Taj Mahal

Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Last night we left the ship by bus at 5:00 PM for the airport where we would get our flight to Delhi. It was at least an hour and a half drive through rush hour traffic. We passed by a fishing village along the beach where we saw people living in shacks and selling their catch. The men catch the fish and again the women are the ones selling and cleaning the fish. Once we reached the airport we had at least another hour wait for our flight and then a three hour flight to New Delhi where 17 million people live. Once we arrived in Delhi we all hopped back onto another bus for a ride to the Ramada Hotel where we would stay for two nights. Finally got to bed exhausted at 1:00 AM. After three hours sleep we got a wakeup call about 4:15 AM the next morning just in time to have our first breakfast of the day. At 5:00 AM we left for the train station where we were to catch a 6:15 AM two hour train ride to Agra to visit the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. Once we reached the train station we couldn’t believe our eyes at the amount of people sleeping on the cement out front. Every lump was a body or two covered from head to toe with a blanket. One of the lumps had a little kid’s hand sticking out of the blanket and it broke my heart. I could just see someone’s foot stepping on it. The man behind me tried to push the hand back under the blanket but it just sprang right back out. I don’t know if all these people were going to be taking a train and wanted to be sure to be at the station in time or if they don’t have a home. At any rate that cement was hard and didn’t look very comfy for sleeping. Once we got on the train we were served tea and a cookie. It was fascinating looking out the window as the sun came up. We passed one person after the other doing their morning constitution with butts facing the train. It seemed to be a communal thing – several in a row. The biffy on the train emptied right on the tracks. No hygiene here! Even the cows were dumping right along the tracks. I’m surprised the train never had to stop for a cow.

Before long our second breakfast of the morning came. We were served Jumpin Mango punch along with bread and jam that was the consistency of gummy bears and some hot spicy vegetable sticks and plain yogurt. None of it appealed to me but it was fun to taste and see.

There were two seats facing each other on the train directly in front of us. An Indian man sitting in front of us was taking pictures of sleeping SAS girls across from him. Isn’t it amazing we want to take pictures of the Indians and they want pictures of us? We passed by one wheat field after the other and mustard fields for two solid hours. I couldn’t believe how much wheat and mustard they grow. We learned they use mustard oil for massages and eat a lot of mustard with their food. There were lots of birds in the fields including wild peacocks. We also saw women digging potatoes from the ground and other women making cow cakes (pies) by hand. No problem here finding poop to make them. Then they put them out to dry and tie in bundles of 10 to sell for about one dollar. They use these cow cakes for fuel to start their fires for cooking. Once they get their fire going they add charcoal.

Once we arrived in Agra our guide, Aman, took us by bus to the Agra Fort and then to the Taj Mahal. Once again the traffic was crazy and the bus driver actually stuck his arm out the window to push away people pedaling bicycles. There was a whole herd of water buffalo being led down the road in front of us to water. We learned that water buffalo make very good milk and also excellent butter. Again the women were busy making cow cakes for fuel so we decided that garbage in the cow must make for good fuel coming out. These cow cakes aren’t used in Delhi anymore but are very popular in the rural areas. I don’t think the Hindu people use the water buffalo for food but the Muslim people do.

Our guide was so knowledgeable and he gave us more information than I could take in. Here are just a few of the things I learned about India.

- 68 % of the people in India live in agriculture areas
- 88% of the people are literate
- 25% are married by love marriages and the other 75% are arranged
- Hindu weddings always start in the evening after dinner and last 6 to 8 hours
- A red line in the part of a woman’s hair means she is married and she puts that mark on each
morning just like we would put on lipstick (men don’t wear anything to indicate they are married)
- A red dot on the forehead of a Hindu person means that they have been to the temple or have at
least prayed that day
- Each home has its own temple or shrine and its own family god
- Shiva is the main god of Hinduism
- Each Hindu washes and prays before breakfast each day
- They believe all religions are equal and that one isn’t better than the other
- They touch the feet of elders as a sign of respect
- There is no service or day of worship – they pray every day

- If they are rich and lucky enough to buy a car they go straight to the temple to have it blessed
- A car has to have its emissions checked every 90 days and is destroyed after 15 years to help with
pollution issues – same for motorcycles
- If they buy a house they have the Brahman come to bless it

We visited the Agra Fort which was built by a Mughal emperor named Akbar. The fort was started in 1565 and was ready for use in 1571. It is a massive and beautifully carved fort made out of sandstone. It covers a triangular area of one and a half miles. It has beautiful inlayed marble work and we were able to see and take pictures of the Taj Mahal from there.

