Perspectives

This blog will entail my life, and specifically my point of view. It will commence with my journey aboard the MV Explorer while enrolled in Semester at Sea.

(PLEASE NOTE NON-PROFFESIONAL PHOTOS PICTURES FOR THE VOYAGE WILL BE POSTED SOMETIMES HERE, BUT MOSTLY TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE [for copyright reasons]. AND PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED TO MY WEBSITE: [chandlerholmes.carbonmade.com]. ALSO, PICTURES CANNOT BE POSTED UNTIL I AM INTO PORT FOR INTERNET USAGE REASONS.)

Day 1 (At Sea)

Day one proved to be an interesting start to a voyage (not a cruise) on ship (not a boat). To say many interesting things have happened would be an overstatement. A very hot (temperature wise) mandatory drill took place. We had to assemble out on the decks at the sound of an alarm whilst wearing long sleeve shirts, pants, close toed shoes, and also adorned with a life jacket.

Food. Not bad, Not great either. But, I know I set the bar a little high. I will say the Jerk Chicken for dinner was good and stood out.

Day 2 (At Sea)

Seriously a day filled with nothing anyone would want to hear about. Orientation. That is all.

Oh, and India has medical school for 400 rupees a year (around 15 dollars). Met a girl from India and basically found out India knows how to do a lot right.

Food. Good Asian style pork and good brownies.

Day 3 (At Sea)

The best day yet. The best day in a very long time. Classes started and that has nothing to do with why it was the best day. Gladys is the reason it was such a superb day. Who is Gladys? She is a life long learner aboard the ship (someone older who comes and visits lectures), but she is a very special LLL. She has been on over 24 voyages, been to virtually everywhere, and she is 88 years old! She is sweet, but to the point.

I saw her having lunch today by herself and decided to join. Lunch was quiet and I asked a lot of questions. I got a lot of one word answers at first. When I asked “do you have children” she quickly retorted “no, if I did I would be in jail for murder.”

After my wonderful but all to short lunch I decided to go right at 5:30 for dinner in hopes I would see Gladys eating. I was correct! I should mention she has a walker and does not get around well so she has food brought to her, and it often varies from the buffet the students are given. She also does not even go to the cities in port anymore due to her handicap. At dinner she opened up and shared tons of information. Also, she has no children, no brothers or sisters, and her husband is deceased.

Just some tidbits from Gladys I have to share:

Gladys only thinks the “rich” should have children (due to overpopulation problems and financial issues)

Says if your poor and have kids you may need money and then to get it by sleeping with a man, which creates more children

Believes 90% of college graduates will have a hard time getting a job and if they do, they are “God Damn” lucky

There are over 2,000 dowry deaths a year (look up dowry death on google if you are not in the know)

Judicial system and the government stinks

All married men cheat, though they do not think they are because they are not leaving there wives and children

Her husband cheated on her and she cut his sparkplugs while he was in his lovers house. When he came out and was trying to fix the car she was going to ram her car into him over and over again, but opted out because her cousin was there and convinced her otherwise

Believes someone who commits suicide is not a coward, but actually brave because they can do that (a lot easier said than done)

Thinks she will pass in the next year or so and hopes to in her sleep

We talked about many other things such as the as in depth discussion about the economy. She taught me more about the value of a dollar by providing me with insight on how much things used to cost, how much she used to make, how much her father used to make, and many other things.

But, my absolute favorite was when we were talking about photography and she told me I have stop by her room sometime and see this giant photograph she has (printed on German paper).

Expect to see more Odes to Gladys in the blog. Why? Because she is inspiring!