We are finally making our first stop tomorrow! I am going to be presenting a lesson on the bio-accumulation of mercury in fish. (because a relatively large amount of mercury is released into the atmosphere here from small, artisan gold mines, they have a problem with mercury poisoning.)
This will be my last post as it is just too frustrating trying to log on. I will post a bunch of pictures and stories when I get home. (email me if you like, I may be able to check it a few more times.)
Meg :)
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Why the Navy is more foreign than Singapore:
Singapore
Language: Everyone speaks English
Transportation: Subway system is clearly indicated everywhere and easy to navigate.
Cultural Faux Pas: Chewing gum and spitting in public.
Population: Dense, but I can at least, get my own hotel room
Attitude Towards Tourists: Exceptionally tourist friendly
Navy Ship
Language: Everyone speaks navy jargon and you must learn it to get around.
Transportation: You have to memorize what can be accessed from each of the six unconnected, color coated stairwells, where they each lead, and which decks connect.
Cultural Faux Pas: Don't wear your hat indoors, Don't put your hands in you pockets during muster, and Don't take pictures of the boat if a guard happens to be in the very small corner of the picture. Oops.
Population: I sleep on a shelf in a room with 126 other women.
Attitude Towards Tourists: Today I was turned away from the ship store, the Computer help desk, the library AND the ID station during regular operating hours, each because they were occupied with more important tasks.
It might take a little getting used to, but once I learn the ropes, I think I really am going to like it here.
Language: Everyone speaks English
Transportation: Subway system is clearly indicated everywhere and easy to navigate.
Cultural Faux Pas: Chewing gum and spitting in public.
Population: Dense, but I can at least, get my own hotel room
Attitude Towards Tourists: Exceptionally tourist friendly
Navy Ship
Language: Everyone speaks navy jargon and you must learn it to get around.
Transportation: You have to memorize what can be accessed from each of the six unconnected, color coated stairwells, where they each lead, and which decks connect.
Cultural Faux Pas: Don't wear your hat indoors, Don't put your hands in you pockets during muster, and Don't take pictures of the boat if a guard happens to be in the very small corner of the picture. Oops.
Population: I sleep on a shelf in a room with 126 other women.
Attitude Towards Tourists: Today I was turned away from the ship store, the Computer help desk, the library AND the ID station during regular operating hours, each because they were occupied with more important tasks.
It might take a little getting used to, but once I learn the ropes, I think I really am going to like it here.
Day 2 Liberty Leave in Singapore
Our whole group visited a local ward in the city for church. As always, it was very rewarding to meet members of the church in different countries. It was Fast Sunday and I loved it!
It must be said that Singapore is as clean and beautiful as everyone says it is.
After church, six of us split off to get lunch and we asked directions from a man on the street who not only took us to a place to get lunch, but ordered us local food and paid for it! We ate carrot cake, which is a traditional Singapore dish that has no carrots in it, neither is it a cake. It is actually something like egg-foo-yung with lots of radishes. We also ate a kind of spicy spinach-like leaf dish, a peanut satay, and coconut milk to drink.
In the middle of Singapore there is a jungle canopy hike with loads of monkeys. (a side note to all of you that thought that old world monkeys don’t have prehensile tails and therefore can’t use them to swing from trees, Wrong! I watched these monkeys use their tails to swing around. Either I remember that wrong from school or I just witness evolution in action. You decide. I also saw an ant that was over an inch long. Huuuuge! (Kendal, would you ask Owen about this one as he is the ant expert.) And then we went shopping in China town.
Our whole group visited a local ward in the city for church. As always, it was very rewarding to meet members of the church in different countries. It was Fast Sunday and I loved it!
It must be said that Singapore is as clean and beautiful as everyone says it is.
After church, six of us split off to get lunch and we asked directions from a man on the street who not only took us to a place to get lunch, but ordered us local food and paid for it! We ate carrot cake, which is a traditional Singapore dish that has no carrots in it, neither is it a cake. It is actually something like egg-foo-yung with lots of radishes. We also ate a kind of spicy spinach-like leaf dish, a peanut satay, and coconut milk to drink.