Next we went to the Taj Mahal and I was amazed at my reaction as we entered through the gate and it came into view. It almost took my breath away. I was awestruck. It is absolutely beautiful even more so than I thought it would be. It is made of white marble that has crystals in it. This marble comes from a place in India that is about 200 miles away. They started building it in 1632 and it took 22 years to complete. There are more than 35 different types of precious and semi-precious stones inlayed into the marble. Shah Jahan built the Taj in honor of his third wife who died while giving birth to their 14th child. They were married for 19 years and it was a true love relationship. It is hard to comprehend all the money that was spent here for just a memorial to someone especially with all the poverty I see but there is a steady stream of visitors going through except on Fridays when the Taj is closed for prayers for Muslims.

Once we finished seeing the Taj at sunset it was time to head back to the train station for another 2 hour ride back to Delhi. We were given a boxed dinner to eat on the train on our way. We had a good lunch at a hotel earlier in the day and a lot of us weren’t hungry so we picked through and ate what we wanted out of the box and then put as much of the leftovers in one box that we decided to give away at the train station. When I was coming down the steps of the bus there stood a little boy about 7 or 8 years old with large eyes looking at me. I handed him the box and he took off like a shot down a street. I’m sure his mother was pleased with him when he got home. Maybe the whole family had a decent meal that night. I will never forget the look on his face.

After getting up at 4:00 AM and only 3 hours sleep the night before it was a quieter train ride back to Delhi getting back to our hotel about 11:30. It was great thinking we wouldn’t have to get up until about 7:00 the next morning. Then we would be off again and I will write about the next two days later.

Chennai, India

Sunday, March 6, 2011

We arrived in Chennai, India this morning at 8:00 AM at the commercial port which is different than the port we arrived at when we came in 1997. It is a very busy port and there are hundreds of Ford cars made in India parked just outside of where we are docked ready to be shipped to Asia and Europe. Yesterday the crew put plastic over all the furniture on the outside decks and we aren’t allowed to eat out there during our stay here. They also lined the steps of the ship leading out and into the ship’s hallways. There is black soot everywhere outside which I just found out is charcoal and we aren’t allowed to walk to the gate for safety reasons. There are shuttle buses to take us from the ship to the gate where there are taxis, rickshaws, and tuk tuks (motorized three wheelers) waiting to take us wherever it might be that we want to go.

Dave and I and about 70 others from the ship arrived in this port without visas. We were told we would probably be able to obtain them once immigration came on board and they would be bribed with cases of cigarettes and booze, etc. We have plans and paid tickets to travel to the Taj Mahal and other places while we are here so we were really hoping not to have to stay on the ship our whole time in India. While waiting in line for our visas we talked with a student that told us her father is Indian and has lived in the US for 23 years. He is one of 21 children born to his mother. Not all survived. He hasn’t been to India or had any contact with his family since he left. He thinks his daughter is crazy to be excited about India. He said the only reason you would want to go to India would be to get sick or die. He was an untouchable and he hates India. Untouchables are the lowest class and are treated lower than a dog would so I guess I understand his sentiment. The girl told us she has a friend that is going with her to Pondicherry to help her look for her grandma that is now about 86 years old. I don’t think she even knows if she is still alive or where to look for her other than this city. She told us she has written on the Semester Sea site blog under current voyage telling about this. I haven’t had a chance to look at this yet but will do so as soon as I can. She also said she will be posting on the blog again after she returns to the ship to let us all know if she found her grandma. I can’t wait to hear her news. After a few hours we were finally called to pick up our visas and passports after most of the rest of the passengers had already passed through immigration. Thank goodness they came through and we can be off and running.

