Despite the fact that Semester at Sea has created a school environment that is lavish, in India Semester at Sea provided students with an experience that was abysmal to some and amazing for others.

While in India I went to Delhi, Agra, and the Taj Mahal with a Semester at Sea sponsored trip. The first day, of the three-day trip, was spent traveling to Agra. We started off by leaving the ship at 4:15 a.m. to catch an early flight from Chennai to Delhi. Once in Delhi we caught a train to Agra, which took about 5 hours. The train ride took 5 hours because it was a second-class train. While a number of the students complained about the trains lack of air conditioning, odor, plethora of beggars at every stop, regular vendors, iron barred windows, and lack of cleanliness; I embraced the experience. (It should noted that the return first-class train ride took about 2 hours to go from Agra to Delhi, which was air-conditioned, free from beggars/vendors, and relatively clean.) I was very fortunate to find an India family sitting near where I was sitting and I took advantage of my position and talked with the family for the majority of the train ride. I spoke with the father and played with the boy’s and we had a grand time. The children taught me how to speak some Hindi. I taught the children how to play a few simple games. We talked about school, the caste system, and life in India. It was an amazing experience and I am extremely glad I had the opportunity to meet and speak with the family.

In Global Studies (the class everyone on the ship is required to take), we have been told that there is a difference between a tourist and a traveler. I believe that I understand the difference. I would like to think that I am a traveler. While I am a tourist at times, I also travel. I take opportunities that most people would never think of doing and turn them into experience that people yearn to experience. While I was in Myanmar I was taking pictures of a friend of mine talking with some local people and one thing led to another and next thing I knew it is 7:30 p.m. and I am riding in a pony drawn cart to this families house to have dinner with them. Traveling is more than just seeing the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall, or Angkor Wat. Traveling is about experiencing a culture. Traveling has depth, soul, and heart. Traveling is experiencing a culture and not just seeing it. I do not believe I am some amazing traveler or anything, but I have learned how to experience a culture in a different way and that is how I am a traveler and not just a tourist.

Semester at Sea is like no other experience I know of. You travel around the world in an extremely short period of time. You see so much in such a short period of time. I truly believe that in mid-February I am going to sit down with some friends at North Central and suddenly realize I have traveled the world. I have had the fortunate experience of seeing things that so may people dream of seeing. I hope that when I return to America that I can be a good ambassador of the world and show people what the rest of the world is truly like. Help other people see the world in a new way. Help make the world a much more globally aware society.

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