Journals from the week ending January 31, 1997
My First Week Aboard
by Mindi Goodwin, 1/29/97, aboard ship...Being a new student onboard the Concordia is lots of fun. All the old students took the new students in and made us feel at home. We are like one big family. For example, on Galley (kitchen) Duty, the old students helped us new students understand what we needed to do. It is fun getting to know everyone and making new friends.
For me personally it is really interesting to see different parts of the world. It is interesting and a very different experience because I have never been outside of the United States and I am used to everyone speaking the same language as me. Being in another part of the world where not everyone speaks English has been exciting and challenging. I love being a student onboard the Concordia and am looking forward to an exciting five months.
The Blue Mosque
Derek Thomas, 1/29/97, aboard ship...When we walked up to the mosque we found that people without long pants were not allowed to enter. Instead of turning around, my group of seven Class Afloat students were able to borrow long robes that covered the legs. The girls were also required to cover their heads. I had understood that it was a courtesy to wear pants at all times in a Muslim country, and because I did wear pants, I did not have to wear the robes to enter. After taking off our shoes, we were allowed to walk freely into the mosque. At the center was a huge dome in which all the Muslims gather. Surrounding the center complex were four large towers called Minarets, in which the Muslims pray towards. The towers are used to call the people to prayer. During the prayer, the Muslim people pray in the northwest direction toward their holy land of Mecca. Under the dome is where only Muslim people are allowed, but we had the opportunity to see what it was like inside. The interior was covered with Arabic writing, on the floor there were pedestals where their religious books lay. Throughout the mosque there were marble walls and ceilings, and the floor was covered with an elaborately woven carpet. Of all the religious building I have seen, this was one of the most interesting.
Visiting Malaysia...
Dr. Johan Mostert, 1/30/97, aboard ship...We have been moored in Port Klang since our arrival, provisioning the ship, learning all about the sail rigging and practicing our safety drills. With 36 students, 6 teachers and 6 crew onboard, it is quite a task to provision the ship for a lengthy sea voyage.
Safety awareness is very important on a boat such as this, especially when working high up in the rigging. Concordia has three masts, each of them over 100 feet high! Climbing to the top in heavy seas can certainly test your courage. If working up high, a safety harness clipped to the rigging offers some help in case you lose your grip. The students have also practiced the drills for fire aboard the ship and losing a man overboard. In case of the need to abandon ship, everybody onboard has an immersion suit, made of rubber material, that protects against hypothermia and assists one to float in the sea. Hopefully, we will not need them!
The students have had an opportunity to explore the surrounding area. On Tuesday, we visited Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. (Try and find Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan and Vietnam on a world map.) Malaysia is largely an Islamic country, and we visited a fabulous mosque called the Blue Mosque of Shah Alam. It has four massive minarets (towers), one at each corner, where the imam (priest) calls the people to prayer. The dome is a brilliant blue color and made of marble. The mosque can hold 45,000 people at one time.
The food in Malaysia is very flavorful and tasty. In days of old, this part of the world was the center of the spice trade. Many of us tried traditional Malaysian dishes like Char-Koay-Teow (fried flat noodles), Nasi Lemak (rice with coconut milk), and Murtabak (meat crepes). Now we are all eager to set sail for Penang.