A really long blog all about India!!!!

We are back on the ship and we are suppose to leave today at 5:30pm and arrive in two days in Myanmar. This should be a rather long blog so I will try to go by day that way it will hopefully have a little structure to it. First off going into India they told us that from experience of past voyages the students either love or hate India and that there is rarely an in-between. They also said that this is usually a port that changes people’s attitudes on the ship greatly after they return from India.

Day one (October 19, 2005)
I already described up until we left for dinner in a previous post so I will begin from there. We went to one of the 5 star hotels that was recommended by the people from the tourism office on the ship as well as some friends that said that they might be there. It is the Taj Comodara Hotel I believe. Anyways we went in and tried to find all of our friends who said that they were going to be having dinner there but we were unable to find them. So we decided to eat at the “Patio” restaurant which was anything but sitting out on the patio dinning al fresco. It was defiantly the best service I have ever had in a restaurant before. First when we sat down the waiter and the manager came over with two trays with silver domes on top and at the same time opened them presenting the menus to us. Then after ordering our drinks they came over with the house specialty drink complementary which was on a wooden cart they rolled over to the table. Which had a bottle of Champaign chilling and a crystal decanter that had blackberry liquor they mixed the two and served them in champagne glasses. It was a nice drink but more for the presentation that anything. After ordering our entrees the manager came over again with two plates with a small piece of fish on a bed of greens that was compliments of the chef. Next we received our entrees AJ got the stuffed chicken and I got the grilled grouper that sat on one of the best beds of salmon infused pasta I have ever had which were presented to us with the silver domes again. For desert we ordered an excellent grand mania soufflé that came out perfectly hot. And they finished us off with one of the coolest petite fours I have ever seen. They came over to the table with a tray that had a small dish with them on it and a bowl and a pitcher. Which they poured the pitcher into the bowl and say the small petite four tray on the bowl. Shortly after the dish started to smoke so there was obviously dry ice in it which made it look soo cool. ( I took photos of this so you can look forward to seeing it when we arrive in Myanmar). In the lounge right before we entered the main dinning room there was a man who played the piano the whole night who played great songs like Sinatra and such It actually reminded me a lot of the QM2 one we liked to go to so much. So AJ and I decided to stay and have a cigar which they continued to do the great service by dipping the cigars in cognac and lighting them for us. After this we decided to explore the hotel a little more, where we ended up finding the friends we looked for earlier and they said that they had been in a different restaurant in the hotel. We ended up hanging out in the upstairs lounge that had the another great pianist who ended up being from Chicago and they served surprising the best chips and salsa that we had, had in a long time. We ended making it back to the ship late but satisfied with our great find of the hotel.

Day 2 (October 20, 2005)
We woke up early this morning needing to meet the same rickshaw driver that we had used the night before at 8 am. Again there were two men one who drive half the time and the other would sit in the back with us, causing us to be really crowded considering that these rickshaws are made to hold only two people in the back and one in the front. To this day we still can’t figure out why they felt the need for two f them to drive us around considering all the other rickshaws only have one. It took us about an hour to get to the airport, but it was a fun rid getting to see all the people out early beginning their day especially all the little kids making their way to the school. Once we arrived at the airport there were about three or four different checks of people wanting to see our pre printed tickets before we could even think about getting to the check in counter. Only to find out that our flight had been delayed for another couple of hours till 12:15pm. At this time we tried to call our friend from Delhi that had gone the day earlier, but he didn’t answer his cell phone. We were worried because he had told us that he would arrange for someone to be there at the airport to pick us up, and that would take us to the his fathers hotel but since our flight had been pushed back so far from our original time, we didn’t know the name of the hotel, and had forgotten his last name we were kind of out of luck. Once we got on the plan at its delayed departure time we were informed that the plane was going to stop in Bangalore to let people off and to get more passengers. It was a short 35 minute flight but it was cool getting to see the city from the air as well as from the airport. Bangalore is where much of the technology is taking place in India for overseas companies. Because of this there was obviously a lot of construction underway building massive high-rise condos. From the air the view of both Chennai as well as Bangalore you get another perspective of how India has a population of over a billion people because there is buildings as far as the eye can see from the air. That is one note that I would make for Chennai is that everyplace that you could build a building or have a person stand there is one of the two or both. We finally arrived in New Delhi at around 5:30 pm where we borrowed someone’s phone to try to call our friend but again there was no answer.
To our surprise there was someone standing in a suit with a sign with our name on it the second we got off the plane. We picked up our bag that we had checked and headed towards the car where Nickel (the guy in the suit) introduced us to our chauffer that was dressed in the full India white suit with the white gloves and top hat. It was a beautiful white Toyota with leather seats and all the latest news papers inside, where they offered us chilled water bottles before we made our way to the hotel. Right before we pulled into the Hyatt Regency the driver said that we were here sir, hilarious this all starts the next four days of our time in India. ( oh and what we didn’t see in Chennai we saw a ton of the cows in middle of the roads and on the sides of the streets just as you see in the post cards in New Delhi). When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by the concierge who ushered us to the desk to check us in. They then told us to that our friend from Delhi was on the phone who told us to take the car out on the town and see the sights that we could before it gets too dark in like an hour and a half. So we went straight out and the chauffer took us all around town to see parliament, the presidents house, the prime ministers house, the peace path which is where all of the embassy’s are (and you know that the American one was the most obnoxious looking one, as well as one that had the most security), he also took us to the cashmere shop. Which was another really cool expensive store but it was cool because all the clothing was made out of cashmere and was actually all from Cashmere. We talked him into taking us to one more store before we went back to the hotel where I was really able to bargain and get some good souvenirs.
When we arrived at the hotel we headed up to our room that was super nice with every amenity you could want, they even had the down comforter beds, pillows and sheets and everything which were soo comfortable. Our friend took us out to his favorite restaurant which was in the Sheraton hotel, it was like a Indian Texas de Brazil in the sense that a lot of it was cooked on skewers over the grill. The restaurant was rated by one of the travel magazines as one of the best in the world. We let Ammo order for us and we shared everything family style he ordered several different chicken dishes, prawns the size of lobsters, and a leg of lamb that was so tender that if you would of picked it up the meat would of all fallen off. ( The group that was with us in Delhi was made up of 7 SAS students and Patti Ammos friend). After dinner they took us around Delhi looking for a stand that made this dessert/breath mint called pann. It was a green leaf that was filled with 12 different spices and vegetables, which you are suppose to eat it all in one bite. It was ok, I am sure if I were more of a green vegetable fan it would have been better but it defiantly stays with you (the fresh breath it gives you that is).
Next we went back to the hotel to hang out for a little while, but it was late and everyone was tired so the group of four that was staying at Ammos house went home.

