Macau

Saturday, June 22 we woke up early and took a bus to the ferry terminals. I thought we were riding just a small, normal ferry like in Texas, where we could get out and see the water. Not even close. This thing was massive and we needed boarding tickets and had seat assignments and seatbelts, just like an airplane. We were wondering why our program liaison was telling us we might need to take a pill if we get motion sickness, but we quickly found out why.

It was about an hour ferry ride to Macau, which is its own Special Administrative Region, or SAR, just like Hong Kong. This ferry went so fast and literally gave almost all of our group motion sickness. When it caught a really big wave, the ferry would literally come all the way out of the water and slam back down. I’ve never experienced anything like that, but then again, we were riding it in the middle of a level 1 typhoon. We all felt sick when we got off; it was kind of a hilarious sight. So when we got off we had to go through customs to get through to mainland China. A lot of people needed to use the bathroom before getting on the bus to ride to Macau, and we discovered that the toilets were a hole in the ground. You literally have to squat and pee in the ground, and there’s this flush pedal you push with your foot. It was quite the thigh workout just to use the bathroom.

So when we get to Macau we walk around the streets there and explore a little bit then have lunch at this awesome Portuguese place in the street. I was really craving American food though, so I ordered a salad and fries and a LARGE bottle of water and thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. We’re not supposed to drink the water here so I feel like I’m dehydrated sometimes, because almost all I drink back home is water, but it’s more difficult to get here.

 

While in Macau we visited the Ruins of St. Paul and this old Catholic church/museum. The ruins were really cool but quite a little hike. The view at the top was great though, and the breeze was awesome. I don’t know if I mentioned, but it’s really hot here. And SUPER humid. I won’t complain in Texas anymore, that’s for sure.

The start of the climb of the Ruins of St. Paul

 

 

View from the top of the ruins

That night, our group of 29 stayed in an ambassador suite in the Sheraton Hotel in Macau. The room was awesome, and that was a fun night. We got a cabana down by the pool because the hotel was having a poolside party that night and all 29 of us were down there. It was good bonding time. We enjoyed an AWESOME buffet breakfast at the hotel the next morning, where people stared at us because we were white or because we were loud, I don’t really know, probably both.

What is probably my favorite blog post so far is coming up next. I'm going to Beijing in a few hours for the weekend so I need to catch some sleep, but make sure you come back and read it!