March 14, 2011

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."
-Mahatma Gandhi

March 12, 2011

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much
in being able to remake the world - that is the myth
of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.
       – Mohandas Gandhi

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. 

March 1, 2011

Dear Blog,

Mauritius was fun, and much more beautiful than I could of ever imagined.  But straight to the point, post-college... I'm going to join the Peace Corps. Awesome.

Eric

February 17-22, 2011

Watching South Africa diminish into the night sky made me realize that this country is definitely one I will visit again.  My time in South Africa was to say the least superior, and I can’t wait to do more there sometime in the near future. 

Day 1: Waking up, stumbling to breakfast to realize that we cannot reach the port because the winds are too strong to fit the ship into the small port opening.  All day long we had to stay on the ship in the middle of South African’s rough waters.  Not a good start to a ports stay. 

Day 2: We finally port the ship right around lunchtime, and once we cleared all of the immigration and customs things, we toured the city and planned for the rest of our time in South Africa.  Later on, we headed up to Signal Hill, where we could watch the U2 concert from a far/overhead distance, the full moon, see Table Mountain in the nighttime, and see a aerial view of the entire city of Cape Town.  Afterwards, we headed out onto Long Street that night and seeing the incredibly diverse group of people that inhabit the area.  Great start to our time here. 

Day 3: Went on a wine tour from 8:00 until 6:00 in the afternoon.  I had no clue how many vineyards were in South Africa, but I now know how to taste wine like a pro.  We visited 4 different wineries, got to taste an abundance of wine at each one, had a complete tour of the first one, had a delicious brandy tasting at the second winery, ate an incredible lunch after that, enjoyed an immense cheese tasting at the third, and simply listened to live music while gazing upon the vast mountain ranges at the fourth winery.  Definitely had a great day, followed by a great night of having a South African dinner with some faculty from the ship. 

Day 4: Took a taxi from Cape Point to Camps Bay Beach, where I relaxed on the beautiful, national-geographic-like beach all day long.  We ate lunch at a local Pizza joint, and had a few brews while watching the waves crash onto the massive rocks by the shore.  The water was too cold to surf, which kind of bummed me out, but the day was awesome to say the least. 

Day 5: Started the day off sand boarding in these bright white sand dunes, which were about an hour away from the port.  We boarded for about 4 hours, and then decided to go Kloofing in the Kogelburg Biosphere Reserve, which absolutely blew my mind.  We followed our tour guide, hiking about an hour into the mountain range, to come upon these beautiful gorges, where we swam, mountain climbed barefoot, and jumped from high distances into the gorges.  It was a long day, and very tiring, but definitely worth the incredible scenery and great times. 

Day 6: Woke up at 4:45 in the morning, and headed off the ship to hike Devil’s Peak, which was definitely worth the early rise.  It took us about an hour and a half to hike and climb the rigorous mountainside, but the view was worth the calf burning and quad-stimulating climb.  After descending from the peak, we headed downtown Cape Town and relaxed until we had to board the ship to leave the country. 

All in all, South Africa was incredible, and much different from Ghana.  Now, It’s back to class time and we’re headed off to Mauritius.  Wish me luck!

Here's a couple pictures from my trip so far, it take forever to upload them so everyone will have to wait till I get home to see them all, hope all is well and greetings from the warm South Africa!

Eric

February 15, 2011

Surrendering to the fact that I am nothing, but we are everything.
Enhancing my knowledge to better not my future, but the fate of our world.
Manufacturing ideas to construct an unparalleled reality.
Existing in each moment as its own.
Stimulating my senses, to better my judgments. 
Thinking globally, acting locally.
Extinguishing stereotypes, prejudices, and assumptions.
Realizing that without suffering and hardships of the past and present, there would be no willpower to the future.

Amounting, as a generation, to all that we have the potential to be.
Trailing in no one's footsteps.

Sailing across the seas, finding the better me. 
Expecting nothing but the unexpected.
A is for aardvark. 


Thanks mom and dad for giving me the world.  I know now, what some people never have the opportunity to realize. 

Good Things,
Eric