CHINA- Beijing & Shanghai

for days 2-5 i spent my time traveling to beijing, hiking the wall and visiting the forbidden city.

DAY2- we boarded a plane in Hong Kong and flew into beijing. the entire process took all day and when we landed we drove to our hotel and enjoyed dinner at a local chinese restaurant.
DAY3- Hiking the great wall

we woke up early, dressed in layers, packed our day packed and headed off in a tour bus to the bottom of the mountain. we started our hike at the base of a mountain in a mongolian farming village. as soon as we started our hike up i felt exhausted. the elevation and cold air really killed me and i had a hard time breathing. but i pushed though it because i was having the opportunity of a lifetime. We hiked on th Great Wall of China for EIGHT HOURS! it was the most intense hike i have ever been on. the wall was crumbling below us and footing was not always easy. It followed the top ridge of the mountain side so i hiked up and down mountains all day, up and sown crumbling stairs and steep slopes. at one point we had to hike down the mountain and through a farm, only because that part of the wall is un open to non chinese people. Crazy! over all i had an amazing experience that i will never forget. (especially being given a big-mac by a farmer who hiked up the mountain with a cooler full of them just to feed us lunch! ) wherever we stood along the awl it stretched out for miles in the distance, something you can only imagine when you are looking at pictures.

Day4- we returned back to the wall and hiked a different portion of it for about 4 hours. it was definitely an easier day because the we were hiking in a more touristy area where the wall had been repaired. although ... there were definitely a lot more stairs involved...

That afternoon our great wall group took a trip to the forbidden city. I loved having the opportunity to visit because i had learned all about its history and meaning in my Monuments of World Architecture Class. It is exactly as i imagined it would be. Massive, simple yet beautiful and very zen. I liked that i knew random bits of information that i could share with my friends, enhancing everyones experience.

We spent day five flying back to shanghai where the ship was now docked.

Day SIX- in china i did a service vista to a kindergarten classroom. my friend hannah and i helped instruct an english lesson. They work on their english everyday by following along on a dvd with sentences and song. It was a lost of fun helping the kids learn and watching them smile while singing. After their lesson they were allowed out for recess not eh roof of their building. most of them were shy but i found they liked to jump rope, be spun around and race. at the end of our time, we helped serve their lunch.

*all photo credits to Margarita, Emily and Hannah, who nicely shared their shots with me after my camera was lost/stole/misplaced

CHINA- HONG KONG

My first day in china was spent in Hong Kong at the Mai Po Marshes. It was a FDP (field directed practica) for my marine biology class with Dr. B. The park was a beautifully reserved piece of land, unable to be touched by the closely approaching city that keeps getting larger. We spent our day watching birds from different look out towers and discussing how they are a part of the marine world. we then went to the wetland marsh area and saw mudskippers and crab in their habitat among the muddy mangrove roots. The thing i really love about semester at sea is that all of my classes taught me things i would have never explored, and then the professors connected the subject material to the countries we were visiting and brought us to actually witness the first hand.

(i wish that i had pictures to share with you but the next day my camera go lost/stolen/misplaced, and i hadn't downloaded them)

VIETNAM

Fun Facts:
The popular durian fruit smells like garbage... legit
the currency is called Dong (pronounced dom)
The locals still call Ho Chi Minh City "Saigon"

Day1-
day one i did a city orientation... honestly i wish i could find my pictures from that day because i am having trouble remembering what i saw.

Day2-
my second day in vietnam i did service trips. our first stop, Hy Vong 8 school for the deaf. it is a school for elementary aged children who are deaf or hard of hearing. our job was just to interact and have fun with them. a few of us even tried to find similarities in american sign language and vietnamese. it was fairly close. we built toy plans, read books to them, and blew bubbles. but what they loved the most was having their pictures taken!

We then visited Thi NGHE orphanage. to me, this spot was a lot to handle. all of the children there were victims of Agent Orange and had cerebral palsy. Most were unable to walk, talk and some were even blind. it was heart wrenching. we were told just to try to make a connection with them, wither by holding their hands, talking or singing to them.