Day 3 (October 21, 2005)

We woke up to sunny skies outside and room service delivering fresh squeezed orange juice and omelets with all the different fixings such as chicken sausage (beef not being an option because of religious reasons in India). I actually got up early, excited to explore the hotel and more importantly the city. We spent most of the morning though in our room on the phone with Ammo who was trying to get his travel agent to arrange return flight tickets for us but the travel agent never called. Although we did get to explore the hotel a little before we left. It had a really cool pool area which was a never ending pool and was surrounded by supper short golf course grass which is where all the lounge chairs sit. Ammo called us a little before noon saying that he had things to do, but that he was sending our SAS friends and that they would have two chauffeurs take us around the whole town site seeing. The first site they took us to was the QUTB group of monuments which was very interesting. They were made by Muslim Emperors the first which was the tallest was actually done by about four different emperors each adding a different section making it taller and taller with a different design. Then one day the last empower made one that was suppose to be like twice as wide and twice as tall but he died and didn’t finish it so it just looks like rubble. Next we did a lot of the sight seeing that we had done the night before. And I forgot to tell you that around the parliament building there are probably 200 monkeys running around. On the fences, on the buildings, in the yards little ones and big ones everywhere. Then on one of the four main roads that take you to the political buildings has huge lawns where all the people hang out in the afternoon. This is where the chauffeurs got out all the sandwiches, fruit, chips and drinks for us to have a picnic. It was great being able to sit out and see all the buildings of such importance in a nation that is coming to such importance in our world today and be able to enjoy everything. (Side note sitting here typing this blog just got into an interesting conversation with a professors wife trashing republicans) anyways….
After this we were suppose to go to Ammos sisters house to pick her up so she could give us a factory tour. But for some reason we went back to the hotel to pick up Ammo. She decided that she would not be coming and we made about a 30 minute drive to the factory which had about 600 or so bikes sitting outside. We were greeted by his cousin and her husband who owned the factory that manufactured upscale clothing. They took us into this room that looked like a clothing store with leather couches and offered us all drinks. This room had all of the designs that had been done for future clothing where the buyers for their customers could come pick things out for their company to produce in orders from 1,000 to 50,000 in quantity. Then they brought in about 100 pieces of clothing that were older pieces from past examples and let the girls pick out all the ones that they wanted to take as well see if they had the right sizes when available. Then they took us through the five or so levels showing us step by step the process. One floor had all the material where they were going to cut it, then another had where they were sowing it, one where they were checking everything, and one where they were adding the sequins, and where they were packaging. They were even letting us pick out anything that was being produced for us to take one if we wanted. The problem was that they only produced women’s clothing. By the time we were all done the girls had obnoxious amounts of clothing probably all at least $1,000 worth if not more.
Next we got to do one of the highlights which was have a real Indian dinner at Ammos house. After a long drive we pulled up to a huge house with a guard outside that greeted us. We walked into the living room and then into the dinning room where the huge table was all set up for dinner. We ended up having an amazing 5 or so course vegetarian dinner that was amazing. There were probably 4 or so people waiting on us the whole time so that was a lot of fun. One of the dishes that were served was a cilantro soup that you are suppose to pour onto these egg shell looking pieces of fried flour that have potatoes and stuff in them. When it was about time for dessert Ammos mother came out and sat down with us. She is a really nice woman who showed us great hospitality along with Ammo the whole time we were in India.
We had to hurry though because Ammo had made arrangements for us to go to this lounge area that was brand new and his was worried that it would get to busy. So Megan AJ and I went back to the hotel to change and get ready. Then the cars came to get us and we made our way to the lounge that was outside of the park hotel. It is out by the pool that they have turned into a chic modern club at night. Although I have not been I have heard stories about hotel Za Za and it sounds a lot like there pool area at night. We ended up staying there for a long time, half way through it Ammo sent one of the cars to go pick up Linda, Kristen and Todd to come hang out with us. Then later on in the evening Ammo introduced us to a younger Indian couple that after talking to them was Ammos sister and brother in law. Some of the group already knew this because they had meet her at the house but at least AJ Megan and I had not. We stayed there till late and then made our way to the Orange club in the Ashlok hotel which ended up being where a bunch of the official SAS trips were staying. The entrance to this club was also outside and when we got there we didn’t go straight in because Ammo was down talking to the front desk for a while. This was surprising because in our travels we have always been ushured right in because of that whole American celebrity status. Although when we realized that since SAS was staying there and that we saw other SAS kids going inside that American status might not of been such a big deal. After a while a man in a suit came out and once he saw Ammo he kind of scolded the front door people for not letting us in right away.
We ended up having a great time here dancing and hanging out with friends from the ship that we hadn’t seen in a while. And also we did end up getting to hang out in the VIP lounge of this club also because of Ammos connection. It was after this that we kind of realized that Ammo in some respects is like Paris Hilton but classier. I decided to call it a night earlier that most although it wasn’t that early even since we had to be up and in the car at 6am so I took one of the cars back to the hotel.

