Soule Searching - Librarian @ Sea

Flying Home - 8 December

2007-12-14T14:21:00.000-05:00

I had a 2:00 pm flight out of Miami to return to Charlottesville so I took the opportunity to sleep in! There was no noise from the ship's engines, the bed didn't have a long crater running down the middle of it (from combining two twin beds), and I didn't have to get up to go to work. How scrumptious! I eventually got up to get dressed and checked out of the hotel since I had to be out of there by noon. I lugged my 200 pounds of bags to the lobby and waited for about 45 minutes for the shuttle van to finally arrive. I tried to find my Zen Zone and not care about the wait since I was HEADING HOME!

When I finally arrived at the Miami airport I checked in at the curbside counter for the airline rather. Some of the students had given me the great advice that if you think (or know) that your luggage is overweight, they don't normally weigh your bags at the outside counter because they usually don't have the scales out there. They were right! Thank God for students because otherwise I'm sure that I would have been paying an additional $100 for my luggage.

I quickly went through security and began my looonnngggg wait for the plane. Unfortunately, the Miami airport is pretty basic with no cool shops or restaurants to hang out in. Boring, to say the least. My flight was finally called and we boarded with no problem and were being pushed out of the gate when the captain announced that we were going to be pushed back into the gate because the dweebs disconnecting the tow bar from the plane broke a light on the plane and it had to be repaired. Grrrr! The only bright spot was that I had an entire row of seats to myself. One hour later, we were being pushed back from the gate again - this time successfully.

We landed in Philadelphia around 5:00 whereupon I immediately scouted out a bookstore so I could get a copy of the latest JD Robb book! I clutched my treasure to my chest and found a restaurant where I could wait out my four-hour layover in undisturbed comfort while I dived into my book. So with a pint of Smithwick's in one hand and a book in the other, the four hours flew by. Life is good : )

At 9:30 my flight was called and I boarded the plane for Charlottesville. I was so eager to finally get home that I didn't even mind putting aside my book. We landed around 10:30 which was way ahead of schedule so I didn't think my friend Beth would have arrived yet. She hadn't but that was a good thing since it took the baggage handlers about 20 minutes to get our luggage to us. Right as the luggage arrived, so did Beth. It was wonderful to see her! We dragged my luggage out to her SUV and she drove me home.

My house has never looked so wonderful! Never mind that it was 11:30 pm, it was dark, the lawn was all brown and dead and there were no leaves on the trees - it was beautiful! We heaved my luggage into the house and, after a quick hug with Beth, was alone in my castle. I just stood in my living room with the dumbest grin on my face ever and enjoyed the moment. I eventually moved myself into my bedroom and collapsed on my bed - still with a stupid grin on my face. I'm home!

Continuation for Arrival in Miami - 7 December

2007-12-12T14:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm at home now but thought it best to continue the saga of getting off the ship so I'll pick up where I left off on Friday...

We spent the morning lolling around the library. It was not my intention to do so but I discovered around 9:00 that my card key for my door no longer worked. All of the room keys had been reset already and we needed the cabin steward to enter our rooms. So I packed up the rest of my luggage and triple-checked that I didn't leave anything behind and left the cabin for the last time. I took all of my belongings up to the library and spent the next four hours doing last minute library tasks. I was astonished by the number of library materials that the students were still returning even though they had already packed up all of their belongings too. The majority of the items had never been checked out either. Hmmmm. There have been some naughty library patrons on this ship!

Around noon, Eileen and I had enough of it and we did our last official library acts of running one last report and then deleting all of the patrons from the database. It was a sad moment that we spent absolutely no time reflecting on. We were hungry and wanted lunch instead. Unfortunately, lunch wasn't being served until 12:30 due to kitchen inspections so the line for the buffet was long! Just when I finally snagged some food, the Assistant Dean announced that the ship was cleared and the Yellow Sea deck was allowed to leave. This caused instant panic and everyone immediately fled the dining room to get their luggage and get off the ship. I assumed that I had at least 20 minutes to enjoy lunch since the faculty were to be the second off of the ship but five minutes later, the Dean announced that the faculty could leave too. Five minutes after that they Bering Sea was allowed to leave. Huh?! What's the use of staggering the departure time of 150+ people if there is only five minutes between groups.

I hurriedly grabbed by carry-on luggage and hugged a few people on my way to the exit. I soon found my way into the terminal and found total chaos. Whoever organized all of the luggage did a really bad job!!! The only way in an out from our sections was a three-foot wide path which with luggage was impossible. On top of that, there were only 6-7 porters with luggage carts to help us with our boxes and bags. It was a madhouse! It took me 1 1/2 hours to grab a porter to finally get my stuff out of the terminal. By that time, I was beyond cranky and didn't linger over any goodbyes. I just wanted to get out of there!!!!!

I made it out to the curb and found the UPS post and unloaded four boxes to send off. I have no idea how much it is going to cost me and don't really care as long as I didn't have to deal with them anymore that day. After UPS, I found a taxi and heaved my 200 pounds of duffel bags into the trunk and collapsed in the car. What a relief. I told the driver the name of the hotel by the airport and then settled back in the seat with all of the windows down, enjoying the wind whipping through my hair. I was tempted to lean out of the window and enjoy the wind like a dog but my dignity (what little I have) wouldn't allow it.

We arrived at the hotel and, after checking in, sprinted to my room and threw myself on the bed with a really loud groan. I can't imagine what my neighbors thought and really don't care. I cranked the air conditioner to high since it was 80 degrees outside, turned on the television to something inane and went catatonic for the next several hours. Such bliss.

Around 5:00, one of the students from the ship called from the lobby - and yes, I was expecting it. I had lent her some money to pay off the ship's bill when her credit cards didn't work and she had no other options. She was with her parents to pay me back and they also invited me out to dinner. I accepted since I had no other plans and we drove to a seafood restaurant about a mile away. I had a very enjoyable evening with the student and her parents. She was one of my favorites on the ship so I hope we'll stay in touch. Around 8:00 they dropped me back at the hotel and, once again, I lunged onto my bed. I was liking life a lot at that point. The rest of the evening was spent in a delicious haze of nothingness - I go back to Charlottesville tomorrow. So I'll regale you with those details tomorrow.

Miami!!! - 7 December

2007-12-07T09:35:00.000-05:00

We're HOME! We pulled up to the Miami dock at 8:00 am this morning and it was a beautiful sight! There were quite a few parents waiting for their kids behind the fence at the dock and there was a complete lack of dignity from both the parents and the kids. It was wonderful to watch.

Even though I've been ready to be home, I have to admit that I'm sorry for the voyage to be over. I've meet so many great people that will be life-long friends and have seen some of the most beautiful places in the world. It's a very bittersweet moment.

I'll write more later but I just wanted to share in the joy of being back in the United States. Life is good!

Last Day at Sea - 6 December

2007-12-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

Our last day at sea has been a busy one! It started in the library when I faced a mountain of textbooks being donated and library books that were finally being returned after an entire semester. It took a while to sort through the pile and I finally escaped around 10:00 to run back to my cabin and finish packing.

Our deadline to have all of our bags and boxes packed and labeled was 1:00 pm and I needed every second of that time! I can't believe the amount of stuff that I have accumulated!!!! I have two duffel bags bulging at the seam which I'm positive will be more than the 50 lbs each that the airline allots me. I also have four boxes to ship home via UPS. I'm in shock. How did I do this? I don't have any regrets about the items I bought, but DAMN! I was thankful that my cabin steward had the difficult task of getting the luggage to the appointed place. I wasn't looking forward to doing it myself. The crew have been working hard today to get all of the luggage and boxes to the staging area. I hope they are rewarded well for all of their work because they certainly deserve it!

Around 2:00, all of our workstudy students met in the library for one last library task of shelf reading. We spent an hour going through the shelves putting books in order before we called it quits and headed up to the grill for one last chocolate milkshake together. They had made a card for Eileen and me and it had some wonderful comments written in it by them. They have been the best employees for us and Eileen and I both wrote individual letters to each of them thanking them for their hardwork. We really got lucky with this group of women and we don't want to lose touch with them. They are all on facebook so I got Eileen signed up with her own page today. We're going to learn how to be hip and communicate with them this way. My niece, Laura, is going to give me a lesson when I get home so I actually have a fighting chance in being cool...or maybe not.

After we said goodbye to each other, Eileen and I spent another in the library doing a few more projects and then called it quits for the day. I headed upstairs for happy hour with people who were bringing in bottles of wine that they needed consumed today since they didn't want to pack them. It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it.

At 8:00 was the Convocation Ceremony for all of the seniors graduating this semster. It was a nice way to bring closure to the voyage and all of the poohbahs on the ship said a few words of wisdom to the graduates and then it was party time! One last dance before we dock in Miami so the students are very happy right now. I'm going up to the lounge for one last social hour and then this puppy is going to bed! We reach Miami in 11 hours. Woooohoooo! Yahoo! Yipppee! Cowabunga!

Work Work Work - 2, 3, 4, 5 December

2007-12-05T16:33:00.000-05:00

Eileen and I have been working our tookuses off in the library and we are exhausted! On the 2^nd we had our confab over potato chips about the End-Of-The-Voyage report for the library that was due today. I spent the next several days honing the message and the words and finally got that sucker done yesterday. What a relief! In the meantime, we’ve also been removing books off of the reserve shelves and placing them back into the regular collection which involves a lot of computer time and shelving time. Neither are a good thing to do when the ship is rocking…which it has been! We encountered the outer perimeter of the storm that was hitting New England and the waves were horrible. This is the first time in the entire voyage that the captain has made the announcement that we are encountering rough seas. Duh! He told us it would last for another 24 hours. Not good, dear, not good. The timing of the storm was particularly bad because the students were having their first day of finals and kids were rushing out of exams to hurl. Poor things. I really felt for them. It’s bad enough to take finals but to add a rocking ship into the equation and it totally bites. I didn’t suffer too much other than a wee bit of nausea but not enough to keep me away from the French fries at lunch time : ) At dinner, we had the menu that a group of students won in the auction several weeks ago. They had the honor of picking out the menu which consisted of bbq ribs, mashed potatoes, chicken tenders and ice cream. I dove into the chicken tenders like they were filet mignon. My niece, Kelly, is a chicken-tender fiend and I understand completely why she likes them so much now. They’re the nectar of the Gods, as far as I’m concerned. The ice cream was excellent too. So despite the rocking of the ship, we all enjoyed a very tasty meal.

I invited my on-ship nieces and nephew to one last dinner at the hamburger grill the other night. It was the last time we were getting together so I treated them to a decent meal (I did it for me too!). One of my nieces didn’t attend because she’s been sick for the last several days. They were rather preoccupied with studies and finals so it was a quick dinner. I was also falling asleep in my burger since I was so exhausted and, as a result, conversation was at a minimum but I’m glad that we at least had a chance to exchange e-mail addresses. I told them I was going to stalk them on facebook like I do with my real-life nieces. They just smiled at me so I don’t think they took me seriously. Boohaha.

We had a mandatory meeting the other night for our arrival in Miami. We are supposed to bring our luggage to an appointed place tomorrow (the night before we land) so we will be living out of our carry-on luggage at that point. We also received plenty of lectures about not packing our passports in our luggage which would be really difficult to do since we aren’t getting them back from the Purser until we actually reach Miami. Riddle me that one, Batman! So far, I have two large duffel bags and four boxes that contain all of my worldly goods (get it?) from the last three months. I bought so much!!! I blame my rampant consumerism all on Eileen. She is a despoiler of innocent shoppers. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

I’ve been using all of my free-time in the evenings (what little there is) watching episodes 1-6 of this season’s Grey Anatomy. I’m an addict of the show and my sister and brother-in-law sent me a DVD in Spain along with Christmas decorations and the last batch of letters. Have I mentioned that I adore my sister? I crawled into bed and propped the computer on my stomach and had a Grey’s Anatomy-fest for a couple of nights. Sweet! I told some of my library students and my nieces that I had the DVD and it has been a hot property for the last several days. My niece has the disc today and was inviting four of her friends into her cabin to watch it with her. I’m a popular woman because of that disc! Thank you, Terry and Bill! I also received letters from my parents in Spain and it was a wonderful treat to get.

We have two more days until we reach Miami and it doesn’t seem possible. At this point, the exhaustion is winning over any desire to stay on the ship. I also can’t face the food anymore and am desperate to get back into my kitchen and make all of my favorite dishes. I have a mountain of packing that still needs to be done tonight and I hope I can get the majority of it completed since we have to hand it over to the crew sometime tomorrow. My to-do list doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter so I need to work on that tonight. 2 days to Miami!

Ambassador's Ball - 1 December

2007-12-04T16:14:00.000-05:00

I spent the morning working on the end-of-the-voyage report for the library. It is an assessment of everything that worked and everything that didn't work in the library for this semester so it has the potential to become a very long report. Eileen and I are collaborating on it so we need to get together soon and talk about the contents of the report. I foresee a Potato Chip Happy Hour becoming a work-session very soon.

My shift in the library was quiet! It was the last day of classes before finals and it was also the day of the AMBASSADOR'S BALL!!! It's a big, fancy-schmancy affair where everyone dresses up in their best clothes and eats a wonderful meal and then attends a dance afterwards. Everyone has been looking forward to it for the entire semester. But it meant that everyone was consumed by plans for it and traffic in the library was non-existent.

I was attending the ball with Eileen, a professor from UVa and a Life Long Learner who looks like Santa Claus. What a mix! There were two seatings - 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm. We were signed up for the 5:00 seating since we had procrastinated and didn't get the paperwork done until the last possible moment.

Only 22 people did not sign up for the ball so we felt safe in closing the library at 4:30. I rushed downstairs to my cabin and got all gussied up in my clothes and ran back upstairs to the dining hall to join the hordes waiting to be admitted. We were soon led to our table and enjoyed the sunset over the Atlantic as we drank champagne. Life is damn good! Our meal started to arrive and conversation was at a minimum at that point. The piece de resistance was the entree of filet mignon. Oh la la! It was so good and cooked to perfection. The time flew by and we all enjoyed the dinner. I made the circuit around the dining room taking pictures of students and faculty members and have a nice record of the people I've come to know.

The pictures above from left to right: Kelly Devlin-a library student employee; Mike my nephew; Brendan and Joanna-two students that I've really enjoyed getting to know.

I skipped the dancing in favor of spending the rest of the night in the faculty lounge drinking wine and enjoying the company of my colleagues. It was such a nice way to spend the evening. I think we all needed to spend some time relaxing and socializing with each other. Unfortunately, I didn't last much past 10:00 and went to bed. How depressing to know that the lure of my comfy bed is stronger than the lure of socializing. I can live with that though!

All Work - 28, 29, 30 November

2007-12-01T07:29:00.001-05:00

Well, you know the saying about all work and no play makes a person boring? It's true! Ever since we left Spain, Eileen and I have been busy with end-of-the-voyage library projects which has left precious little time for anything interesting. This, in turns, makes for a very boring blog! We have been packing up books, shifting books, checking out books...basically, anything you can do to a book we are doing it.

The students have been in a frenzy of studying! They are so stressed out and anxious about tests and papers that it's like walking around dynamite. I've had a couple of students come up to the circulation desk almost in tears because they are so overwhelmed with all of the school work they have to do. I think they are also finally realizing that the voyage is coming to an end and this phenomenal experience will soon be over. It makes for some cranky people, that's for sure. Some of them are eager to be home again but I am fascinated by their reasons why - they miss their favorite food, their favorite TV shows and their dogs! I never hear that they are missing their families - it's always the dog that is mentioned.

Eileen and I have been seeking refuge in the faculty lounge for our Potato Chip Happy Hour and that helps a lot. We watch the sun set over the Atlantic ocean as we much on our chips and discuss the happenings of the day. It's a nice ritual that I'm going to miss sharing with her.

I tried to do some packing last night to figure out how much of my loot I'll be able to squeeze into my duffel bags and how much of it needs to be shipped home via UPS. I'm discovering that I will need an entire freight container to get everything home. I only put a small dent into my stuff and I already have three boxes to ship home. Zut Alors!

Since I have been complaining about the food since Thailand, I think it is only fair that I let you know that it has improved...sort of...somewhat....just a skosh. The cook is having theme dinners from most of the places we have visited. We had the "Oriental Dinner" last night and the sweet and sour pork was actually good. Fathom that! Everybody is really looking forward to dinner on December 1 though since that is the Ambassador's Ball. Filet Mignon, baby! My mouth is watering all ready. We are getting all duded up in our fancy clothes and sitting down to a multi-course menu and having a dance afterwards. I don't know about the dance part but I can't wait for the meal. I promise to take pictures of the people (and probably the filet mignon too).

7 more days to Miami!

Back in Cadiz - 27 November

2007-11-29T05:57:00.000-05:00

Our last day in Spain! I had made plans to go out with Mike and Suzanne again for lunch. Suzanne called me around 11:00 to ask if I would like to make a quick trip to the grocery store before lunch to stock up on food to get us back to Miami. They are just as tired of the food as I am! We made our way back to the center of the old part of the city where we had found a grocery store on a previous foray. We were side-tracked when we found that the outdoor market was in full operation so we just had to take some time wandering up and down the aisles enjoying the sights of the stalls and the cacophony of sound from the vendors and shoppers. Unfortunately, I was a total putz this morning and forgot to put my camera in my purse and missed the opportunity to photograph the market. However, Suzanne is not a putz and had her camera with her so I'm going to have to get copies from her.

Once in the grocery store, we loaded up on salad greens, salad dressing, and pepsi. We lugged our forty pounds of groceries back to the ship and made it through security without having anything confiscated. The ship is pretty strict about what food stuffs can be brought onto the ship and I'm never fully confident that I'm not bringing back contraband being the rabble rouser that I am.

We deposited our precious loot in our respective cabins and then went back out to the city, this time with Mike in tow. We were determined to have one more last gourmand meal before leaving port this evening. We soon located a cafe that was situated near the cathedral and was very picturesque. We stumbled our way through the menu and weren't quite sure what had ordered. I ordered a tapas meal for one and Mike and Suzanne ordered plates of anchovies...they hoped. The plates soon started to arrive and kept on coming. Our table was straining under the weight of the food, and most of it was due to my tapas meal. It included about five plates of delicacies including a beef stew, jamon, prawn, and salami and cheese that was unbelievably good! We shared all of the offerings and managed to consume all of it even though we were in pain at the end - but it was a good pain. This is picture of a very happy me after the meal in the cafe. Note the hams hanging in back of me. This is the pre-carved form of the jamon.

We left the cafe fat and happy and strolled through the streets enjoying the warm sun on our faces and the sights and sounds around us. We made our way towards a tower in the center of town that had a camera obscura. According to the brochure, a camera obscura projects a brilliant moving image of the surrounding town onto a white screen (it looked like a satellite dish on its back) in a completely darkened room. After paying the entrance fee, we climbed to the top of the tower where the demonstration was being held. The woman darkened the room and opened up the camera hole and projected the image onto the screen. The clarity of the image was startling. We could see construction workers from a mile away looking light they were standing only a block away. It was a great way to get an overview of the city and a quick history of the architecture in the area. When the demonstration was over, we climbed to the top of the tower and had a spectacular view of the entire city and could even see the ship from our position.

