Hawaii

Hawaii-The Big Island

This morning, we arrived in Honolulu! Only problem is that we aren’t allowed to get off the ship; we are only here to refuel. Our actual time on land in America will come tomorrow in Hilo on the Big Island on Thanksgiving. It felt strange looking out my window and seeing the American flag waving. This will be really short blog, since we spent only one day in Hawaii.

We arrived very early in the morning, me, Michelle, Chlesey and Luke left the ship pretty fast and started our journey. Luke decided to go to the Richardson beach to snore and Chelsey decided to go and find a family who would give her typical Thanksgiving lunch. BTW, it was Thanksgiving Day. Me and Michelle wondered around and finally took a cab with Lauren and Iona and went to the Rainbow Waterfalls. Since two of them decided to leave very soon, me and Michelle stayed and started exploring surrounding. We found some small and weird paths and finally we got to the river. It was so beautiful that we went even further. In couple of minutes, Megan, Kyle, Janu, Mary, Charles and 5 more people joined us, so we all went right to the waterfalls. It was really amazing. You will see pictures. J

After climbing old trees, we all took ride to McDonalds where we picked up David, Darrell and one more people; sorry I don’t remember who was that, since at that point there were 15 people in the cab. However, we ended up in Walmart which was weird. After more than year and a half, I was in Walmart again. Haha J Me and Michelle went to have typical Hawaiian food in one of the restaurants that was open where we met Chelsey, Stella, another Kyle, Tessy and couple more people. Chelsey obviously didn’t find her Thanksgiving family J

We all went to Richardson beach where most of the SAS people were; unfortunately drunk. But that became kind of normal for me, since they used every single chance in port to drink. Me and Michelle explored the whole beach and we saw five sea turtles that were huge. Later on, I met Caty smiling as always, even though she was going through hell during this trip. Woody and Caroline were there too. Nja.

Me and Mish started walking back to the ship before everyone, since I had two hours of dock time which means I had to be back earlier than anyone else. You remember what happened in Japan; well this is the consequences. After almost 2km of walking, we were not even close to the ship and we had only 40 minutes to get there. So, we found some people who were camping for Thanksgiving if they can call taxi for us, but the guy offered us a ride, so we accepted it and in 10 minutes we were in the port. I bought some souvenirs in the shop next to the ship where I met some welcome and warm locals; it was good.

Nevertheless, Mish went to run and I went back to the ship. I was pretty alone over there, so I spent next hour in the swimming pool writing some post cards. Well, that was my day in Hawaii, next stop is Costa Rica in 9 days.

Japan

Day 1, November 11^th 2011: Kobe-Hiroshima

First I taught I was not going to write about Japan, because of all events that happened, but I think you deserve at least a short blog.

I’ve been to the future, and it’s name is Japan. We were told that our final port of call in Asia would be ultra hip, ultra fast, and ultra modern. They weren’t lying. I mean, they have vending machines for hot food, buttons to indicate which kind of room you want to check into in hotels and hostels, and toilets with seat warmers and aromatherapy scents. And this is throughout the entire country, not in just the urban areas. So, Japan! Yeah! We were the first voyage to go since the earthquake/nuclear/tsunami disaster, so we weren’t entirely sure to expect. Sure enough, we were docked in Kobe and Yokohama, two cities very far from the problems encountered up north.

We arrived in the morning and everyone supposed to go through immigration to get a passport. When I came to the immigration, they sent me back saying that I don’t have Japanese visa, even though in embassy in Belgrade they told me that I don’t need it. However, I was the very last one to leave the ship when they provided me landing card, whatever. Me and Joe desperately wanted to go to Hiroshima and the only way to do it and to come back tomorrow before 8pm was renting a car which we are not allowed to do according to SAS rules. The journey started with three Japanese people who showed us the place to rent a car. The guy in the company checked our driver licenses and we left.