In the middle of Singapore there is a jungle canopy hike with loads of monkeys. (a side note to all of you that thought that old world monkeys don’t have prehensile tails and therefore can’t use them to swing from trees, Wrong! I watched these monkeys use their tails to swing around. Either I remember that wrong from school or I just witness evolution in action. You decide. I also saw an ant that was over an inch long. Huuuuge! (Kendal, would you ask Owen about this one as he is the ant expert.) And then we went shopping in China town.
Highlights from Day 1
Got to the ship at noon and spent the rest of the day getting oriented.
Exhausted
When I got into bed that night, I put my pillow on my stomach so that I could reach back and adjust the bed curtains witch were misaligned and when I woke up 6 hours later, my pillow was still on my stomach and my arm was still stretch out to adjust my curtains. I fell asleep before I made it.
Officer Berthing
When they were dolling out bed assignments, I was told that if my education exceeded a bachelor’s degree, than I would be given an officers bunk. ‘Finally!’ I thought, ‘My degree is good for something!’. So just in case the man making assignments didn’t recognize what an M.ED. stood for, I wrote out MASTERS OF EDUCATION in block letters. Unfortunately it only earned me the middle bunk in the enlisted quarters in a room with 126 other women sharing the same bedroom and bathroom.
The Army Hates the Navy and the Navy Hates the Beans
Our first Navy meal was pizza, fried chicken, fresh fruit, cookies, salad and soda. Those of us with the misconception of losing a bit of weight here were quickly corrected.
Lesson in Naval Promptness
We were told that the naval base in Singapore was going to celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks at 20:00. I thought it would be really cool to watch them from the deck of the ship so we headed up there at 5 to 8:00. We were a little afraid to just open doors and walk down halls where we’ve never been so it took us a bit of time the find the top deck. We arrived at 8:04 and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder, but the show had begun and already ended 2 minutes before we arrived. So we watched the 2 minute video that someone recorded on his camera, while the navy band played a jazzed up version of ‘Play that Funky Music White Boy.’ And we pretended that we made it in time.
Actually it ended kind of cool because the ship’s Master (The guy who drives the Ship) who may or may not be exceptionally attractive, let us use the massively high powered binoculars located on the off limits section of the ship’s bridge to spy on people below. What?
Got to the ship at noon and spent the rest of the day getting oriented.
Exhausted
When I got into bed that night, I put my pillow on my stomach so that I could reach back and adjust the bed curtains witch were misaligned and when I woke up 6 hours later, my pillow was still on my stomach and my arm was still stretch out to adjust my curtains. I fell asleep before I made it.
Officer Berthing
When they were dolling out bed assignments, I was told that if my education exceeded a bachelor’s degree, than I would be given an officers bunk. ‘Finally!’ I thought, ‘My degree is good for something!’. So just in case the man making assignments didn’t recognize what an M.ED. stood for, I wrote out MASTERS OF EDUCATION in block letters. Unfortunately it only earned me the middle bunk in the enlisted quarters in a room with 126 other women sharing the same bedroom and bathroom.
The Army Hates the Navy and the Navy Hates the Beans
Our first Navy meal was pizza, fried chicken, fresh fruit, cookies, salad and soda. Those of us with the misconception of losing a bit of weight here were quickly corrected.
Lesson in Naval Promptness
We were told that the naval base in Singapore was going to celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks at 20:00. I thought it would be really cool to watch them from the deck of the ship so we headed up there at 5 to 8:00. We were a little afraid to just open doors and walk down halls where we’ve never been so it took us a bit of time the find the top deck. We arrived at 8:04 and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder, but the show had begun and already ended 2 minutes before we arrived. So we watched the 2 minute video that someone recorded on his camera, while the navy band played a jazzed up version of ‘Play that Funky Music White Boy.’ And we pretended that we made it in time.
Actually it ended kind of cool because the ship’s Master (The guy who drives the Ship) who may or may not be exceptionally attractive, let us use the massively high powered binoculars located on the off limits section of the ship’s bridge to spy on people below. What?
Thursday, July 1, 2010
For someone who prides herself on being a minimalist traveler, I am ashamed to admit that my suitcase was 3 pounds over weight. Luckily I packed two 3 lb bags of dum-dums for the little Indonesian children. One of the security guards was delighted to accept one of them. It was either give him that or my 3 lb bag of female toiletries. Poor children.
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