I spent the afternoon in the library working on yet more items on my to-do list while the students studied around me. Everyone is incredulous that classes are happening today but they are still working hard on their assignments. To add insult to injury, a lifeboat drill was scheduled for 5:30! The exact time that the dining halls open for Thanksgiving Dinner. I think this is a ploy by our British captain to get back at us for winning the Revolutionary War!
Around 3:00 the ship arrived at the Rock of Gibraltar. It was an amazing sight and everyone flocked to the windows to see it. We soon parked right off of the rock/island/whatever so that we could take on fuel. Apparently, it is less expensive to take on fuel here than in
Before the lifeboat drill, several faculty members and I met in one of their rooms for a Thanksgiving Day cocktail hour. We were just settling in with our glasses of wine when the rat fink captain announced the drill. We dutifully went back to our cabins to don our elegant life vests and then spent the next 20 minutes standing on the deck not drinking wine. Life is cruel.
After the lifeboat drill was over, we went back to the cabin for another ½ hour of conversation and camaraderie (and wine). At 6:30 we followed the hordes of students going to the dining halls and made our way through the crush of people to the buffet. This is the only day that I have ever seen the dining hall filled to capacity. Everyone was eager to grab hold of a little bit of home and celebrate the holiday with turkey and stuffing. It was actually good and I started to think warm and charitable thoughts about the chef. But then the pumpkin pie was placed on the table and I went back to thinking mean and evil thoughts about him. Of course, there was absolutely no way he could compete with my great-grandmother’s recipe for pumpkin pie and for me to hold him to such a standard was completely unfair….but I don’t care. Thanksgiving is supposed to end with Nanny Wall’s pumpkin pie and anything less is a travesty of Thanksgiving. The experience has left permanent scars and I’ll probably need years of therapy to recover.
After dinner, I retrieved my computer from my room so that I could Skype my family and spent the next ½ hour talking to them. I called my parents first and talked to my father only since my mother had just left the house to go get her mother. I had a great conversation with him and it left me with lots of warm fuzzies. I talked to my brother next and, despite the fact that I interrupted a football game, had an excellent but quick call with him. I also talked with my sister right before she and her family were about to sit down to dinner. My timing needs a little work. It was so good to talk to her! I really miss her at this time of the year since I live so close to her and have spent many a Thanksgiving holiday with her and her family.
After that, I went up to the faculty lounge where the deans 
where hosting a reception for the faculty and staff. Today has been Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day and we have been the recipients of signs and cards. The library got a sign too thanking us for our hard work. It was a very special gesture that meant a lot to us. I also received a card in my cabin thanking me for being the librarian. I thought it was ironic that at least half of the comments written by the students thanked me for being such a great trip leader. After my run in with the students from the trips, it was a real pleasure to receive such a card. It’s definitely one that I will keep.
Back to the faculty reception – everyone was in the mood to socialize tonight. I don’t know if it was because of the holiday or the relief from the fatigue of a long semester or something else but it was a very enjoyable evening. At the end of the night, after I left the party, I logged into Skype one more time to try to reach my mother since I had missed her earlier. I was lucky enough to hear her voice for about 5 minutes before the connection broke up on me. I wasn’t able to reconnect which totally depressed me because I really wanted to talk to her. For some reason, this holiday has been a difficult one. I have spent Thanksgiving away from family before but it was when I was an undergraduate student and still a nincompoop and didn’t fully appreciate just how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. I have a brother and sister with whom I have a wonderful relationship along with their spouses and who include me into their lives and make me feel very special. I have three nieces and a nephew that I get to spoil rotten and I cherish every moment of the time that I spend with them. But best of all, I have a mother and father who have given me unconditional love and the confidence to grab hold of life and make the most of all the opportunities that have come my way. On this day of Thanksgiving, it is my family that I am most thankful for and am grateful that I have the chance to tell them just how much I love them. Happy Thanksgiving!
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