When there is a long stretch at sea, there are special events planned to break up the routine of going to class every day. It was 12 days ago that we sailed from India, so in that time we have:
- had Neptune Day as we crossed the equator (remember the silly fish picture)
- stopped in Mauritius to refuel. We went snorkeling for most of the 8 hours we were there, but I forgot the camera so no pics.
- had Sea Olympics while we sailed in some bouncy waves two days ago.
Sea Olympics are a day-long competition with lots of silly events. The students are organized in "seas" (Carribean, Mediterranean, Baltic, etc) based on which deck and side they live on, much like residence halls. There is also one sea for all of the faculty, staff (except resident directors who lead their seas), dependent family members, and various others like the folks in the Unreasonable at Sea program. We got to pick our own sea name, so we were "Luna-Sea" and our team color was gray.
A good effort was made to include the dependent children in as many events as possible, though the boys were all quite disappointed they were excluded from the very rough dodgeball tournament. We held our own in quite a few events, including "Ship, Wave, Captain" which is played like "Rock, Paper, Scissors." Jr was the champion from our team for that game! There was an exciting game of Ninja, a very long relay race involving carrying pingpong balls on spoons to various events (I did it twice, not easy with the ship rolling), and a trivia competition. Sr was supposed to be in a wet-suit relay, but high seas made all the water slosh out of the pool so it got scrapped. The highlight of the Sea Olympics is usually the performances, both in synchronized swimming and lip-syncing. We were not disappointed, even though the synchronized swimming ended up being done in the Union. Teams were highly creative in how they conveyed the feel of the being fish out of water. The winning Carribean Sea team had sleek black swimsuits and a seriously synchronized performance, one of our library students starred in that show. Our team was made up of four of the fathers sporting three-year-old Sydney's pink shorts on their heads. We didn't win that one. This is a family-friendly blog, so no bathing suit shots here ;-)
We land in Cape Town tomorrow. We will explore the city a bit the first day, then head out to a safari for a few days before coming back to Cape Town for two more days. The weather is in the 70s here, which is hard to get used to after the high temperatures of South and Southeast Asia. Not that I am complaining about sweatshirt weather and nice breezes just yet.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Farewell, Arch
You've seen references to him in the blog, but I am going to devote this whole post to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with whom we have had the great privilege of sharing our Semester at Sea voyage. If you don't know his importance to the end of Apartheid in South Africa, I encourage you to spend 5 minutes doing a bit of research.
"Arch" gave his farewell speech to the shipboard community since he will be leaving the ship for his home in South Africa in two days. At 81, he has been remarkably present and energetic since the day he boarded.
He graciously thanked individuals and groups this evening, taking special time to recognize the young and young-at-heart: the students, the dependent children, and life-long learners.
In his last formal remarks to the shipboard community this voyage, he talked to us about inequalities that existed before 1994 in South Africa, and those that we can expect to see when we arrive later this week. South Africa is a beautiful country with great potential, but its growth is slowed by corruption, croneyism, and continuing economic disparities. Formerly whites-only schools are integrated, but in most of what are still black areas, the schools are ruins lacking sanitation and proper facilities. He described the "burden on our hearts" he and other former leaders feel when they see the state of education and poverty that remains in so much of South Africa, contrasted with the conspicuous affluence we will see in gentrified central Cape Town.
My family has had some very memorable interactions with this charismatic and gentle man. Early in the voyage, he asked me why the You Are Here computer wasn't showing our location. I told him I was waiting for him to fix it for me. A student who has since become quite close to Jr took the photo below of Arch and me in front of the YAH computer. I have spoken to Arch several times on the voyage since then, usually just a joke or two is traded, but it always makes my day.
On Jr's birthday, Arch decided to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. It was the day we had arrived in India, and I mentioned to Arch that it was Jr's 10th birthday when we saw him on the stairs into the lounge where the immigration officials awaited us. Jr said the best part of the song was the trademark "Arch giggle" at the end. You have never heard someone with as infectious a laugh as Archbishop Tutu's.
Grandpa had the opportunity for a few serious questions to Arch during a presentation he made to the life-long learners. You'll have to ask him for Arch's answers to people's questions about poverty, inequality, and forgiveness.
