Pregnant with Poetry

Sitting in on my last Global Studies class today, a voice whispered to me...
One day you finally knew what you had to do and began,
though the voices around you kept shouting,
though the whole house trembled,
though the wind pried it's stiff fingers around your very foundation,
though the melancholy was terrible.
Little by little you left their voices behind
and the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice which you recognised as your own.
As you strode deeper and deeper into the world,
determined to do the only thing you could do-
determined to save the only life you could save.

Long live this journey!

Fantasy Weather

Back in late September NOAA meteorologists sailed with us from Brazil to South Africa. The crew deployed expensive oceanographic equipment in the Atlantic that tracks valuable water currents and temperature information. Between PBS ‘NOVA’ programs and winning an Emmy for a show produced with a CBS weather team, I’m quickly becoming a connoisseur of climatology. Hawaii means more to me that just surfing and sunning, my ‘Fantasy Island’ (remember Wailua Falls in the opening sequence?) also offers a tour of an observatory responsible for proving greenhouse gases are increasing because of humans. In fact, did you know that CO2 levels are higher now than they have been in the last $450,000 years? A little trivia learned from Bill Nye, the Science Guy (geek alert, geek alert). I know the debate on the effects of greenhouse gases is a contentious one. I’ve been following the pro’s and con’s of the issue for several years and given that historically the US government stalls on policy change until carnage is shed, the burning of fossil fuels will continue for some time. It’s disturbing to me that the most powerful country in the world can’t set an example for the rest of the world to follow, starting with its own consumers and auto industries. SUV to hybrid is a start but a panacea to this apocalyptic challenge begins with renewable energy. Wind farms and solar are promising but lack consistency and large tracks of land. Nuclear and Breeder reactors sound ideal until your reminded of the consequences that plutonium and radioactivity bi-products might have in the hands of a terrorist. Even fuel cells use natural gases that expel carbon atoms. So what’s left? CO2 may be a benign gas, a fertilizer that helps plants and forest grow but like everything else, it must be balanced in moderation. El-nino, Kendra, countless hurricanes, ice-caps melting… the ying and yang CO2 levels are obviously out of balance and from what I know sailing for 100 days, Mother Earth is not a force you want to upset.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day and over 200 pumpkin pies and 1,400 pounds of meat were prepped this year. That’s 50 turkeys, 800 cans of gravy, an endless supply of cranberries sauce and a buffet line that wouldn’t let up. The M/V Explorer’s tireless kitchen crew cooked through Kobe while we were out sightseeing and shopping. 90% of the crew here are from the Philappines area and work straight through a 3-month contract, not one day off, in the morning by 0600, to bed by 2100. My cabin steward James can’t help but make you smile with his doe-like eyes and meek voice and then there’s Clive, Mez and Shorty offering up a joke, a little ditty or a miscarried tune with a cup of coffee. These 4 represent the entire shipboard “behind-the-scenes” mess and crew quarters. I can’t imagine leaving them behind in less than 12 days with Hawaii still pending. The trip’s nearly over and I’m still discovering passengers to connect and learn from. This journey wasn’t supposed to end this quickly and I’m not ready to pound the ‘snow-covered-pavement’ quite yet. There’re 20 staff members to commiserate with on my return to the unemployment line (a.ka. reality) before December 7. Most of them sold off our life’s work and put the rest in storage; fortunate for me, family came to my rescue. We’re alumni without immediate job placement but fluent in the cultures of 5 continents – a qualification that rivals a Harvard degree any day. What will become of us? It’s really too soon to say especially since the allure of surfboarding and snorkeling Maui still suspend time a little longer. I think my board needs waxing today…

