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
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