Day 4 (October 22, 2005)
This morning came really early, we had to be downstairs to go to the Taj at like 6 am. At first I went to the concierge which is where Ammo told us to go to get the car. But they shrugged me off and told me to go to the other car desk to see if they knew anything about it. Of course they didn’t but they did have tickets on the train that we had pre-arranged before talking to Ammo about what we should do. He insisted that we take a car with a chauffer for comfort sake so we did. So I went back to the concierge and asked him if he knew anything about it again, finally I threw Ammos name around and he got really perky and ushered us out the door and into the car that was waiting for us. The driver for this day was Muslim, the reason why I say this is for two reasons first they are the minority in India as well as they are the ones who wear the turbin on their head which we were surprised that he was allowed to wear that instead of the chauffeurs hat but anyways we thought that it was interesting.
We slept most of the drive but saw some of the way sporadically on the way to the Taj. This was funny because one of the times when we woke up was right when a cow was crossing the road and I guess the driver thought it would get out of the way but it really didn’t. So we had to swerve and came within inches of hitting the bulls head.
When we got to the Taj we ended up deciding to get a tour guide which was paid like 275 rupees (which 43.5 rupees to the dollar) and he knew everything. It cost about $15 for the entrance fee into the Taj and after being in the car for that long the first thing we wanted to do was go to the bathroom. After that we were on the main deck with the Taj right in front of us about three hundred or so yards away. It was stunning, although we were told to go into it with the attitude that it was just a building. And it was a really really cool building but it was the history and the story that goes behind it that is so cool (if interested in it, just google and you will find more than enough info.) We took several photos here and some where it looks like we are holding the Taj in our hands. The cool thing about the Taj is that it is made out of Indian white marble which is supposed to be the best because of the crystals that you can see when looking at it. Also all the semi precious stones that make out the writing from the coran as well as the different floral designs. One of which is an orange stone which is the only one that glows in the dark, something that I would really like to see.
Half way up the Taj there is a raised platform made out of stone that was described as where the foreign dignitaries sit when they come to view it, as well as we had questions about all the fountains that are in the long pool in the front of it but they said that they only turn those on when there is a VIP in town. When you begin to go up the stairs to go into the Taj you must either take off your shoes or put on the booties that cover your shoes that were given to us with our entrance fees. The actual tombs or marble caskets you cannot see because they are under the main floor but you oust to be able to go see them. But the stairs down there were gated off and it was so funny watching the Indians reaction to this some would throw money or coins down there and others would get onto their hands and knees to try to peak in the dark even though it was obvious that you could not see in from standing there. Let me note that being able to go in was a treat because I didn’t realize that you could as well as you were not able to take photos while in. But anyways, they made a complete replica on what was beneath on top that you could see of the different tombs. After looking inside we exited and went around back to where you could see the river that looked a little low. I am sure when the water is up it is a lot prettier. Here there were people bathing/swimming in it, cows wading in it, and people filming from the other side of the river from the back. Because they do not allow film crews on the grounds so that is the only side you can film from. An interesting fact about the Taj is the four poles around it are at an angle so that if there was an earthquake or something they would fall to the sides instead of in to hit the Taj.
Now when looking towards the front of the Taj to the left and right there are identical aesthetically appealing buildings. To the left is a Mosque positioned there because of its direction towards Mecca. And the building to the right is where foreign dignitaries during the kingly rule stayed when they visited the Taj. Also I will post a photo of white marble steps in my web shots account that are like 20 or so in a row. The impressive thing about these is that they are made from one solid piece of marble pretty impressive to say the least. After we were done we went out on the opposite side of where the chauffer was so we ended hiring a bike rickshaw driver. That took us throughout Agra on our way towards the car. We ended up having a guy run with us for like 15 minutes trying to sale me a leather whip. Starting out at 10 US I kept saying NO because I wasn’t interested…he stayed at 5 US for a while and finally went down to 2. It was soo funny, he couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to buy his leather whip from him. On our way to the car I got to see several different Camels that you could rent to ride around on that were cool.
In regards to the Taj, yes it is just a building, no I wasn’t disappointed and everyone that ever goes to India should take the time to go see it. Next in the distance and over the river is the Agra fort. Which I believe is also called the red fort, which is funny because it was all white at one time. It is said to be the most important fort off all India. It has a mote around it and a huge wall and is made up of 16 palaces. We decided that we didn’t want a guide for this part so we made our way around ourselves reading the different signs. The best part of it was its commanding view of the Taj because it was set higher it really was cool to look out and see it with the river in the distance. We then asked the chauffer to take us to one of the palaces that had been turned into hotels that had these restaurants in them that we had heard so much about. But I am not sure if there was a lack of communication there, or if he just didn’t know where one was but he took us to some random Indian restaurant. The food was good, and I think now I might even start wanting to go with the guys to get Indian food more often. And all the entrees were really cheap like 2 US each. We then made the long drive back to the hotel that took like 3.5 hours.
When we got back to the hotel AJ and I decided that we were going to go swimming. But after calling Ammo on the phone he said that they were going to go shopping so we changed our minds and joined them downstairs. To find out that everyone but Ammo was going to go, but Ammos personal chauffer would join us and the regular hotel chamfers would drive and he would show us the best shops. It was funny because we would bargain for things and then every time we would get something he would ask how much and he would say we over paid when we thought that we got a good deal. After the set time was us to go to the next market, the girls said that they weren’t done yet and that they were going to stay there for at least another hour. So the guys decided that we were going to leave, and Ammos chauffer insisted that we should go to the next market with them. But we knew they were going to take forever and so he wasn’t really happy that he had to stay with the girls and I don’t blame him but at least he was getting paid to do it.
When we finally found one of the chauffeurs he was telling us that we needed to rush back to the hotel to pay for our return air tickets because the travel agent had aparentantly been at the hotel for a while waiting on us. We got there and paid the man then after talking to Ammo we said that we were going to go sit out by the pool. He told us that it was closed and so we were like well we will go do something else then. And randomly he was like how about a hair cut. I was like hair cut, that’s pretty weird I was like I just had one on the ship. Then he said how about a massage, I was like that’s more like it. So he took us down to the spa and had it arranged for us. It was defiantly one of the most luxurious ones I have ever been in. With an awesome hour massage then, one of those great showers that fills like it is just dumping rain at you, which made me more than revitalized for the night ahead.
Originally we were supposed to meet at around 8:45pm to go to dinner, but Ammo had some business he needed to take care of before we went to dinner so we pushed it back till around 10 and just hung out in the lobby bar chatting about all the cool things that we had done and seen that day. Eventually around 10:30 or so they walked us back to the restaurant and to our table in La Piazza the Italian restaurant in the hotel. The service was excellent and the food was even better. They started us off with the house specialty pizza that is topped with sun dried tomatoes and fresh pesto sauce. Then for appetizers, I had a kind of pizza pocket that was stuffed with fresh asparagus. And for my entrée, I had the fillet mignot (I know I know not supposed to eat beef in India but I figured Ammo was cool with it then there was no one left to offend). Everyone got a variety of other things but no one was able to eat even half of their entrée. Everyone was tired besides AJ and I so they ended up going home and we made our way to the nightclub that was there in the hotel. Which they are about to start renovating so Ammos sister can open up her first Chinese restaurant. The club was cool right there on the hotel property and looks a lot like an English pub. Although it was mostly businessmen that were probably all staying there at the hotel. They played a variety of music all ones people from the states would recognize. We only stayed for a little while here though because it was already about 1:30am or so and we had to get up to get ready to go to the airport at 5am.
It came early with the wake up by room service with the great fresh squeezed OJ. Right when we were about to go down Ammo called and said that he was downstairs and that he forgot a bag so we would have to meet him at the airport. So we took the car and they were actually there waiting on us right when we got there. Oh this is funny….Ammo said the night before at dinner that he hadn’t waited in line to get his boarding passes at the Delhi airport that they always sent people ahead of time to take care of this for us. So sure enough, when we got out of the car the airport manager and a bunch of guys who had stood in line to get all of our tickets were standing there ready to hand us our tickets. We were then rushed onto the plane to board and were in the air shortly after that. This is something that I hadn’t talked about. The service on all of the India airlines is amazing with the chilled towel upon sitting down in the plane as well as the always-hot meal and good drinks. When we arrived at the Chennai airport Ammo had arranged for two cars to be there waiting for us to take us around for the day with the beginning starting with breakfast. Ammo explained that in India breakfast and lunch are the main meals not dinner. And this was an event we let him order for us at this hotel we went to and we had an exceptional four course breakfast vegetarian of course for like $1.50 US. We spent the rest of the day exploring the shops and then the driver was able to bribe his was all the way to the gangway of the ship with everyone else having to tout their luggage about a mile from the outer security gate.
All in all India was amazing, I owe such a great deal of gratitude to Ammo and his family. The hospitality that his family showed to us will never be surpassed! I would sum up India in two words food, and service. Ammo always said what will make India great is its labor force if they can harness it and but it to full capacity. And he is completely right, India is on its way to become a super power in my generation and if the billion people can get all these things together, they will do amazing things. Now as I started with saying that they said on the ship that you will love or hate India. I think with a positive mind as well as positive outlook for the future of India everyone can enjoy what this great country especially the regions of the north has to offer!