By the time we were finished in the tower it was late afternoon and we headed back to the ship. We were tempted to stay in town for dinner too but since most restaurants don't start serving it until 8:00 pm and our on-ship time was 9:00 we didn't think it was prudent to do so. We had been warned that there might be a long line to get onto the ship at 9:00 so we didn't want to get dock-time in Miami (which is the consequence of being late boarding the ship). Instead I worked in the library that evening and got the area organized to give some relief to us tomorrow.

We pulled out of the harbor around 11:30 pm and it was rather bittersweet. I have very much enjoyed my time in Spain and would love to spend more time here but I am also ready to come home. It has been an opportunity of a lifetime to participate on this voyage but it is a very intense and exhausting time too. I am ready to burrow back into my home and be with family and friends again. Nine days to Miami!

Grenada, Spain - 26 November

2007-11-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

We didn’t have to gather in the lobby of the hotel until 8:45 for our tour of Alhambra Palace so we dithered over breakfast (we had to battle Japanese tourists this time). At the appointed time we discovered that the bus driver was still eating breakfast and didn’t have the bus available for another ½ hour. It was a weird situation since the entrance to Alhambra was directly across the road but we had a participant in the group who had mobility issues and needed the bus.

We finally got everything sorted out and plans were made to get the gentleman to the top of the hill where the palace is located. One of the students who speaks fluent Spanish volunteered to help him navigate both the walk and the language. She has been on other trips with me and is such a sweetheart. I love spending time with students like her.

Our group arrived at the top of the hill and had a few moments to enjoy the view at the top. It was such a beautiful day that we could see far off into the distance. It was so beautiful. Our tour guide for the day led us into the palace and the architecture was stunning. It was a palace built by the Islamic leaders. Their philosophy of their architecture is to build a humble exterior and a beautiful interior. As a result, the outside of the palace is rather unremarkable but the inside just takes your breath away. The tiles are amazing (more quilt ideas, Mum) and the woodwork on the ceilings and doors is gorgeous (project ideas, Dad).

At the center of the palace was a courtyard with a reflecting pool. The tour guide asked us if we had seen the Taj Mahal and we all said yes. We were so smug about it too. Apparently, the concept of the reflecting pool at the Taj is based on the pool at Alhambra. It was so beautiful (I’m running out of adjectives).

When we had exhausted ourselves with the palace we went outside to the garden and enjoyed the sun, the views and the landscape. It was a well-maintained area and some of the flowers were still blooming. It was an idyllic time spent out there.

By the time we had explored all of Alhambra, the morning was gone and it was getting close to lunch time again. We were given an hour of free time so Mike, Suzanne and I went across the road to an olive grove and spent the time enjoying the day. It was a nice way to spend the time rather than the shopping expeditions that others were doing (don’t tell Eileen I said that!).

After lunch where we were serenaded by Spanish troubadours (it gave me heartburn) we were back on the bus for a four+ hour ride to Cadiz. This time I actually stayed awake – for most of it at least – and enjoyed the scenery. We arrived in Cadiz around 6:30 and spent a couple of hours unpacking and decompressing. At 8:30, Mike and Suzanne and I met up again for dinner in the city. We had absolutely no desire to have dinner on the ship when the gastronomic joys of the city were waiting for us.

We found a small restaurant that was open (restaurants in the city are usually closed on Sunday and Monday). The atmosphere of the place was perfect with hams hanging from the ceiling and bottles of wine artfully displayed around the room. The food was excellent too. I had an appetizer of dates wrapped with bacon that was unbelievably good. I need to find a recipe for this one and make it for my family at Christmas! They will be in my debt forevermore when they taste it. I also ordered a plate of jamon which is a local specialty. I had visions of a substantial piece of ham but I received a plate of paper-thin slices that resembled prosciutto. It was so delicious and so expensive! Definitely something that I will only order once although I certainly enjoyed it. After our evening of gluttony, we wended our way back through the streets of the old city towards our ship. It was about midnight by then but we were in no rush to get back to the ship. We were having such a wonderful time just enjoying the night and the atmosphere of the city. It had been a marvelous day!

Cordoba, Spain - 25 November

2007-11-28T13:55:00.000-05:00

We had a leisurely beginning to our day and didn’t have to be on the bus until 8:30. Works for me! I arrived in the hotel restaurant before all of the pushy Spanish women and enjoyed two cups of their hot chocolate. I love European hot chocolate!!!!

We met our tour guide for the day, Mari Angeles, and had a very short drive to the old section of the city. We quickly made our way to the Cathedral of Cordoba, also known as the Mezquita. This is a photo of the bell tower. The Cathedral is built upon other cathedrals dating back to the Visigoths. It has five different sections built in different centuries in the Islamic-style of architecture but there is a continuity with the interior so it isn't too obvious with the exception of the center of the church where the alter is located. That section is all European rather than Islamic. It was a beautiful structure and I would love to show you an example but my pictures either came out fuzzy or dark so I can't share it with you.

After the church, we had a 20 minute coffee/happy place break in a place right outside the church. Since it is Sunday, the bells on the Cathedral started to ring to signal the start of services. It was a thrill to be standing below the tower as the bells were chiming. Our timing was perfect. After this, we walked through the streets and alleys of the city. The alleys were beautiful and we took many photos of the buildings.

We made our way to the Alcazar de los Reyes Christianos. It was constructed for the Catholic Monarchs in 1328. The building wasn't much to write home about (I've gotten so jaded on this trip!) but the garden was stunning. We were given an hour to wander around on our own and I spent the majority of the time in the garden sitting on a bench soaking up the sun and the scenery. Blissful!

After the Alcazar tour we headed back to the bus for the ride back to the hotel for lunch. It was a totally unremarkable lunch with no Spanish women (takes away all of the fun, doesn't it). At 2:00 we loaded onto the bus again for a three-hour drive to Grenada. Once again, I fell asleep and missed all of the scenery along the way.

We arrived at the hotel and had three hours to ourselves so I read a book. I know - I'm a dork for not exploring the area but I needed some down time. After a quick dinner at 7:30 I went out with three women to find a tapas bar. We had gotten directions from the hotel desk and set off down the hill towards town. We were given general directions to follow the route for bus #32 so every time we saw the bus we knew we were heading in the right direction. About half way to our destination, we spotted several Irish pubs and thought it would be an excellent idea to stop and check our directions over a pint of Guinness. So, even though we were in Spain, we enjoyed a bit of Ireland. Finest kind!

We talked to the bartender who was Irish (shocker!) and he told us about his favorite tapas place. We got directions from him and headed off again. After many wrong turns and asking for directions many times (one of the women spoke decent Spanish) we arrived at a tiny tapas bar run by a British man (did you see that one coming?). Just about everyone inside was speaking English so it appeared that we had located one of the local joints for the ex-pats living in Grenada. We enjoyed an hour or so of drink and tapas before exhaustion caught up with us. Since we had taken so many wrong turns to get to the bar we decided that a taxi would be in our best interests and we loaded into one and were soon back at the hotel. It had been a great day even though it had been a mish mash of experiences.

Sevilla, Spain - 24 November

2007-11-28T13:17:00.000-05:00

I had signed up for one last S@S tour for Spain that began today. The trip is to Sevilla, Cordoba, and Grenada. We met in the Union this morning at 7:30 and we only had 28 people on the trip and the majority of them were faculty and staff. Woohooo!!! I felt sorry for the few students on the trip who were going to be surrounded by us for the next three days though.

We got off the boat and gathered in the parking lot only to find that our bus wasn’t there. Hmmmm. Houston, we have a problem. 15 minutes later, it finally arrived and I scurried to the back of the bus where all the cool kids hang out on the trips. I hadn’t had the opportunity to ride back there on any of the trips and I was determined to snag one of the seats. I scored a couple of seats for myself and had a few of the students as neighbors but was otherwise was left with plenty of space. Life is good. What was even better was no tour guide to be on the bus with us. Apparently, we will pick up tour guides in each city but not have one riding with us between each location. No inane chatter! Whatever will I do? Enjoy it!!!!!

The trip to Sevilla took two hours and when we arrived in town we picked up guide #1 Sergio. Sergio was a hottie but wasn’t much of a tour guide. He talked very softly and didn’t particularly care if people could keep up with him. We started our tour at the Universal Exhibition Sevilla built in 1992. It was a beautiful building but the tile work was the highlight of the structure. As we were walking around we heard music playing. It sounded suspiciously like Zamphir playing the pan flute. We went across the bridge and were met with the sight of two men dressed like Native American Indians playing pan flutes. Oh! My! God! I’m in an alternate universe…and not a good one either.

After gaping at the two men for a couple of minutes, I focused my attention back on the architecture of the building and struggled to hear what Sergio was saying. We ambled around for about 15 minutes and then got back onto the bus to go to Alcazar. It was originally built as a fort in 913 but is more of a palace now. It was a beautiful palace with detailed carvings on the wall. It also had gorgeous tiles that would make a great quilt pattern so I took lots of pictures (hint, hint, Mum).

Once we were done touring Alcazar we walked across the town square to the Cathedral of Seville. The construction was begun in 1402 and was finished in the 16^th century.It is the largest of all Roman Catholic cathedrals (because St. Peter’s basilica is not a cathedral for those of you wanting to challenge me on that fact) and also the largest Medieval Gothic religious building. It also houses the remains of Christopher Columbus. The picture shows a box being held by the statues of four men which has Chris’ bones in it. Cool! The rest of the church was beautiful too.

Once we were done in the church, we walked down some narrow streets towards the old Jewish area and admired the shops and homes. It was a charming area. We arrived at our restaurant and were fed tapas and wine until we were totally bloated. The food was excellent and everyone was very happy with life after we were finished. After lunch, we were given 10 minutes to do some poking around in the nearby stores before Sergio pulled the plug on our shopping and herded us down more narrow alleys to the main boulevard. Soon, our bus pulled up and Sergio waved goodbye to us….two hours ahead of schedule. The schmuck left out parts of our tour of Sevilla and deprived us of time exploring the city. Sergio may have been cute but he was an abysmal failure as a tour guide. By the time we figured out that we had been bamboozled, we were already on our way to Cordoba.

Our drive to Cordoba took around 2 ½ hours or so. I spent the majority of that taking a nap so I missed all of the scenery along the way. We arrived in the city and soon settled into our hotel. I was invited to explore the city with Mike and Suzanne before dinner and we spent several hours walking the parks and streets. It was a pretty city once you got past the main thoroughfares and into the small alleys and shops. We eventually made our way back to the hotel for an icky dinner that was made palatable by the wine on the table. One of the highlights of dinner was competing with a group of Spanish women who were staying in the hotel too. They were cut throat in the buffet line! They pushed and shoved in front of us and were incredibly rude. Dinner was a bit of a contact sport tonight and several of us are bearing scars from it. The remainder of the evening was uneventful and I went to bed early despite my power nap on the bus ride.

Cadiz, Spain - 23 November

2007-11-27T11:21:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Cadiz, Spain this morning but I was totally oblivious to it since I was still in slumber-land. I awoke to the dulcet tones of the Assistant Dean announcing over the intercom system that all faculty and staff should go to the faculty lounge immediately to get their passports. Yikes! I hastily threw on some clothes and ran upstairs to get my passport where all of the faculty members got to see me in my bed-head glory. Afterwards, I ran back downstairs to take a quick shower and get ready to enjoy the day.

I had made plans to spend the day in Cadiz with Suzanne and Mike (they hosted the party in Dubrovnik). Around noon we set off from the ship to wander around the city and find a particular restaurant that Suzanne had read about in a tour book. 10 minutes into our walk and it started to rain. Of course, I had left the ship without my umbrella so my efforts this morning to get rid of my bed-head were totally wasted because I soon had rain-head. Nice to know that all of my primping efforts were going to pay off for the day. We made a quick stop at a tourist bureau to get a map of the city and then set off on the small streets and alleys of the city. It's a very small city and is an easy walk to get around - provided that you can read a map and have a good sense of direction.

We made our to the restaurant called La Fara and found that we were 15 minutes early for lunch since it didn't open until 1:00. Spanish meal times are going to be difficult to get used to since they serve lunch from 1-4 and dinner from 8:30-11:30. Not good, dear, not good. We used the wait to decipher the menu since it was in Spanish and none of us speak of lick of the language. We were eventually led to our table and soon discovered that the menu given to us had an English translation. Go figure.

We soon settled into one of the best meals that I have had in quite some time. We shared a bottle of wine and enjoyed the parade of delicacies that were lovingly placed on our table. The service was impeccable and our moans of ecstasy soon replaced our conversation. I was a total tourista and took a picture of Mike and Suzanne during our time there.

After two hours of absolute gluttony, we paid our bill and waddled out to the street. We were totally unmotivated to do any serious sightseeing so we decided to meander through the streets and just enjoy the walk and the sights. It's a charming city - especially since it had stopped raining. I enjoyed the architecture of the houses and shops and we enjoyed peaking into the stores. We could only peak into the windows since the majority of the shops were closed for the siesta time. However, we did find one tourist store that was so over-the-top-tacky that I just had to take a picture of it. It was filled with products of Cadiz and the shop was fashioned like a ship from the 1700s. The music they were playing was the theme from the Pirates of the Caribbean. I loved it!

We eventually made our way back to the ship around 5:00 and headed back to our cabins. We were signed up for a evening of flamenco dancing and bull-fighting demonstration for the evening so we needed a few hours to decompress. At 7:30 we met in the Union with a large group of people and loaded onto two buses for a 1/2 hour drive out to the countryside. We arrived in the middle of nowhere and were led to an outdoor bullring. We were given a glass of sherry (very civilized doncha know) and settled onto hard (cold!) concrete benches in the small stadium to await the show. The announcer told us the show would begin with flamenco dancers dancing with a horse. Huh?! Okay - we'll go with the flow. Four women came into the arena along with a horse being steered (yes, I know that isn't the proper terminology but I have no clue what the real word is) by a man. The music blared out of the loud speakers and the dance began. I quickly lost interest in the women dancing and focused on the horse and man because they were fascinating to watch. The man controlled the horse with reins while he walked beside it and the teamwork between the two was very impressive. That one was well-trained horse.

We went through several iterations of horse/women dancing before they finished with that portion of the evening's entertainment. Then it was time for the bull-fighting demonstration. The announcer told us it would be a one-year old bull that was being assessed for it's future spunk in the bull-ring so I was expecting a full-grown bull. WRONG! It was a baby bull that didn't look the least bit alarming. The picture doesn't do it justice but it gives you a sense of the size of the bull. Several young men came into the ring and started to do the cape-thing with the bull. I guess it's instincts are good because that baby bull did his best to get that cape. The demonstration lasted for about 15 minutes until the bull was exhausted and started to ignore the cape and was more interested in peeing in the ring.

After the bull demonstration, we were led inside for the flamenco portion of the evening. We were led into a room with tables of wine and appetizers on the table and we quickly settled in for the entertainment. Two female and one male flamenco dancers took the stage along with a singer and guitarist. They were phenomenal. Their skill and passion for the dance was obvious even to a neophyte like me. They performed for about an hour and then opened up the dance floor to everyone. We had a great time for about 1/2 hour until the tour guide announced that it was time to go back to Cadiz since it was 11:00. How the heck did that happen? The evening just flew by. We had a wonderful time and the day has been a wonderful introduction to Spain. I can't wait to experience more of it.

A Day of Thanksgiving - 22 November

2007-11-23T04:28:00.001-05:00

Today has been the most un-Thanksgiving Day-like day that I have ever experienced. No parade, no football, no smell of roasting turkey wafting through the house, no day off from work, no break from classes. It’s an outrage! It’s un-American! It’s just plain mean!

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 Cadiz, Spain. All I know is that it is a beautiful location. On one side we have the Rock of Gibraltar and on the other we have Morocco. It’s a pretty cool place to spend Thanksgiving.

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!

Watermelon Dance - 21 November

2007-11-22T08:09:00.000-05:00

It’s been a gorgeous day on the sea today as we chug toward Spain. The temperature is rising after Croatia and that makes everyone really happy. Business was brisk in the library again as everyone worked on their papers that are due before we reach Spain. The students are starting to feel the crunch for the end of the semester and their studying has a frenetic feel to it now.

Around noon the ship was cranked up to top speeds and veered slightly off course due to a medical emergency. The husband of one of the professors collapsed and needed medical attention as quickly as possible. Around 9:00 pm we saw the lights of a city and soon a Spanish coast guard boat was pulling up to the ship. They had a devil of a time stabilizing the craft due to the waves and the ship had to be repositioned three times before they were able to offload the patient, his wife and the nurse. I didn’t see that part of it because I had scheduled a library meeting with the student employees right around that time. Eileen and I met with the students to talk about end-of-the-semester issues and schedules. It’s odd to realize that December is almost upon us and we will soon be pulling into Miami.

After the meeting, Eileen and I made our way to the faculty lounge which was in party mode because it was the Executive Dean’s birthday. It was a classy affair with champagne and chocolate cake. But we also learned how to do the Watermelon Line Dance. What a goofy name! The woman who is in charge of the computers on the ship hauled victims onto the dance floor to teach us how to line dance. I don’t know what possessed me but I got up to learn the dance. What a catastrophe! We were shown how to do the shimmy, part of the Charleston dance, and the grapevine move. Zut Alor! We were led the steps at a slow pace that was actually manageable but then she played the music and the pace was twice as fast. We dropped out like flies at that point. I quickly realized that (a) I stunk at line dancing and (b) looked like a total idiot doing it. I scurried back to my glass of champagne and looked furtively around the lounge to make sure that no one had been focusing on my pathetic attempts at country dancing. The brave individuals who remained at the point did a heroic job at trying to follow the steps. It was fun to watch faculty members do the Watermelon Line Dance. I have to give them credit for following through to the bitter end even though their dignity was seriously dented.

After the ignominy of the line dance, I decided to call it a night and returned to the sanctuary of my cabin and read a book for the rest of the evening.

Auction Day - 20 November

2007-11-21T09:15:00.001-05:00

Tuesday has been much better than Monday just as I had hoped. I got some items checked off my to-do list in the library and I didn't have any run-ins with peeved students so I consider this day a success!

The best part of the day was the evening though. I invited my nieces and nephews to join me at the hamburger grill for dinner tonight. We had two icky meals today so everybody was ready for it - especially me. We all ordered cheeseburgers and had a great time scarfing them down and getting caught up on each other's lives. I finally have a group photo with all of my family to include. From left to right: me, Mike, Julie, Lindsey, and Brigitte.