Single Parasites

Many thanks to all who gave advice and caring words due to my computer crisis. The beautiful Zen gardens of Kyoto and Kobe helped me stay in balance while burying my beloved cyber companion. It's doubtful she'll be reincarned after this trip, that's how badly bruised she was. Nothing could be worse, not a stolen wallet or lost passport, than erasing 3 months of visual memories for a photographer. But like they say 'everything happens for a reason'. Frankly, I think that's a scapegoat for not taking blame. I was too cheap to buy a back-up thumb drive and that's that. Being in no mood for Karaoke with the gals, I walked off my self-pity surrounded by falling Autumn leaves, temples and waterfalls. One of the Shinto tenets include worshipping trees as a vital source of food, energy, shelter and even clothing. When a tree fells to provide wood for a Buddhist temple, it's stored untouched for several years to give the spirits time to depart. This tree-hugger mentality became the impetus for my walking up three mountains, through 2 pair of sneakers and ignoring 1 big blister. Nearly 75 miles in 4 days. A tourguide assured me that single Japanese women shop their pain away rather than enjoy the views. It's true that I saw more single 20 and 30-somethings donning Nancy Sinatra boots than Nikees and Fendi purses than Sierra Club Backpacks. Myself and hundreds of retired Japanese couples wrestled our way up Mt. Rokko, Mt. Maya, and Mt.Futatabi. A new generation of Japanese women are being dubbed 'single parasites' and it's not meant to be derogative; but it is a hidden crisis with serious economic consequences for Japan. It's girls between the ages of 21-35 who avoid marriage because they think of it as a trap, live with their parents and freely spend disposable income on shopping, entertainment and travel. 80% of girls under 35yrs. still live with mom and dad and 1 in 4 people are over the age of 65. It's a pandemic that caught my attention immediately. There are massage centers, shoe stores and Starbucks on every corner. Try as might to avoid all three outrageously expensive venues, it was difficult. Traditional tea-ceremonies, kabuki (artful melodramas), Ikebana (flower arranging) and Banraku puppet shows were hard to find. Instead I found Pachinko palaces, internet cafes, automated restaurants and ultra-modern bullet trains. Instead of sushi and sake, I ate Japanese-style pizza with kobe beef, octopus, squid, bacon and shrimp. A delicacy under $12, what a find! Toilets are super-effecient 'holes' in the floor that take a few tries to aim properly but more sanitary than flesh on porcelin. Despite all the futurist conveniences cash is still favored currency over ATM's and credit cards. I didn't question using my Mastercard at a major grocery store until $50 worth of Suntory whiskey, Udon Noodles and Soba had to be put back. If your going to Japan expect to use Yen indefinitely and until you find your way into the nostalgic coveted gardens, expect to use a lot of it.

Lost in Translation

When in Japan, not only is it Suntory time but the Sophia Coppola movie come to life．I`ll be brief - my Apple Laptop died an untimely demise and I`m in hell! I lost all 4000 photos I ever took on this trip, all my journals and every second of music I ever downloaded. I`m miserable and I just yelled at this funny-faced Japanese cybercafe dude because I can`t read a thing on this foreign internet screen. If I could drown my sorrows in sushi and sake I would but that would cost me another mini-mortgage in this country. A short 15 minute taxi cab ride cost a ridiculous $25 in Hiroshima today. I nearly fainted. If and when I can get through this computer crisis I`m sure I`ll find something redeaming about Kobe, Kyoto and Kareoke but all I keep wanting is email access back. That won`t happen until I can get it to a specialist in the middle of December. So, all my family and friends, please email me at my new address, sonyss_@excite.com (don`t forget the underscore!) Now, time to figure out how to find a subway back to the boat...no more taxi`s for me.

Life is a Feast

A former crew member who sailed with the M/V Explorer died earlier this year. His name was Jackson Chang and today we gathered on Deck 4 aft to throw his ashes to the wind. Having sailed the South Chinese Sea as often as he did, his last dying wishes were to be cremated and scattered in the ocean. When Dean John lifted his urn and turned it upright, a cold hard breeze caught the loose dust and took it flying. Clouds parted just long enough for a brilliant splash of sun to come streaming down on those gathered to remember loved ones. I was hoping for something ethereal like that and it happened. I can see the appeal of being buried at sea. Despite my cramped quarters, bouts of sea sickness and doing laundry in my sink, I’m not ready to come home… nor do I think I ever will be. A clever student made the analogy that seeing the world is like being invited to a 5-course feast. If the heavens cook all day and invite you to dinner would you only eat the main course and skip the appetizers, desserts, soups and salads? Of course not. That would be rude. Why treat the world we live in the same way? See the world and make the heavens happy. Some countries may taste better than others but let’s not insult the cook and only try what we’re familiar with.