At 1:00 PM we left the ship for a city orientation of Chennai which is the 4th largest city in India. I think Chennai which was called Madras when we were here last time has made some improvements. It didn’t shock me nearly as much as it did 13 years ago. Maybe it is because we saw Ghana before this and that country has a shock value all of its own. I saw a few cows roaming around but not nearly as many as I remembered last time. We first stopped at Fort George which contains St. Mary’s Anglican Church and a museum which reflects the days of British India. We drove past the longest beach in India where women were walking around in their beautiful saris. No bathing suits here. They are very modest. They don’t even go swimming – don’t get in the water past their ankles. And it is so hot here. How can they not want to cool off in the water. We also stopped at St. Thome Catherdral where the apostle Thomas is buried. Next we stopped at a Hindu Temple called Kapaleeshwar Temple. We had to check our shoes outside the temple in order to enter. Dave had visited this temple when we were here last time and didn’t care to go in again so he carried my shoes around with him while I went inside. I walked around in my stockings looking at the different shrines. It turns out you have to be Hindu to enter the important shrines so I didn’t see too much. But I did see the “holy” cows in their dirty pen located in the middle of the temple. Hard to believe! Some of our group didn’t want to take their shoes off and go inside so they managed to find some fun shops. Tomorrow I think quite a few of us will head back there to do some shopping before we have to leave for the airport for our flight to New Dehli. I remembered from last time here people moving their heads from side to side. I asked our guide what that movement meant and he said that means they are happy or glad.

It is now Monday afternoon and we just came back from Spencer Mall. All 15 of us went, six in a cab and the others in tuk tuks. Had fun doing some shopping. Then went to the Taj Hotel for lunch. Linda is the only one that had an Indian dish which was chicken with curry and it was delicious. The rest of us had hamburgers, chicken burgers or pizza so we weren’t very adventuresome. I didn’t take a shower this morning because we get so hot and sweaty and dirty every time we go out. We are leaving for the airport at 5:00 PM so I planned to take a shower when we came back from shopping. Had my clothes off and I turned on the water and found it had been turned off. I guess there is a broken pipe down the hall from us and supposedly we will have water at 4:00 PM. Sure hope they get it fixed before it is time for us to leave. Yea! I just had a call from Carol that the water is back on. Gotta go!

Chennai, India - first day

After our diplomatic briefing I tried to get to an ATM with John, Carol and Joe Bender. We had to show our passport to the Indian officials before we got off the ship and then we took the shuttle bus that takes us to the port entrance. When we got to the entrance there was a long line where they were checking passports again and they were also checking the other buses that were taking people on field trips. We decided that we better go back to the ship and wait for our field trip that was leaving at 12:45 rather than risk not being on time for it. They don’t wait for you - if you are not there within five minutes of departure time they give your ticket away. So we got back on the shuttle bus and the student that got left in the hospital in Mauritius and the doctor’s husband were just arriving to join up with the ship. So I now know who the kid is and that he is indeed back on the ship. The doctor’s husband said he enjoyed his week in Mauritius and got to see quite a bit of the island.
Someone asked a question about Diego Garcia at the diplomatic meeting and they were very surprised that we had stopped there. The people at the diplomatic meeting are US citizens that work at the Embassy in the country we are visiting. One of them from today was a former SAS student.

We went on the Chennai city orientation today and one of the things I learned is that this city used to be called Madras by the English, but since India is now an independent country they decided to call it Chennai as that is the Indian version of the name. Our first stop was at a former British headquarters. There was a catholic church there that they wanted us to see, which was not open so we could not go in. Then they took us to a museum, which was all British artifacts from when they were in charge, so there were statues of Cornwallis (who was sent to India after being defeated in the rebellious United States by George Washington) and pictures of the British royalty and a lot of canons and canon balls. Pictures of coins used in the real olden days and china left behind by the British. The traffic here in Chennai is crazy and probably will be worse tomorrow when everything opens up for business. Our guide walked us back to the bus and we had to cross one of those busy streets to get there. We crossed at a stop light, but not everyone stops just because the light is red and of course they drive on the wrong side of the road!

Our next stop was St Thomas Cathedral and the story is that Apostle Thomas is buried below the altar in this church. They say that Thomas came to India and preached after Jesus’ death. He was eventually killed because of his beliefs and supposedly the arrow that killed him is also in his tomb.