After the dinner there was an auction to raise money for charities. It was so much fun. The items that were being auctioned off were donated by the passengers and crew on the ship. Some of the items included: 7-night stay in the Outer Banks at a passenger's summer home; four- and five-day stays in Bermuda, Jackson Hole, Puerto Rico and many other places in the homes of passengers. The crew is donating the navigation map from the voyage, the honor of blowing the ship's horn as we pull into Miami, dinner with the captain at the Ambassador's ball, and the list goes on. One of the most outrageous bids was $2000 for a private dinner in one of the fancy cabins - we were all in shock with that one! My favorite for the evening was when our 91 physics professor won the bid for hula lessons with one of our students who is from Hawaii and has taken hula lessons from some of the top dancers in the islands. He has given us several demonstrations and is really good at it. This is a photo of him giving us another demonstration last night.

The auction lasted until 11:30 and they raised a lot of money. I heard one estimate at $29,000! We have some students with a lot of money. I couldn't even begin to compete. It made for a very late evening for me but it was totally worth it.

It's a Monday! - 19 November

2007-11-19T15:22:00.000-05:00

It’s 9:30 at night and I’m sitting in the faculty lounge on the 7^th deck watching the lights of Sicily go by. I can’t vouch for the beauty of the country itself but the lights sure are purty.

Today has definitely been a Monday. I usually don’t pay any attention to the day of the week here because it doesn’t matter but today there were lots of annoyances that can definitely be traced to the fact that it is Monday. The library was incredibly busy today. That, in itself, is not an annoyance but when you are constantly in motion helping students find resources, it starts to wear you down and makes your immunity to the petty complaints of the day have more of an impact.

I was also confronted by a student on the Turkey trip that I led who was just informed that she has dock time in Spain. I don’t think I’ve explained this concept before so let me enlighten you. When we are on S@S trips in the countries, the students are given deadlines that they must meet such as checking out of the hotel, getting on the bus, meeting at a certain location. When they don’t meet those deadlines, the trip/bus leaders keep track of how late they are and add all of the minutes together at the end of the trip. They submit the list to the Director of Student Life and the students get a certain amount of dock time depending on how late they were. Dock time means that when we are in port, a student forfeits a certain number of hours on land and must remain on the ship for that time. It isn’t popular, to say the least.

I submitted a list for Turkey and the student was seriously unhappy with me and came to the library to challenge the time I wrote down. It probably wouldn’t have been such an issue for her if her family wasn’t joining her in Spain but they are and she was letting me know exactly how peeved she is. It wasn’t pleasant. That is the aspect of being a trip leader that I dislike the most. I have had another student come to me after one other trip and be totally unpleasant. It leaves me with the great desire to never be trip leader again. There is a financial incentive for being a leader but there are times when I think it really isn’t worth the money saved when I am confronted by students like this. Not good, dear, not good.

As for the good news of the day - it was TACO DAY! Happy Happy Joy Joy! That makes up for much of the Monday-ness of the day. I also received Thanksgiving Cards from my sister (and her dog, Ella) and that always brightens my day. I look forward to the end of each port because I know that Terry has sent me photos and letters. I didn't realize that getting mail from home would be so important to me since I am in constant contact with my family via e-mail but it's been a true gift to get the cards from Terry and Ella (the dog is a faithful companion and correspondent - I think Ella should start a blog of her own and entertain us about the trials and tribulations of being a Lab).

Well, the lights of Sicily have disappeared now so that's my cue to finish up my margarita (I deserved it, dag nabbit). Monday is almost over and I'm confident that Tuesday is going to be much better!

The sun has finally come out! - 18 November

2007-11-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

I had made no plans with anyone today so I decided to go into the city for one last visit before departing tonight. It was a beautiful day! The sun was out in full force and there was no wind to cut through my clothes and leave me shivering. I walked to the walled city and found that it was really crowded. Huh? We have had the city to ourselves for the past four days and I was astonished to see so many people in the town square. It turns out that a cruise ship pulled into the harbor last night and we had some competition now. All of the tourist shops were overflowing with bodies unlike previous days when they were completely empty.

I spent a couple of hours wandering around the alleys enjoying the sights and shops that I found there. I bought a couple of items – a Christmas ornament being one of them. I’ve been trying to collect a Christmas ornament in each port although I’ve had to be really creative about some of the countries since they don’t celebrate Christmas. I think I’ve gotten ornaments in about seven of the countries now to add to my international collection. From the past few entries on this blog it appears that I have Christmas on the brain right now which is weird since we have seen very little evidence of the holiday here in the city. A few shops have evergreen decorations in their windows and that’s about it. I’m sure that at home all of the shops have been decorated since Halloween. It’s a nice change not to bombarded by the commercialism of Christmas.

After a couple of hours of battling for space with all of the Germans and Spaniards in the town, I decided I had had enough and returned to the port. I still had Croatian money left so I made a quick stop in the grocery store by the ship and loaded up on Pepsi light to get me through the rest of the voyage. I attempted to kick my Pepsi habit at the beginning of the voyage but have failed spectacularly.

I hung out in my cabin for a few hours and did some computer work and finally got thoroughly bored with myself so I headed out again with the vague plan of going back to the grocery store. However, I found that it had closed for the day so I hopped onto the bus again and went to the city center yet again. It’s the only place of interest in Dubrovnik so I have been gravitating towards that area. I ran into some staff members who mentioned that everyone was gathering at a small café on the wall with a spectacular view of the sea. I finally found the café in question after many wrong turns in the alleys but it was a lot of fun exploring the areas. I found about 15 fellow staff and faculty members enjoying the sunset over the water. I quickly purchased a drink and found a chair with them and settled in to enjoy the spectacle too. Life doesn’t get much better than that – sitting with friends and enjoying a sunset over the Adriatic Sea.

After the sun had set five of us headed off to dinner. We found a restaurant with a great view of the harbor and we enjoyed a few moments of the scenery before the night descended and hid the sight from us. I had a delicious dish of spaghetti and was grateful that I was avoiding dinner on the ship. After we emerged from the restaurant we found a large gathering in front of the church in the main square with the majority of the crowd holding candles. It was to commemorate the people killed in their 1991 civil war. There was a candle for every person killed in the city of Dubrovnik. It was a striking sight.

We returned to the ship after that since several people in our group had to go on duty to monitor the students returning to the ship for the 8:00 pm deadline since this is our last day in port. The remainder of the evening was spent washing out a few items of clothes and meeting friends in the faculty lounge as we pulled out of port. It was a beautiful sight. This has been a great port. The majority of it was spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment unlike the other countries. I had a great time and am so glad that I’ve been able to experience Croatia. It’s a beautiful country.

Bosnia...NOT - 17 November

2007-11-18T08:03:00.000-05:00

Alexis, Lara and I had intended to rent a car today and take a road trip to Bosnia for the day. However, we woke up to thunder, lightening and a torrential downpour and quickly came to the conclusion that a trip to Bosnia today would be really stupid. It’s a good thing we are all highly educated women and can figure these things out. We decided to stay dry instead which meant staying on the ship and getting some work/writing done.

Mid-morning I made a quick trip to a grocery store nearby when the rain let up slightly. I have been on the lookout for Christmas wrapping paper and someone told me they sold it in this store. Yes, I do realize that it is a sickness to be wrapping Christmas presents in the middle of November and still on the ship. In my own defense I would just like to say that by planning ahead I can mail the presents to my brother and his family from Miami rather than hauling them back to Virginia and then to Idaho. So there you have it. There is a very logical reason for my disorder. At least I’m not playing Christmas music yet!

When I got back to my cabin, I hung up my wet clothes to dry and got back into my pajamas and lounged around my room for the remainder of the morning. Unfortunately, my coziness on this yucky day was marred by the absence of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. When I was growing up my mother had a habit of baking chocolate chip cookies on rainy days so now I have a Pavlovian response to rain. Rain = chocolate chip cookies! They are inextricably linked together forever.

At noon I got a phone call from Suzanne (from the party last night) inviting me to join her and Mike for lunch in the city and an afternoon of exploring the area on the other side of the bay. The weather had improved drastically so I said I would love to join them. We made our way into town and found a vegetarian restaurant that they had scoped out on previous treks through the area. We ordered one of everything (at least it seemed that way) and soon dug into the tasty dishes. It was sooooo good! We shared all of the dishes and were stuffed to the gills by the time we were done. We spent about two hours there enjoying the food and the conversation while a rain storm moved in and then left. By the time we emerged from the restaurant, the sun had come out again. Excellent timing.

It was then time for our exploration of the shore on the other side of the bay from where we were docked. We got on another city bus and were deposited in the middle of hotel alley. Since it is the off-season, the area was quite deserted and we had the place to ourselves. We soon found a path that wound around the shore and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. We discovered that we had a phenomenal view of the ship on the other side of the bay and took several picturesque photos of our home. It was a beautiful area with very few people and we enjoyed the moment to the fullest.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon there until the sun started to set and we made our way back to the bus stop. Since we were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to prolong the day and go back to the city center and get some dinner. Rather than try someplace new we went back to the restaurant from last night. We had another phenomenal meal and were very glad that we weren’t eating ship food tonight. We’ll get enough of that on the trip home from Spain! Afterwards, we returned to the ship and I spent the remainder of the evening blogging and reading. The day started out being rather disappointing but it developed into a most excellent one.

Social Butterfuly - 16 November

2007-11-18T07:41:00.000-05:00

I had no specific plans for the day so I didn’t rush out of bed at the crack of dawn (when do I ever?). I spent the morning in the faculty lounge, getting caught up on blogs and postcards and finally called it quits for lunch at 12:30.

I met up with Lara and Alexis in the dining room (my traveling companions in Japan) and Lara and I decided to head into town together to give the city wall another try. I had started it on Wednesday but aborted the attempt due to the weather. The day was overcast again but at least it wasn’t raining. We have had only one sunny day in Croatia and it’s been a bit of a downer. Everybody wants to get out and explore the city and country but getting wet and cold in the process is a quite a deterrent.

We took the bus into the city and bought a ticket to walk the perimeter of the wall around the city. The views from the wall are beautiful and we spent two hours enjoying the scenery. Unfortunately, it started to rain soon after we started the walk but not enough to drive us off the wall again. We got some great photos of the city from various points along the wall.

After we make the complete circle, we walked along the main street in the inner city and made a rather desultory effort at shopping. We were totally uninspired by both the selection and the prices so we didn’t buy anything. At 4:00 we met up with some friends to get some ice cream but someone mentioned the hot chocolate that they had tried in a café. Since we were all cold and wet at this point, the hot chocolate sounded much better than an ice cream cone. We made our way to a little hole-in-the-wall café that had only one table and a few stools at the bar. The six of us crowded around the table and enjoyed some of the best hot chocolate that I have ever tasted. It was ambrosia!

Afterwards one of the men in the group said he wanted to find a jacket to buy before the shops closed for the evening. Another woman proposed stopping in the Irish Pub and having a pint of Guinness. Hmmmm – shopping for a coat for someone else or enjoying a Guinness. Let me think about that one for a nanosecond. So four members of the group went off to look for a jacket while the other woman and I headed for the pub. We enjoyed a pint and the conversation for about an hour and met up with the others after that at the local Hilton Hotel. They were having a free wine tasting party at 6:00 and since we hadn’t made it to the wineries the previous day we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. Croatia is supposed to have some excellent wines and we have been eager to try them.

We entered the room at the Hilton and found people lined up against the wall being treated to a three-piece band playing polka music. Lord have mercy. Quick – where’s the wine! We discovered that we had to get through the opening remarks from the organizers of the wine tasting and then a blessedly brief film about the vineyards and then the glasses of wine were distributed. It was very good wine and we had time to enjoy one glass before heading off to a restaurant where we had been invited to join a group of colleagues for dinner. I was feeling like quite the social butterfly by this time hopping from one location to another.

We soon arrived at the restaurant and found about 15 people already there enjoying drinks. The evening had been arranged by the film studies professor, Mike Budd, and his wife Suzanne. As the evening started, Suzanne got up to welcome everyone for the evening and explained that back home they always had a huge party for their friends and family on this date and wanted to continue the tradition for their friends on the ship. It was a very eloquent speech and everyone was pleased to be asked to help them celebrate this event in Dubrovnik this year. The food and wine were excellent and two hours flew past so quickly. The party eventually came to an end and we went our separate ways – some went back to the ship while the group I was with sought out a Karaoke bar. I think the gods were smiling on me for this one because it turned out there was no Karaoke in the pub – just lots of Semester at Sea students which wasn’t all that appealing to us. So some of us returned to the ship while the others searched out the available nightlife options. The social butterfly in me was exhausted so I went to bed.

Road Trip - 15 November

2007-11-16T17:39:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed a leisurely beginning to my day, meaning I didn’t drag my carcass out of bed until 9:00. I got a phone call from Carol (I was in Bangkok with her so you’ve met her before) around that time asking if I were interested in a bus trip to Orasac. I had no idea what was so special about Orasac and didn’t bother to ask but said yes anyway. I didn’t have anything planned and seeing more of Croatia than Dubrovnik was appealing to me.

I met up with her at 10:30 along with two other women, the ship’s doctor, Linda (you met her in Egypt), and one of the ship’s nurses, Karen. As we started our long walk to the bus station we talked about the bus trip and the conversation gradually evolved into a decision to rent a car for the day instead of camping out on a bus. We were lucky and soon found a rental location close to the bus station and arranged for a Porsche. Not really but the Porsche logo was all over the station wagon so I’m going with the image of a Porsche because it makes me feel better to say that than to say we rented a station wagon.

We signed the paperwork and had a quick confab in a nearby café to figure out our route for the day. We were all eager to put distance between us and the ship and thought that a particular peninsula with many wineries had a lot of potential. Croatia has many excellent vineyards and we were eager to experience a few of them. We easily found the correct road and made our way along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea. It was incredibly beautiful and we were blessed with sunshine the entire way. It was a nice change from the deluge of rain from yesterday.

About an hour into the journey, we saw signs for an arboretum in a small town called Trsteno (and no, I didn’t not leave out some vowels – that is the way it is spelled). We made a quick decision to stop and enjoy the flora and fauna of the area and pulled into the parking lot. We discovered the arboretum was once the summer estate for some big mucky-muck in the 15^th century so it still had the house and surrounding acreage (63 acres to be exact). It was a beautiful estate and very well maintained and well labeled. We walked around enjoying the sights and smells of the forest. We have all missed the smells of the woods where we live so it was nice to just stand in one place and enjoy the fragrance of the forest. We probably looked rather ridiculous standing there with our noses pointed in the air but it was so nice to breathe in something other than city or ship fumes. Towards the front of the estate we found that the house was situated at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. I think we all stood on the patio for about 15 minutes just soaking in the view.

We ambled around for a while and eventually made our way back to the main road on foot because there was a huge tree (more like ginormous) that was mind boggling. It was 500 years old and the branches on it were bigger than most tree trunks. I took photos of it but it was very difficult to capture the stature of the tree. Afterward, we found the path to the beach below the estate house and followed it down. We were rewarded with the sight of a small harbor area with waves crashing onto the walkway. It was perfect. Again, we stood/sat around and just enjoyed the view and the atmosphere of the place. There wasn’t much talking – just pure enjoyment of the moment and the place. It was exactly what we all needed. We stayed there for about ½ hour until hunger pangs forced us up the steep cliff and back to our Porsche.

We drove for about ½ hour and found a tiny resort area with a couple of restaurants. Unfortunately, since it was 2:00 we discovered that the kitchens had closed until dinner time. We were directed to the market and discovered that they had a deli and quickly ordered some sandwiches which we devoured while sitting in the car looking out at the sea. Works for me.

Back on the road we finally headed the car towards Orasec. I still didn’t know why we were headed there and really didn’t care either. I was just thoroughly enjoying the drive and the scenery. We made several stops along the way to admire yet another long wall (what is it with big walls built in the middle of nowhere?), small coves, and spectacular scenery. We also passed many wineries but didn’t stop at any of them due to the fact that they all looked they were closed for the season. We finally reached Orasec after dark and I still don’t know why it was important for us to go there. We stopped at a dinky little restaurant where we were the only customers and order a carafe of wine and soup. Both were pretty good but the conversation was better. It was an enjoyable hour despite the fact that the restaurant was freezing.

Once back in the car we had to head back to Dubrovnik due to a prior dinner commitment for Carol. We drove for about 2 hours until we finally reached the city and dropped Carol off at the city walls. Linda and Karen and I weren’t ready to call it a night yet so we found a restaurant on the way back to the rental location and ordered pizza and beer. The pizza was excellent and I really enjoyed getting to know the women better. I haven’t had too many opportunities during the voyage to talk with them and I regret that we have such a short amount of time left now that we know each other.

After the pizza, we left the Porsche at the designated parking area and started walking back to the ship. We passed by a small café along the way and decided that we still weren’t ready for the day to end and make a quick foray into the place. One beer later, we were back on the street once again heading toward the ship. This time we made it to the ship without further detours although we quickly headed up to the Faculty Lounge for the last call before it closed down. We didn’t stop talking until about midnight at which point I decided to check my e-mail and then make some phone calls to family members (Note to Scott – the time difference between Boise and Dubrovnik was too much for me to handle since it meant I would have to stay up until 2:00 am so I didn’t call you. Mea Culpa. You’re still my favorite brother though). I finally went to bed at 1:00 after a long but great day.

Dubrovnik - 14 November

2007-11-16T05:34:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Dubrovnik this morning about 7:30. I looked outside my window and saw beautiful mountains and a charming looking town so I decided it was worthwhile to get dressed and explore this place as soon as possible. I attended a diplomatic briefing at 8:30 and then hung around until 11:00 or so when my friend Megan was finished with her RD duties. Unfortunately, she had caught a nasty cold and was feeling terrible and needed to rest so I met up with some other people and we headed into the city center on the bus. Our timing was off because a lot of students were getting off the ship at the same time and congregating at the bus stop so it was a while before we could get money out of the ATM and buy tickets for the bus. It was also a rainy, nasty cold day so that wasn't helping our enjoyment quota for the morning. This is a picture of my group pausing for a moment in some shelter to get out of the rain. As you can see, we are all soaked and our day had just begun.

We soon arrived at the center of Dubrovnik which is the walled city - the history of which goes back to the middle ages although they have been fortified many times and are still safe to walk on. Despite the bad weather we decided to buy a ticket to walk along the top of the wall. We made our way to the top and enjoyed some stunning views of the city and the port. Unfortunately, we were walking through a driving rain and gale force winds and we were soon drenched and bedraggled. We made it halfway around the wall before we decided that enough was too much and descended the stairs to seek out warmth and food. We soon got lost in the maze of narrow alleys but someone wiser than me finally asked for directions and we quickly found a small selection of restaurants. We choose a pizza place that only had 6 tables in it and squeezed our five bodies around a small one in the corner. We placed our order for pizza and beer and settled in to listen to the sound of the song "Low Rider" playing on the radio. Surreal moment # 657 for this trip!

After consuming the excellent pizza and beer, we were revived enough (but not dry) to wander around the streets a little bit longer. We found a shop that sold postcards and stamps and I loaded up but other than that we found little that interested us. I think the rain was finally getting to us. We decided to abandon our sightseeing efforts for the day and split up. Two of us going back to the ship although we bought an ice cream cone first. Given that we were cold and wet it's difficult to explain why we would want ice cream. But it was delicious and we quickly ate it up.