Sr and Jr had the photo below taken on a day Arch had set aside for the shipboard community to have photos taken with him. He did this twice during his voyage, spending hours interacting with students and others who waited patiently for their turn. He has stopped by the dependent children's program more than once, and even sang onstage with them during the Sea Olympics yesterday.
Farewell, Arch, it has been a privilege to share the voyage with you.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Neptune Day
Today was Neptune Day. For you uninitiated folks, crossing the equator on a ship requires paying homage to the sea god, Neptune. Semester at Sea does this with style on Neptune Day. Since today is a study day, even though we crossed the equator two days ago, we had our rite of passage from pollywogs to shellbacks today. We got splashed with some kind of fishy slime, jumped in the pool, kissed a fish and King Neptune (Captain Jeremy)'s ring, and some people shaved their heads. Of course there are tons of ridiculous pictures.
Ship Days
We have had a few busy days on the ship as we settle in for the long segment between India and South Africa. Our 12 days at sea will be broken up only by a single day on the island of Mauritius, where we will refuel and spend a day exploring beach, mountain, or town.
Yesterday I had a bridge tour. Most people like sitting in the captain's chair best, but I thought standing out on the moveable wing the captain uses for docking was the coolest moment. You can see all the way down the ship in both directions, kind of like being a human rear-view mirror.
Tonight the crew put on their once-a-voyage talent show. Folks we usually see in uniform throughout the ship wore civilian clothes (and even sunglasses) while performing dance, song, and poetry.
Tomorrow at 7am is Neptune Day, when we mark the ship's crossing of the equator. Look for another post soon about kissing fish, getting slimed, and going bald.
In the library, we have started the inventory of the entire collection, which is done on each spring voyage. We have a great library, but without doors and in the very middle of the ship, so keeping items from wandering isn't really possible. With calm seas and many days at sea, we should finish inventorying all of the physical collection by the time we reach South Africa.
Yesterday I had a bridge tour. Most people like sitting in the captain's chair best, but I thought standing out on the moveable wing the captain uses for docking was the coolest moment. You can see all the way down the ship in both directions, kind of like being a human rear-view mirror.
Tonight the crew put on their once-a-voyage talent show. Folks we usually see in uniform throughout the ship wore civilian clothes (and even sunglasses) while performing dance, song, and poetry.
Tomorrow at 7am is Neptune Day, when we mark the ship's crossing of the equator. Look for another post soon about kissing fish, getting slimed, and going bald.
In the library, we have started the inventory of the entire collection, which is done on each spring voyage. We have a great library, but without doors and in the very middle of the ship, so keeping items from wandering isn't really possible. With calm seas and many days at sea, we should finish inventorying all of the physical collection by the time we reach South Africa.
Ship Days
We have had a few busy days on the ship as we settle in for the long segment between India and South Africa. Our 12 days at sea will be broken up only by a single day on the island of Mauritius, where we will refuel and spend a day exploring beach, mountain, or town.
Yesterday I had a bridge tour. Most people like sitting in the captain's chair best, but I thought standing out on the moveable wing the captain uses for docking was the coolest moment. You can see all the way down the ship in both directions, kind of like being a human rear-view mirror.
Tonight the crew put on their once-a-voyage talent show. Folks we usually see in uniform throughout the ship wore civilian clothes (and even sunglasses) while performing dance, song, and poetry.
Tomorrow at 7am is Neptune Day, when we mark the ship's crossing of the equator. Look for another post soon about kissing fish, getting slimed, and going bald.
In the library, we have started the inventory of the entire collection, which is done on each spring voyage. We have a great library, but without doors and in the very middle of the ship, so keeping items from wandering isn't really possible. With calm seas and many days at sea, we should finish inventorying all of the physical collection by the time we reach South Africa.
Yesterday I had a bridge tour. Most people like sitting in the captain's chair best, but I thought standing out on the moveable wing the captain uses for docking was the coolest moment. You can see all the way down the ship in both directions, kind of like being a human rear-view mirror.
Tonight the crew put on their once-a-voyage talent show. Folks we usually see in uniform throughout the ship wore civilian clothes (and even sunglasses) while performing dance, song, and poetry.
Tomorrow at 7am is Neptune Day, when we mark the ship's crossing of the equator. Look for another post soon about kissing fish, getting slimed, and going bald.