Lovely GPS was in Japanese of course, so we couldn’t figure out how to find high way to Hiroshima. We stopped at a hotel where they somehow helped us. We were happy and finally on the way to Hiroshima. It was already 2pm at that point. We didn’t have breakfast, not lunch, but we decided to drive without stops and to make it as quicker as possible.  We paid thousands tolls, 5 dollars, 10, 3 and so on. Finally, we got to the toll after 200km driving where we had to pay 80 dollars. We freaked out how expensive it was. However, we arrived in Hiroshima at 5:30pm, we found Peace Memorial Palace and it was closed of course. Stuck in the middle of Japan, we decided to stay overnight and to sleep in the car, go early in the morning to see the Palace and to go back to Kobe.

After exploring Hiroshima and eating typical Japanese food, we found some weird dark parking, so we could stay there overnight, since in Japan you have to pay every parking and there are everywhere, which means there are not free parking places. It was good though. I found out that Joe heard for Yugo which was the funniest thing ever. Who would ever hear for Yugo if you are not from Eastern Europe?:)

Day 2, November 12^th 2011: Horror movie

This is probably one of the worst days in my life. We woke up, went to the Peace Memorial Palace which was incredible. I had a chance to see how people lived before and after atomic bomb and how Japanese people are peaceful and nice. Everyone was really nice wherever we went. Nevertheless, after visiting we were ready for going back to Kobe. It should take us 4 hours, but it took way longer.

First problem was that Joe’s credit card didn’t work the whole day and I had only cash that we couldn’t change anywhere, since banks were closed because of the holiday. We stopped the car close to the train station hoping to find some exchange office, but we didn’t find any open. Finally, after 45 minutes, I found a guy who had 10000 yens, which was enough for us to get back to Kobe. We gave him American dollars, he gave us yens and we were ready to go. Since we were really stressed, we didn’t fill the tank, so in the middle of high way we almost stayed without gas. We left the high way as soon as we saw exit, but the closest gas station was 8km far away and our tank was empty. Great thing was that we were on the hill, so Joe set the car on neutral and were basically sliding down to the gas station. Believe or not. Finally, we filled the tank and took our ride to Kobe.

We passed the last toll and we enter the city of Kobe around 6pm. Waiting for the red light on the little hill, Joe’s foot slide from break to gas and we crashed the car in front of us. Unfortunately, that car crashed into another one and it was absolutely the most ridiculous situation ever. They called the police that took us to the station. I will try to make this short. Problem was that nobody spoke a word of English and apparently we were under arrested. We both freaked out, since I had to be back on the ship before 8pm. I supposed to sail on the ship between Kobe and Yokohama, comparing to Joe who signed to be off the ship. After two hours, they asked me to sign a statement in Japanese. Who normal would sign the language which doesn’t understand? Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. After so much pressure, one guy who barely spoke English translated me and I signed. It was already 8:30pm, but I hoped that I could make it before 11pm when ship departed.

Joe called his consulate and they helped him a lot. I didn’t have anyone to call. How nice is that? So, they took us to the rental company where they asked us for 1600 dollars, even we paid insurance. We didn’t know what to do, since we didn’t have money and we didn’t want to pay. Sooooooo, we finally agreed to pay some money and to let us go. In the police car, we arrived on the ship at 10pm. I missed many parts of the story, but it was extremely stressful situation. We ended up safe on the ship.

Day 3, November 13^th 2011: Ship

I spent this day on the ship, sailing from Kobe to Yokohama.

Day 4, November 14^th 2011: Tokyo           

The fourth day in Japan, me and Chelsey spent in Tokyo. This was very funny day that I will never forget. We took a metro to Tokyo and around 10am we were at the train station ready to see one of the biggest cities in the world. We explored probably parts of the city where tourist don’t go, but I realized how I don’t care anymore about all these commercial buildings and monuments and that I would rather see everyday life in the country. We met some cool guys from the states who study there and many locals who were so nice that I felt sometimes really uncomfortable.

We went to the entrance of Harajuku which is very popular area in Tokyo. The district is centered on “Takeshita Street,” which I find hilarious. That being said, everybody has such swagger. Seriously, everyone is so fly, even if they’re wearing knee-high feather boots and a neon yellow tutu with a spandex top and ridiculous eye makeup. I’m more than a little jealous of the Japanese; I felt really unstylish while I was in Harajuku.