Back at the ship, I shucked off my soggy clothes and crawled into bed to warm up. Heaven! It felt so good that I soon fell asleep and had a three-hour power nap. I totally missed dinner but it was worth it! The rest of the evening passed quickly and I soon went to bed although after my power nap it is highly unlikely that I will actually be able to sleep.

Turkey to Croatia - 12 & 13 November

2007-11-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

The trip to Croatia has been a productive one. In the library I’ve been making space for future reference material and have finally finished that project. My next project is another cleaning fit with the browsing materials (books that we don’t catalog). The student employees have learned to take cover when I’m in that mode. It’s been desperately needed though and I’m feeling totally righteous about my projects.

I had dinner with my nieces and nephew on the 12^th. We were supposed to meet at the grill for dinner but we actually had a decent lunch of sloppy joes and french fries and to meet at the grill for dinner would have been overkill. We are saving it for after Croatia when we have two crappy meals in a row (which is most days). I learned that we had a new head chef come on board in Thailand which explains the decline in decent meals. I think we need to have a coup in the kitchen!

We are landing in Dubrovnik, Croatia tomorrow and it is supposed to be friggin’ cold! My blood has thinned out so much from all of the hot countries we have visited that I’m sure I’ll be getting hypothermia. I plan to go to the island of Hvar tomorrow with one of the RDs (resident director), Megan. Our plans are very fluid right now. We have no idea how we will get there (ferry, car, whatever) or where we will stay. We just know that there are a whole lot of wineries on the island and that we want to visit as many of them as possible! What a plan! We will stay overnight and then return to Dubrovnik for the remainder of our visit. I plan to stay around the city for that time and do some day trips and save some money. The last three ports are going to be our most expensive so I need to save my money for the shopping. I have my priorities straight, thank you very much.

Well, it's almost 11:00 and I desperately need my beauty sleep (no comments, Scott!). It will be a couple of days before I update the blog again so I'll see you in a couple of days. Dovindenja.

Istanbul Redux - 11 November

2007-11-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

I met up with the biology professor, Nancy, this morning to explore Istanbul again. She hadn’t had an opportunity to get into town before this since she was on the Gallipoli/Troy/etc. trip. She wanted to see the mosques and such in the city and I was eager to see them again too now that I had a bit more history on them.

We left the ship just as the rain started to come down in buckets. Not a good beginning to the day, to say the least. We made our way to the tram and made the short ride to the mosques in the middle of the city. We went to the Blue Mosque first and I was particularly interested in seeing the interior again since we had just returned from Iznik where the tiles were made. It was very special to see the tiles again and, since there didn't seem to be any obvious restriction on taking photos inside the mosque, I took a couple of photos. By the time we emerged from the building, the rain had stopped although the day was incredibly cold. We were dressed in many layers which helped somewhat but it was

We then went to the Hagia Sophia again although I wasn't willing to spend 10 lira to go inside so despite my offer to wait for Nancy outside, she declined the offer and we went on to the Topkapi Palace which I hadn't visited yet. Topkapi was built between 1459 and 1465 as a series of pavilions rather than just one building. It was a beautiful compound and many of the rooms were set up to showcase porcelains and jewels. The jewels were unbelievably beautiful and must have been worth a fortune yet there was very little obvious security in the area. Baffling. We walked around for about 1 1/2 hours until we started to get hungry.

Nancy proposed that we find a McDonalds and eat there since she was craving french fries. Who am I to question this need and I was totally supporting of such a craving. We made our way to the nearest place and dived into our burgers and fries. The euphoria! I haven't been inside a McDonald's since I left Charlottesville and it tasted so damn good! At this point of the voyage I am compiling a list of all my favorite dishes that I want to cook and favorite restaurants that I must go to when I return. I'm going to blow up like a blimp when I get back to Virginia but it will be worth it.

After McDonald's we decided that to visit some of the shops along the main road before returning to the ship. We got some small items as gifts for ourselves and for others and then returned to the ship around 3:00. We were both very happy with how we spent the day and really enjoyed each other's company again (she had been my roommate in China).

I spent the remainder of the day napping and getting my loot organized so that I could figure out if I still needed to buy presents for anyone. I discovered that all of my Christmas shopping has been taken care of and it's only the middle of November. A new record for me.

I spent the evening in the faculty lounge getting caught up on friends and blogs. We sailed out of Istanbul at 11:15 and I watched the mosques disappear in the distance. Turkey has been a great country and I am so glad that I've been able to experience so much of it.

Bursa to Iznik to Istanbul - 10 November

2007-11-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

We had another leisurely beginning to our day and didn't have to be on the bus until 8:30. None of this 2:30 stuff for us, thank you very much! We checked out of the hotel and made a quick stop in the city at the Green Mosque which is considered one of the great works of Ottoman architecture. It was built between 1419 and 1423. The walls are covered with bluish-green tiles - ipso facto, the name. While we were in the mosques, sirens sounded throughout the city to alert people that it was 9:05 am. The was the exact time on November 10th that Ataturk died in 1938 (he died of cirrhosis of the liver due to heavy drinking). Every year, on the 10th at 9:05 the city comes to a halt and observes two minutes of silence in his honor. Bora told us what was going on but continued to tell us about the mosque rather than observe the two minutes of silence.

We left Bursa after the mosque and drove for two hours to Iznik. The countryside was gorgeous and we enjoyed the scenery - especially the many groves of olive trees. Iznik is a farming community that was once the seat of empires founded in 316 BC. It was once a celebrated place for tiles (as seen in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul) during the 16th century. It is trying to make a comeback as a tile center for Turkey. We stopped at the Turkish Tile Museum and saw some beautiful examples of the tile that used to be made. Then we went to a small workshop where tiles are being made using the 16th century methods. The owner gave us a fascinating overview of the process and then made his showroom available to us even though they were supposed to be closed today (Saturday). It was stunningly beautiful but expensive. It takes 45 days to make a tile so the prices are reflected in that fact.

After the tile workshop, we made a quick stop in the city center of Iznik to see the ruins of St. Sophia church which was built in the 4th century. We were only able to walk around the perimeter of the structure since it was closed due to the weekend. After St. Sophia we headed the bus towards Istanbul for a three hour drive back. We stopped at lunch at a place that was still equipped to handle tourists and enjoyed a tasty meal of chicken and tomatoes. A quick ferry ride across the Marmara Sea and we settled in for a long ride back to the city.

The rain started to pour as we approached Istanbul. This was unfortunate because many students on the bus were being dropped off at the Grand Bazaar so that they could experience it. They hadn't realized that the bazaar was going to be closed on Sunday and this was their only opportunity to visit it. The rest of us went back to the ship and stood in line in the pouring rain to get through the security check on the ship. Once on the ship, I changed into warm, dry clothes as soon as possible. It felt wonderful to be warm again. The rest of the evening was very low key getting caught up on e-mail and having dinner. I plan to do the tourist thing again tomorrow in Istanbul and see a few more sites before we leave tomorrow night.

Troy and Bursa, Turkey - 9 November

2007-11-11T12:51:00.001-05:00

We left Canakkale this morning at 8:30 after a pitiful breakfast of toast and tang. Too cruel! We drove directly to Troy which was only ½ hour away. Along the way Bora gave us an overview of the site and how the myth of Troy was interwoven with the reality of the city. He did a phenomenal job of capturing the essence of both and then concluded by telling us not to expect too much from the actual site of Troy. It was going to be a full-fledged archaeological site where we would find ruins and such.

Our first stop at the site was at a Trojan horse designed by an architect in the 1990s. Definitely not my vision of what the Trojan horse looked like but it served its purpose of getting everyone excited about seeing the site of Troy. Bora then led us to the ruins of Troy and the real excitement began. Despite the fact that there are substantial ruins to look at there are still enough there to give you a sense of what used to exist. I never realized that there over the period of several thousand years nine cities were built on the same site. It was such a valuable piece of real estate with respect to proximity to an important section of the sea that when the city was destroyed by war or something else, the next group of people would build right on top of the old city. Helen of Troy occupied the third city of Troy (if that makes any sense). Bora led us around the area for about an hour telling us stories about the different civilizations and efforts by the archaeologists to interpret the site. The photo shows several of the nine layers that have been uncovered by researchers at the site.

We drove for five hours to get to Bursa after Troy. We had a terrible time finding a place to have lunch along the route because the tourist season is over and the restaurants aren’t prepared to feed a horde of 45 people all at once. We finally resorted to driving into a city that the bus driver was familiar with. It was perfect. We were dropped off in the center of the city and given one hour to find something to eat. Eileen and I were the first off the bus and were eager to get a few minutes away from the students. But alas and alack that was not to be. Apparently, we are the Pied Pipers of Trip Leaders and at least half of the students followed us into the restaurant that we chose. Grrrr! The poor restaurant workers looked quite overwhelmed at having 20 Americans come into their restaurant at the same time but they did a magnificent job of serving us and getting us all fed. To make matters even better, the food was delicious! We had shaved beef on a bed of rice that made my taste buds do the happy dance. We had ½ hour to spend walking around the city after that and then back on the bus for the rest of our drive to Bursa.

As we were driving into Bursa, Bora was giving us the usual tour guide spiel about the area. He said, “What is important about Bursa? Nothing!” I think he is the first honest tour guide that I have ever met! We loved him!!! He went on to say that Bursa is a fun city to visit because of it’s proximity to the ski resorts and some markets although he did tell us that the soccer team was horrible. If Bursa has a Chamber of Commerce they would probably want to strangle Bora but we enjoyed his remarks.

Before we went to the hotel for check-in we were given an hour in the silk market before it closed at 6:00. Eileen and I made the circuit around the shops and fell in love with the pashmina scarves. They were so soft and cuddly yet so outrageously expensive! This is an expensive country for us because the dollar is tanking. Five months ago the exchange rate was 1.7 lira per dollar. Today it is 1.17 lira per dollar. After deals we were getting in Vietnam, Thailand and India, this is incredibly painful.

After the window shopping excursion, we went to the hotel and checked in. Dinner was in the hotel restaurant and it was quite good. Afterwards, Eileen and I were invited to join some students who were walking to a nearby mall. We agreed (when do we ever turn down a shopping opportunity!) and walked to the shopping mall. It’s not as fun as going to a market but at least they have bookstores and such to browse. I went into the bookstore and found the British version of InStyle magazine which is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. It was the November issue which I hadn’t read so I went to the counter to buy it thinking it would be about 4 to 5 lira. WRONG! It was 16 lira (approximately 14 dollars)!!! I think I was in shock because I actually bought the damn thing! A $14 dollar magazine. Am I insane? I have to be! I told some of the students what I had done and they looked just as amazed as I felt. I told them that they had to read the magazine after me so that I would get my money’s worth out of it. I think the entire bus will have to read it to achieve that!

After that, all the fun had gone out of the shopping so Eileen and I headed back to the hotel so that I could read my pricey magazine. I made sure that I read every ad, caption and article in that thing. After that and a few minutes of Turkish television I was ready for bed.

Istanbul to Gallipoli - 8 November

2007-11-10T15:02:00.000-05:00

We started our three-day trip around the western section of Turkey today. Our group left at 8:30 this morning. We were supposed to have 56 people on the trip with two buses and I am the trip leader and Eileen is the bus leader for the other bus. Only 45 people showed up so they squished us onto one bus which made me really grumpy because we couldn’t spread out. Given that we would be having 5- and 6-hour rides each day, space is crucial to my mental well being, hence the grumpiness. Eileen was sitting next to me on the bus and bore the brunt of my mood until she told me to relax and just enjoy the trip. I listened to my iPod for a while and eventually got over my pique.

Our guide for the trip is Bora. He is an intelligent and articulate guide with no annoying habits and a great sense of humor. What a minute! Can it be true? A tour guide that I like immediately? Are there pigs flying somewhere?!

We drove for about four hours with two breaks – one for a happy place and one for lunch. All of the students were great about being enclosed like sardines together for such a long time. It probably helped that they slept for the majority of the time.

We finally reached Gallipoli and the weather was wonderfully cooperative. It had been raining for the entire morning but as we approached the battlefield, the sun came out. Gallipoli is sacred to the Australians and New Zealanders because it was the impetus behind their quest for independence from Great Britain.

On April 15, 1915 the Australians and New Zealanders landed at Gallipoli to secure a stretch of land that would enable England to transport ships through the Dardenelles. The landing was disastrous and the Turks prevented them from advancing over a key mountain. Each side dug trenches and settled in for a nine month battle. During the nine months, the death toll was staggering.

8,700+ Australians
2,500+ New Zealanders
17,000 French
25,000 British
150,000-200,000 Turks

Today, thousands of Australians and New Zealanders travel to Gallipoli in April every year to honor their soldiers and commemorate the occasion.

The other interesting fact about Gallipoli is that this is where Ataturk became famous as a commanding officer of the Turkish troops. His bravery here later helped him gain support when he became president of Turkey.

The battlefield of Gallipoli is now a very beautiful place with many cemeteries and monuments to all of the troops – Aussies, NZers, and Turks. It was also wicked cold! Only three days ago we were experiencing 98 degree temperatures and now we are bundled up to our eyebrows in a vain effort to stay warm. Most of the students are running around in just sweatshirts because they didn’t pack a jacket for the voyage. They are also still wearing their flip flops but that is by choice and because they are missing a critical mass of their brain cells.

We spent about an hour touring different sites on the battlefield until Bora told us we needed to get back on the bus so that we could catch the 5:00 ferry to Canakkale where we would be staying for the night. We just barely made the ferry and we crossed the Canakkale Straight to get to the city.

At 6:00 we drove up to the hotel and were soon in our rooms. Dinner was in the hotel restaurant and was actually very good. This was a total shock since I had long ago lost faith that hotel food could actually be tasty. After dinner, Eileen and I and another woman took a quick walk around Canakkale for about ½ hour to stretch our cramped legs. It was a pretty little city and we duly admired the Trojan horse that had been gifted to the city by the producers of the movie “Troy” after filming was finished. It was made out of plastic and, as Eileen puts it, “looks really mangy.” I took a picture of it (the next morning which is why the sun is shining) so that you could share in this moment. Just think, Brad Pitt may have touched it : )

After our walk, we went back to our 2 star-quality hotel rooms and settled in for an evening of watching cheesy Turkish television on a TV that was quickly dying. We soon grew bored with it and went to bed.

Istanbul, Turkey - 7 November

2007-11-07T14:57:00.000-05:00

We pulled into Istanbul around 8:00 am this morning. I had scrumptious plans of sleeping in but the noise on the dock put the kibosh on that fairly quickly. The ship cleared around 10:00 and by 11:00 Eileen and I were out on Istanbul’s streets ready to conquer the world, or at least part of it.

Fortunately, we had some help conquering the tram system and soon made our way across the city to the mosques and markets. We started our tour with the Blue Mosque. Since I didn’t have a Turkish Bahgat with me I don’t know the history of the Mosque so I’m afraid you’re going to have to google it. I can tell you that it was gorgeous inside with very colorful and intricate mosaics. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the interior so you’ll have to google that too.

The next stop with the Hagia Sophia which was constructed by Emperor Justinia (?) in the 5^th century. It started it’s life as a catholic church but when the Muslims got control of the country several centuries later, it became a mosque (again, google it if you want more history).

After we got our architectural appreciation quota of the day, Eileen and I headed to the Grand Bazaar (shocker) which is the oldest shopping market in the world. It was huge! We wandered around like a couple of lost souls for a bit and then braced ourselves and lunged into the shops prepared to haggle like the hardened shoppers that we are. Turkish shop keepers aren’t as fun to negotiate with like the Egyptian shop keepers. They are much more serious about their merchandise and the whole business of selling their products. It takes some of the fun out of it. We wandered around for at least three hours until we finally had enough of that bazaar so we then found our way to the spice bazaar which was a short walk away. This was a lot of fun too and the spices were gorgeous. I wish I had access to these spices in Charlottesville!

We finally had enough of shopping (hard to believe, isn’t it?). We found a recognizable road and figured out where we were supposed to catch the tram back to the ship. We decided to eat first and enjoy some delicious kebabs and wine rather than the ickyness we usually get on the ship. The food was excellent and we had a wonderful view of Istanbul from the restaurant since it was on the fifth floor of a building. Very relaxing too.

We were back on the ship by 8:00 and prepared for our trip tomorrow. Should be a fun time.

Between Egypt and Turkey - 5 & 6 November

2007-11-07T14:50:00.001-05:00

Everyone had a spectacular time in Egypt. I haven’t heard a single person say anything negative about their time there. They all say it was their favorite port too. I’m going to become a one woman tourist board and urge everyone to put Egypt on their itinerary. They won’t be sorry.

I had dinner with my nieces and nephew on the 6^th as we continued our tradition of meeting for dinner between ports. I had some requests for photos of my Explorer nieces and nephews so I brought my camera with me. Unfortunately, one of my nieces couldn’t come to dinner so we are missing one in the photo. I’ll be sure to take a picture at our next dinner too. In the meantime, here they are from left to right: me, Lindsey, Mike, and Brigitte, missing – Julie.

I am a trip leader for an excursion around Turkey to Gallipoli, Troy, Bursa and Iznik. It’s going to be a lot of time on the bus and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we won’t have any 2:30 wake-up calls because that would be totally heinous, and just down right wrong!

We pull into port around 8:00 tomorrow but since my trip isn’t scheduled until the 8^th I don’t have to worry about getting out of bed tomorrow and can sleep in until they tell us to come get our passports. Eileen and I plan to tour Istanbul in the afternoon tomorrow so I hope to have lots to share with you about it. I’m really looking forward to seeing the city.

Back to Cairo and Alexandria - 4 November

2007-11-07T14:47:00.000-05:00

4:00 am. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! These early mornings totally bite!!!! We had to be at the airport for a 7:00 am flight back to Cairo. We were handed yet another craptastic boxed breakfast and out to the ferry we went. One ferry ride, one bus ride, one plane ride, and three hours later we were back in Cairo.

We made our way through the traffic of Cairo which is just as bad as all of the other cities we’ve visited. Our schedule called for a two hour stop at the Egyptian Archeological Museum where all the priceless artifacts from the tombs and such are kept. Bahgat led some of us through a warp-speed tour of the museum while others wandered off on their own to enjoy the exhibits. I figured that if I had a well-educated Egyptologist giving a tour it would make the experience much more interesting…and I was right. Bahgat did a great job in giving us the highlights of the museum in such a short amount of time. We saw some amazing exhibits including King Tut’s famous mask and some sculptures that were 3500+ years old in perfect condition. We had the opportunity to see the mummies of the pharaohs too but I wanted to get to the bookstore and get some books on the pharaohs and we had such a limited time that I couldn’t do both so I choose books (I have librarian syndrome!).