Looking towards Myanmar we arrive in port tomorrow. We are traveling as fast as we have in the voyage yet at 27.5 knots and the sea depth is around 9,500 feet (I can’t believe it can get that deep). The reason for this speed is because we must hit the river at high tide tomorrow that will lead us into the harbor of Myanmar or else it will be too shallow for us to enter. We will actually be in the port for 7.5 days. We will be able to get off the ship for the first 6 and the rest we will have to stay on and go to class. I know some of you have heard of the bomb that went off in Yangon on Friday or Thursday. I know I read about it in the papers. They are assuring us that things according to their security company that they hired said things should be ok. At this time I am trying to get on this trip with some fellow Ambassadors from the ship that is 3 nights four days exploring Yangon which is about an hour away from the port, and another town which is another hour away from Yangon. But I have to wait and see if the tour agent will let them add my name on. If not I have several other friends who do not have anything else planned so who knows where we will end up or what we will end up doing. Apparently, there are not suppose to be any internet cafes in Myanmar so communication may be limited to that on the ship. Which you all know that is to a minimum. They are also saying that the phone calls are like $12 us a minute sooo. I love and miss all of you. You will have to let me know if any of you read this whole thing. But I wanted to try and get all this down for my records so when I try to remember this trip I can just go to my blog.

Chow

Chad

Cobras in India!!!!!

We have spent the day exploring Chennai and have had a good time. We finally got off the ship at around 12:45pm and hired a rickshaw which ended up having two drivers. One would drive and the other would sit in the back of the rickshaw with AJ and I and then every once in a while he they would switch. This was for 200 rupees and there are 43.5 rupees to the dollar. We needed him to take us to the bank where they said that they didn’t have access to American accounts only Indian. So then we needed him to take us to the airport to get the tickets on Air Sahara which we had bid on and one on the internet. Then we told him on our way we wanted to go get something to eat so we went to about four or five different restaurants all of which were closed. When finally we saw a pizza hut that was open, but he insisted that we would eat Indian food. Finally he found one for us that was really cheap with tons of food. The most interesting thing was that there was the best service about four guys standing around catering to our every need. Finally we told him that we wanted to go to the market and he took us too many different very expensive shops. After finally becoming tired of seeing the same rugs, wraps, and junk we decided that we were tired of seeing shops. When he insisted that we would only look at three more. I am sure that they get paid at every one that we stop at. But the last one was really cool it had a guy next to the shop that had a cobra. He wanted something like 800 rupees to play the flut and let it dance. But we bargained him down to 100 rupees total with a picture of AJ with it and a picture of me with it.
Interestingly enough India has people every where. And after just a few moments here there is no doubt that there are over a billion people in the country. Chennai is one of the most conservative cities in all of India with no alchohol being sold anywhere besides the finest hotels. Also the rickshaws which are really cheap but they go extremely slow. And if there is one thing that you have to do while in India is bargain bargain bargain.
Tomorrow we are on Air Sahara flight Career s2) flight # 141. It leaves at 10:45 am and Armitish is going to Agraa tomorrow to the Taj to see his father who is there and take Jordan his roomate on the ship. But he said that he would have someone waiting there for us at the airport with a sign with our name on it to take us to the hotel.
More later, got to run. Miss you all!!!!

Where are here in India!!!!

Where are here in the port of India!!!! It is very commercial with lots of cargo ships everywhere. And they had the local consulate from the US come on board and brief us. Pretty interesting, alright not much else we are waiting for the Indian immigration to clear us so then we will be able to get our passports and get off the ship. It is taking much longer than usual. Usually when we arrive in port we are off by 9am or so, today it is 11:00am and we still haven’t heard any word about our passports. Talk to you guys soon.