Our last stop was at a Hindu temple. First the guide had us walk around the neighborhood and showed us how the people lived. It looked pretty dirty and dilapidated. The temple is filled with statues of their gods and the streets were filled with shops selling everything from knick knacks to cow pies. Right next to the cow pies were spices of all varieties. Some of us girls found a shop that was open and was selling fabrics, scarves, shirts, skirts and pants. I ended up buying a scarf that I probably paid too much for and had to go across the street and down stairs to pay with my credit card. I have to go out again tomorrow and find an ATM machine as we are leaving in the late afternoon for the Taj Mahal and I don’t have any cash.

Dave's 11th Post

March 5, 2011

We left Cape Town last night and are steaming around the Cape in good weather. The seas can be very rough here but they are relatively calm so far. I need to amend my last post in which I wrote that in 1976 the state of Pennsylvania posted the Declaration of Independence around the state for affirming signatures to celebrate the Bicentennial. On further reflection, I’m sure it was the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the constitution. That would be more consistent with peoples’ reluctance to sign than to ask them to support the more general ideas expressed in the Declaration. The Bill of Rights refers to things like search and seizure and freedom of speech. Authoritarian types (read conservatives) would be more likely to support Patriot Act like infringements on our liberties than would liberals.

Before South Africa recedes too far in our wake, I would like to add a postscript about Rhoda Kadalie. I’ve been reading her book since I last wrote and I’m astounded that she has not been harmed or even killed. She is not at all bashful about naming names and making statements like the following direct quotations that I excerpted from the book:

•Parliament…is a cesspool.
•The more government deviates from its social contract with its citizens, the more the political leaders sound like vacuous televangelists.
•We have a deadly cocktail of graft.
•The criminals know that the legislators have violated the highest law-making body in the land and should not preach to them.
•Today people have no respect for the law.
•The rule of law will never become endemic as long as our rulers deny its culture in their own lives.

One last damning criticism from Rhoda might help put things in perspective. In a March 18, 2004 observation from her newspaper column, she wrote that “most liberation heroes become rotten political leaders. The metamorphosis from freedom fighter to dictator, in most cases, seems to be effortless.” She lists a series of names from history, including Castro, Stalin, Robert Mugabe, Pol Pot, and Jean-Bertrand Astride, among others, to make her case. She makes the interesting argument that because these guys break laws to oppose and overthrown oppressive regimes, when they assume power they do not themselves feel constrained to be law abiding. They have been conditioned to believe they are above the law. They become like their former oppressors, if not worse. Remember Lord Acton’s comment that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”? It must be even more difficult to assume the role of average citizen after being seen as the peoples’ savior. We were indeed fortunate in our history that George Washington refused to run for a third term. I remember reading that after one of his addresses, people so idolized him that they vied with one another to replace the horses that pulled his carriage.

Yesterday I spent a two and a half hour plane ride and conversation, returning from a safari, sitting next to an economics professor from the ship. I found conversation with her to be more interesting than the animal encounters. Maybe that was because she agreed with my biases and observations about America’s coming 2nd revolution. And this morning, I spent the better part of an hour before breakfast with a fellow senior passenger and wife of a faculty member, discussing SA and America’s futures. She is black, actually colored in SA parlance and social structure, and a former journalist for The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and now reads mostly British papers. She currently works directing philanthropists on donating money. Of course I told her about CHARACTER COUNTS! We had a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation. As I think I mentioned in an earlier blog, life isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey and the friends you make along the way.

One of the topics we discussed was the dumbing down of American papers regarding foreign affairs reporting in the past few decades. I mentioned that NYC had over two dozen papers at one time, most if not all with foreign correspondents. Now the NYT is one of the few American papers that has foreign correspondents and Murdock with his checkbook is lurking in the shadows. During the Vietnam War, too many reporters filed their dispatches from the bars of swank hotels rather than brave the front lines and the gritty reality of our disastrous blunder there. Now, we don’t even see news footage of our Afghanistan or Iraq wars, or thanks to Jr., coffins of American soldiers being off loaded in the US on the evening news. We are very effectively shielded from the disastrous consequences of the heavy footsteps of our military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in 1954. I find it astounding that the only manufacturing industry I believe we still lead the world in is military goods. We spend about a trillion dollars a year on our current military industrial complex, have a military presence in over a 100 countries, and the public remains mostly mute as Obama asks for an increase in our military budget and a decrease in social services spending. Have we lost our collective mind?

