has really made me take a step back and see how fortunate I am….Although it may sound cheesy, but there’s something about being somewhere in the middle of the Pacific ocean and staring out into the black night with stars that almost look touchable and hearing the waves below, that makes you feel helpless, but powerful at the same time….

All Aboard!!

Hello all!

So today is my second official day on board the Semester at Sea voyage, and it is ABSOLUTELY amazing! I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it is to be able to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside in the sun overlooking the crystal clear blue water with the sun glistening down on it!

The ship itself is pretty amazing..The casino room has been turned into a library and there are volumes upon volumes of encyclopedias and travel guides to each country and port we will be visiting there! I can’t say that I’ve been spending much time in the library as of yet…. But I’m sure I will a bit in the near future! There are computer labs and study areas as well as two dining halls and 10 classrooms!

On top of that, there is FULL room service for each cabin! My bed and clothes are all folded for me when I get back to my room, the bathrooms are cleaned each day, and once a week we give our laundry to the crew who cleans and delivers it back to us the following day --- I could definitely get used to this!

Yesterday was the first day I tried using the gym, but it was much more difficult to work out and run when the ship goes back and forth, swaying side to side! It as kind of funny to see everyone falling off machines a little as we swayed back and forth…But I think by far the coolest thing so far is the fact that I get to stretch and lift weights outdoor overlooking the ocean! There’s always a cool breeze and it is really a relaxing work out!

And the next most important thing, which is very near and dear to my heart – FOOD!

The cafeterias are half outdoor, so I get to enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner facing the ocean!

There is actually a good amount of vegetarian food as well. We have fresh fruit, toast, bagels, scrambled eggs for breakfast. Pastas, salads, tacos, rice, and more for lunch and dinner..But obviously there is no gajar ka halwa and pyaaz ke parathe..so I have a feeling I will be crazing Mom’s food very, very soon! My trick is pouring tobasco sauce on every single thing I come across!

In terms of sea sickness…It was a little hard the first day, but I think I’m getting used to it! The best part is going to sleep..It literally feels like I’m back in a rocker and someone is slowly rocking me to bed!

I start my first day of classes today! I am currently working in the Admin office assisting professors and staff with their classes, but at 11am I start my full day of classes. I have straight class from 11am-5pm, but I am very excited actually, as all the classes are incredibly unique and hopefully interesting!

Well that’s it for now! Thanks for all of you who are reading! Please leave any comments, questions, and thoughts for me! I will constantly be checking my email and I’ll update my blog as fast as I can!

Miss everyone tons – especially my family!

Love, Neha