Road to Penang

 The adventure begins!

Okay, so everything leading up this point has been an adventure, but now we're really doing the thing we've been planning for years: we're living, working, sailing, THRIVING on a floating campus in the middle of the ocean!

also see: Thriving

Our Room With A View

Almost immediately after leaving Bangkok we experienced some rough seas.  We got in bed around 7 pm because standing up made us feel sick; we heard there was a lot of vomit cleanup throughout the ship that night and the following morning there were strategically placed "sick" bags all throughout the hallways and stairwells of the ship. We later heard from the ship's crew that the waves we experienced were only a 2 out of 10. The next day the sea was calm and our sea sickness medication was working; everything was fine after that. 

Ship life is so interesting!  Our calendar consists of "A" days, "B" days, as well as intermittent "study" or "community event" days (in which no classes are held). Generally there is only 1 study/community day per sea leg, the rest are class days where students have A and B schedules alternating. Kim and Ender work every A and B day and Ender rotates being on-call after hours with the other 2 counselors. 

Jacob, when he isn't in school, does what he can to find games to play on the ship.  There are no shortage of children on our voyage, though not a lot in his age group exactly. 

Every voyager, including us, attends a morning class called "Global Studies" which consists of History, Oceanography, and Culture. As much as possible Global Studies covers relevant information about the part of the world in which we find ourselves, but also addresses general themes of ocean health and marine life (spoiler, neither are doing very well at the moment); history is addressed primarily as seen through a western lens, covering trade routes, religion, and modern history that seems relevant to the region. The cultural aspects of Global Studies is geared toward helping voyagers recognize how they see the world through their own lens, and try to expand that lens to challenge biases and/or stories we have about other cultures so we can humanize and connect with people when we visit their countries. It helps us practice curiosity and humility for other ways of life and does its best to prepare us for what to expect when we arrive. 

There was a fun event during the first sea leg: any voyager could take the stage and propose a club. Dozens of voyagers lined up in the Union auditorium to present their club ideas. Everything from Chess, Karaoke, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Gazing, Fortune Telling, Old-Guy Chat, Tap Dancing, Hip-Hop, Bollywood, Poetry, Film, LGBTQ+, Black/African, Hispanic, Jewish, Song Writers, Piano Bar, Board Games, Live Music Lovers, Film, Port Partiers, Mental Health, Whale Watchers, and on and on and on. After all of the pitches, club leaders dispersed throughout the room while the rest of us added our names to a contact list for any clubs we wanted to join. Jacob joined Chess club and both Jacob and Ender joined Dungeons and Dragons (or DnSea). Ender added his name to a bunch of lists that involved music and Kim joined Hip-Hop and Zumba. The event was super cool, but Ender was distracted by how many of these "adults" had their shoes on the furniture. 

It was great to see many people making quick friend groups on the ship, while others were not so quick.  Ender hosted an introverts workshop to help those students connect and it has been cool to see many of the students who attended that workshop eating together and hanging out regularly. 

About halfway into our 5 day sea leg the captain of the ship announced that we were officially in Singaporean waters, and, so those of us who like to "count countries" we could say we were in Singapore. It was interesting to get that close to the city, our phones getting reception, but without stopping to visit. Ender and Jacob made the most of the visit with another video for their channel. 

After 5 days we finally arrived in Penang, specifically Georgetown. 

The night before each port we have a ship wide meeting called "Logistical Pre-port" in which the Staculty leadership team hands out the "green sheet" which is a handy paper with all the helpful and necessary information we need for leaving the ship.  It includes emergency phone numbers, the address of the ship (that we can give to taxi drivers), travel tips specific to the port city, warnings and cautions, tipping guides, and anything else we might need. 

The following morning every voyager would leave the ship to go through immigration and customs before being allowed to enter the country. In a port like this, the immigration workers only come when the ship arrives so regardless of when one is leaving the ship, we have to do this as soon as we arrive. 

Georgetown is a beautiful island. The building were almost exclusively white which has to help with the hot temperatures. We loved that there were so many great parts of the city within walking distance of the ship terminal. 