Yesterday, still two days away from India, we began to see trash floating alongside our ship. We are evidently approaching “civilization.” The past few days I spent a bit of time picking the brain of an Indian professor on board. He actually lives and teaches at Sonoma State in California but he looks and speaks like he just stepped off a plane from New Delhi. His name is Laxmi G. Tewari and his discipline is music. His latest book, which I didn’t get the title of, was published in November, 2010. He spoke in core class the other day and described the caste system that he claims is slowly breaking down in India. In my conversations with him, he said that India’s problems began with British occupation. India got independence in about 1948 and is still recovering from the class divisions that the Brit’s presence and policies further embedded. Laxmi teaches music and he said that music for centuries taught resistance that the British overlords did not pick up on. He claims the caste system is the biggest blot on India’s history. He is upbeat on India and advises going into the countryside and interacting (without cameras) to get a real understanding of India. He closed his presentation by projecting the crowd scene picture shown below. He asked us to pick out the untouchables and brahmins (the lowest and highest castes) from this bird’s-eye view. It was a powerful example of the foolishness and arrogance of the caste system or any elitist system. It was also a good reminder of our common humanity.

In our adult passenger session yesterday, religion professor Alan Perreiah did an overview of Hinduism. As he described god after god, their purposes and domains and the vehicles they ride on (I don’t recall which god’s vehicle is a mouse), there was a lot of snickering by several of my fellow passengers. One of the main gods (I’m told there are over 300,000,000) is Brahma, the god of creation. He rides a goose named Hansa. As he spoke, I remembered having to memorize the Catholic Catechism in grade school. We only had three gods with their different attributes to memorize. How do Indian kids cope? And I also wondered if devote Hindus would snicker at the beliefs of the adult Christians among us. One hallmark of Hinduism is purportedly tolerance, although I wonder how that squares with the religious violence India has experienced in recent years. I’ll have to ask Alan. I also want to ask Alan to clarify his observation ranking the comparison of how beliefs differ between Hindus and the students in his classes on ten different issues that both groups have ranked in order of priority. Perhaps in a latter blog…

This afternoon, Bill Cuff, a professor of sociology who specializes in social justice and service, spoke in the altruism class I’ve been attending. One of the issues he addressed was the traits that people posses who are drawn to service. We all filled out a questionnaire asking us to rank 24 pairs of personal traits or characteristics. In each pair, we were asked to choose which trait we most valued, not the one we believed we possessed. Later in the class we went over our rankings, and after tossing out nine control pairs, we were asked to score ourselves giving one point to each of the “correct” choices he presented. The highest possible score one could get was 15. He then told us that the test/questionnaire ranked courage and that the average American ranking is 9.8. Bill then went on to tell of the story of Marion (Van Binsbergin) Pritchard, currently an American, bur formerly a “righteous gentile” (one who hid or helped Jews in Europe during World War II). He had interviewed Marion, whom he described as gentle and unassuming and who hid a Jewish man and his two children under the floor of her kitchen in Amsterdam. One of her neighbors was a Nazi sympathizer who did periodic searches for hidden Jews. After searching her home, he left and her guests emerged from their hiding place. A tactic used by the Nazis was to return after an initial search hoping to catch Jews who had emerged from hiding. He returned and when she opened the door for him she shot and killed him. Her sympathetic neighbors helped her dispose of the body by burying it in a coffin with someone who had recently died. When Bill repeatedly asked why she took the risk to save these people, all she would say was “you just do what you know you should do.” Her picture now hangs in the “Hall of Rescuers” in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

At breakfast this morning, I sat with Bill and we had a spirited discussion, almost a debate, on the nature of human goodness. My position is more optimistic than Bill’s and I told him I would drop in his mailbox a section from my unpublished manuscript that made a case for the brighter side of human nature. I’ll fill you in on our next discussion…

Phyllis Journal #7

Friday, February 25, 2011
It was another busy day today. This morning I went on the bike for 30 minutes. Then I got my hair done. It is getting long. This afternoon we played cards. Hand and Foot. It sure is a popular game on this ship. This early evening we watched Shutter Island with Leonardo De’Caprio. Carol and I really enjoyed it. Then about 9:30 we went to deck seven and watched square dancing with live music. It was really fun to watch. Also at 5:30 tonight I had extended family for dinner and we had oreo cookies. It was a big hit.