When we finished up exploring Harajuku, we set off to get some food. At the end of the day, we ended up in Subway. That was really sad, but we didn’t have money for anything better than that. After an hour there, we left and it was raining. Nja. But we said that nothing is going to destroy the fact that we are in Tokyo, hey hey. Once we started exploring the area, one guy offered us an umbrella. Chelsey accepted it, but then three more guys were around us. One was British and others were Japanese. They asked us if we love the Beatles and we both were like “Sure we do”. So, they offered us to go with them to the bar with the Beatles tribute band. We did it of course. After two hours, we were ready to go back to Yokohama and catch the last metro. It was so good night. It maybe doesn’t sound really cool, but it is. Many of you will have a chance to see videos and pictures from that night and you will realize why was so cool. We got back to the ship after 1am and I was ready for rollercoaster tomorrow in Yokohama.

Day 5, November 15^th 2011: Yokohama

Last day was reserved for Yokohama. We had a breakfast on the ship and just after 9am we were already exploring the city. Me and Michelle went to the rollercoaster park and it was really cool J Everyone knows how much I love rollercoaster and being back to the childhood. Since Michelle a lot of Japanese money, she left and went to some shopping mall to buy something, and me and Chelsey went to Art Museum and explored historical part of the city.

We decided to come back to the ship a little bit earlier because lovely and very welcome Japanese people wanted to write our names in Japanese and to let us wearing national Japanese clothes. When we arrived there were too many people, but we got a chance to try beautiful and colorful dresses. It was nice. I generally love Japan, except the accident that I had. However, it was our mistake. Now it was time for long 9 days until Hawaii.

So, a few observations about Japan, in a nutshell:

They love nature, their religions are relatively secular in outlook, manners are extremely important, toilets are awesome, the railway system is better than the one in America, it’s expensive, everything is really cute and/or old, the night life is not particularly impressive, there are many…adult entertainment shops, the language is really pleasant (especially when compared to what we just experienced in China), and taxi fares are nonnegotiable.

Upon leaving Japan, we entered the Pacific Ocean. We time traveled and lived the same day twice. No, the MV Explorer didn’t turn into the DeLorean; we just crossed the International Date Line. In the lives of the members of the Fall 2011 Voyage of Semester at Sea, we had two November 19^th, 2011’s. When I first realized this would be the case, I thought it would just be a funny chance at living the same day twice in different ways. It actually ended up being fairly confusing; all the posters advertising particular events and meetings said “1^st November 19^th” and “2^nd November 19^th,” and we didn’t have class the second November  19^th, both of which added to the confusion. However, it was fun at the end.

China

China

Day 1, November 3^rd 2011: Hong Kong

In just three days, we arrived in Hong Kong. Expectations from China were high, especially for me, since I was dreaming to visit the Great Wall. Me, Megan and Chelsey decided to go to the Peak Tram that day, since was sunny and nice day ahead us. Our ship was located in one of the islands, so we took a 10 minutes ferry to go to downtown of Hong Kong. Crossing to the other side of the city, it reminded me of New York and Statue of Liberty. Hong Kong is nothing else, but New York City with a little bit different culture. Very fast, we realized which bus to take and go to the Peak.

The Peak tram is a tram which goes from downtown to the highest point of Hong Kong. It was nice to see the whole city from the tram, but at the end we ended up in the highest point from which we could see the entire city; skyscrapers all around the city, lights and flash absolutely everywhere. One of the first things I noticed was that Hong Kong was more expensive than previous countries, but the prices were affordable.

On the way to China everyone was talking about communism which made me sick. The worst part was listening about communism from people that have no idea what communism actually means, but I don’t blame them, it is media that taught them to hate something, before even getting know. However, I was ready to explore the city.

On the top of the Peak, we found huge hearts made of carton where you could live a message for people that you love. Since it was Filip’s birthday, I decided to live him a big heart and short message, since my letter from Vietnam still didn’t arrive. I left couple more messages for people that I love and care. After taking some good pictures, we decided to go down and explore the market place. On the way to the market place, we met Luke who joined us.

