E-mail Kathryn sent Sunday, October 7, 2001, from Singapore
Hey Guys!
Well, I'm in my 2nd to last day in Singapore, but let me backtrack just a bit and finish where I left off. Since my last email, I went on an amazing trip in Vietnam. I went to the Mekong Delta for 2 days. What it is, is a river community. We got into these little boats and were scooted out to these islands in the middle of a river, and then we went into these small channels where, on either side, you see villages and people doing there daily things, like digging mud out of the river to build walls to protect their village from flooding, boats whirring by that are carrying fruit and other necessesities to neighbor villages, children running around and shyly peeking at you from behind the trees and tons and tons of little dogs scratching and panting on the banks of the river. Our group stayed in a great hotel where we had access to a free spa and a little bar on the roof where we played pool and darts while we looked out over Can Tho, the city we were staying in. The second day, we went to a floating market. This was BEAUTIFUL! It was boat after boat that was connected in the middle of the river, and whatever each boat was selling, they would hang from a little pole in the front of their boat. We went around in little 8 person boats and got fresh fruit from multiple vendors. If only Schnucks or Dillons supermarkets had that kind of atmosphere!!!!
Now, on to SINGAPORE!! This is a place that I don't know how to explain, it's a city, but a country, they're English Speaking, but no one speaks English, they are Modern, but with a developing aspect and it's clean, but with many dirty areas, so really, I can't put a stamp of any kind on this place! The first day a group of us found a place to stay out on one of the islands, and we went to a Water Park out there. We met an older man named Ollie, who taught us to get as much air as possible off of this water slide type thing, you go down on mats, hit a couple of bumps, and if you do it right, you find yourself sailing about 10 feet in the air!!! Then, the 7 of us got some things for dinner, went back to our "Chalet" and made a home cooked meal and ate around a table. It was PERFECT!!! We went exploring around the island and then went back to our place and had a little family fun night, so it was our break from being in a floating dorm. I loved it! Yesterday, a few of us went out and had a little ethnic day. We went to Chinatown and Little Holland and sampled food and went to the different markets. The tough thing about Singapore, is that it's a blend of so many different cultures, that it is hard to come here and say I WANT TO SEE THE REAL SINGAPORE, like we do in so many other countries. So, we have resigned to experience its differences instead. This morning my friend Lori and I went out to another island (there are quite a few) and we biked around for a bit on VERY rickety bikes and then came to where we are now, which is like LA, we're on Orchard street which is very ritzy ditzy with different parks and TONS of shopping. Tonight, my friend Edgar, who is from Singapore, has invited us to his house to have a little evening in a home and meet some of his friends. It should be a blast!!!! Love you all very much, I can't wait to tell you about INDIA! I AM SO EXCITED! OH, I almost forgot, my sister has put the addresses for my new itenerary on her website, and when I'll be where, so if you want to check that out, the address is
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