Out-of-Control Crib

'It's my birthday and I'll puke if I want to, puke if I want to..." Yes, it took 88 days but yours truly is finally seasick. It's my 35th year today and this damn ship keeps hitting landmines and torpedos and I'm out of dramamine. I'll tell ya how bad it is. Last night, the medicine cabinet mirror in my bathroom came off it's hinges and went flying into the shower, spraying glass in every direction. I went to jump in (sans contacts) and caught a small light reflection in my eye, a bare foot just inches from shattered glass. The whole shipboard community is rocking back and forth like an out-of-control crib. Some students haven't left their rooms for class for 2 days and some can barely make to their own bathrooms. The Captain warned us as we were leaving Hong Kong to tie stuff down and keep our computers on the floor. Height wise the waves aren't that tall but they're choppy, violent and constant. I could have swore last nights rogue wave sounded like we were hitting land and rolling over steal cars. It's terrifying and the closer to the front of the ship you are the worse it is. My unlucky pillow rests a wall away from the anchor. Not having a port hole no longer matters. In times like this I'd rather not know how turbulent Mother Nature can get. She'll remain an ugly beast until Japan and again from Hawaii to San Diego. While in Kobe I'm skipping sushi, sake and the grade-A beef and going right for the medicinal herbal concoctions. Asians are expert herbalists. They can create a life-saving tonic from ginseng and bird's nests if you need it and I need it.

Beijing, China

3 days after bypassing Kenya, an Egyptian passenger vessel with 400 aboard is fired at by terrorist pirates off the coast. 2 days after Chennai, India torrential rains deluge the city in a foot of water. 24 hours after leaving Yangon, Myanmar the Junta gov't pulls up it's 40 year capital roots and moves to an undisclosed location. And now 2 more cases of bird flu in Beijing minutes after leaving China. Is the M/V Explorer not the luckiest ship on the high seas right now? 75 of us just returned from a 4 day trip with students at Peking University. They showed us their beautiful campus, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Ming's Tombs the Great Wall. Like seeing an apparition or ghost I actually got goose bumps when I first laid eyes on the Great Wall. It stretches for over 6000 miles across some of the highest and rockiest terrain in China. The journey was extra precarious for me, packing 50 pounds of camera equipment on a 2 hour ascent. Angie, my solo volunteer generously offered to help with the tripod. Naysayers said it couldn't be done but we did it - to the top and back again with the most spectacular footage ever shot. Construction began in 220 BC by 300,000 men, many of them political prisoners whose bodies are buried in the wall. Built as a strategic defense against invaders you can almost feel the souls that still haunt the wall. Descending was much easier. We pulled our sleeves down, leaned our body mass against the hand rail and slid all the way down. At times my feet couldn't keep up with my body and I must have looked like a cartoon figure trying to run on air. Tour buses do not wait for the weary and 'dock time' (punishment for being late) is threat enough to keep the 'ol legs moving. Wrap up the entire experience with a Chinese cirque du soleil like acrobatic performance and a guided tour through a jade factory - Beijing may not have been created in a day but we conquered it in 3. Next up, Kobe Japan, where the literary rate is a whopping 99% and intellectual debates thrive. Ahhh, just like listening to foreign NPR.

The Last Emperor

Whew, I just logged the last of my Vietnam footage in time for Hong Kong. We arrived in port 2 hours ago. Producing a chronological documentary always starts the same way - with a bright and early sunrise. Sometimes it's a bust but other times it's worth the sleep deprivation. Today was worth a waning 4 hours. The city skyline looks like a ultra-modern computer simulated erector set. Stainless steel high rise pierce the sky lending to it's futurist appeal. A super glossed highway winds it way around the ocean bay, snaking through tunnels and bldgs like the introduction to the Jetson's cartoon. It's space age globalization and I love it! This excites me more than any palace, cathedral, temple or pagoda. No matter if a city is grandiose, majestic and opulent, if obvious poverty and inequality exists in the streets, the experience is ruined. I thought seeing the world might help plug up my bleeding heart because it's a miserable burden to be so affected. On the contrary, the world's economic scales are so unevenly tipped it's impossible to look past it. Coming into Hong Kong is a much needed oasis. As will be Beijing, The Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven. I'll be back Wednesday with tales of China's greatest philosopher, dim sum discoveries and new fung shui tips.

Duck Embryo Anyone?