ONLY WATCH THIS LINKED VIDEO IF YOU THINK YOU CAN EMOTIONALLY HANDLE IT. it is a video of two employees walking around the facility introducing and interacting with the victims. it is a very real representation of what i experienced. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbUPBsDNw84

DAY3-
I spent this day exploring the city and shopping at the ben than market. The market was a large very crowded shopping center. it was one level crammed with everything you could imagine to purchase. and the best part about it was it was really super cheap. i bought a ton of souvenirs, a north face backpack and delicious food!

Day4- Mekong Delta
my day started with a bus ride to a boat. once on the river boat we set off on the Mekong Delta towards land. it was clear to see that the river was an important resource for fish, sand and transportation.

When we got to the island we were treated to delicious coconut candy and shown how it was made! i bought a bunch of it and brought it home to share with friends and family. Next, i was convinced to drink snake wine. basically snake wine is rice wine fermented with snakes and scorpions in it and it is very strong. i tried one shot of it and wanted to gag. i did not like it, you could actually taste the snake in it (blehhh) but I'm glad i tried it for the experience!

We were then treated to fresh fruit and a performance form the locals.

After the performance we all got in horse drawn carts and went to a"resort" for dinner. we were served fish, rice, and vegetables to wrap in rice paper. i was hesitant of the fish at first but it was delicious.

MALAYSIA

fun facts:
i bought an umbrella hat :)
we got to tender to and from the ship (ride in the life boats because we were anchored not docked)
I held a baby turtle


DAY1- City Tour


Day one in malaysia, I took a city orientation tour. It was the most unique tour I have taken because we rode around in the carriage being pulled by bicyclists. The first stop was the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. ( http://www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my/ ). It is now a museum, of what a typical house of a baba would look like. It was full of many beautiful architects and furniture.

One of my favorite parts of the museum was seeing the shoes that the women wold were, they were the size of a shields foot from binding their feet. The other really interesting thing was that under the bed on the night of marriage the put a male and a female rooster in a cage and whichever one got out first was supposedly the gender of the first child.
The museum tour ended at a small coffee shop selling kopi luwak coffee. it is one of the worlds most expensive coffees. it is made by from the beans of coffee berries which are eaten and digested by asian civets (cats). It is then collected from the feces, cleaned and roasted. I did not try it but apparently it is a lot less bitter and has a slightly chocolate taste.

The next stop was a Buddhist temple, where we burned incense and watched people take part in their daily rituals. The cool thing about this stop was that this temple was on the same street as worshipping places for two other religions.

our last stop was another museum, this time showing more about the culture and history of malaysia.

DAY 2- Malaysia National Park

This day is by far one of my favorites. As a group of students and professors we went to the national park and endeavored on a hike to a turtle sanctuary. it was a more physically challenging hike than anyone expected but it was so much fun just exploring the nature. Throughout the hike our guide pointed to entire ant colonies moving, tree species, monkey spit, and plants we could eat.

When we finally made it to the beach we went to a turtle sanctuary where they rescue baby sea turtles that hatch on the beach and help release them into the wild, safe from predators. We got lucky and arrived on a batch of 1day old baby sea turtles. they were so cute and fit right in the palm of my hand! There was even a small museum to learn all about the life and dangers of sea turtles. I loved this day because i have a slight obsession with turtles. as a part of Delta Zeta Sorority, our philanthropy is for the deaf an hard of hearing. our mascot is the turtle because the have no ears. Thus where the obsession stems from.

We then endeavored on our way back. (at this point, no one had any drinking water left!) but we made it safely and my friend and i found a nice spot to relax and have some fun on swings :)

DAY 3-

On the Third day i visited local village. they fed us a breakfast of rice and sardines!














We then ventured to the forest of trees that the tap for rubber. they even let us try it!

The cool thing about this village was all of the businesses. we went to a business that produced a chip like product, we got to make them and it really showed us how women can take charge, run a business and make profit. We also went to a factory that produced baked goods. I was shocked to see that all of the workers genuinely enjoyed their job.

We ended our day eating and spending time with the locals. they were so welcoming they wanted us to try everything, including drumming, palm tree climbing, coconut eating/drinking and even their special cosmetics to prevent acne!