For our first day in Georgetown we decided to travel around on foot. It was hot. We did our best to stay in the shade but we were drenched within minutes. Georgetown has a very cool art vibe and celebrates their street art. 

We also visited the "Clan Jetties" which are a complete village on stilts above the water where Chinese clans live. In the 19th century many Chinese immigrants came to Malaysia and established clans so together they could survive in their new environment.

 Jacob was able to buy his favorite shirt of all time. 

There were still hours left in the day so we got a taxi to "Snake Temple" which turned out to be...well, a snake temple. The temple was small, but had a few areas where, after looking for a few minutes, we were able to spot dozens of sleeping snakes in the branches of the trees. 

The second day in Georgetown we took things up a level, literally. We took the funicular up Penang Hill. This was a super cool experience, not only because it was our first time in a funicular, but the view from Penang Hill was absolutely amazing. 

One of the standout foci of Penang was the diversity of religions. While Malaysia is officially a Muslim country, our attention was directed to the variety of Hindu temples, Christian Churches, Chinese Temples and Islamic mosques that dotted the map. Atop Penang Hill there was a Hindu Temple and an Islamic Mosque separated by just a few meters.  

Our favorite part of Penang Hill was the long winding paths and suspended bridges which lead us through a rainforest habitat. We even got to see some monkeys. The temperature was a good 10 degrees cooler on the hill and in the shade, which was a welcome reprieve from the heat below.

They also build a bridge atop the highest point so you could really overlook the city.  Jacob was nervous, but didn't pass up the opportunity to get an amazing view!

This photo is cool because you can see our ship docked far off in the distance. 

By the time we came back down we were starving so we did a very American thing and ate at A & W. Ender was especially excited about the "brewed in Penang" Root Beer made with real sugar cane. 

Ender's new life motto

We were ready to get back to the ship, but we had to check out a nearby landmark, the "Bat Cave Temple" which appeared to be near the funicular station. We found ourselves walking (mostly uphill) into a residential area. When we finally reached the location we were at someone's home who had, in their back yard, a Bat Cave.  The family was sitting around sharing a meal outside and beckoned us to take a look, so we wandered back into the cave, and sure enough, bats. 

When we were finished he directed us to his neighbor across the street saying he had turtles, and told us another neighbor up the hill had a giant fish. We had a look at the turtles, but we were too tired to hike to the giant fish, so it now lives in our imaginations rather than our memories. 

On day three in Penang we really wanted to feel like locals so we went to the mall. We'd heard about a huge book store that was worth seeing. To our delight the books were relatively inexpensive so we couldn't help but stock up on some reading material for the voyage as well as some notebooks and games. It was nice to do some urban hiking in the air conditioned mall, and eating at a food court felt like a really culturally immersive experience in its own way. 

For the remaining 3 days in Penang, we decided to get a hotel further away from the ship which was rumored to have beach access. This turned out to be a tremendously rewarding move. The hotel was actually an AirBnB-like apartment with a beautiful swimming pool. The beach access was accurate, but the beach itself was not quite set up as a public beach. There was a good amount of construction happening on the beach which will result in a nice experience for beach-goers in the future, but for now we stayed out of the water.  We did, however, get to eat at a few oceanside restaurants that had dining just meters away from the tide. We spent those days dining on the beach and swimming in a pool. 

Jacob was happy to have his own room for a few days

A Room with a View

We usually had the pool to ourselves

We could hear the call for prayer coming from the mosque in the background. 

By the time we returned to the ship, we were well rested and rejuvenated, almost ready for another 8 days at sea. On our final day at port Kim just had one more stop she had to make: the thrift store. 

We also found our favorite art location on the last day, which was this collection of spaces displaying art and selling items of which a percentage of the proceeds would go toward local animal shelters.

At long last, we boarded the World Odyssey. One thing worth mentioning: Being at a busy terminal allowed us to see what other cruise ships looked like in comparison. While in Penang, 3 different huge ships came and went.  Something about the size of these ships made us love our "little" home on the sea even more. 

The weather was a bit gloomy as we pulled away. 

Next stop: INDIA!