After the museum, we drove to a hotel that we visited on the first day where we had lunch. This was the one with the really good hummus so my lunch for the day was hummus and dessert again. Yummy! Once our lunch hour was up, we were back on the bus for a three hour drive to Alexandria. It was an uneventful trip and we were soon driving into the port. We had asked Bahgat to do a drive-by of the Alexandria Library so that we could at least see it since we didn’t have time to do a tour of the facility. We made a very brief stop long enough to get some photos and then we were pulling up to the dock.

This was the first trip that I’ve taken on this voyage where I wasn’t ready for it to end. It had been such a magical and unforgettable time seeing the treasures of Egypt. I also hated to say goodbye to Bahgat! Despite my previous grumblings about his annoying habit of calling us habibi, I came to respect his knowledge and love of Egypt and even enjoyed being called habibi all the time. He was definitely one of the best things about this trip and he made the experience much richer for sharing his Egypt with us.

Without doubt, this has been my favorite port. I have fallen in love with Egypt. The people have been so friendly and welcoming and the sights have been unforgettable. This is the one place on this voyage that I will state unequivocally that I will return again. There is so much that I haven’t experienced here and I am eager to come back and get lost in the magic again. Egypt is the best!

Abu Simbel, Egypt - 3 November

2007-11-06T07:56:00.000-05:00

Our wake-up call this morning was at 7:30. The Joy! The Bliss! The Rapture! We were the lucky bus out of the three on this trip. The other two buses had a 4:30 wake-up call to catch an early flight to Abu Simbel. We had a 9:00 am flight and got to sleep in. My happiness knows no bounds.

We had a short bus-ride to the Aswan airport and boarded the plane for a ½ hour flight to Abu Simbel. We trooped off the plane and on to the bus for another quick bus ride to the temple. We hiked around a large hill and there it was – The Temple of Abu Simbel. Wow! Mega Wow! It was such an amazing, striking, and overwhelming site.

Bahgat gave us the history of the place but I’m going to condense it considerably for you… Ramses II was the greatest ruler of Ancient Egypt and built an empire during his 67 years of Pharaoh-ship. One of his genius plans was to build temples in remote areas that were being invaded by the Nubians. He built seven temples so that each temple would be populated by people who would defend the temple and the surrounding region, thereby thwarting the invaders. Abu Simbel was one of those temples.

It is a magnificent work of art and the scale of it is overwhelming. After our lecture we had 40 minutes to walk around and just absorb the place. I don’t have enough superlatives to do justice to Abu Simbel. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see it. One of the astonishing facts of this site is that it also was relocated from another area due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The mountain was taken apart piece by piece and reconstructed in another location. It boggles the mind to think that they were able to move an entire mountain and were able to maintain the structural and artistic integrity of the temple.

At noon we were back on the bus to the airport and then flying back to Aswan. We around 2:00 and five of us decided to skip the bland buffet at the hotel and eat at a restaurant recommended by Bahgat. It was a large restaurant with a dock on the Nile. Lunch was excellent and we enjoyed our time by the water. I love these Nile moments.

After lunch, Eileen and I left the others and returned to the market for one last burst of shopping – in Egypt at least. We spent 2 ½ hours walking through the market, haggling with vendors and having a great time. We had enough of it by 6:00 and headed back to the hotel on the ferry for our post-shopping ritual of imbibing in a glass of wine before dinner. The ship’s doctor joined us and we had a wonderful time enjoying each other’s company and the breezy Egyptian night.

Dinner was an uninspired buffet again but, fortunately, I got some pasta advice from two students -and goodness knows that college students are the leading authorities on pasta! We had an early night due to a 4:00 am wake-up call and spent the remainder of the evening packing our luggage.

Aswan, Egypt - 2 November

2007-11-06T05:20:00.000-05:00

It was another early morning although it wasn’t the obscene hour of 2:30 so it felt like we were sleeping in when the alarm clock went off at 5:00 am. We had to be on the bus by 6:30 to join a convoy of tourist buses heading to Aswan. Because the roads are so narrow, convoys are organized to go from Luxor to Aswan and they get preferential treatment on the road. The other vehicles have to pull over to let us pass when they see us coming. How sweet! Along the way, Eileen wanted to take pictures of people in the villages we passed but in Egypt taking pictures of people like that is considered rude. So Eileen engaged in some stealth photography so that she wouldn’t offend anyone by taking their picture. She pulled the curtains on the bus shut and poked her camera through the gap in order to take pictures. The only problem with this method was that she couldn’t see what was approaching us on the road ahead and didn’t know when to take the picture. My job was to be the lookout and let her know if there was anything interesting was approaching. What a team!

When we reached Aswan at 10:30 our first stop of the day was at the Philae Temple which was on a small island. We had to run a gauntlet of shop keepers and vendors to get to the boats which would take us to the island. According to the guide book, Philae has a “romantic and majestic aura” – that one completely escaped me! I just thought it was pretty. Obviously, I should never consider writing tour books as a profession. Since I was getting temple burn-out by this time, I remember more about the relocation of this temple from one island to another (being the engineer’s daughter that I am). At the start of the 20^th century, Philae and its temples became swamped for six months of every year by the high waters of the reservoir created by the old Aswan dam. In the 1960s, with the approaching completion of the High Dam (which will be visited later in the day) and even more severe flooding, Unesco agreed to finance the relocation of the temple to a higher island. The temple was disassembled and removed from Philae between 1972 and 1980. It was reconstructed on the nearby island of Agilkia and even landscaped to resemble the other island. They did an amazing job putting everything back together. The seams for each stone are barely visible.

Bahgat did a wonderful job of making the history of the place come alive. The sun was brutal though and we darted from shady area to shady area to escape it. It was a beautiful temple but after visiting Karnak and Luxor Temples it suffered in comparison.

When we had taken our quota of photos, we took the boat back to the landing, ran the gauntlet of shop keepers again for a very short drive to the Aswan High Dam (the one that flooded Philae). The Egyptians are very proud of this dam so I think it is obligatory that all tourists visiting Aswan stop there. It was a mercifully brief visit and we continued on our way to the hotel.

Our hotel was located on an island (Isis Island). We arrived at the bank of the Nile and had a ten minute ferry ride to our hotel. It was a very beautiful ride with feluccas sailing around us. Once at the hotel, we were immediately led to the dining room since it was 2:00. The gap between meals is killing me! We ate a very quick meal, tossed our luggage into our rooms and hurried back to the lobby for our 3:00 ride on a felucca called the “Captin Cook”.

It was a very relaxing and serene hour on the river. We lazily drifted up and down the Nile in our felucca enjoying the sun and the small amount of breeze that we were getting. About half way through the sail, the two crew members sailing the boat entertained us with a song and dance that everyone was invited to participate in. Hokey but fun.

We returned to the hotel all mellowed out and had nothing scheduled for the next four hours. So, of course, this meant that Eileen and I had to go shopping. A student overheard us talking about the market and we invited her to join us, which she did. We went across the river on the ferry and then walked for about ½ hour to reach the market. We hit the jackpot! So many shops, so little time.

The vendors are rather aggressive (an understatement). They make the shop keepers in China and India look like pikers. They stand right in front of you with their merchandise and won’t move so we were constantly dodging people. It should be a contest in the Sea Olympics – Vendor Dodging.

We spent two hours walking around enjoying the experience and buying a few items. Prices aren’t as good as India or Thailand but at least they aren’t outrageously expensive. Around 6:00 we decided to head back to the hotel due to tired feet, aching backs, and empty stomachs.

Eileen and I continued our Nile tradition and enjoyed a glass of wine on the patio before dinner. It was such a beautiful night and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Dinner was the usual buffet of non-Egyptian food that was mediocre at best. It fills the empty spots but that was about it. Since dinner was always served late (8-10) we were ready for bed immediately afterwards. It had been a long but fantastic day.

Luxor, Egypt - 1 November

2007-11-06T04:53:00.000-05:00

A 2:30 am wake-up call….AGAIN! I’m speechless. My agony was profound. What is it with going on trips and having 2:30 wake-up calls? I am so over it! We had to catch a 5:15 flight to Luxor this morning necessitating the painful hour. Fortunately, everyone was on the bus at the appointed hour (unlike the India trip) and there were no complications at the airport. A very painless process if you could ignore the hour.

We had a one-hour flight to Luxor and arrived at 6:15. We had a nice view of the sunrise during the flight. Once on our bus, Bahgat tried to give us an overview of the Valley of the Kings which was our first stop of the day. Unfortunately, half of the bus fell asleep during his talk so he had to give it again once we reached our destination. The Valley of the Kings is an isolated valley which the pharaohs chose for both symbolic and practical reasons. At this point, 62 tombs have been excavated in the valley, although not all of them belonged to pharaohs. This is also the place where Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered.

The valley is in a very stark location. It is primarily rocks and sand with little to no vegetation. After Bahgat’s second lecture, we started our tour with King Tut’s tomb. It was the smallest and least decorated tomb because he died after six years of rule and his tomb hadn’t been finished so they used the tomb of a high priest instead. We went into it and saw the beautiful artwork on the wall and his gold sarcophagus. It was magnificent. After that, we split up and choose which of three tombs out of the 62 was wanted to visit (that was all that our admittance ticket would allow). Bahgat recommended the tombs of Ramses III, IV and IX due to the detail of the hieroglyphics. They were amazing to see and the colors were still vibrant after 3000+ years. Photos weren’t allowed in the tombs so I can’t share the images with you but they were truly beautiful.

Back onto the bus for a short drive to visit the Temple of Queen Hapshepsut. Queen Hapshepsut was quite a piece of work. Since only males were allowed to rule Egypt she had to find a way to get the power of the throne. So through a dizzying array of marriages to half-brothers making others marry half-sisters (it's really confusing) and a power play over her stepson (who was really supposed to be the pharaoh), she wrested control of Egypt from the men and declared herself pharaoh. She also proclaimed that the gods wanted her to be a man so she dressed like a man during her reign of 20 years. She had this temple built to honor herself but, unfortunately, she did such a magnificent job of irking her stepson (go figure) that when he came into power after her death, he had all images and text destroyed so that she/he would not exist anymore. He did a very thorough job of it too. It is very difficult to find anything of Hepshepsut that has not been defaced or destroyed by the P.O.d stepson.

Nevertheless, the temple still stands even though images of her in the structure have been destroyed. We did our best to enjoy the beauty of the temple despite the blistering sun beating down on us. It was 9:30 in the morning yet we were all struggling with the heat. There was a snack shop where sodas were sold at an outrageous mark-up but everyone was desperate for a cold drink at that point and happily parted with their money.

Back onto the bus again for a brief drive to the Colossi of Memnon. The Colossi are a massive pair of statues built for a funerary temple for Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC). The Colossi sit in the middle of a corn field and have no other artifacts around them. We had our briefing on the bus due to the heat and then were given five minutes to take photos. Turbo touring at it's best.

Back onto the bus for a 45 minute drive to the Karnak Temple. The Karnak Temple is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, and obelisks dedicated to the Theban gods and pharaohs. Everything is on a ginormous scale – it is large enough to contain about 10 cathedrals. Karnak was the most important place of worship in all of Egypt during the height of Theban power and was called Ipet Isut, meaning “The Most Perfect of Places.” It is a very apt name because it truly is the most perfect of places. Bahgat gave us a wonderful overview of the Temple and led us around the complex for about an hour giving us details that made the site come alive for us. We were awestruck by the architecture of the temple. We were given 45 minutes to explore on our own and, despite the heat, reveled in every moment. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

When our time was up, it was 2:00 and we reluctantly headed back to the bus for our trip to the hotel for lunch. What is it with late lunches? We had received boxed breakfasts at 3:00 am but they had long since disappeared. Lunch was pretty good although anything at this point would have tasted good. Once our stomachs were full we got our room keys and settled into our rooms for the afternoon nap. The bliss! The naps were desperately needed and afterwards we almost felt human again.

At 5:00 we met in the lobby for a quick bus trip to the Luxor Temple. Bahgat wanted us to see the temple during both the sunlight hours and after dark when it was highlighted by the flood lights. It was incredibly beautiful and, like everything else, the history was fascinating. It was largely built by Amenhotep III of the Colossi fame. It sits on the sight of an older sanctuary built by Hepshepsut. Many other people added to it over the years including Ramses II, Tutankhamun, and Alexander the Great to name a few (we saw graffiti that Alexander the Great added to the wall).

At the entrance is an obelisk and space were another one is supposed to sit opposite it. Its twin was removed and was given to the French where it now resides in the Place de la Concord in Paris which I saw several years ago. It was fascinating to see the place where it is supposed to stand! Bahgat gave us a wonderful tour of the Temple for over an hour. At the end, the sun had gone down and the lights showcased the columns and ruins. It was so beautiful.

We returned to the hotel and had two hours to kill before dinner so Eileen and I spent part of that time shopping but the few shops in the vicinity were pathetic so we returned to the hotel and enjoyed a glass of Egyptian white wine and sat by the Nile enjoying the night. I love my life!

After dinner I went on a horse carriage ride around the city with some students. I was in a carriage with one other student and we were given the opportunity to drive the carriage as we toured through the back alleys, markets, and temples. It was a wonderful time.

By the time we returned to the hotel it was 10:30 and I was beyond exhausted. A hasty scrub of the face, teeth and feet and I was in bed. What a day!!!

Alexandria and Cairo - 31 October

2007-11-05T00:43:00.000-05:00

We pulled into a very foggy port in Alexandria this morning and saw doodly squat of the city because of the fog. An “American Presence Officer” came on board and gave us a history lesson of the Egyptian/American relationship while the customs officials “cleared” the boat (lingo for processing the passports). Our trip was supposed to leave at 10:30 and, of course, that didn’t happen.

It was 11:30 by the time we emerged from the ship and into the sun and got our first glimpse of Alexandria – lots of palm trees and many buildings off in the distance. We boarded our bus and off we drove through the streets of Alexandria with a police escort. Say what?! I’m not sure why but we had a motorcycle escort to the outskirts of the city at which point the bus driver put the pedal to the metal and drove! Since we were an hour late disembarking, it put us seriously behind schedule with the pyramids (the Sphinx closes at 4:00) and we had a 2 ½ hour drive ahead of us. Our guide for the trip was Bahgat. He will be going to the University of Chicago next year to work on his Ph.D. in and Egyptology and loved to share his knowledge of his country. He came equipped with maps and art books and didn’t stop talking for over an hour, bless his little liver (a family saying). On one hand I’m thrilled that we have such a knowledgeable guide but on the other he has one quirk the might drive me over the edge. He calls us “habibi” which is Arabic for sweetheart. Gak! It wouldn’t be so bad if it were done infrequently but it a part of every sentence that he utters…and he utters a lot of sentences.

We finally arrived in Cairo around 2:00. We had been informed en route that lunch was being postponed until after the visit to the area around the pyramids since the Sphinx closes at 4:00 and they wanted to give us as much time as possible at the pyramids. I was in favor of the decision but I was hungry! The 8:00 am breakfast had long since worn off and it would be hours before eating again.

But back to the pyramids. Bahgat made arrangements during our drive for us to get a camel ride from the panoramic viewing area to the pyramids. We pulled up to the parking lot and we were all agog at our first sight. They are staggering! The three pyramids were lined up in a straight line from this vantage point and it was awe-inspiring. We were allowed five minutes to take photos before Bahgat led us over to the camels. How cool is that?!

Eileen and I were to be partnered on a camel together. We approached the designated camel and Eileen hiked up her skirt and climbed on while I waited for my turn. As she was getting settled though the camel decided it was time to go and got up. Eileen almost got dumped on her head! The camel drivers around us lunged towards her and hurriedly reached up to steady her. Eileen grabbed the saddle horn in front of her and made a magnificent recovery. What a start to our adventure!

Since my camel was already mobile with Eileen, I was led to another camel and also hiked up my skirt (we dressed so wrong today). I climbed on (with much more dignity than I did with the elephant in Thailand), clutched the saddle horn and held on for dear life as the camel got up. Holy %$@# It was so cool! The rocking motion was rather alarming at first, as was the height of the camel but I soon got used to it and started to relax into the experience – and what an experience! I was riding a camel towards the Giza Pyramids!!!! It was a total out-of-body moment. We stopped at the halfway point for a photographic opportunity and then continued towards the pyramids. I dismounted from the camel (and didn’t flash anyone in the process) and tipped the camel guy along with an extra picture of him too. And there we were - at the base of the Giza Pyramids.

It was an amazing feeling to be standing at the foot of the pyramids. I’m getting “wonders of the world” overload. We had an hour to wander around and enjoy the moment before heading over to the Sphinx. We spent every second of that time just absorbing the atmosphere and marveling at our good fortune.

After the hour was up we loaded onto the bus and drove a very short distance to the Sphinx. It was so beautiful. I especially like how the pyramids framed it in the background. I have to admit, though, that I though it would be bigger. Photos always make thing appear bigger – unless, of course, it’s a pyramid we are talking about.

After we finished with our admiration of the Sphinx, we drove to a hotel for our lunch – at 5:00 pm !!! To say that everyone was hungry is the understatement of the millennium. I was so famished that I could barely maintain a civil façade because I certainly wasn’t feeling civil at that point. We quickly loaded up on food and dug in. The relief was immediate.

After dinner, we drove back to the Sphinx for the sound and light show after dark. It was a beautiful and informative show but I kept flashing back to an old James Bond movie that had a scene where Bond went to the Sphinx light show. Sometimes I worry about myself.

We returned to the buses for a one hour ride to the hotel after the show. We finally arrived at the Conrad Hilton at 9:00 and we were offered dinner before going to our rooms. I loaded up on hummus and desserts (whatever works) and rushed up to the room I was sharing with Eileen as quickly as possible. It had been a very long day but a magnificent one!!!

The Suez Canal and Sea Olympics - 30 October

2007-10-31T03:45:00.000-04:00

Note: I was only able to load two pictures on the blog due to time constraints and the blog acting up. I did add a Halloween picture for the previous post. I'll add the last two photos when I return from my trip in five days.

Last night around 11:00 pm we stopped at the entrance to the Suez Canal and spent the night there with about 15 or so other ships. This was going to be our convoy for our passage through the canal. Since the canal is so narrow and can only accommodate one ship’s width in most places, they have a system where the north bound traffic is allowed to go through in one convoy without stopping while south bound traffic has two convoys that stop in specific places along the canal to let the north traffic go through.

We started through the canal around 8:00 this morning at a very slow pace (around 9 knots) and we were the fourth boat in the convoy. You can see in this picture a couple of the ships in front of us. The landscape was fascinating. For the most part, it was unoccupied by people or buildings. Just unending views of sand and stubby trees. Periodically, we would pass cities or small villages along the way and see the fishermen out in their boats. The second picture is rather typical terrain of the canal.

While we were going through the canal, we were holding the Sea Olympics where all of the passengers compete in competitions such as the eating contest done with chopsticks, the relay race that went through the hallways, scavenger hunt, lip syncing contest, synchronized swimming and so much more. All of the decks are divided into seas and the faculty, staff, and lifelong learners were in the Dead Sea. We weren’t the best team, but we also weren’t the worst! The prize for winning the Olympics is first off the ship when we reach Miami.