As beautiful as the landscape is and as friendly as the people are I'm glad to be leaving Vietnam. Budda and Gods harassed me for talking smack in a Pagoda the entire week. My beta camera broke in two, a dog took a chunk of my hand off, I caught a nasty virus and I cried my way through the Cu Chi Tunnels. As if that wasn't bad enough... On Day 2, our small boat had engine problems and left us high and dry in the middle of the Mekong and on Day 4 the bus we were traveling in popped a tire. Multiply everything by 100 degrees of hot, humid, sticky weather and you've got Vietnam. Sounds fun, doesn't it? I thought I was an omnivore and would try everything once but this culture proved me wrong. We watched in horror as our hosts, during our homestay, cracked open a duck egg, on the verge of hatching and ate it. A completely developed duck embryo about to draw it's first breath instead gets swallowed whole. If not duckling, then they eat thit cay (canine chow) or field mice or king cobra. These are nourishing foods that sustain life and there's nothing unusual about eating a still beating heart. There are millions of mopeds here that strap everything to their bikes, including live stock. As I waited for a ferry crossing, I stood behind one with two goats hanging in baskets off the sides. This especially disturbed me because when goats cry they let out an ear-piercing wail and these poor soon-to-be slaughtered we're being burned by the muffler. A swift and painless death is one thing but to me, this is torture. The economy is booming and health care is advancing but in rural Vietnam, orphanages still lack services. I visited one with several mentally disabled children writhing on a concrete floor unable to move or comprehend. Newborns with cleft pallets and other deformities are also left on the doorstep of charities all the time. With my spirits waning and my heart broken, I forfeit the rest of my dong to help feed a hapless little brown-eyed bundle I held for 40 minutes. Okay, Budda you proved your point - can I please leave Vietnam now?

Mekong Delta and Much More

Until the 16th century, the Mekong Delta was an area of marshlands and forest. Today, it's a network of canals so the Vietnamese can grow rice, tobacco, maize and soybeans. For the last 3 days we explored the rice production fields in southern rural Vietnam. Rice is the single most important crop with over 70% of the population working to produce it. We also traveled by boat to an island for an overnight stay at a hostel. We bunked up in cabins built on stilts in the water with large insects nets covering our beds. Throughout the night, small canoe-shaped boats with deafening motors, much like the sound of helicopter blades, traversed up and down the tributary. The students drank too much Tiger Beer while swapping stories with the locals and drowned out most of the noise. The stars in the Mekong are brighter here than anywhere else in the world as are the size of Vietnam's snakes. I held a live 16 foot python around my neck and then drank a potent 6-month mixture of snake wine. Real snake blood makes for a lethal concoction of 42% alcohol and has a surprisingly mild taste. After swimming the dirty Mekong and seeing the floating markets we relaxed for a 40 minute message. Little did we know that a rub down here is merely the beginning of much more. I insisted on just a massage and got it but the male students had slightly more trouble convincing the scantily-dressed ladies the same. Bashful boys rushed out of there like the place was on fire! I've discovered another word that makes me giggle uncontrollably, the currency is called the "dong". Need I say more? Tomorrow we explore the Cu-Chi tunnels with memories of intense fighting, bombing and destruction during the American War (Vietnam War). This should shock us back into a serious tone after a 3-day stretch of gaiety and good fun.

Don't mess with Budda

Early this morning the M/V Explorer made it's way up the Saigon River with little room for error. It's a narrow and shallow river so navigating this beast past fishing junks and tankers is no easy task. Neither is documenting all the amazing places to see and do in Ho Chi Minh City. I started with 40 students on a 4-hour tour of several temples and churches today. First we stopped at a quiet mosque, then the blessed Notre Dame Cathedral then several pagodas. The first pagoda looked dark and dreary and after being in beautiful Bagan, I was not impressive. I left the camera on the bus and walked around, poking fun at the neon Budda surrounded by plastic kitsch. No sooner after laughing at my own sarcasm, I was attacked by an infestation of red ants. Either I stepped on an ant farm or the Gods above were getting back at my dark humor. What felt like hundreds of insects made their way into my shirt, shoes, pants and hair. Biting and scratching at my skin as I flared my arms around like I was going into a seizure. I couldn't take it, I ripped my shoes off, tore my shirt over my head and threw my fanny pack to the ground. Students helped kill the miserable little creatures and blocked me from Vietnamese voyeurism. Just imagine what it must have looked like to a barefoot Buddhist meditating while a frantic white American stripped clean. Oh, how Embarrassed was I. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. There are witnesses that can attest to my humiliation. Following the affair, I pulled the guide aside and insisted he apologize for not warning us about red ants in Vietnam. "Red ants? red ants? I've never seen a red ant?" said the tour operator. I stared at him in disbelief. So it really was Budda...

