This will be your treat since I, Paul, am doing the second blog. We arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on time yesterday. Had a wonderful walk down the boardwalk on the sea to meet some of the other LLL (Lifelong Learners or what I call Aged People Who Still Want to Learn Something). Suzanne and I have been amazed by how outgoing, friendly, and bright all these people are. Everyone is anxious to learn each other’s names, where they live, how they learned about this trip and other interesting facts.
There are approximately 650 college kids (average GPA is 3.3), 66 Life Long Learners (average GPA is 0.0), about 40 professors and their families, 80 staff and 200 crew on board. The age ranges from 6 months to 90 years. The crew is incredibly attentive and friendly. We have been to several meetings on safety and security, field trips, rules and regulations etc. The kids were very emotional when the ship was disembarking, waving good bye to their parents. Many parents came to Halifax for the parent reception and to send off their child which made us feel very guilty that we were not there for Natalie when she went on this trip 16 years ago.
This is our third day on Board. It has been exciting, actually hard to walk or sleep becuase there is a hurricane south of us and swirling heavy winds north of us. Our Captain has chosen to steer this ship between them. The ship has been very rocky and Suzanne had a little trouble sleeping last night. I didn’t since I kept thinking of my mother rocking me to sleep. Ha But many people are suffering from sea sickness. So far, we have been fortunate and smiling!
Today was the first day for classes on board. Life Long Learners can attend classes for free as long as we don’t require credit –no tests either. Suzanne thinks she will be attending Women in Royal Courts, Global Studies, Energy, Technology and Society, The Bible as Literature, Choral Singing and Asian Art. She just wants to take everything! I signed up for sleep, TV, TV, TV, Drink, Drink, Drink and a lot of Bull Shit. Ha Ha Seriously though, I will be attending Disease and Healing, Comedic Styles of Performance (Music section), Environmental Psychology, and Global Studies. I truly enjoy sitting in these classes and not having to take an examination. Suzanne and I have also signed up to be an extended family for 4 of the students who can turn to us for advice, support etc. I was surprised to hear that last year that 70% of the kids signed up. We are waiting to meet our new charges.
Desmond Tutu has spoken twice, once to the parents and once to the students and we were lucky to be there. Then we bumped into him in the hallway and spoke briefly. He loves having dinner in the dining room with the students and said in his two talks that “Students renew me.” “You don’t know how awesome you are! Go on believing you can change the world. Believe it is possible to make poverty history!” We will be meeting him at the Life Long Learners meetings. He prefers to be addressed by “Father” or “Arch!”
The students are divided into groups which are named by various seas such as Bering Sea, Red Sea, Black Sea etc. Life Long Learners have named our group the “Tip Seas.” Between classes, trying to get the field trips arranged, and all the meetings and meals, everyone has been busy, busy, busy!
Bed time for now. Our Love to you all.
Monday, August 30, 2010
August 26, 2010 On Board the mv Explorer at last!
August 26, 2010
Wow!!! That’s an understatement for our first day aboard for this life-altering fantastic voyage. So many interesting people are joining the voyage – many from Colorado and California. At the parents’ reception, we found our daughter, Debbie’s, friends from San Luis Obispo whose daughter, Lee, comes on board tomorrow. All the speakers including Desmond Tutu attempted to make the parents feel confident their children would be well cared for. They emphasized how these students will be changed when they return home. Mr. Tutu claimed, “They will be more compassionate.”
The food at the reception was exceptional, with gorgeous fruit, sugar and chocolate sculptures decorating the tiny quiche, wings, meat balls, pot stickers, cheeses and appealing desserts. The regular meals are served buffet-style and offer a variety of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. The lettuce offered on the salad section, however, was iceberg – yuk! But they decorate many of the salad fixings with romaine, so I just eat the decorations! Tomorrow we’ll see what breakfasts are like.