As it usually goes, we didn’t end up in market place, but we found well known escalators in the middle of city which takes you probably couple of kilometers up. It was really cool, since there were a lot of stops, so we could jump off, explore that part of the city and take escalators again to the next stop and so on. Next destination was delicious local food, as we usually eat in the port. The food sucks on the ship; I am sick and tired of pasta and potato J

However, this day pretty short and many people went out that night, but I decided to stay in my room, since I didn’t feel very well that night. Oh, and yes, we watched the great light show from the ship. It was amazing. All the buildings have special effects which are connected to each other and all combine make incredible light show. It was definitely reminder of New York and great time with my brother. Nevertheless, it was time for bad and I was really excited to go next day to the Great Wall of China.

Day 2, November 4^th 2011: American health system

Welcome to the United States, first economy of the world, first military and the strongest soft power country. I woke up with pain in my pain that I could not stand, so I went to the clinic on the ship. My stomachache started just before Malaysia and it was the time when I visited ship clinic for the first time. It was really good, everyone was nice and smiled, which makes you feel comfortable, even though I was there because I was sick. I got 6 pills which supposed to help make the pain go away, but it did not happen, it just helped a little bit. After that, I was making excuses for the pain, such as seasickness and tiredness, which ended up with unbearable pain in Hong Kong. I visited clinic again. Honestly, I would not call that examination; it was more like hall conversation that finished with the sentence: “You will take these pills for next 60 days, every morning before breakfast. One pill is 2 dollars, so all in all is 120 dollars.” I said three times that my body is weak and that I would like to check if I have some bacteria, since I already had e-coli couple years ago and it caused me symptoms similar to this. Unfortunately, they told me they cannot check it in the clinic and that there might me couple of things going on in my body. What does it mean? I was shocked. As a doctor and medical clinic, you are there to help me. I was thinking: “That is cool, but I do not have 120 dollars and I have not been told what is wrong with me and why do I have to take these pills for such a long time? Who normal would take pills for two months without even having diagnosis?”  I said that I do not have that money and I got sad face from the clinic saying that I can try to get cheaper one in some pharmacy in Hong Kong. How can I possibly go around Hong Kong and look for pills with such a pain? I guess they were not thinking about that.

For the first time in my life I faced a bad health system of the United States. It is probably really miserable example, but there are thousands going on in the US all the time. First, I had to force myself to be in the clinic at 7:30am, since it is open all big 30 minutes a day, which can be compared with making appointments in the states. Second, I have been told to buy expensive pills for my stomach, but without actual diagnosis what is wrong with me, which can be compared with if you cannot afford it, die. Finally, I faced 24 hours train ride in China with my American friends who asked me twice how I feel, even I got temperature and I could not move from the bed. That was so opposite from the way of living I used to live. Even, friends that I do not spend 24/7 like I do one the ship with people would try everything to help not just me, but anyone in that situation. I guess it can be connected with individualism that Americans grow up with. “It is your problem, not mine.” I understand “right” to serve your own interest, but it is just something that I did not use to and I will not be probably able to understand.

However, I took the train to Beijing together with Chelsey, Woody, Luke, Kemel and Caroline. In the middle of the night, I got a temperature, but it was gone next morning. We arrived in Beijing the day after at the same time we left. Ah, I love 24h trains J

Day 3, November 5^th 2011:

We arrived in Beijing in the afternoon. It was weird because on the train station they checked us as we arrived from foreign country and not Hong Kong. Technology was impressive. Once you pass the immigration desk, they scan whole your body and check the temperature. The point is that you don’t see that, only Luke got it, but he is Lukipedia, so it doesn’t count for average person. J Once we left the train station, the huge city was right in front of us. Since nobody speak English, we were really lucky that we found a guy who took us to the “hotel”. We split in two rooms and it was definitely the most disgusting bathroom I have ever seen. Since I was sick, I stayed in the room trying to prepare myself for the day after and the Great Wall of China.

Day 4, November 6^th 2011: The Great Wall of China

We woke up at 5am and took the bus to the Great Wall. It was freezing in the morning, but I had my cool winter jacket, so I was fine. The bus was full of Chinese people and obviously the tour guide spoke only Chinese. We passed Forbidden City the City Hall which looks amazing. In less than two hours we got to the Great Wall. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I was so excited. The Great Wall was my dream and one of the things I wanted to see really badly. Since I taught it was not going to happen before I came to the ship, this feeling was even better. We arrived and the huge monument just took my breath away. It is massive and there are no words that can describe what Chinese built in the 5^th century BC. Impressive. Even though I did not feel the best, I decided to climb the Great Wall. It was not easy, but I made it. I was sitting for a while on one of the stops and looking to the wall which does not end made me thinking of my family, friends all around the world and the person I loved the most Filip. I want him to see this wonderful wall one day.