Chad

Middle of the Indian Ocean

October 15th, 2005
The past couple of days have been pretty interesting. We have been spending a ton of time preparing for our synchronized swimming competition although we have not had any water in the pool since we left Mauritius. Which makes doing the whole synchronized swimming part a little difficult. We did although decide that we wanted to do the first dance routine that is in the gym of the movie Old School as well as for AJ and I to tie in the ribbon dance routine at the gym part of old school that Will Farrell does at the end of our routine. As you probably imagined the reason why there is no water in the pool is because the ship has been rocking so much. Now when I say this don’t think that the waves are so bad that everyone is sick (although some people are) most everyone has gotten the sea legs and is oust to the huge waves when they come although I don’t think you ever get oust to being thrown off your balance and into the walls which occurs occasionally. But because of the waves we are trying to plan both a routine not only for the water but also for the possibility that we will have to perform in the union.
We also had our cheer committee try to teach us our cheer or chant for the Olympics that opened up tonight. As you can imagine between 700 students on 9 different seas (or teams) some of the chants got pretty interesting. I would say that the one our committee came up with was PG 13 but I am choosing not to it if you would like to hear it you can email me that request.
We were also notified that if we wanted a seat in the Union to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics as well as the talent show that we would need to arrive early to get a seat. Because of the size of the union they were only going to allow 35 people from each sea to sit in designated sections and everyone else had to sit in one of the satellite rooms around the ship to watch the show. Because of this AJ and I got in about an hour and a half early and got seat on the front row. We were actually able to watch a couple of the practices of different talented groups that were in that nights show. One of which had a choreographer student from Iran that took her job really serious (image the Seinfeld episode with the soup Nazi and make him a dance instructor and you’ve got our girl)!!!! But after sitting in there for about 45 minutes or so they made us leave the union so they could set up which forced a ton of people out into the hall. That’s when it all got interesting the yellow sea got control of the front and forced all the other sea to the back and they all began yelling there chants at one another. Finally when we got in AJ and I were able to get the two front row seat which put us in charge of running the banner up and down the aisle before everything started. While doing this we aren’t paying much attention to what’s behind us when eventually we realize that the global studies professors wife had fainted and was lying in the aisle.
She was out for a pretty good time which is pretty scary when you consider that we are in middle of the Indian Ocean. A little while later we got to hear the Captain come on and do his “Attention ships company attention ships company code blue 6th deck union code blue 6th deck union”. Luckily for the lady the SAS doctor and two RNs and two retired doctors were in the union already but it didn’t take two long for the crew doctor and staff to be upstairs with a military stretcher to remove her from the union. We found out later that she was ok, just tired, hungry and overwhelmed.
When the Opening Ceremonies finally started they paraded in the kids onboard with flashlights that looked like flames that lit a big thing in the middle that looked like they lit the Olympic torch that was really cool with the music in the background. The rest of the evening was filled what all kinds of different singing, dancing and other entertaining acts. But there was one that was pretty funny the Captain come on again and said “Attention ships company attention ships company the barring sea balers are now conducting their tryouts for the talent show in the union” which was filled fool of all kinds of hysterical impersonations with a few more commentaries by the captain. After the talent show was over our team was assured that there would be water in the pool and that we would be able to perform as originally planned.
October 16th, 2005
This morning AJ had to get up really early to do his monopoly tournament and I got up shortly after which I am glad that I did because all of the different events were hilarious. I spent most of my time watching musical chairs as did a lot of the ship. It was in the union and started out with three team members from each sea including one which was made up of the adult/faculty/staff. They were playing some of the funniest music and people were dancing and singing along all over the union. AJ and Alberto ended up getting 2nd place in the monopoly and then we spent the rest of the afternoon practicing in the pool and getting ready for the synchronized swimming that was to occur at 3:00pm. Since we weren’t able to find any yellow Speedos in Mauritius we made homemade Speedos out of yellow duck tape as well as painted our bodies with yellow paint ( all things that were found by our yellow sea on the ship for the event). We definitely looked pretty hilarious so just as we make it to the pool and are about to step outside someone tells us that they had just postponed the event till 7:00pm and that we would be performing it dry in the union. This is because it was raining earlier and the tile around the pool were wet and the captain didn’t want anyone slipping and getting hurt. Sorry but when the first performers get out of the pool they are going to get that same tile wet with or without the previous rain. Yet to say we were incredibly mad at this news especially considering they make the announcement over the intercom 10 minutes after the event is suppose to start.
So we end up deciding that we are going to do it anyways and that we are going to just get several people to tape it and that we will just show the video of the performance during our given time slot tonight. When Drew (who lives on our hall and is on the Olympic committee) says that the dean has decided that he is not going to allow any showing of videos with water in it during tonight’s performance. When we finally got everything in order there was a pretty large crowd that had collected and we did our performance perfectly. It was so funny and everyone died laughing, including us after we watched it on video. Some of us in the group weren’t happy especially me about them canceling it being in the pool and considered not performing at all that night if they wouldn’t show the video of the performance. We finally ended up giving in and decided to make the best of it.
We ended up changing a few things as well as costumes because all of the duck tape and paint came off in the pool. We were the 2nd group to perform in the synchronized swim off, and we had Andrew had gone over all the lighting with the technician before we started including having the lights almost completely off when we walked in. We walked in with our heads down and right when we got into position we ripped off our shirts with our swim suits showing and the first song up was lion king but we just let it play a couple of seconds. Then that song “everybody dance now” came on and we did the old school dance, then a classical song, Madonna, du hast me (where AJ and Alberto lifted Tiffany up), spice girls, and finally the last ribbon song from old school where Alberto and Andrew lifted up Tiffany again. It was pretty amazing and we were the only group to get a standing ovation (that lasted like 2 or 3 minutes) who would of thought a bunch of guys who had never danced before could have done something like that (although Tiffany had done dance for many years and Johanna our choreographer had done it for many years as well).
It was funny because when we came off stage everyone was like did you hear me screaming, I screamed the whole time and I was like actually no. All of our group said the same thing we were so serious and into it none of us could remember much of any of it. But don’t worry I have lots of photos and the video of it so you can all watch it when I get back if you want.
As far as today there is not a lot going on, the weather outside is great because we are in middle of the Indian ocean, the captain filled up the pool with salt water this time so the water is hot which I will probably go sit out by later , I am done with classes for the day, and we have a pub night tonight.
Looking forward to India it will pretty interesting going to a country with over a billion people one of which like 82% are Hindu. Today we learned that of all the countries besides India there total population is less than half that of India. We have been studying a lot about the Indian culture as well as the Hindu especially as well as the Muslim, and Islamic religions. Which is nice because so many of my friends are Indian and I know before I had no real grasp of their culture which now after my studies I feel as if I am. And I am sure after we return from India I will have even more of a grasp. The Dean said that most people either love or hate India but that either way it is extreme one way or the other that there is rarely any in between. It is my hopes to go with a positive attitude, an open mind, and hopefully I can come back with that love. I know I have talked your ear off and that there are very few that will actually read all of this. But for those of you still reading I hope that you are all doing well and I love and miss you all very much!!!!

chow!!!

Chad

On our way to India!!!!