I didn’t participate in any of the contests but was a great cheerleader for the others. My favorite competitions were the synchronized swimming and lip-syncing contests. I’ve included two pictures – the first is the synchronized swim team for the faculty. They were great and the students loved seeing the Assistant Dean participate. The second picture is of the Lip Syncing competition, again with the faculty. They are the anthropology professor, Dr. Ruth, and her husband Jake. They have to be at least 75 years old and they dressed up as Sonny and Cher and sang “I’ve Got You Babe.” The students loved that one too although they soon kicked our Dead Sea butts with their contributions. The talent was phenomenal!

Eileen represented the Information Spa in the Olympics by playing in the ping pong contest. She had to fight hard to be on the team because the competition amongst the faculty members was fierce! There were so many faculty members interested in playing ping pong that they had to have an elimination tourney before the Olympics to decide who was going to play. Eileen was on a doubles team but, unfortunately, they didn’t win. I’m afraid that I didn’t get any photos of this event.

This evening we had our logistical pre-port meeting for Egypt. There was a lot of talk about appropriate dress and behavior (although the students have never listened to that before so I’m not sure why they bother at this point). We were also told that our trip to Cairo/Luxor/Aswan/Abu Simbel is going to be another grueling one with lots of travel and early mornings (2:30 am). Eileen is going on this one too and we are going to be roommates. We are both incredibly relieved that we aren’t trip leaders on this one because there are 109 people signed up for it. Egads! Should be interesting.

A Beautimus Day - 29 October

2007-10-30T03:56:00.001-04:00

It’s been a great day – gorgeous weather, excellent food, enjoyable company and an excellent Halloween party!

The day started with a Global Studies exam which was a drag for those having to take it but wonderful for those of us who don’t. I’ve already paid my dues as a student, thank you very much! I spent the morning walking around talking to colleagues and just enjoying the all-too-brief serenity of the ship.

After lunch, I did my stint in the library even though nobody was using it for the purposes of studying or academic pursuits. Everyone has been all hyped up for the Halloween party tonight and the Sea Olympics tomorrow. With the Global Studies test out of the way, there were precious few students who were actually studying. I didn’t get much done myself due to the rough seas we had today. It makes reading a computer quite a challenge.

At 4:00, one of the faculty members invited a few of us to her cabin for drinks and snacks. She is one of the fortunate ones with a small balcony off her room. We spent an enjoyable two hours drinking wine, talking about all of the latest gossip on the ship (and there is plenty to talk about!), and enjoying the breathtaking sunset over the Egyptian landscape. We’ve been on the Red Sea for the last several days and the pirates are a thing of the past. We didn’t see a single one (you can stop worrying now, Dad!). Today, we have been traversing the Gulf of Suez and have been treated to views of Egypt along the way. It’s been very beautiful to witness when I remember to look out the window.

After the private happy hour, we went upstairs to the pool area where a BBQ had been organized for dinner. Happy Happy Joy Joy! It was a smorgasbord of all things grilled – hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, and chicken. We sat on the back deck with the wind whipping through our hair, ketchup dripping from our chins and very contented expressions on our faces. There are times when all of the stars are in alignment and life is damn good. This was one of them! After we stuffed ourselves to the gills with dinner and dessert (CHOCOLATE!), we went our separate ways. Me to get dressed for the Halloween party and the others to pursue their own pleasures. I had consulted with my nieces (my real ones, not the ones on the ship) about what I should do for a Halloween costume and they suggested a Goth Librarian. Works for me!

I got all gussied up in my Goth clothes and then joined all of the very creative students in the Union for the party. My niece and nephew on the ship were there and we took a picture together. I promise I will post a photo of all my nieces and nephew at some point before the voyage is over but for now, here are two of them. There weren’t too many people who recognized me tonight. It was a very odd feeling but I guess that means the costume was successful.

I hung out at the party for a bit but after a while I had had enough and went back to my room to clean all the gunk off my face and revert back to my usual persona. Tomorrow we go through the Suez Canal. Classes are canceled for the day and everybody is participating in the Sea Olympics so it should be another excellent day. Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Volacnoes - 27 October

2007-10-27T14:12:00.001-04:00

It’s been an absolutely gorgeous day today so everyone has been outside taking advantage of the weather. The pool area was packed and the outside tables in the dining area were scooped up as quickly as possible at meal time. I managed to get a table outside at breakfast and dinner and enjoyed the time since that is usually the only occasion when I do get outside. I have the bad habit of forgetting to even look through the windows to see if anything interesting is going on.

However, today everyone was rushing outside in the afternoon when we sailed by Al-Tair. It is a small Yemen island with a volcano on it that erupted at the beginning of October and was still showing some activity. It was really interesting to see the smoke/steam rising from the crater. Some of the students, who have much better eyesight than me, were able to see lava too. I took a picture of it to share with you even though you need supernatural eyesight to be able to see the details of the volcano in this photo. Just use your imagination.

This evening, Eileen and I returned to the faculty lounge for Potato Chip Happy Hour only to discover that they had run out of potato chips. The despair! We consoled ourselves with goldfish crackers which were a pathetic substitute. I tell you, life is getting to be a hardship here!

In the evening, I went to the union where the ship’s doctor was giving a presentation on all the dreadful medical questions you wish you had the answers to. I don’t know what possessed me to attend other than the fact that she has a wonderfully warped sense of humor. I learned way more about social diseases and such than I really ever wanted to know. I should have stayed in my room and watched one of the depressing foreign films that they are always showing on the ship's channels. Jeesh - I need my potato chips!

Happy Hour - 26 October

2007-10-26T14:46:00.000-04:00

It’s been a productive day although it doesn’t necessarily translate into an interesting blog. Students are studying again after a day of tanning, the dining hall is serving the usual craptastic food, and our student employees are back at work in the library.

Eileen and I have decided to start partaking of happy hour in the faculty lounge to give ourselves a pick-me-up. We aren’t going there for the drinks but for the potato chips. We are both addicted to the snack now. We gathered there this evening for a round of potato chips and talked to others who are going through there own mid-voyage slump. The faculty lounge has never been so crowded. I think everyone needs a little extra company right now as we pass the mid-point of the trip.

Eileen and I gave ourselves a break from the dining hall and met at the 7^th deck grill for hotdogs at 8:00. It was wonderful – not as wonderful as our dinner last night but still - we are grateful for the break from the institutional food that is our usual option.

I was talking with the Academic Dean this evening (during Potato Chip Happy Hour) and he had been having a particularly bad day because of disciplinary action that is being taken against students who have committed stupid acts of vandalism and idiocy due to drinking. I’m not privy to even a fraction of the dumb behavior that occurs on the ship but I what I do hear isn’t pretty. I think everybody is fed up with the few students who act like morons. It certainly dominates conversations at gatherings. There are times when I need to remind myself that there are many wonderful students on this ship when it’s the weenies, lacking a critical mass of brain cells, who get the majority of the attention.

We have four more days at sea until we reach Egypt and I think everyone is more than ready to be in port again. This has been a very long stretch between countries!

Dinner Party with our Students - 25 October

2007-10-25T14:39:00.000-04:00

Today was a “no class” day for our students so that they could allegedly get caught up on their studies. Mostly, they hung out at the pool and worked on their tans. The overflow tanning area was in front of the faculty/staff lounge so that if you went up there during the day you were treated to the sight of scantily clad bodies baking in the sun. Such a treat.

We had our pictures taken for the S@S yearbook today. The faculty was to gather at 8:30 am at the appointed place and, of course, some were late and threw off the schedule for the rest of the day. I managed to miss the photo for the UVa group because I misread the schedule. Oops.

Since it was “no class” day, Eileen and I staffed the library by ourselves and gave our students the day off for studying. It was easy to tell which teachers were giving tests because they were our primary customers today. All of the other students pretty much avoided us like the plague today and spent the time by the pool. It made for a rather quiet day.

We shut the library down for a couple of hours so that we could all have a special dinner for the library staff. Eileen and I treated our students to a private dinner in a separate dining area and with wait staff who treated us like royalty. I could get used to that. I really enjoy the company of our students and it was fun to talk to them outside of the work area and find out more about them. I’ve included the official photo from the evening. To identify everyone from left to right:

Tasha, Eileen, Me (Kathy), Becky (in front), Lee, Kelly, and Fiamma.

Eileen and I consider ourselves very lucky to have such a great group of students working with us. They make our job so much more pleasurable (not to mention easy). Dinner was wonderful too. It was a nice change from the usual dining hall fare that we usually deal with.

After dinner, Eileen and I went upstairs to the last Sea Social of the voyage but didn’t stay for too long. I didn’t recognize a single song that they played during the 20 minutes that I sat there. Isn’t that a sign of old age? When did I get old? I thought that by having nieces and nephews share their music with me I was staying current with the songs but apparently it doesn’t work that way. I’m so depressed. I need chocolate. I went back to my cabin to listen to my niece’s song list on my iPod and inject some youthful vitality back into me…although I think the chocolate will work better. Maybe I need some Botox too. Nah, just chocolate.

Rolling Stones and Snoop Dog - 24 October

2007-10-24T14:59:00.000-04:00

Well, it wasn’t Taco Day again so things were a little less bright than they were yesterday but, still, it was a pretty good day. It was pretty much the same ol, same ol as the other days except for the sea social tonight. I think (maybe) that I explained that the rooms on each deck are divided into seas to separate them from each other (Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, etc) The faculty have the nickname of the Dead Sea : )

Each of the seas gets one dance night in the faculty staff lounge and they usually have themes. For instance, a 80s dance, an all white dance or, like tonight, a 60s theme. This was one that the faculty knew something about and since everyone is encouraged to come in costume, they did! Lots of tie dye and scarves around the head. Whenever there was a 1960s song, the faculty would dominate the dance floor and all but push the students to a corner. However, the DJ had some weird thoughts that some contemporary dance music should be played too so one moment we would be losing ourselves in the Rolling Stones and the next Snoop Dog would be playing. It was weird. What was even weirder was to see the faculty members trying to dance to Snoop Dog. Actually, it was down right frightening!

I hope that Laura, Shelby, Kelly, and Wyatt (my nieces and nephew) won’t disown me when I admit to dancing to Snoop Dog too. I was caught up in the moment and couldn’t help myself. Fortunately, for their sake, there are no pictures of this event and they won’t be psychologically scarred by the sight of their aunt dancing.

Tomorrow is another “no classes” day so the students can get caught up on their school work. Eileen and I will be working the hours ourselves. Yuck. However, we are closing down the library for a few hours in the evening so that we can treat them the special dinner that I mentioned several posts ago. We are really looking forward to this and I hope to have some pictures of our students at the dinner to show you tomorrow.

Taco Day - 23 October

2007-10-23T10:47:00.000-04:00

It was Taco Day today and it has been a wonderful day. Taco Day only comes around once in a blue moon and everyone is overjoyed when it happens. It means food that everyone loves is available in the dining hall and not the drek that is usually served. It ranks right up there with Cheeseburger Day! I tell you, the ship revolves around what is being served in the dining hall and is of paramount importance. To make matters even more wonderful, they were serving chocolate cake as the dessert with the tacos. Life doesn't get much better than that!

I got a lot of organizing done in the library too. I think my students are ready to shoot me because they can't find anything now but it looks wonderful! Eileen and I are also going through the reference collection and removing books that are no longer relevant or useful. It's a tedious process but it is desperately needed. We are going to have quite the collection of books to donate to charity at the end of the voyage.

Eileen gave a lecture this evening to the faculty, staff, and lifelong learners about Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging). I attended to give moral support and became fascinated by the topic and the photos that she showed from an Ikebana meeting she attended in Japan. This is an art form that requires a great deal of patience and forbearance. I don't think I'll be signing up for classes but I'm glad I know more about it now.

So, all in all, it's been a great day! God Bless Taco Day!

Blah - 22 October

2007-10-22T12:27:00.000-04:00

This has been a very blah day and the food in the dining hall was totally gross today. I tried to get some stuff done in the library today and felt like warmed-over pond scum so I left the students in charge and went back to my cabin for a nap. It helped a lot but then we had a life boat drill this evening and I stood in the heat for 45 minutes dressed in warm clothes (it’s required) and life vest packed together with 700 of my closest friends. Not good, dear, not good. The upshot of all of this whining is to say that the blog is going to be an abysmal failure tonight. Many apologies and I promise to be back to my usual snarky self tomorrow. Right now I’m going to curl up in bed with my favorite author, Diana Gabaldon, and make like a hermit for the rest of the evening. Hope you are all having a much better day!

Crew Talent Show - 21 October

2007-10-22T12:24:00.000-04:00

The executive dean made the announcement this morning that we would be rearranging our class schedules and other events on the ship to accommodate security concerns. Apparently, we will soon be passing through an area that is rife with pirates – for real! Therefore, the ship will be going full speed for two days because speed is our best defense against these brigands (sorry, been reading too much). We also have water canons on the boat just in case they get too close to us. We were supposed to be having our Sea Olympics on one of the days we are going fast and they don’t want so many people out on the decks during this time because the pirates carry AK47s. We aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto!

We have also been dealing with rumors up the ying yang about not going to Turkey. Due to the unrest in the area (which I know next to nothing about since we aren’t reading news here too much) people are thinking that it isn’t safe for us to port in Istanbul so everybody is spreading rumors about where we might go. There are some real humdingers too: Greece, Morocco, Italy, Ireland, and even Sweden have been mentioned. The executive dean is getting quite exasperated by these persistent rumors and told everyone in no uncertain terms that we are still going to Turkey. But I think people are having some fun thinking of other ports we could go to so the rumors continue to circulate around the ship.

Tonight we had a crew talent show. Every voyage, they put on a show for the students to raise money for projects and assistance for the crew. They were great! There’s a lot of talent in the crew – especially dancers. The crowd went wild when the dining crew did a dance. The cabin stewards also got together and did a song that was great. The students feel really close to them since we get to see them on a daily basis. It was mentioned last night that there are 197 crew members on the ship although we only see about 60 of them regularly. The show generated over $9700 for the crew which was a record amount. The show was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time.

11 Days to Egypt - 20 October

2007-10-22T12:22:00.000-04:00

It’s the first day of our longest period of time at sea. Eleven days between India and Egypt. It’s been very quiet on the ship today. People are staying in their rooms and are either sleeping or decompressing from India. The general consensus about

India

is that it is an extreme country: extreme poverty, extreme beauty, and extreme emotions. I think everyone needs some time to come to terms with everything that they’ve seen and experienced – including me.

There wasn’t much activity in the library today as a result of the lack of students. It’s given Eileen and me a nice chance to get some projects done in there that our jam-packed schedule hasn’t allowed. We are also taking the opportunity to treat our student employees to a special dinner next week. The ship provides elegant private dinners for people who sign up ahead of time and are willing to pay $25/person. Eileen and I are going to treat our students to the dinner as a thank you for all of their hard work. It was fun to see their expressions when we told them about it.

I think we are all in need of a pick-me-up now. We are officially half-way through the voyage according to the calendar. I have to admit that there are some aspects to ship life that are starting to get to me with the food being the biggest issue! The prospect of facing the meals that are served in the dining hall is depressing. The food isn’t bad but it isn’t good either. A lot of students are living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches right now. Fortunately, we have a grill on the top deck that serves hamburgers and pizzas but that gets expensive after a while. The thought of eating this food for seven more weeks is horrible. Everybody talks about their favorite meals and what they are going to eat when they return home.

Other than that, not much has been happening today.

Chennai - 19 October

2007-10-21T01:14:00.000-04:00

After collapsing into bed last night at midnight, I slept until 9:30 and it felt wicked good. I felt human again! I dawdled around my room taking a shower (despite the water conservation efforts), getting dressed and trying to sort through the explosion of clothes and assorted items that I had flung around last night while getting ready for bed. I finally made it out of my room in time for lunch and then decided it was a perfect opportunity to visit a few markets in Chennai. I had gotten the name of a craft shop that I had visited with my friend Aruna last time I was in Chennai five years ago and it was a perfect place to buy gifts so I was determined to hire a rickshaw and go back there by myself. Note to Mum and Dad: I was careful and told people where I was going and when I would be back and I made sure that my money was in my mitten : ) so you don’t need to worry that your youngest daughter has turned into a flaming idiot.

As I left the ship and went down the road between the warehouses, I was approached by a driver of a bicycle taxi (there’s probably a more accurate word for it but I can’t think of it right now). He offered me a ride to where ever I needed to go but since the craft store was on the other side of the city I didn’t think the bicycle was the way to go and wanted a rickshaw. I told him that and he assured me that he had a rickshaw ready to be used on the other side of the port security checkpoint which was a ¼ mile away. We negotiated a price and I hopped into the bicycle ready to be taken to the rickshaw. I felt rather ridiculous in the back of the bike because there was a cover over it and I was too tall to be able to sit up straight. It’s tough to act dignified when you are hunched forward. As we were about to leave, another taxi driver with a minivan started to negotiate with my driver in Tamil so I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. The upshot of the conversation is that they struck a deal, both of them would take me shopping all over the city to various shops (including the one I wanted) all afternoon for one set fee of $10. It was probably more than I really needed to pay but as I have mentioned previously, I don’t like to do hard core haggling so I made a counteroffer (which was still too high, I’m sure) and they agreed. I hopped into to the back of the minivan and the two men got into the front. After the checkpoint, we zoomed off to the first shop.

This is where I need to explain the system that has been set up between the shop owners and the taxi drivers in Chennai. The shop keepers know that every six months the MV Explorer pulls into port with hundreds of people eager to go shopping so they set up a deal with the taxi drivers who wait at the port for us. If the drivers bring the Americans to their shops, then they get a commission. So, even if you aren’t interested in going shopping, the drivers will take you to these stores anyways because they are rewarded for it by the shop owners. If you don’t want to go shopping, it is incredibly frustrating but if you do want to go shopping then you just need to be patient that you’ll eventually get to the place you really want to get to. In the meantime, you see some beautiful items.

At the first shop I was taken to, there were already several Semester at Sea students in the store so I was allowed to walk around in relative peace for a few minutes before a clerk approached me. The other thing you need to know about shopping in Chennai is that the moment you go into a shop or even look interested about going into a shop, you have a clerk stuck by your side the entire time. If you so much as look at something for longer than two seconds they are trying to sell it to you. It’s definitely not the way I like to shop!

This particular store had some beautiful items that I was interested in so I bought a few things and went back to the van and my two drivers. They looked pleased that I had bought something so I took this to mean that they get an extra commission if something is purchased by their prey. On to the next shop which had beautiful textiles, wood carvings and jewelry. I made the fatal error of wandering into the jewelry section first! Before I knew it, I was sitting at a counter with a drink in hand being shown some beautiful rings. I am a very weak person and need an intervention quite desperately. The salesman poured on the charm and flattery and I spent way more time there than I should have. Again, I bought something in the store and when I went back out to my drivers their eyes lit up and they asked me how much I had spent. Say what?! They needed to know how much I had spent in the store in order to get their proper cut of the commission and, if I would be so kind, would I let them photocopy the receipt. I didn’t know whether to be outraged or amused so I went with amused and decided to comply since there was no information on the receipt other than the price. This was an experience that I had never expected!