After couple of hours, we took a ride to the museum of dynasty Ming. It was cool. Next stop was lovely lunch time. We got to the place where we could buy some souvenirs and where we had a lunch. We ended up sitting with some Chinese people from our bus. I guess it was typical Chinese food, but I did not like it. Except the fish that everyone on the table was fighting for, I did not like it anything but the rise. However, we left that lovely place and took a ride to the Olympic area. Yeah. We saw the big “Aquarium” that was built for Olympics and where all water sports took a place. It was a huge and really amazing building. Stadium was next to it, huge and impressive as “Aquarium”.

We might see China as poor or developing country, but Chinese economy is growing so rapidly that in the 20 years it is questionable who is going to be world power number one. China is investing every year 300 million dollars in infrastructure, comparing to the United States and India that spend only 30 million a year. Chinese rail roads are more than developed; they are actually the 21^st century trains, roads, high ways and airports. Another fact about Chinese people is that they used to save money comparing to the Western countries that have way of living “Shop till you drop” and “If it feels good, do it”. I am sure the way of living is going to raise China really fast and decrease poverty very fast.

After exploring Beijing, we took a train to Shanghai in the night. It was extremely comfortable and fast overnight train.

Day 5, November 6^th 2011: Shanghai

We arrived in Shanghai early in the morning, tired and dirty, but ready to explore the new city. After taking a shower on the ship, me and Chelsey went to explore Shanghai. What we could see from the ship is skyscrapers and one more New York in Asia. However, Shanghai is combination of history, culture and 21^st century. We went to the main pedestrian street which was full of branded shops and at the same time small shops with cheap clothes, souvenirs and all other Chinese craps.:) Walking all the way down to the street, after more than hour we got to the beautiful park and National Museum which was actually our goal. Chelsey is the type of person that during the day likes parks and museums, but in the evening she prefers alcohol. Haha J Just kidding.

Chatting in the park, we met couple of Chinese students who believe or not spoke English. We talked with them for like an hour when we decided to go to the restaurant to have dinner. We spoke with them about Facebook and communism and I realized how the same we are. Students are students everywhere in the world. These things do not depend on region, religion, political system, race or sex. Most of us have dreams to travel, to meet new people, and to be educated. China is the country where, according to the U.N., violation is high and many rights are limited. I remember how many students were shocked when they heard that Facebook is forbidden in China and how they taught it is not normal. Also, China’s government controls information and limits some web sites, so people can hear only the side of their government. I think that everyone should have the right to watch news from different channels and see different perspectives, but at the same time, these effects of censorships are not far away from ignorance that western students have. We are uninformed and uneducated too. Many of us cannot show Libya on the world’s map, but we can say it is good that Ghadafi is dead. We judge Muslim countries for covering their women, but are our habits to show as much as possible of our body normal? Our cultures are different and if nothing else we should respect each other. Nevertheless, we exchanged email addresses and went to eat. On the way to the restaurant we met Woody, Luke and Caroline and decided to join them. All together we had delicious dinner. After that we walked and explored Shanghai a little bit more and went back to the ship. The whole city was shining and from the key next to the sea, you could see all business buildings on the other side of the coast. I wanted to go there, so I made my plans for tomorrow and really happy went to sleep.

Day 6, November 7^th 2011: China-priceless

Last day in Shanghai, me, Chelsey, Miki, a girl from Japan and Patrick, a guy from Bolivia went together to the other side of the sea. We took a ferry and ended up in business area of Shanghai. Me and Patrick decided to go up to the Pudong building, which is the symbol of Shanghai. It was so cool. We could see the whole Shanghai and the most amazing thing is that glass floor so we could see everything under our feet. It reminded me of Chicago and Sears Tower. After that, we both had lunch and Patrick was ready to go to the ship, since he had dock time. So sad. I stayed with Miki exploring Shanghai a little bit more and finally we came back to the ship around 6pm excited for Japan in two days.