We are back on the open seas with all on board heading quickly at around 19 knots towards the coast of India. Actually something they do everyday around 12:30 is read the position report and announce what is going on for that day. It is also available online so I took it off the computer and here it is: October 12, 2005Latitude 17 degrees - 18 minutes South, Longitude 060 degrees - 52 minutes East. Distance made good since noon yesterday 260 nm, total distance made good 260 nm, distance to next port 2,341 nm. Average speed since noon yesterday 19.4 knots, distance to nearest shoreline 205 nm to Island Rodriguez. Sea depth 11,483 feet, sea water temperature 75.2 degrees F (24 degrees C), air temperature 75.2 degrees F (24 degrees C). Southeast winds, 21 knots. Moderate swell and rough seas, partly cloudy skies. Sea wave height 8.2-9.8 feet. Sunset 1749 hrs; sunrise 0515 hrs. So since last post, we left the grocery store that we were using the internet at and went back to the hotel. Where we tried to sign up for a massage, but the lady was all booked for the day. She told us to go to a place right across the street which was open. Luckily she had a couple of spots open for us. So I ended up getting one of the best full body massages ever for 45 minutes and it was only like $15 US. It was kind of funny because I had never had a full body massage I guess from what I have heard was the type I usually get is the sport massage which is supposed to be deep tissue. Anyways, with the full body one part of it, is she got the oil and rubbed it all over your face and head it was nice but very different at the same time. Then that night we hung out around the hotel mainly. During dinner till the late hours they had a funny electric piano guy and a girl singer that were where the DJ was the night before. The funny part was that he was playing all kinds of American music like Madonna and such but it was all in French even a country song in French. Later that night we walked down the way to the Buddha club where everyone was supposed to be. When we got into viewing distance there were about 200 semester at sea people leaving, apparently it was closing pretty early or something. So we just went back to the hotel and hung out where some of the people were sleeping out on the beach but I just wanted to sleep in the comfortable bed in the room.
The next day we got up and had breakfast at the restaurant there that overlooks the beach. Everyone had apparently gotten up early and was out at the beach in full swing. People were swimming in the ocean, sailing, water skiing and playing on paddle boats. After snorkeling AJ and I decided to walk over to the scuba hut over to the hotel and bargain with them for a little while. It is funny because we have gotten really good at this bargaining and from what it seemed paid a lot less than most of the friends on the trip. This was also the case with the two girls that came up later and went scuba diving with us. Mauritius has a great coral reef around the beach area of the island in fact I heard it was supposed to be one of the largest continuous in the world. This is one of the reasons people are able to do such a variety of water sports off the beach at our hotels like water skiing. We ended up doing a backward roll into the water off of the boat which is always interesting and followed the anchor down to the bottom with a maximum depth of 21 meters which I believe is something like 65 feet or so. AJ as usual had a lot of trouble making it down because of his ears not adjusting to the varying depths that caused the rest of the group to have to stop and wait on him. When I go down I am constantly breathing in and clearing my ears, but at one point there was an extended wait for AJ to go further down. Which caused me to unconsciously stop clearing my ears which after a little while stopped clearing. I thought that I was going to kill AJ because I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to finish the dive. Eventually I was able to clear my ears though and we were able to continue.
The diver over all was really good probably on par with Cozumel, but there was one very interesting thing the sea eninimees which is the thing that nemo likes to hang out in. They were soo huge, they covered huge rock formations and there tentacles were at times up to a foot long. I had never seen anything like it before. One of the girls Gueen who was with us had only been certified for about 6 months was pretty funny because you would just be floating along and for some reason she would be a above you and just hit you really hard on accident. When we all got up we were all like who was that hitting everybody.
We spent the rest of the day on the beach, are were planning on stopping off at the bank before 5pm but apparently the banks close at 3:30pm. Also a little after that all the shops were closing and tons of people were out in the street walking all one direction. What is was, is that the majority of the population there is Hindu and they had been fasting all day and at 7pm they could eat so they were all really ready to get out of work and get home. There were a few shops and restaurants that were still open around the water front. Where I ended up having one of the best dishes so far on the voyage. It was a Mauritian steak which was like fillet mignot with rice and a hot sauce like tomato based salsa all over the steak but it wasn’t hot. After dinner we made our way back to the ship and went up on deck to watch the long line of people trying to get on board right at nine. See anyone that is late after nine who is not clocked in on the ship gets one hour dock time for every minute that they are late. So if you happened to be like an hour later you could possibly miss a port all together and not be allowed off.
It was a little tough getting up for classes this morning, but I made it which I can’t say the same for a lot of the shipboard community. It was nice though because when I got back from class there were friends who had decorated my door with happy birthday signs and cards. One even from the Dean which was kind of nice. And I ended up getting a lot of my birthday cards that were sent from Kenya so I was really excited about that. It has been a really good birthday so far, and all my friends are saying that we are going to have a party tonight so we will see what that beholds.
A few finishing notes I believe that Mom and Dad get back in town and assuming they will make it back safely I am thankful. I hope that you will keep there travels in your prayers I also have a relative that needs your prayers for medical reasons so I know everyone knows there is power not only in prayers but in numbers. I know God is in control and things in the end will turn out for the best. God bless you and the USA!!!!
Love always,

Chad

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

First off I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom!!!!!!! I love you!!!!

Well we are in Mauritius there is a quote that Mark Twain is famous for about Maurituis and heaven. All though I know heaven is going to be much better Mauritius is beautiful and awesome!!! I can’t say enough good things about it. If you are looking it up online we are in the Flic en Flac area which is a nice beach area about 20 or 30 minutes from the ship. We are only here for 2 nights and three days so everyone is trying to crame in as much as possible. Last night we had a blast though. The hotel we are staying at is half board. Which means you get a room, dinner, and breakfast. The food is pretty good, but the view is even better the restaurant is right next to the beach. So last night after dinner the hotel has a dance floor right next to the restaurant where there was a really good DJ who played American music. The party eventually made its way done to the beach where it stayed for several hours. There were probably 200 of us out there. People from all the different hotels that were on the ship with us kept coming and coming.
Today we got up and walked all the way down the beach and finally ended up getting to the Hilton hotel. It was really really nice, we had some friends there that have a really big sweet that we said that we were going to go hang out with. But by the time we got there they had already left for the day. On our way to the Hilton though we saw several of the factory stores that we had heard about. See Mauritus is big into producing designer clothing. And these stores had everything for really cheap. LV, burberry, polo, diesel, anything you want from 10 to 30 dollars US. I got a couple of things but the only problem is you can only bring so much stuff home with me.
We went into town today and had a great lunch at this Chinese restaurant. The island is made up of Asians, Indians ( a lot), and Africans. But it was a british and French colony with a still heavy French influence. Most people speak French first, but most speak atleast some English. We are going to head back to the hotel soon, because we are going to get some cheap massages on the beach. Sorry the post is soo short there is so much to do and so little time on the island I will try to post a longer one when we get back on the ship.
Chad