But, after all, we are not here to eat! We’re here to learn about people, situations around the world and how policies affect them. The theme of the study for the trip is “National Identity in a Globalized World.” One of our most difficult decisions will be deciding which courses to take. We met some of the professors today who taught Global Public Policy; Globalization; Energy,Technology and Society; Oriental Art; and Environmental Geography of the Oceans. (We asked about the BP spill which that particular professor believed the actions taken by the administration were wrong.) Or how about Choral Singing, Spanish, Bible Studies, World Religions, Environmental Psychology (What’s that?), or Marine Biology. The list goes on and on!
Our cabin is roomy enough – we have plenty of storage space, desk space, a small round table and chair and a 4 X4 window on the 4th of 7 decks. The 7th deck lounge is reserved for life-long learners and faculty. Alcohol is strictly confined to this lounge or adults' rooms. Another bar serves beer and wine to students and everyone. We can bring only 2 liters of alcohol (beer, wine, or liquor) on board at each port. And we have a small refrigerator in our rooms with ice delivered every day at 5:00.
Crispin makes our beds in the morning and cleans the room. He will take our laundry and bring it back when needed. The gym has lots of exercise machines. Weights on are the pool deck which is also used for walking, yoga and exercising.
We were told we are on a ship – not a boat! You can put a boat on a ship, but you cannot put a ship on a boat. We had our first "abandon ship drill" and we passed. There was complete silence for almost 30 minutes until the Captain approved.
Lastly, tomorrow we disembark. We will be on a journey, not a cruise.
Until next time.... Thinking of you when we have time! Suzanne and Paul
Wow!!! That’s an understatement for our first day aboard for this life-altering fantastic voyage. So many interesting people are joining the voyage – many from Colorado and California. At the parents’ reception, we found our daughter, Debbie’s, friends from San Luis Obispo whose daughter, Lee, comes on board tomorrow. All the speakers including Desmond Tutu attempted to make the parents feel confident their children would be well cared for. They emphasized how these students will be changed when they return home. Mr. Tutu claimed, “They will be more compassionate.”
The food at the reception was exceptional, with gorgeous fruit, sugar and chocolate sculptures decorating the tiny quiche, wings, meat balls, pot stickers, cheeses and appealing desserts. The regular meals are served buffet-style and offer a variety of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. The lettuce offered on the salad section, however, was iceberg – yuk! But they decorate many of the salad fixings with romaine, so I just eat the decorations! Tomorrow we’ll see what breakfasts are like.
But, after all, we are not here to eat! We’re here to learn about people, situations around the world and how policies affect them. The theme of the study for the trip is “National Identity in a Globalized World.” One of our most difficult decisions will be deciding which courses to take. We met some of the professors today who taught Global Public Policy; Globalization; Energy,Technology and Society; Oriental Art; and Environmental Geography of the Oceans. (We asked about the BP spill which that particular professor believed the actions taken by the administration were wrong.) Or how about Choral Singing, Spanish, Bible Studies, World Religions, Environmental Psychology (What’s that?), or Marine Biology. The list goes on and on!
Our cabin is roomy enough – we have plenty of storage space, desk space, a small round table and chair and a 4 X4 window on the 4th of 7 decks. The 7th deck lounge is reserved for life-long learners and faculty. Alcohol is strictly confined to this lounge or adults' rooms. Another bar serves beer and wine to students and everyone. We can bring only 2 liters of alcohol (beer, wine, or liquor) on board at each port. And we have a small refrigerator in our rooms with ice delivered every day at 5:00.
Crispin makes our beds in the morning and cleans the room. He will take our laundry and bring it back when needed. The gym has lots of exercise machines. Weights on are the pool deck which is also used for walking, yoga and exercising.
We were told we are on a ship – not a boat! You can put a boat on a ship, but you cannot put a ship on a boat. We had our first "abandon ship drill" and we passed. There was complete silence for almost 30 minutes until the Captain approved.
Lastly, tomorrow we disembark. We will be on a journey, not a cruise.
Until next time.... Thinking of you when we have time! Suzanne and Paul
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