Vietnam-LOVE YOU VIETNAM

Day One, Tuesday, October 25th, 2011: Motor bikes

War Rembrant Museum or Chi chu Tunnels, The Mekong Delta or lights of skyscrapers in Ho Chi Ming City, kindnesses of people or crowded markets, difficult to describe and to understand. Vietnam is going to be one the hardest country to describe, so I will try to be short and to make it the way I saw it. Once we left lovely ship, we took a shuttle to the city center of Ho Chi Ming City. I was shocked how crowded it was. Motor bike were everywhere around us, chaos started J Standard people were with me, Woody, Luke, Kemel, Chelsey, Michelle and Megan. Couple of us wanted to find internet to buy tickets for China to go to see the Great Wall and Beijing which I was extremely excited. Once we found internet, we booked our tickets, it was time to go around Ho Chi Ming and meet our city for next 6 days. Me, Chelsey and Megan split and took our tour to somewhere.

Let’s be honest, I love tours on my own. I love people, but when there are 10 of us, it is very complicated to fulfill everyone’s wishes. Chelsey desperately wanted to find some temple where she could interview a mosque, so we tried to find some transportation to get there. I mean, there, she didn’t know where, so the things got a little bit more complicated. So, in the corner of the street, we decided to take a motor taxi which is pretty common in Vietnam. We found three guys who barely spoke English, but one of them understood word temple, which was kinda enough to get us where we “wanted”. Finally, in crazy streets of HCMC we got to some temple where we couldn’t find anyone which was annoying, but guys then took us to some beautiful place with couple of temples, lovely garden and nice people all around.

Three of us spent some time in this amazing garden and after a while we decided to have a lunch and to try local food what we usually do in every country. I love street food. This one was different, haha. We found some small “restaurant” on the street and decided to give a try. It was one of the most disgusting things I ever tried. Apart from some weird meat, we got some purple soup which tasted more like acid than like soup. Since, it didn’t smell the best there; we left that place very quick. Walking through that area, we found a guy who wanted to drive us to some famous garden in HCMC. The problem was that he was alone and there was no one around to get us there. Guess what? He suggested that all of us sit on one motor and get there. That is exactly what we did. Four of us on that tiny motor; it was just hilarious. Everyone was looking at us, because it was weird even for Vietnamese people.

We got there after one hour, since we had some stops, to meet locals. It was weird; however, once we got there it was closed. Nja, nja. Finally, we found one more guy, so we split. Me and Chelsey were with our driver and Megan went with another guy. We wanted to go to Opera House. After 30 minutes ride, we lost Megan, but we taught that her driver knew where we were going. We got in front of Opera House, but Megan didn’t show up after more than 45 minutes which made me a little bit worried. After having argued with our driver about the price, he finally left and we were free to explore HCMC on foot. We walked to the ship and went to our rooms to prepare ourselves for going out. That night was hilarious.

All dressed we took a cab to go to Apocalypse Now which was the name of the club. On our way to the club, taxi driver turned up the radio which was playing Serbian pop song. WTF? However, we got to Circle K, bought some drinks and started drinking on the street. Chelsey and Michelle were out of control very soon, which forced us to go to the club. It was cool, but full of SASers, which I personally didn’t like. Well, I was dancing the whole night until Michelle got really drunk, so I had to take her out of the club. I hate being the one to help, but I didn’t have choice. Once I got out of the club, I had something to see. Chelsey was throwing up and Luke, Megan and Woody were there to help her, I mean support J Very soon, we took a cab and got to the ship. I was really concern that Chelsey would not make through the security of the ship, but somehow she swiped her card after three times and she got it. Michelle did pretty much the same. We were safe and passed out in less than 3 seconds.

Day Two, Wednesday, October 26th, 2011: School for deaf and orphanage

The second day I had my FDP, which was visit of school for deaf children and orphanage. I was so excited for this FDP. First school was interesting, because I was able to use my knowledge from sign language that I was studying on the ship. Oh, I was so happy. Kids were amazing and adorable. Even they are deaf, they are capable for anything. After we passed through that school fast, we took our ride to orphanage.