While at Sea

Well a lot has happened in the past couple of days. Starting with the free day we had two days ago. It was nice to be able to catch up on all my school work and to be able to hang out with friends. We also had an awesome bar b que out by the pool that night, with all kinds of grilled fish, chicken, and hamburgers where everyone stayed out even after they were done watching the sunset and enjoying having some time to just chill and relax. Yesterday was also kind of a slow day where I was able to prepare for the global studies exam that I had today, as well as sit out on deck for several hours by the pool. Then I had several meetings to go to, first was my intercultural ambassadors meeting where we talked about upcoming events and people that were coming onboard. Then we had our yellow Sea meeting (which is the people who live on our hall) to discuss what’s been going on, different rumors, and the Sea Olympics.
Karen my RD has been telling all of the other RDs that we are going to kill everyone in this which we should because we’ve got a very involved group. I signed up for mashed potato sculpting, which is where they give you a plate of mashed potatoes and then show you a picture of something and you have to artistically sculpt it to the best of your abilities. I know it doesn’t sound like an Olympic event but then again most of the ones I have seen on TV don’t really seem to be either. It should be a lot of fun either way, I have been looking at lots of photos of the Eiffel tower and Taj Mahl to practice. Another event that AJ and Alberto signed up for is Monopoly where you have thirty minutes to see who can accumulate the most net worth, I think it is all luck on who can land on the free parking space the most but AJ thinks that he can come up with some sort of strategy to win it all. But the one that is the most important that AJ, Alberto, Austin, Tiffany, and I signed up for is……sequinissed swimming!!! It is going to be pretty funny, jorghe and Aleghondro are also doing it in there sea. We are going to put together a mix CD to go along to and use “Old School” (the movie) as our motivation with such songs as “Everybody dance now” and “Titanic”!!! That is on the 16th of October so once we get back then we will only have a few days to practice.
Well we arrive in Mauritius tomorrow which is supposed to be one of the coolest islands ever. I have gotten a lot of emails from different friends saying that it is supposed to be like better than Tahiti so that should be lots of fun. I think that we will try to Scuba dive and if there are enough waves Erin wants to try and teach us how to Surf I don’t know if that will be possible though I wasn’t very good at it when we tried in Hawaii a long time ago.
Also we have been talking to Armitish that lives down the hall. He gave us the name of this website that auctions off air travel from Air Sahara and we were able to win one way tickets to Delhi (close to where the Taj is) for like $100 US which is really good. Armitish who lives in Delhi but goes to school at Stanford told us not to worry about a hotel room or a return flight that he was going to call while in Mauritius and arrange one for cheap for us. Also that his roommate here on the ship is going to be traveling with him to Delhi and that he will take us to the Taj and show us around Delhi so it sounds like everything is turning out pretty good.
Finally during the crossing we had another Impact (which is like a Christian non-denominational service) where we tried to sing an acapella song after a few lead by someone playing the guitar. It didn’t turn out real great I think mainly because the different parts for the guys and girls weren’t separated and spread out over more slides. But I think that we are going to try and figure it out and give it another try on our next crossing to India. I tried to get some of my Jewish friends like Alberto to come with but they said they didn’t want to because they had just been done with there group. They named it the Jew Crew I thought that title was kind of funny, but then again that whole group cracks me up. But I guess my point was that there are about 70 or more people that came to Impact and each week it seems to be growing it is just kind of cool how people from all the different faiths can get together to worship with all the many things going on in our lives.
I guess that’s about it, we had a pretty interesting night last night with the huge waves we were hitting at the front of the ship where our cabin is. All of the glass glasses that are on my desk kept sliding from one side to the other and bouncing around. And the doors to my closets kept slamming open and shut, luckily none of the glasses broke. The seas have calmed down a little today but I think it is mainly that we are going a lot slower, currently we are just off the coast of Madagascar for those of you who are keeping up with our location. All for now, God Bless!!!

Chad

Safe and sailing away from Cape Town

Well we are on our way to the Mauritius with classes in progress and looking forward to a day off in two days although I have a lot of class work that will occupy most of my time. So since last post I need update you on what happened the last two nights in Cape Town. The first of the two we went to this really cool club called Hemisphere which was on the 31st floor of one of the downtown sky scrapper that had an amazing view of the city, the bay, as well as our ship. It was really clubby feeling with lots of large comfortable chairs to sit and relax as well as a continuous couch along the windows to sit and look out with a large dance floor around the windows in one of the corners. We had a great time here and hung out with lots of people from the ship as well as made some new friends with locals from Cape Town. I guess I should tell AJs side of the story because I know how the rumors get started and some of you might have already read his blog and told others about it. That night some friends and I had decided to leave the club earlier than others from our group from the ship. So I went down the elevator and out the door to see three or so of the clubs security guards standing there at the entrance of the huge building and we walked across the two lane street that was pretty well lit and got into a taxi and made our way home safely. Let me repeat I got home safely with no worries. When AJ and a friend decided that they were going to leave the club they did the same routine of going outside of the building, but there were some thugs there that had other ideas then of putting him into a taxi. They grabbed him and he was able to see the girl run off, when he was trying to be a gentlemen and make sure she was ok to the best of his ability. Anyways they took his wallet and digital camera and he didn’t fight back. There were South Africans that were there who saw the whole thing and apologized for some of the South African citizens for acting in this matter. And a cab driver offered to take him home, which he did even though he obviously didn’t have any money on him. The main thing to remember here is that AJ is safe. He was a little shaken up to begin with, which is rightfully so. But we both understand that this could of happened anywhere and it does happen frequently in any large city. In this case it was surprising considering the large number of police officers that are usually always around. My belief this time that they weren’t around as much because this particular club was in the business district instead of the tourist areas we generally are in. Anyhow he is safe and that is all that matters.
The next morning we got up and had lunch in the Waterfront area right next to the ship. Then we went to a place called green market square which has a local stadium where they have a huge market on Sundays in the parking lot. They have everything here like wood crafts, clothing, food, even hygiene products like razors and shampoo. It is basically like a first Mondays trades day in Cape Town. After a full day of shopping we came back to the waterfront area and side up to go on a sailboat that evening from 6 to 7:30 on a sunset cruise with some friends. The sunset cruise was a lot of fun, but really really cold, and I even thought that I had dressed warmly for this occasion. It was cool because we went pretty far out towards Robin Island which is the island that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for all of those years. Which they had a tour to the island to tour the prison but it was like $25 and we really never had time. Also during the sunset cruise we were able to get a better idea of exactly how large Cape Town and the “Cape” really is. Think of like a hug “U” or bay it is definitely the largest one I have seen with large building all the way around there is no telling how many miles it runs for. Finally we pulled into the harbor after dark so it was cool getting to see both the city and the harbor at night from the sailboat from that angel especially after getting to see the opposite view from the 31st floor of the downtown building the night before.
After the sunset cruise we made our way to a sports bar to have dinner and watch a soccer game before we had to be back on the ship at 9pm. It was kind of funny because AJ and I both had the Texas Steak which was around a 10oz sirloin steak with a fried egg on top served with French fires and steamed vegetables. I don’t know I have never had anything like it that had been called a Texas Steak before. We were able to make it on the ship by 9pm even though there was a really long line as usual because they were searching everyone’s bags. And I soon there after went to bed to try and be fresh for my classes at 7am today.
In one word I thought that I would originally call Cape Town/South Africa wine, just as I had called Brazil food, and Venezuela passion. But I don’t think that I could do that to Cape Town/South Africa so I will do it in three ideas. Cape Town/South Africa has great natural beauty, people, and wine!!! It is a city that can’t be missed in your lifetime and one that definitely needs more than a week to explore.
As I look forward to Mauritius an island that has been described to me by South Africans as better than Tahiti or the most beautiful island on earth I am very excited about the future. For those of you still reading this I got an email from Mom and Dad saying that they are safe and not in danger so don’t worry for those of you who know what I am talking about. God Bless!