Saturday, February 26, 2011
Today did bike for 30 minutes. Played hand and foot this afternoon. Then to a talk on our upcoming trip to India. It will be difficult to use my left hand because that is a no no in India. Sometimes it is not fun being left handed. Tomorrow we will be in Port Louis, Mauritius just for one day. It will be nice to be off the ship even for only one day. After sailing it is nice to be on land. We got green sheet today and going on city orientation tomorrow.

Sunday, February 27, 2011
Got to Mauritius Island this morning. It is very nice looking from the ship – very lush and green. We left at 9:00 AM for a bus tour of the island. Went to a fort in the hills where they had cannons years ago to watch for undesirables trying to take over the land. It is very hot and humid here and rainy at times. From there we went to the botanical garden. Saw many old trees and flowers. After walk thru we ate a box lunch from the ship. All the shops here close on Sunday at 1:00 PM. I guess most of the people go to church. This is an island where wealthy people come to vacation (mostly European countries) like US go to Hawaii. Also things to buy are very spendy. Tonight we leave for India. Will not get there until next Sunday, another seven days on the ship. Carol and I are invited to the captains dinner on March 1, Tuesday. We sang this song on Friday when we met with our extended family for dinner.

Tune – Row Row Your Boat
Go! Go! Goes Our Boat
Round the World with Crew
Brett, Carter, Laura,
Mariah and Sarah
Three Old “Sea Salts” Too

Monday February 28, 2011
Today breakfast, bicycle. Read and then lunch. Tonight we are having snacks, wine, beer or mixed drinks with the faculty, lifelong learners and teachers and wives of teachers. It turned out very well and we made lots of new friends. Had a quick supper and then back to union for report on student that ended up in hospital from over drinking. Don’t know if he will be coming back to ship or not. Next we went to a very interesting women’s seminar. Most of the students are very polite and nice.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Went to breakfast, then global studies and then bike for 30 minutes. Played hand and foot this afternoon and then LL meeting. Tonight we were invited to the captains dinner. First I had a vodka tonic cocktail and snacks in Glazer Lounge at 7:30 PM. Dinner was served in the Aquamarine Dining Room at 8:00 o’clock. We had scallops on the first plate, then cream of asparagus soup, then caesar salad, the wonderful steak (Beef Wellington), garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, green beans, carrots, bread sticks, wine and all you wanted to drink, then a chocolate dessert that was wonderful and very good coffee. It was all wonderful food and we really enjoyed.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Today we had three people leave the ship because of illness. We stopped in ocean by Diego Garcia Island. Boats came out to us. They got on ship with machine guns and a dog. Also a submarine was near us in the water. The island is owned by the Brits but the US leases from them. It has been used a lot by US to refuel and they have long runways. It is heavily guarded as we have used it as a military base. It is all top secret. After they cleared the ship they went back to island and two US boats came on board to pick up sick passengers they could not help on our ship. This afternoon we played hand and foot. At 4:30 PM we had our usual meeting. Tonight we turned the clock back one hour. We are now 11 hours ahead of you in MN. We will be getting to India on Sunday.

Thursday, March 3, 2011
We had global studies this morning with some interesting speakers on songs in India. Also had a speaker on trying to change water. Babies being born in a clean environment. This is in a small village of 40,000 people. In India there are millions of people but you have to start somewhere. Then I went on bike. At 2:00 PM we played hand and foot. I am also reading a book by Tami Hoag. A murder mystery with grade school children. At our 4:30 meeting we had a speaker on Hindu Dieties. He showed slides of different Hindu Gods. Then we had our extended family for dinner and an ice cream cake. Also some snacks from our trip on Mauritius Island. It is fun to talk with students. We meet every week or two and they are very friendly and tell us about other students. Interesting – another busy day. We sang this song with our extended family today.

Tune: Are You Sleeping Brother John

We’re not rowing
But we’re going
To Chennai! To Chennai!
Africa’s behind us
India’s a fine place!
Beat the drum!
Beat the drum!

Indian Ocean Adventure

I thought you might like to know what has been going on the last few days.  I will try to keep it brief even though it has been taking up most of our time, energy, and concerns since Sunday night.