In one of the crowd streets of Ho Chi Ming City, covered with all these motor bikes and vehicles, there is a small place close to the city center, known as Thung Tam Bao Tho. This place is a home for approximately 300 kids who do not have parents and who are disabled. These children are the consequences of the Vietnam War and Agent Orange Operation. Walking through the orphanage, you could see disabilities that we could see only on the TV and the scientists’ channel. Facing reality of people who suffered for many years during the war, but at the same time, facing the reality of children who are not guilty for anything, who did not have time to be quilt and who are still suffering. Suffering for someone’s mistakes, interests or just political moves? One president, another, one leader, another. Really, it does not mean anything. Who cares about presidents and leaders, their goals and interests? Every war is lost before it even started.

We should first educate our youths about the past, so we will not repeat it again. It is not easy and it might be painful, but it is less painful than repeating mistakes over and over again and killing thousands and millions of people all around the world. Vietnamese people are more than kind, especially in this orphanage, but this kindness makes me feel even worst about the things that happened just 35 years ago. Agent Orange was done 35 years ago, but consequences are still very obvious and who knows for how long children will feel consequences. They are paying for the things they have never done. Generations after Vietnam War are still going through the hell, even though many of these kids were not born at that time.

We should all learn from ours and others mistakes and that is the way to make this world better place to be. Around the globe, achievements lead to joy, injustices lead to anger, and risky situations lead to fear. Some things and feelings are the same everywhere in the world.

I entered the room with 20 kids lying down in their beds and absolutely unable to move anywhere. Some of them were able to sit and normally to use their arms and legs; most of them have serious problems with head and scenes that I saw there were disabilities that I could only watch on discovery channel. I hugged each of them, caressed and spent some time, but there was one bed isolated from all others where I could see a little girl not able to move her legs and barely able to move her arms. Her spine was straight and not able to bend. I was shocked. Her hands were squatted and cold. I caressed her for 30 minutes singing songs for kids and holding her hand. After 30 minutes, she opened her squatted hands and started smiling. For me that was a gift better than I ever got in my entire life. When I came back the last day, I spent most of my time with her, trying to give her as much energy as I have.

There are no words which can describe my emotional states. I felt blessed for having opportunity to give all energy to kids that not just need it, but deserve it. These kids were not just born disabled, but they were left by their own parents. I am always asking why? Most of these kids are consequences of Orange Agent and Vietnam War, which made my emotional state from sad and weak to angry and helpless. On one side, we are promoting human rights, but on the other we endanger them for our goals and interest. I survived bombing of my country when I was 12 and I know that I am not quilt for anything, but I was a victim of couple world’s political figures and their interests. These kids are marked forever. My emotional states went from love and positive energy that I shared and got, to absolute angry after visiting War Museum and realizing how far away human stupidity can go.  For whose mistakes are these kids punished?

After I finished my FDP, I met Chelsey and Megan to go to hotel where we stayed, since Chelsey’s dad came there to visit her and reserved one room for us. Niceeeeeeee.

Day Three, Thursday, October 27th, 2011: The Mekong Delta

Ok, from now on I am making this shorter, I promise.

The third day, we decided to go to Mekong Delta. It is approximately 2 hours away from HCMC and it is amazing natural resource of Vietnam. It was nice the whole day. We had a chance to try different types of fruit on the way to Mekong Delta. Also, we had couple of performances of Vietnamese people who were singing and dancing for us. Once we got there, we had a ride on a small wooden boat and it was great. All of us had lovely Vietnamese hats and we looked like from the postcard J

Lunch was very good, we had a chance to try real local food and it was so delicious that we ate that again in HCMC. Also, I tried honey directly from bees. It was scary, but I did it. I hold piton which was scary too, but it was not the first time, so I was courage. Haha. During the lunch, I met backpackers from Germany and I loveeee them. Very cool people from Munich. Finally, we took a long ride on a big boat through the Mekong Delta and it was really nice. I enjoyed the whole trip.

After we came back to the hotel, we showered quickly and went to some fancy restaurant where Chelsey’s dad paid the dinner. Obviously, since my poor budget cannot afford it. Me, Chelsey and Megan went to have a walk that night. Actually, we were looking for Sky Bar, but on the way there we met some cool guys in one park and decided to stay with them. They are from HCMC and most of them work, because they can’t afford to study or they don’t want whatever. We rode their bikes and spent all night with them, made a deal we will meet tomorrow night, same place, and same time.