Going Public

A professor asked if I could speak publicly about the TV News business to his class of 30 Anthropology majors the other day. I felt priveliged and agreed wholeheartedly. I brought several pages of copious notes and props for show and tell. I used animated gestures, engaging stories and Q& A. "And then I captured exclusive footage of the Unabomber's family... and then we found an abducted baby... and then David Letterman used my footage... and then and then and then". In return -- nothing, absolutely nothing, not a gasp, not a smile, not a flicker of interest. I told the students about jail-cell interviews, political investigations, open-heart surgery and working with the omnipresent Rachael Ray. Some popped their heads up for a second but mostly the glowing lid of the back of a laptop was my audience. Was it solitaire? Did I loose them to a game of solitaire or maybe I-Photo or a homework assignment for the next class? Could they be desensitized or apathetic to what I'm saying? What is going on? Being a video journalist is a riveting job, one that allows the opportunity to travel, learn and appreciate. "Yes, but does it pay well?" asked a student. And with that last question I've decided to take my lecture to a broader audience. I'm inviting all 750 passengers aboard to share in the most challenging yet rewarding career choice anyone could make, or at least by my perspective!

Less Speed, More Time

Somebody go throw a monkey wrench in the ship's engine! This part of the journey can't ever end. First Halloween, then a private 5-course dinner with the Captain, followed by the Crew's Talent Show, topped off with a lightning storm off the starboard side. It's non-stop pandemonium through 2 times zones doing 21 knots. If students needed distraction from worrying about pirates and abductions, they found it. It's true, the Straits of Malacca are like the Bermuda triangle; vessels are known to disappear from hostile take-overs more here than anywhere else in the world. If we make it through the night we dock off the coast of Singapore for a fuel fill-up tomorrow morning. Seamen call this 'bunkering', the rest of us call it a great reason to have our passports stamped again. In preparation for Vietnam, movies and lectures examine how foreign powers have tried to control the country for the past 2000 years. From the Chinese to the French to Japanese to the U.S., I had no idea that Vietnam had to fight so hard and long to maintain it's identity. Many still associate Vietnam with war but it's not just a battlefield anymore. It may be Communist but because of it's fertile Mekong Delta, Truong Son Mountains and Halong Bay, it's rated the most beautiful.

My Brazilian Crush

When he shed his long locks on Neptune Day I cried out "No, not the hair!". When he took off for Salvador solo, I secretly wished I could come with. When he dressed in a longi surely I thought he'd look too feminine to find attractive. But then he had to go and pull out all the stops last night; donning a white-pressed captains uniform with crisp clean cut pants. What's a lonely single girl in the middle of the Bay of Bengal to do with her Brazilian crush on Halloween night? He's well aware of the hypnotic power he wields and works it like bait on a hook. Cunningly tossing a toothy smile and a couple winks my way when his ego needs massaging. Unfortunately, I'm behind a long long line of perfectly shaped 22 year old princesses, all battling for a few precious seconds of Rico's attention. Looks isn't everything though and so surely Rico lacks in other areas, like perhaps personality, charisma or brains? No, no and no again. The angels above crafted yet another man out of most women's reach. But nobody's immortal and so I'm determined to find the weakest link beyond Rico's perfectly polished exterior. What makes this guy squirm? What terrifies him? What or who or when isn't he comfortable? A decade of photographing people has me trained to be more observant than most and so Rico, my beautiful buffed Adonis, your my case-study until the end of the trip. One false move and your mine!

Happy Halloween

Even on Halloween, these marvelously creative students find ways of shocking the doc. Following tricking or treating, ghost stories and pumpkin carving, the costume contest begins. Two girls with pillows stuffed under their bellies with signs that read "7 months after the M/V Explorer" shouldn't be funny but the judges enjoy their self-depreciating wit. A tall thin student with skinny rimmed glasses and a white sash around his middle comes stumbling out with a cane. Of course, it's Gandhi, give that man a prize. A cardboard box turned yellow rickshaw with a Hindi driver shouting "Good price, good price, I take you to mall for 100 rupee, come on now, 100 rupee!". No where else would this costume be funny unless you've just been to India. The rickshaws (taxi services) are relentless with offering rides for cheap. The judges love it. I-pods are a student's best friend and if you've seen their commercials you'd recognize the girl dressed completely in black dancing to her I-Pod. A Genius idea! Cliche outfits like a Pirate, Dancer, Firemen, or Valley Girl were no where to be found. Serious thought went into these costumes and I could continue but like a good joke, I think you had to be there. Sorry.