March 6-11, 2011

Before I begin to empty out my emotions regarding this planet and its inhabitants, I'd like to start this blog entry apologizing for not updating my page lately.  As you can assume, everyday I learn an exponential amount more about myself, others, and this world we live in.  It's hard to write down what I learn day in and day out, given that I don't even know myself what is happening all around me.

With that said, we are currently sailing away from India, and I feel that these past 6 days have been equivalent to approximately 3 months in any other schooling system that I've ever been a part of.  I now have a complete new mindset on everything we are seeing, breathing, smelling, touching, and tasting everywhere around the world.  You don't realize what the world is actually up to, until you are dropped right in the middle of it. 

Day 1: Hung out in Chennai, ate some local food, went to an Indian supermarket, hung out with locals all day.
Day 2: Woke up @ 4a.m. to catch a plane to Delhi, hung out in Parhganj Bazaar all day, met locals, bought some sweet pants, saw a protest parade, went to a wedding, played pool with locals, and walked the streets of Old and New Delhi. 
Day 3: Played some more pool with locals, went to the Lodi Gardens, went to South Delhi and the Deference Colony, hung out on the roof of the hotel.
Day 4: Went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, hung out all day in some temples and monuments, headed back to Delhi at night.
Day 5: Checked out form the hotel, hung out last time with locals we met the first day, walked around Delhi, headed back to the Ship via Jet Lite Airways. 
Day 6: Hung out in Chennai, went and spent the remaining time at a local hookah bar and talked to the owner for a long time, picked up some henna tattoo ink, headed back to the ship. 

Here is the basic itinerary of what I did, but it has no comparison to what I've learned and actually saw in India.  You really grasp the fact that we are living in a fairytale world back home, and it is heart-breaking to see what people will do to make a living all around the world.  But besides the incredible time I had in India over the past couple of days, we all need to open our eyes and ears and notice what is going on around the world.  Libya, Japan, Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, basically the middle-east as a whole, etc.  What is going on?  Riots, assassinations, tsunamis, political uprisings?  If anyone who is reading this can find me a good article to read about everything that is going on, please email it to me.  We just left India, and I am currently watching the world news on our TV's in my room. 

It didn't hit me until I had just left India.
It hit me when I heard that Japan is [right now] experiencing an immense earthquake/tsunami that is literally wiping out the entire coast of Tokyo, and other places, let alone everyone else connected to the Pacific Ocean.
It hit me when I heard the name of some Japanese students over the intercom of the ship, whom I can only imagine are going through a lot of turmoil regarding their families and such. 
It hit me when I was watching a political leader plead to his people, whom couldn't even listen to what he had said to say due to their ridiculous amount of ignorance. 
It hit me when our dean told us that we are not sure if we can stick to our voyage's itinerary.

But what really hits me, is the fact that I'm in the middle of it all and am having the greatest learning experience of my entire life.  We can only do so much, and simply have to ride the storm in when it comes to these worldly issues, no pun intended.  I'd love to write more, but I'm wasting my valuable time that I have left on this ship of exploration.  Thanks for everyone's support and keep in touch.

May the world be a nicer place one day,
Eric

PS: If there are any mistakes with my grammar, language, etc. forgive me, I don't feel like re-reading everything I wrote.