Day Four, Friday, October 28th, 2011: Market Place

To be honest, I don’t remember what we did this day. I think we spent most of the time in the market place looking for some cheap things. Everything was really cheap, even for me J Bargaining was funny again and I got some cool things, such as jacket and back pack. Happy me.

Me and Megan went to War Museum. It was one of the hardest things I ever seen in my life. Museum showed pictures from Vietnam War and how it affected whole nation. I was shocked by photos and texts I saw. I learnt about Vietnam War, but I have never seen pictures and statistics. It was frustrating. Once more, I became sick and tired of American foreign policy. We are talking about human lives and not about dolls or objects. Too much about war I guess, time to move on with my blog. However, if you ever have a chance to visit Vietnam, go to War Museum and see what these people went through only 35 years ago and how actually they were nice with all of Americans while we were in HCMC.

Will we ever stop this battles that even we don’t know who are we fighting for? Believing that we are serving for our country, but in fact we are serving in interest of couple figures in politics. Someone said: “Only dead people saw the end of war”. Many people saw the end of war, but the question is are they going to be able to live with that?

Who is responsible for the war in Vietnam? The US government? What does it mean? For me nothing. Walking through the orphanage, I saw disabilities that I could see only on TV and the scientists’ channel. I faced reality of people who suffered for many years during the war, but at the same time, reality of children who are not guilty for anything, who didn’t have time to be quilty and who are punished. Punished for whose stupid interest? One president, another, one leader, another. I don’t care about them and I want this world to understand that every war is lost before it even started. You want me to make believe in something that I don’t want.

“Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all the people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.^”  Let me laugh about that and let me laugh to your face about equality and freedom of speech. I would like to include and very modern term self-expression value. I am sure you know what I am talking about. However, I don’t give a shit about that either. Go to the hell, you and your fucking hypocrisy. I was just wondering how you made all these poor soldiers believers in your stories. How can you live your life with a fact that you killed thousands of innocent people and that millions are born disabled? There are no excuses for the things that have been done. We should turn to the future. How to turn on to the future when innocent children are born every day without arms and legs, with different disorders?

Oh, yes, you big believers I am wondering how you would explain all these wars and inequality. Is the war something that you believe in? It makes me puking. This is really disgusting. You and your beliefs. Educate your youth about the things that have been done and then try to move on with your stupid and ignorant foreign policy. The world is sick and tired of your decisions, freaking outs and point of view. How about leave all countries and send your lovely soldiers home to enjoy their children, wives and families, instead of bombing and destroying everything that God made for human being?

So, yeah, that was my fourth day in Vietnam.  And yeah, we finished our night with our friends from the park. Same time, same place.

Day Five, Saturday, October 29th, 2011: Massage, manicure and pedicure

If you come to Vietnam and not try Vietnamese massage, you are probably the lamest person ever. Me, Michelle, Chelsey and Megan decided to get some massages. Yeah. My massage was okay, but not something that I expected. I got a guy to give me massage and he was really good at it, but unfortunately last 20 minutes, he switched with a girl who was horrible. Honestly. However, I enjoyed and it was definitely worth it after all these countries, dirty trains and hostels, sleeping bags and floors. I was satisfied with this. After massage, my destroyed feet finally got massage too including pedicure.

Since the Halloween was very close, we got invitation from our park friends to come to their party in some club that night. Megan’s birthday was on 31^st, so we all dressed up and went there. We were a little bit late, but we finally found them. It was soooooo cool, I was so happy to hang out with them, they were really nice guys. Megan got pretty drunk, so she went to some other club with Michelle and me and Chelsey went back to the hotel. People were dressed all around the city and it was nice to see Halloween euphoria in Vietnam. Good day behind me.

Day Six, Sunday, October 30th, 2011: Come back to the orphanage

The last day, I spent in the orphanage that I visited on the second day. I think these kids deserved it. This time was much better, since I could spend much more time over there. I was playing with some of them who were able to, I was feeding couple of them and I enjoyed being part of that community. Also, on the way back to the ship, I tried some more local food and it was absolutely delicious. I love Vietnam. In three days Hong Kong, China.