On to the next store where I was met by a clerk at the door. He immediately oozed around me with flattery and compliments that were so outrageous that it was difficult not to laugh in his face. When he wanted to drape a shawl around my shoulders I protested that I was too hot for that. He responded that I was indeed hot (meaning sexy) and the shawl was a perfect compliment to that. Oh, Gag! I left that store as quickly as possible. My drivers took me to a couple of other stores before we finally got to the craft store that I had originally wanted to go to.

At the end of the afternoon, I was all shopped out with lots of presents for people back home and ready to return to the ship. As we started back to the port, one of the drivers hopped into the back with me. He had done this a couple of times so I didn’t think much of it until he started to ask me for more money. He said that they had taken me to more shops than I had negotiated for and used more gas then they had originally thought they would so I should give them an extra 500 rupees for gas. This started about 10 minutes of argument/haggling as we drove back to the ship. When I didn’t agree to the gas money, they wanted to triple their price. I laughed in their faces at that one and reminded them that they had agreed to take me to many shops and that they were getting a commission out of this too and that I would pay them their original fee. I have to admit that about this time I was wondering if Pete and Jeanne’s youngest daughter really was a flaming idiot for getting into a taxi by herself. But I am relieved to report a happy ending. They ceased with their negotiating during the trip and delivered me to the ship as agreed. They made one last plea for extra money for the few additional shops that we had stopped in (at my request, not theirs). I was so relieved to be safe and free to leave, that I relented (I tell you that I am weak!) and gave them a few extra rupees. They were happy with the outcome which probably means that I paid them too much. As I walked away, they were already approaching other victims who needed a ride into the city. I probably should have warned the students but the best teacher is experience, right?

The rest of the evening was totally anticlimactic after my afternoon experiences. Dinner and getting caught up with my blog (even though the internet was down all day). We pulled out of port at 11:30 pm and that was the end of India.

Update on Lost Passport

2007-10-21T01:12:00.000-04:00

Hi Everybody,

It’s been brought to my attention that I didn’t tell you the outcome of the student who lost her passport so here it is…

After she informed me that her passport was back in Jaipur and the telephones calls had been made, our primary concern was to get her back to Chennai with us. Fortunately, she had other identification with her and the airline allowed her on the plane. When we got back to the ship, the Director of Student Life was there to greet us and told us that the passport had not been found on the bus and that she needed to talk to the student immediately. I wasn’t privy to that conversation but I hope there was a reality check inserted into the talk at some point.

The next morning (Friday and the day we were to leave the port), the director and the student stopped at a place to get her photo taken and then went on to the US Consulate here in Chennai. From what I heard later, it was a very simple process and she had a new passport in hand in 20 minutes – in India no less! I was absolutely astonished that it didn’t take all day to be issued a new passport. This student was unbelievably lucky that she didn’t get left behind in India! So, that’s the happy ending to some amazing stupidity.

Back to Chennai - 18 October

2007-10-20T12:13:00.000-04:00

2:30 am = OH! MY! GOD! My alarm clock went off at that hour and the pain that the sound inflicted was intense. I had gotten three hours of sleep and I definitely needed more! We were getting the 4:30 train back to Delhi and needed to be out of the hotel by 3:30 to make sure we got there on time. As the leader I needed to be in the lobby by 3:15 to check students as they came down to the lobby. The agony!

Unfortunately, many of the students had decided that going to bed last night was a waste of time so they stayed up and partied. It turns out that the majority of them went to bed at some point and didn’t get up in time to be in the lobby by 3:30. Jessica and I had to make many phone calls to the rooms even though they all had wake-up calls. By 3:50 we had all but 3 students loaded onto the buses and made the decision to leave them behind so that the rest of us wouldn’t miss the train (they had been warned that this was a consequence of not being someplace at the agreed upon time so I only felt mildly guilty that I was leaving them there). We got to the train station with a few minutes to spare. All of sudden there was a flurry of activity when the three missing students showed up. They had rushed down to the lobby several minutes after we had left and had gotten a taxi to the station. They were three lucky students because we were heading all the way back to Chennai today which included the train trip and the plane trip. If they hadn’t gotten to the station in the morning they would have been handling their own travel arrangements.

Once on the train we discovered that we had sleeping berths for the six hour trip to Delhi. Given the gawd awful hour that we had gotten up, this was greeted with great joy and relief. We quickly settled into our respective beds and some much needed sleep.

Six hours later we pulled into the Delhi train station and eventually made our way to the buses after the tour guides finally figured out where they were located. As we drove through the city, the tour guide told us there are two parts to the city – Old Delhi and New Delhi. Old Delhi was dirty, crowded and chaotic. New Delhi was clean, much less crowded and organized. It was odd to experience. We drove past the Parliament House, Indira Gandhi’s memorial, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, and other notable places. Unfortunately, we didn’t stop at any of them due to time constraints. However, we made a 15 minute stop to visit the place where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. It’s time to just go with the flow again. However, I feel compelled to share the experience with you so here is a picture of the path he took (notice the footprints) before being shot (the small pagoda with the marker in the distance). Now you too have experienced Gandhi’s last moments.

Back on the bus and into the traffic for another hour before we reached the restaurant for lunch. Given that it was 1:00 pm and we hadn’t eaten since 3:30 am we were a bit hungry. Another quick lunch and we were hustled onto the bus to visit the Baha’i Temple which was built in 1986 and shaped like a lotus blossom. We were given 10 minutes to go inside and see the interior. I had had enough by this time and contented myself with some exterior shots and went back to the bus.

Back on the bus, we drove for a couple of hours before reaching the airport for our 5:30 flight back to Chennai. Right about the time we pulled into the airport area, one of the students sitting in back of me tapped me on the shoulder and told me that her passport was on a bus we used yesterday in Jaipur. When we made the stop at the market, she had tucked her passport between the seats for safe keeping and then forgot about it when she got back on the bus. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh! I informed the tour guide of the problem and he looked incredulous that anyone could be that stupid and then frantically started making phone calls to his supervisors to see if the bus could be tracked down and searched.

We went into the airport and I was greeted by the regional supervisor for the tourist agency handling our trip. He quickly took our tickets and went to get our boarding passes. We were cutting it rather close with the time since it was about 4:45 and the plane would soon start boarding. We hung out in the waiting area for about 20 minutes and used the time to contact the Dean on duty on the ship about the passport situation. We heard the call for boarding our plane but the supervisor hadn’t returned with our tickets yet. He finally reappeared with an airline representative whose job it was to hustle our sorry selves through security and out to the gate, poor man. Security was the typically slow process. I was at the end of the line and when I came through the airline agent looked frantic and informed me that despite our tight deadline to get to the plane some of our students were standing at the McDonald’s counter buying food. Aaaaarrrrrrgggghhh! I quickly ran over to them and told them to get their butts moving and to get to the gate immediately. I must have had a ferocious expression on my face because they moved. I certainly felt ferocious at that point.

We made it to the plane with three minutes to spare. We hadn’t even settled into our seats when the plane started to move and then sat on the tarmac for 20 minutes waiting for clearance. This wasn’t good for one big reason – we only had 40 minutes to change planes in Bangalore. Sure enough, when we landed in Bangalore, our connecting plane was due to leave in 20 minutes. Fortunately, we were on a very efficient airline and once the officials learned that 65 people on this plane needed one that was loading, they had the buses take us directly to that plane rather than to the terminal. Thank goodness because if we had missed the connection I would have had a total meltdown since it was the last flight to Chennai of the day. The students must have figured out that I was totally stressed out because they were incredibly nice to me and offered to help out however they could. It certainly restored my faith in them after the passport and McDonalds incidents.

We landed in Chennai at 9:30 and were greeted by another agent from the travel agency. We quickly walked (stampeded) out to the buses and were soon on our way back to the ship. It took us an hour to get there and everyone was keeping an eye out for other Semester at Sea buses along the way because two large groups were due to return to the ship at the same time. This translates into a long wait to get onto the ship since they check all bags and luggage as we board the ship (contraband, dontcha know). Thankfully, we had a speed demon for a bus driver and we beat out four buses to the dock although one had arrived ahead of us. It only took us ten minutes to get through the line and onto the ship and then everyone scattered like cockroaches to get to their rooms and jump into the shower. We were supposed to be conserving water while in port in India but we were so filthy that to conserve water at that point would have been a crime against humanity – my humanity, in particular.

But before jumping into the shower and going to bed, I took a few minutes to e-mail my family to let them know that I was still alive and safe. After that, I sprinted back to my cabin, showered, and dove into bed as fast as I could. It had been a very long day!

Jaipur, India - 17 October

2007-10-20T11:56:00.000-04:00

After having the luxury of “sleeping in” this morning to the very late hour of 6:00 am we loaded onto the bus all cheery and chipper…not really but it was a nice fantasy. We were off to the Amber Fort for a morning of cultural enlightenment. This was the morning that we were supposed to have our elephant rides (I’m still bitter). Unfortunately, there was a festival at the fort and the crowds were swarming everywhere. I think the bus ran over a couple of people as we navigated the narrow streets leading to the fort and if we didn’t then it’s due to a major miracle.

At the end of the public road, we disembarked from the buses and loaded onto jeeps (this was where the elephants would have happened). The jeep ride was enjoyable but how could it ever compete with an elephant? OK – I’m going to take a deep breath now and let go of my elephant issues.

When we reached the fort we had a 45 minute tour of the place and marveled at the architecture and the details of the rooms. One room in particular had tiny convex mirrors embedded in the wall so that when a candle was lit in the room it was reflected everywhere. We were given some time to ourselves so we wandered around and enjoyed the view of the countryside, the melee of people in the square below and history of the place. My favorite part of the visit was watching all of the people. The women were so colorfully dressed and their children were adorable so I got permission to take a couple of photos from a family that was visiting the fort.

After the fort, we drove back into the city of Jaipur to visit a carpet shop where we were given several demonstrations on the making of carpets and also batik fabric. It was a nice photo opportunity too. It was a fascinating process but it turned into yet another infomercial because we were led inside to the showroom where we were given the opportunity to buy their products. We were finally allowed to escape and we returned to the hotel for a very quick lunch because we had to go to a gem store for another “demonstration” and shopping opportunity. Arrgh! After that we were allowed to wander through a real market and haggle with the shop keepers. I’m actually getting better at it although every once in a while, I’ll stop to ask myself why I’m negotiating a better price when in reality it amounts to just a few cents difference. I’m sure I pay much more than necessary because I just don’t like to deal with the hassle.

As we drove back to the hotel at the end of the day, I took some photos of the city and all of the activity that was going on. Indian cities are fascinating places to visit but I don’t know how I could ever live in an environment like this. It’s an incredibly intense place to be. We had two hours at the hotel to relax and unwind a bit before going out to dinner at the Alsisar Haveli which was the very elegant residence of a raj before the system of nobility was abolished in India. The family turned their home into a luxurious hotel and restaurant. We enjoyed a delicious meal and then had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the hotel, Gaj Singh. He was incredibly gracious and charming and agreed to talk to all of the students at their tables. It was a very special evening for all of us.

The Taj Mahal - 16 October

2007-10-20T11:31:00.000-04:00

We got up at the obscenely early hour of 4:00 after getting three hours of sleep (insert whimper here). We stumbled down to the lobby with the rest of the bleary-eyed participants, collected our boxed breakfast and boarded the bus for a half-hour drive through the dark streets to the train station. We have spent less than 12 hours in Delhi and I’ve seen exactly nothing of it because it’s been dark the entire time.

We arrived at the train station and had no problem getting all 65 students to the proper location which was a great relief. I had visions of people getting separated and missing the train. We settled onto the train with our boxed breakfast which was icky but necessary since we wouldn’t be getting fed again for seven hours (insert another whimper here). The train ride was two hours long and just about everyone fell asleep right away. I stayed awake and watched the countryside go by. It was primarily farm land and it was fascinating to see the people at work and how they lived.

We arrived in Agra and managed to make our way to the buses with much confusion and commotion around us. It took us a while to get situated on the buses because our body count was off. I had to take a roll call and convince the tour guides they had counted incorrectly after everybody was present and accounted for. This doesn’t bode well.

We traveled through the streets of Agra to reach the Taj Mahal and it took us awhile to do so because of the sheer number of vehicles, rickshaws, bicycles and people. I had my nose pressed to the window the entire time – metaphorically speaking of course since I am too dignified to do that in reality (is anybody believing that?).

We arrived at the drop off area for the Taj Mahal and were immediately besieged by beggars and street vendors. They press in on you and don’t let up at all. We made our way through the outer park with the vendors following us every step of the way. It was a very odd parade of people.

We finally made it to the gate without losing anyone and the women were told to stand on one side of the line and the men on the other. It soon because clear that the security people were doing bag- and body-searches. They had very strict rules about what could be brought onto the grounds in order to ensure the protection of the structure. We finally made it to the arched entrance and then we could see it. The Taj Mahal. I am happy to report that it is every bit as beautiful as the photos.

There was a frenzy of clicking as everyone, including me, took photos of the Taj. The tour guides gathered us together long enough to take a group photo, provide the background information and then they let us go. Everyone scattered and I started walking around by myself. It was such a beautiful monument that I just wanted to sit in one place and absorb it. I did that for a moment and quickly realized that standing in the hot sun kind of detracts from the enjoyment of said moment and quickly moved on. I donned the elegant booties that everyone is required to wear to protect the marble floors from dirt and stains (see the photo). I went into the building and saw the tomb of the wife, Mumtaz Mahal, for whom the Taj was built. Her husband, Shah Jahan, was laid to rest beside her although there is a story about his death that will come later. Some background information about the Taj – Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth and, as she died, told her husband to build a tribute to her. So Shah Jahan spent the next 22 years having the Taj built. It was finished in 1653, cost 41 million rupees and 500 kilos of gold, and required the labor of 22,000 workers. That’s quite a response to a death wish!

No photography was allowed inside the tomb so I can’t share the images with you but I can say that although it was beautiful, the pride and joy of the structure is definitely the exterior. I walked around for an hour soaking in the architecture (not to mention the sun). One thing that struck me about the Taj Mahal is that you always see one view of the Taj and it’s from the front. I never gave much though about the back of it and that’s because it’s on a small cliff and there isn’t much back there other than a river off in the distance. It’s totally unremarkable but I’m going to include a photo so that you get to see a side of the Taj Majal that is never in the tour guides.

When the hour was up we walked back down the boulevard through the gauntlet of street vendors and beggars and finally back to the bus. A quick head count and we were off to Fort Agra which was also built by some guy named Akbar between 1565 and 1573 and improved upon by Shah Jahan later on. It was an interesting fort with a wonderful view of the Taj Mahal in the distance. It was also famous for being turned into a prison for Shah Jahan. According to my tour guide, the son of Shah was seriously peeved that his father “wasted” so much time building the Taj Mahal when he should have been acting like a ruler. Talk about role reversal. So he imprisoned his father in the fort although he made sure that his father had a nice view of the Taj to enjoy from his quarters. He was imprisoned for eight years and finally died, at which point the son buried his body by the river rather than the Taj and didn’t inform anyone that his father had died. Somebody had issues! It was many years later that Shah Jahan’s body was finally moved to the Taj Mahal to be laid to rest next to his wife. The tour guide also pointed out that the son was very rigid and inflexible (no kidding) and was such a terrible ruler that he destroyed a centuries-old dynasty. What a moron!

We walked around the fort for a while and then regrouped at the gate and went back to our buses. We were all famished at this point and, fortunately, lunch was next on the agenda. We had lunch at a hotel and I just had to take a picture of the doorman. His mustache was a work of art. After lunch we got back onto the buses for a six hour ride to Jaipur. About two hours into the trip, we made a stop at a place called Fatehpur Sikri which was also built by Akbar (of the Fort Agra fame) in 1571. It was built in honor of the famous Sufi saint, Salim Christi. Huh? I have no idea what a Sufi saint is or why Salim was famous but we’ll go with the flow and enjoy the architecture. Our tour guide pointed out all the ways that Akbar blended the Hindu and Islamic styles together which made for some very interesting and beautiful detail work in the buildings.

Back to the buses where everybody zonked out for the next four hours. I managed to take an all-to-brief nap but, for the most part, enjoyed the scenery of the countryside. I was particularly interested in some tall concrete stacks in the middle of the fields and was told that there were brick kilns (he called it another word that I couldn’t understand let alone spell). There were a lot of them in one particular area and we saw many tractors pulling large loads of bricks down the road. It soon grew too dark to see the passing landscape and I nodded off for a few minutes before we finally reached the city of Jaipur at 9:30. We were all exhausted and hungry (again) so when we pulled up to the hotel we immediately ran for the restaurant and then went up to our rooms as soon as possible. We have a leisurely start to tomorrow at the very late hour of 6:00 am because the tour guides want to get us to the Amber Fort before all of the crowds.

Chennai, India - 15 October

2007-10-20T11:26:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Chennai this morning around 7:30. I had lovely visions about sleeping in this morning but my brain wouldn’t cooperate. As soon as I floated into semi-awareness, my brain starting working and thinking and wouldn’t shut off. Very frustrating! So I got up and took a shower and got dressed in my Indian clothes (tunic style top, loose pants and scarf) and went to breakfast. I got a lot of stares as I strolled through the halls to the dining room. I brought these clothes along for the trip because they are so cool and comfortable and I need all the help I can get in India with that. The unfortunate side effect is that they also make me stand out as an oddity to both the Americans and Indians. I’m going to get stared at a lot during my stay here so I might as well get used to it.

My predictions from yesterday about the customs process were completely off. It was one of the more efficient immigration processes that we’ve had. We had our passports in hand by 11:30 which was well before any of the organized trips were to leave. My tour was split into two groups due to airline reservations. The first group had 50 people in it and they were leaving at 1:30 for the airport. Those poor people had the raw end of the deal today – especially Jessica, the bus leader and fellow staff member. She was responsible for getting 50 people herded into the airport for a flight to Bangalore with a three-hour layover and then had to make sure everyone was on the flight to Delhi. They were to arrive at 11:15 pm. My group, however, consisted of 15 people, left at 3:30 and had a direct flight to Delhi arriving at 9:30 pm. Not the least bit equitable to say the least. To make matters worse, Jessica is only supposed to be the bus leader not the trip leader (that would be moi) which means less responsibility because she doesn’t get as much of a discount as me. I get a 50% discount on the price of a field trip and she gets 40%.

The drive through Chennai to the airport was an eye-opener for everyone. We drove through areas where the poverty was overwhelming and all the sights and sounds assaulted the senses. First impressions of India are always a slap in the face. We arrived at the airport and, after a brief wait, boarded the plane. It was a 2 ½ hour flight and everybody napped or surfed the television channels on our personal sets. We soon landed in Delhi, collected our luggage and stragglers and managed to locate our tour guide – Davinda. As he led us out to the bus, I was so grateful that I only had 15 people in my group. I’m feeling a great deal of guilt about Jessica leading 50 people.