Chad

Fun in the wine lands!!!!!

The phots were of: At the first vinyard of the day, the next is with Johanna, and the last is with the friends we meet from Zimbabwe.. Check out the rest of the photos at my webshots.com website

http://community.webshots.com/user/chadgriggs

Hey everyone!!!! As you can tell I have updated my blog much while here in Cape Town, because we have been having such a great time. I will try to keep this one short and do a longer one once we get back onto the ship. We have been going 24hrs a day lately getting very little sleep. Let’s see one night we went out to a pub that is right in front of the water front area where the ship is docked there are about 85 restaurants there plus countless shops. Drinks and food generally around Cape Town are about the same price maybe a little less than the states although there are some deals to be found if you look for them. Anyways it was kind of funny because that night we sat there for just a few minutes than who do you know the captain Jeremy and the security officer who we had, had lunch with twice since we had been onboard. So we hung out with them for a good part of the night. Then later we end up meeting these two guys that are from Africa but not from South Africa who are part of the UN I got there business cards one of the guys names is something Honourable Foldgers ….. in town on a political conference. Anyways that night AJ did not go out with us because he had to get up really early the next morning to go bungee jumping.

Another night we went out we went to this club called Pulse (there should be photos online now from here). Anyways it was a two story club and they had some of the best music. A lot of old American rap and rock and roll. We had a lot of fun singing along and dancing the night away to songs like “I love rock and roll but another quarter in the jut box baby”. That night we spent most of the night hanging out with one of our neighbours that is from India as well as a girl that goes to SMU and even more fun with a group of girls from Zimbabwe. That ended up being a pretty late night it was kind of fun going into the club because AJ and I both had two girls on our arms and more girls following us in so they thought that we were something else (at times as you can tell it is fun to play up the “American” thing if you know what I mean).

The next night we went up too a African Restaurant that had all the typical food as well as a fun 6 piece African band that played all kinds of different music some that was like an African spin of la bamba that got everyone up in the restaurant to dance. The food was pretty good but small portions, but don’t worry we aren’t starving for sure.

Now onto the wine lands. We had originally planned on having a group of about 15 go on Thursday, but as usual things changed. All of our Mexico friends ended up changing plans so I think that there were only 8 of us. But that was ok because we had a great driver named Jeffrey that Kera had been using the hole time while in Cape Town although it took him a little while to find all of the different vineyards that we wanted to go to he tried really hard and was very polite. The first day I believe we only made it to three wineries but we spent a lot of time at each one chatting. The wine on average is pretty good we found that the South African varietals that we like is there Syrah (which they said is the same thing as a Shiraz) but there best Shiraz they call there best ones Syrah. Also South Africa has a Pinotage that is only produce in South Africa it is a varietals that is cross planted with a pinot noir and another grape that I have written down but surprising (I know your shocked) I can’t remember. It was very harsh and worth trying while in South Africa but I don’t know if I would order a bottle while paying restaurant prices.

Anyways it was nice that the wineries weren’t trying to push you into buying their wines right then. They know how expensive it is to ship it to the states so they give you the card so that when you are back home you can order it in the states or pick it up at your local wine store.

Anyways we finished the day in Paarl at the http://www.seidelberg.co.za/ wineries that is the web site by the way. Johanna was amazing (she is actually from Switzerland and definitely knows her wine and is really cool I hope your reading this). Anyhow it sits up on top of a hill with a large lawn where you can sit out and look onto the mountains and vineyards in the distance. Later that afternoon we had a late lunch at the restaurant which was amazing a little pricey but as you can see from the photos well worth it. It had the Venison with a raspberry puree and mashed potatoes that were infused with squash (also photoed is the fillet mignot and the bone in chicken breast). This was of course accompanied with an amazing bottle of Chardonnay for around 6 dollars a bottle.

After having such a great time I decided that I wanted to go with Patti and Noel to the wine lands again the next day hopping to hit up more that just 3. We were lucky enough to make it to 5 I believe. Again we hired a driver for the day at a rate of 600 Rands plus lunch and the exchange rate is 6.3 Rands per US dollar FYI. We stopped at one winery before we got into Paarl where we stopped at the castle winery that is photoed. Here we were able to go to there roof that was up on the third floor but it was also sitting on a hill so we had a great view to enjoy some excellent wines. We were then on to my bosses winery from Reata Mike Evans. Charles Lang the contact that we were supposed to meet there the day before was gone to a meeting but once we said that name they took extremely good care of us apparently it is like one of the largest wine exporters in South Africa. Then onto http://www.fairview.co.za/ Fairview is known for there cheese which you can see. For 100 rands you can have a cheese tray for four that was huge with some of the best breads in the world. My favourite cheese was the one that was crusted with pesto and tomatoes that were dried excellent. We wrapped up the extra and it is still in the fridge on the ship. I believe we are going to eat it tomorrow before we sail out of Cape Town. This wineiere besides being known for the cheeses also has the goats that were photo. It reminded me of Papa I hope you are getting to hear some of this!!!!! Then onto the final winier that we stopped at last the day before. Johanna was there again and took us out to the lawn and to sit on the tractor for photos. Instead of trying the usual 5 I believe we got about 15 this time using the spit bucket every time I am sure you knew this already. This time she said that it was her treat she is soo good to us and if you are ever in South Africa I hope you will visit the coolest, best looking wine expert!!!!!! AJ and I are truly hoping that she will come visit us in the states to show her the same hospitality that she showed us. Don’t forget Johanna we will go shot some white tail deer and then you can cook for us (joking of course)!!!!

Oh I forgot to write about the Moyo restaurant that was at the Spier wineire in Paarl the website is www.moyo.co.za it is amazing there were huge trees with tables all in them. Unbelevable little tents with tables just like a luxury swill family robinson restuarant you have to check out the photos. ( This was a late note after this blog was written)

     As we look towards our last night in Cape Town we are excited
and sad at the same time. AJ is in good shape even after
bungee jumping the tallest one in the world and I am feeling
good but a little tired. Healthy is the key word though, and
I am thankful for that. I received an email from Mom today
and they said that they were having an amazing time in 
Bali!!! And looking towards the future I am sad that I
will miss Donnie’s, Aunt Vicki’s and Moms birthday in
the coming crossing to the Mauritius islands. I hope that
everyone is doing well, I love and miss you. God
bless!!!!!!!

Chad