In the library, we have started the inventory of the entire collection, which is done on each spring voyage. We have a great library, but without doors and in the very middle of the ship, so keeping items from wandering isn't really possible. With calm seas and many days at sea, we should finish inventorying all of the physical collection by the time we reach South Africa.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Camping in India
The first few days in Kerala state were not what I imagined India would be like. As our fantastic interport students told us, India is an enormous country with many languages, cultures, traditions, and geographies. Kochi is the city in Kerala state, on the southwestern coast of India, where the MV Explorer is currently docked. I wrote most of this post on Friday when we had been in India since Wednesday. On Wednesday, Jr and I went on a day trip to the Alleppy Backwaters. Sr had a field lab for the course he is auditing on women writers around the world, and Grandpa left as soon as the ship cleared immigration for a three day trip to the Taj Mahal and northern India. Jr and I had a very relaxing day with about 10 other SAS folks on a little houseboat that toured the canals of the Alleppy area. It was hot, but the boat was shaded and the scenery was very pretty.
I wrote some of this post from inside my tent on the side of a mountain above the town of Munnar. Jr, Sr, and I came on an overnight SAS trip to Hike and camp in the tea plantation area. We knew it was the right choice when we saw the weather forecast for Kochi (100 degrees) then the forecast for Munnar (85 degrees). I took the opportunity to blog while it was pouring rain and we were all huddled in tents.
The trip to Munnar was amazing. There were 33 adventurous students, along with the two teaching assistants from the ship. Somehow I got nominated to be the trip leader, which I thought would be pretty much making sure we come back with the same number of people we left with. It was been that, but I also had some interesting cultural experiences as the liaison with the local guides. Somehow I thought in the land of Indira and Sonia Gandhi that a female trip leader with accompanying son and husband would not be an oddity, but I was incorrect. It was been fun to talk with the guides and the students about cultural differences and expectations.
Below are pictures of our trek through the tea plantations. We hiked for about 6 hours and got up to an altitude of maybe 6000 feet. The campsite is was at about 4000 feet. All of us were delighted to find a beautiful, sparsely populated destination for a few days in India. After Munnar, we headed back to Kochi, where we explored for a couple of days from the ship before departing on Monday. I definitely preferred our time in the mountains to the time in the city, though I think that would be true for our family no matter where we were. Kochi was a lot more of what I expected India to be like, with traffic, pollution, chaos, heat, and interesting sites and people.
I wrote some of this post from inside my tent on the side of a mountain above the town of Munnar. Jr, Sr, and I came on an overnight SAS trip to Hike and camp in the tea plantation area. We knew it was the right choice when we saw the weather forecast for Kochi (100 degrees) then the forecast for Munnar (85 degrees). I took the opportunity to blog while it was pouring rain and we were all huddled in tents.
The trip to Munnar was amazing. There were 33 adventurous students, along with the two teaching assistants from the ship. Somehow I got nominated to be the trip leader, which I thought would be pretty much making sure we come back with the same number of people we left with. It was been that, but I also had some interesting cultural experiences as the liaison with the local guides. Somehow I thought in the land of Indira and Sonia Gandhi that a female trip leader with accompanying son and husband would not be an oddity, but I was incorrect. It was been fun to talk with the guides and the students about cultural differences and expectations.
Below are pictures of our trek through the tea plantations. We hiked for about 6 hours and got up to an altitude of maybe 6000 feet. The campsite is was at about 4000 feet. All of us were delighted to find a beautiful, sparsely populated destination for a few days in India. After Munnar, we headed back to Kochi, where we explored for a couple of days from the ship before departing on Monday. I definitely preferred our time in the mountains to the time in the city, though I think that would be true for our family no matter where we were. Kochi was a lot more of what I expected India to be like, with traffic, pollution, chaos, heat, and interesting sites and people.
Today is Sr's and my anniversary. We didn't get each other anything except a trip around the world, so we borrowed one of the student's signs when we were in Munnar. There is a SAS meme of students taking pictures of themselves in spectacular locations and posting the photos for their parents, so we jumped in on the fun.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Birthdayship
Today was the day we celebrated Jr's 10th birthday on the ship. His actual birthday is tomorrow, but since the ship will land early in the morning and we'll all depart into India, we had apple pie and ice cream during the afternoon children's program (following some Bollywood dancing lessons in preparation for India). The girls in his morning school made him birthday banners. Happy Birthday, Jr, from your embarrassing parents.
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