One of the male students got very sick on Sunday while we were in Mauritius.  We were only there for 12 hours and yet it seemed like an eternity.  He was with some other students,  had a lot to drink on a beach,  was apparently dehydrated before that, and would have died but for the sake of a couple of friends who were with him.  They made sure that he got to the hospital and received treatment immediately.  One of the doctors, Dr. laura, who was on the ship went with them to the hospital and stayed with him.  On Monday night, the dean of students held a meeting in the Union to tell us all what had happened.  He said that the boy was as close to dying as you can get.  And he praised the two boys who helped him, stating that if they hadn't reacted as quickly as they did, he would have died.  He is on the work study program and may or may not be able to return to the ship in India. Apparently, SAS has an excellent insurance company which took care of the medical costs while he was hospitalized in Mauritius.  He is now in a hotel room waiting for a flight to India when we arrive on Sunday.  What an expense for SAS and his parents if he doesn't get back on board and they need to fly him home.  His best friend who was with him and saved him was Austin, one of our extended family.
 
The next thing that happened was we heard Tuesday night that there had been pirates along the west coast of Mauritius before we arrived there on Sunday!  Great!  There were fire hoses laying on some of the decks which looked like the crew was preparing for something.  We asked Fred if he thought they could reach our ship since we have been told by the captain that we have the fastest ship around.  Fred said they probably have RPGs, which are Rocket Propelled Grenades!!  This is not what we wanted to hear as nighttime was approaching!

We also heard that a student was going to be airlifted off of the ship at 6 a.m. Wednesday to receive medical attention for some blood platelet disorder that couldn't be taken care of on board.  We were all buzzing about all of these events, and the rumors were flying.  Pretty soon it became 3 people getting off!  I woke up at 6 a.m. and wondered when this would happen and then I felt that the ship was going really fast!  We were not slowing down for a helicopter at all!  Then I thought we were maybe trying to outrun some pirates!!  I wasn't quite awake yet, you see.  We then went up to breakfast and the captain said over the loudspeaker we were going to stop at Diego Garcia and let three people off there who needed medical attention.  The island of Diego Garcia is owned by the British and leased to the Americans as a naval base.  We all waited for an hour or so and then we saw boats approaching with Marines aboard, guns in full view, and a police dog along for the ride!  It was very exciting!  They pulled alongside and waved at us.  It took a while before a larger pontoon type boat came up to take the 3 sick people away to get treatment.  Some of the female students were waving and yelling to the Marines as they drove off. 

So, a boy's life was saved, no pirates ever showed up, and three people were happy that the Marines arrived!!  The other 990 people were very happy it was all over for at least another day!  Things have now settled back into the regular rhythm of the waves and the rhythm of our lives here on the MV Explorer.

A footnote to this story.  We learned today that the young man is doing well and will be returning to the ship when we arrive in India on Sunday.  Two girls who were getting medical attention are not returning to the ship and there is no word yet on the third person, a male crew member.

Diego Garcia

Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Yesterday we heard a rumor that we were going to be stopping in Diego Garcia which is a British island in the middle of nowhere just down south from the tip of India. The US has a base there. We had three people on board that needed medical attention. Our next stop is India which wouldn’t be a good place for the care they needed. The captain has always wanted to stop here but has not had a reason until now. He had to get special permission to stop because of the military security around this island. Once he got permission he cranked up the engines last night and we sped across the Indian Ocean as fast as we could and arrived at Diego Garcia this morning about 7:30 AM. We were met by inflated military boats with mounted machine guns and armed military personnel along with two tug boats. Next a bigger military boat appeared with more armed soldiers and a guard dog. The dog and some of these armed men got on our ship to look around and see if we were legitimate. Maybe they thought we were pirates? Once they decided we weren’t pirates and not a threat they had another boat come out that the patients were finally transferred to. One patient was a crew member that has a retina problem, one was a student that has a problem with her blood platelets and the other was a student that was taken out on a stretcher and I don’t know what the problem was. They are going to be flying to Singapore for medical care. Quite an exciting morning but sad to lose some more of our passengers. I heard the boy that got left back in Mauritius is out of the hospital and doing ok. I wonder if we will see him back on the ship when we get to India on Sunday.