It took us about 40 minutes to get to the hotel. It would have been faster if it hadn’t been rush hour at 10:00 pm. Davinda explained that Delhi has over 200 call centers for credit card, insurance and computer companies that primarily serve the U.S. So Delhi goes to work at night when the U.S. has their daytime.

Towards the end of the bus ride we drove through some very posh areas that Davinda explained were the locations of the embassies and the “old” money of Delhi. The average cost of a home in this area is $20 million US Dollars. Wowsers. I was sorry it was dark and couldn’t gawk at them.

We pulled up to the hotel and were greeted by two doormen dressed in elegant Indian garb. We walked into the lobby and had garlands of marigolds draped around our necks and were immediately served cold beverages. I love this hotel! They also had a sign in flowers welcoming the Semester at Sea group. A very nice touch.

The hotel staff had our room keys ready (unlike China) and soon everyone was heading in different directions and I was free to find my room. After many wrong turns and hikes down very long corridors (this place is huge!), I found my room in the hinter lands and walked into a very elegant room. Have I mentioned that I love this hotel?

I hung out in the room for a couple of hours and then went downstairs to the lobby to wait for Jessica’s group. They finally arrive at 12:30 and we got them their room keys as quickly as possible – especially since we are facing a 4:30 wake-up call. We have to meet the bus at 5:00 so that we can catch a 6:00 m train to Agra. What a waste of a gorgeous hotel. We get to spend three hours sleeping in it tonight and then leave. I am not looking forward to greeting the day at 4 freaking am. I hope I get at least a little bit of sleep tonight. Three hours if I’m lucky. Whoopee.

One Day to India - 14 October

2007-10-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

According to the ship’s television station we are at Latitude 12 degrees 13.6 North and Longitude 082 degrees 27.05 E. Basically, I’m interpreting that to mean that we are damn close to India since I haven’t the slightest clue what it actually does mean. We set our clocks back ½ hour tonight since the time zone in Chennai (and I assume all of India) is ½ hour off of everybody else’s time zone (except some island in Canada that only polar bears visit). Can you tell that I haven’t been doing any research on this subject? I’m such a bad librarian. My library card is going to be revoked if I keep this up.

The Global Studies test was this morning and, as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, I leapt upon the opportunity to have fast internet access. I thought I would have at least an hour of this bliss, but the s&^%$@ students whizzed through the test so quickly that many of them were done in ½ hour. Grrrrr! I managed to get my blog loaded, e-mail my family, and quasi load some Vietnam photos before the internet slowed down to the pace of a turtle. It was nice while it lasted though.

Activity in the library was brisk after the test because we were the only location where the answers to the test were kept. It was fascinating to watch the students go over the answers. I learned a lot of new words today – and not necessarily words that can be shared on a blog! The students had some pretty strong reactions to how the questions were phrased. They weren’t happy, to say the least.

After dinner, we had the logistical pre-port where, once again, they try to put the fear of Shiva (we are going to India after all) into everyone. We got the lecture on personal safety, pick pocketers, beggars, STDs, diarrhea, drinking, and so much more. By the time the speakers get done, everyone just wants to stay on the ship. I’m thankful that this isn’t my first visit to India and know what the reality of the country truly is. I had such a wonderful visit with my friend Aruna five years ago. It was the perfect introduction to this amazing country and I’m thankful it was with her and her family. I know this visit is going to be nothing like that one and need to keep an open mind and not compare all of the experiences. Of course, that is easier said than done. One thing is absolutely for sure though – I am going to enjoy the food! I can’t wait to get off this ship and dive into the food of India. The rapture! The bliss! The joy! Excuse me while I compose myself.

We were warned that customs is going to take a very long time tomorrow. Many of the trips have flights that they need to catch so I hope it doesn’t mess things up too much. My flight should be okay since we don’t have to leave the ship until 3:30 but you never know. We’ve learned that customs in any country is a slow process but with the bureaucracy of India, I’m afraid that it will be twice as bad. Time to pray to Shiva again.

In the meantime, it’s time to get some packing done and make sure that I don’t leave behind anything important – like my anti-cranky snacks or extra batteries for the camera. I won’t have internet access until Friday, October 19^th but I promise to take lots of notes and will faithfully record it in the blog when I get back. See you on the 19th.

Preparing for India - 13 October

2007-10-13T23:32:00.000-04:00

We are three days away from India and everyone is talking about their plans and how to prepare. I am a trip leader for an excursion to Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. We had our meeting tonight for the leaders and it pretty much sucked all of the anticipation out of the excursion. We are going to be dealing with a lot of varied travel arrangements, early morning hours (we’re talking 4:00 am departure time) and a lot of students. We were also told the heartbreaking news that our elephant ride in Jaipur was cancelled. Apparently, there is a festival in the city and the elephants don’t like the crowds and get antsy (is that a word that can be applied to elephants?). So, we are replacing the elephants with jeeps. How wrong is that? I’ll tell you. It's very wrong! My will to experience life to the fullest is just a mere flicker now. Forget the Taj Mahal and all the other wonders of India. I want my elephants! Now that I’ve ridden an elephant, I want more! Please excuse me while I take a moment to pout…. There. All done. Now on to the other news of the day.

Tomorrow is a test day for the Global Studies course. This means that all 750 students will be taking a test at 9:15 am tomorrow morning. I am gleeful about this for one reason only. No one will be on the internet! They will all be taking a test. I will be able to blog and e-mail at warp speed. I’m all giddy just at the thought of it. You have no idea how frustrating it is to wait for page to load for 10 minutes – well, my father would since he has had to use dial-up for too many years but the rest of you don’t know how I suffer. I have dreams about instant and reliable internet connections. It’s pitiful!

Well, that’s enough whining for one night. On to other completely unrelated topics. I learned some fascinating information today about alcohol consumption on the ship. How’s that for a non sequitor! For each voyage, the planners (for lack of a better word) figure that each person will consume $2.00 of alcohol per day. On this voyage, we have only consumed $.33 of alcohol per day. That includes both faculty and students. Go figure. From a business point of view, that must be bad news. From a behavioral point of view, Thank God! I can’t imagine what it must be like on the ship with everyone consuming $2.00 of alcohol per day. Boggles the mind.

Speaking of alcohol (much better segue), we had a faculty, staff, lifelong learners reception tonight in the faculty lounge. We have these every once in a while when life on the ship gets to be a grind. Basically, it’s a reason for everyone to gather together and let their hair down (metaphorically since many of the men have lost theirs). Everybody has a great time and it’s a nice opportunity to talk about things other than work. Other than the devastating elephant news, it’s been a pretty good day.

Introduction to the Ship: the rest of it - 12 October

2007-10-12T11:42:00.001-04:00

I gave an overview of the ship yesterday with photos of my cabin. Today I’m going to show you the rest of the ship although it is very difficult to capture the true feeling of the ship. When I first arrived I was amazed at how small it was. I don’t know where I got the idea that the ship was going to be bigger but there you go.

Let’s start with the library since that is the most important function on the ship (and that is a totally unbiased opinion!). The first photo is our student employee, Becky, who graciously posed for the picture and has a wonderful sense of humor. The second photo shows the book shelves. The information desk is the bar of the casino (the previous life of this ship). We store the books that are on reserve in the cabinets where the alcohol used to be stored. To get behind the information desk it is necessary to duck under a partition to get behind it. I have a horrible time with my ducking skills and have bashed my head several times. Eileen is almost as tall as me and also has difficulty with the ducking part. Maybe we need to work on our flexibility but I think being shorter would have been a big help.

The computer lab is also part of the casino and is located opposite to the library on the 6th deck. It also has some book shelves for the library where the lending library for the books that people donate for general reading (bestsellers, etc). This is one of the busiest places on the ship even though a majority of the students brought laptops because it has the printers in this area and also the best wireless reception.

The Union is also in this area. This is a photo taken before Global Studies which is the class that all participants on the ship must attend including faculty, staff, and life long learners (our adult passengers). This is where we have a lot of other events too such as the pre-port meetings for logistics and culture. It holds approximately 300 students and since we have over 700 students not all of them can fit in their (obviously) so they have satellite locations in classrooms where they can watch the classes and pre-ports on television monitors.

This is the store on the ship. There are two areas although I’m only showing one photo. This is the photo of the clothing shop where they sell all the S@S paraphernalia that you could hope for – sweatshirts, tees-shirts, shorts, sweats, baseball hats, etc. They do a brisk business in there. On the other side of the hall is the store where necessary items are sold such as toiletries (a limited selection) paper, pens, water bottles, duffle bags, and a few computer supplies. Next to this store is a small room where the textbooks are sold for the first week of the voyage. After that, it becomes storage.

As we continue down the hall of the 6th deck we go past several classrooms that are pretty basic, not to mention crowded when the students are in class. At the aft of the ship is the smaller of the two dining rooms for the participants. It is called the Garden Lounge and has an outside area where people can take their meals if they don’t mind the wind, heat and humidity. There are several more classrooms tucked into the Garden Lounge.

Down one level is the purser’s desk where we pay bills, get room keys and our passports. This area is an atrium and directly below the computer lab and library. The wireless access is excellent in this area so there are frequently people sitting in the seats working on their laptops. Deck 5 also has the largest dining hall.

Up we go to the seventh deck where the pool and snack bar is located. I’ve only been in the pool once when we were sailing between ports in Japan. It’s very crowded when we are at sea. It’s a weird combination between sunbathing space and study space. The majority of the sunbathers are reading class assignments while they are out there. This area also has the snack bar and grill. This is where everybody goes to get their hamburger and pizza fix. I have to admit that I’ve needed a couple of those fixes myself. The dining hall food is starting to wear me down. I’ve been dreaming of Christian’s Pizza for the last several weeks now. (For those of you who don’t live in the Charlottesville area, Christian’s pizza has gourmet pizza that is outrageously good). When I get back to Charlottesville, I’ve already made my friend, Tina, promise to go to Christian’s with me so that I may gorge myself on their bounty.

The seventh deck also has the spa although I’ve never gone in there. It offers hair cuts, manicures, pedicures, facials and massages. I don’t think I’m going to be using their services while I’m on the ship. The hair is just going to get really long and the fingernails and toenails are totally self-service. They’ll just have to do without my money. Which is a nice segue to explaining how the finances are worked on this ship.

When we are buying something on the ship, we use our ID card as a credit card. So, when we are buying our shirts, sodas, pizzas, or using the medical services, it all gets charged to our account. They bill us three times during the voyage. The first time is after we do the second half of the pre-sale trips (that’s an outrageous bill to get), the second is being billed right now, and the third one is at the end of the voyage. They may sneak another one in there at some point but those are the times that I know about. At the beginning of the voyage we bring our credit cards to the purser’s desk and sign forms giving them permission to bill our accounts to these cards. It is way too easy to lose track of what we are charging to our accounts.

This is a summary of the most interesting parts of the ship. For those of you who know my e-mail address and have questions, please feel free to contact me and ask and I'll include them in future posts. Ciao.

Introduction to the Ship: My Cabin - 11 October

2007-10-11T07:22:00.001-04:00

Now that we are a month into the voyage I finally have time to share the ship with you. First - to give you an overview of the ship. The MV Explorer has seven decks although I’ve never seen the 1st deck which is restricted to the crew. The second deck is primarily for the crew too although that is where the medical clinic is located along with one of the gangways from the ship. The third and fourth floors are cabins only. My cabin is located on the fourth floor on the outside so that I have a window. I’ll go into more detail on my cabin later. The fifth floor has many functions: the largest dining hall, the purser’s desk, offices for administrative functions, and the cabin suites for the lifelong learners and some faculty members (those who are more senior than me). The sixth floor is dedicated to public spaces. This is where the library is located along with the computer lab, classrooms, the Union which holds about 300 people, a smaller dining facility, and the campus store which sells S@S clothes and other supplies. The seventh deck is where the fancy-schmancy cabins are located. The top administrators and faculty get these cabins (they have their own balconies). The spa is also located on this floor. It’s where passengers can get a hair cut, manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, etc. The seventh deck is where the pool and grill located too. It’s a very popular place with the students.

As I mentioned before, my cabin is on the fourth deck on the outside so I have a large window which makes a huge difference. When we were still in San Diego I had temporary room on the inside and it was like living in a cave. It was alright for a few days but I don’t know that I would have been able to tolerate three + months in there. My cabin has two beds which I pushed together into a double and even though there is a gap in the middle of the bed it is so much nicer to have a larger bed. I brought my own pillow since I had heard from other librarians that the pillows aren’t that good and I’m very glad that I did because the reports are true. I also brought a blanket with me although it wasn’t necessary because they will provide extras when asked. But it does add a nice touch of home in the cabin. I've included this picture even though it is a bit dark to see the details.

Across from my bed is a desk and cabinet structure that runs the length of the room (up to the bathroom at least). I am able to use it as a desk unit when I am typing my blog in my room. The cabinets also contain a refrigerator which can hold up to four bottles of wine (just to give you a sense of the size not my drinking habits). There is a small television on the counter that has 8 channels. One shows the position of the ship and other nautical information that I usually ignore. Another has the announcements for the day which is also ignored by everyone. All other channels are reserved for showing movies. Usually only two channels will be showing anything since the film class has a lot of videos that they are required to watch. When we are in port, they will show popular movies on other channels or, when possible, local channels from the ports which are fascinating. The walls are metal so I’ve put maps and cards on the wall with magnets. I’ve been going through a lot of magnets. I think I need to start editing what I hang up there.

Next to my bed is a curved couch with a small glass table. The couch is very hard and not that comfortable so it mostly serves as a place to sling my clothes and extra pillows at night. I try to get everything picked up in the morning before I leave the cabin so that my cabin steward doesn’t have to deal with it. By the way, I have a cabin steward to makes my bed every morning and cleans the bathroom too. Life is sweet!

I have a closet that holds my clothes, shoes, life vest, and small suitcase so it is a pretty decent size. It was very helpful to bring extra hangers because theirs can’t be used anywhere but in the closet. Next to the closet is a shelf system with a small safe in it. At the beginning of the voyage I thought that the closet and shelves were more storage than I would ever need but as I go on my epic shopping sprees, this space is getting sucked up rather quickly. Fortunately, I’m able to store things under the beds but that is also where I am storing my two large duffel bags and all of the boxes that we saved from the beginning of the voyage and will need at the end.

Across from the closet is the door to the bathroom. By ship standards it is a spacious bathroom. By normal standards it is itsy bitsy. There is some basic storage under the sink where I store my supply of toiletries. The towels are replaced every day although they encourage us to use them more than once to conserve water. They provide Kleenex and toilet paper so there is no shortage of that. At first, the ship also provided small, hotel-sized bottles of shampoo and body wash but after I used it up they never replaced it so it isn’t something to count on for the duration of the voyage. The shower is small enough to make me wish I had taken yoga so that I would be able to contort my body into unnatural positions which is necessary when shaving my legs in the morning (sorry if that is TMI). The shower contains a laundry line in case people want to dry things in their cabin. It’s necessary to provide our own clothes pins though. It isn’t possible to plug anything into the bathroom outlet since it is for shavers only so I keep my electric toothbrush charged by my desk area. There is also a hairdryer in the bathroom since we are not allowed to bring one the ship due to fire hazards. Only appliances that have an automatic turn off are allowed in the cabins.

The faculty and staff are allowed to have their laundry washed whenever needed but the students have specific days organized by which deck they are on. When it is laundry day, they put signs out in the hallway telling everyone to put their laundry bags out the night before. They provide the bags (just like in the hotels) along with an inventory sheet of what you are having washed. It isn’t necessary to have your name or cabin number written in your clothes so I have no idea how they keep track of everything. I pin my socks together as a precaution but I haven’t had anything lost. If we want something ironed, we just indicate it on the inventory sheet. I had my jeans pressed and they’ve never looked so good. The only problem with the laundry is stains. I should have brought some stain/spot remover with me because I had a pair of shorts that got totally muddy and the spots are still visible. C’est la vie. With the lack of days at sea for the past month some of the students haven’t had the opportunity to get their laundry done and they are in desperate need of it. I heard that some of them are buying extra underwear in the countries we are visiting. I’m not sure why they aren’t just washing it out in the sinks but whatever works.

So that's the tour of my cabin. I'll show you the rest of the ship tomorrow. On to the activities of today. We anchored off the coast of Singapore so that we can take on fuel today. We have been able to see the city of Singapore in the far distance and we are all bemoaning the fact that we can't visit it today. We are so greedy!

It's been an outrageously hot and muggy day today. I spent 1/2 hour by the pool today and couldn't stand it. This evening has been much nicer. One of the faculty members invited me to join him and his wife for a glass of wine and a game of cribbage this evening before dinner. They have a room with a balcony so we sat out there drinking wine and enjoying the sight of Singapore and all the ships passing by. It was idyllic. It was fun to play cribbage again too (and I won). Tonight is going to be an early evening in the hope of getting some sleep tonight since I didn't get to sleep until 4:00 am last night. I used the opportunity to get some blogging done since it is much faster in the early hours of the morning. Very painful to get up in the morning though. I need to stop doing that! So here's to a sleep-filled night.

Classes in Session Again - 10 October

2007-10-10T15:26:00.000-04:00

With classes in session again today, our library workers were also back at work. Yippee. After my long day at the library yesterday it gave me a fresh appreciation for their help in the library. I am planning to have a library meeting on the 12^th and have arranged to have an ice cream cake there to thank them for all of their hard work. They have certainly made the library a fun place to work this semester.

I also had dinner with my Semester at Sea nieces and nephew tonight. They are a fun group to spend time with and they had wonderful stories of Thailand to share with me. We meet every time we leave a port so that we can share our experiences and find out what was fun and what should be avoided. My nephew has been giving us a unique perspective of Thailand and Vietnam that the women have not been privy to. Given the sex trade that is rampant in Thailand (and Vietnam), it is rather hard for him to avoid certain encounters. Fortunately, he is a guy with a lot of brains and common sense and doesn’t partake in these opportunities but he has some amazing stories about the countries that leave me with mouth agape. My education is growing in leaps and bounds in areas that I really didn’t want to have expanded.

After dinner I retreated to my cabin to work on my blog some more. I’m glad I’m keeping a record of my experiences but it is rather amazing at how much time it consumes after each port. Since we have six days at sea until India this will be a wonderful opportunity to share some aspects of ship life with you. I’ll try to show you photos of my cabin and other areas of the ship over the next several days. Until then, goodnight

Back on the sea again - 9 October

2007-10-10T15:24:00.000-04:00

We pulled out of Laem Chabang last night at 11:00. It was a rather unremarkable port so I didn’t bother to watch it. For our first day back at sea the students didn’t have classes. This was to help them get caught up on all of their readings and papers. Eileen and I let our students have the day from work too to help them out. Eileen took the first shift so I grabbed the opportunity for some extra sleep.

After lunch I relieve Eileen of duty and helped the hordes of students who flooded the library all day long. After so many ports smushed together in a short period of time, the poor dears were incredibly far behind in their studies and facing many mid-terms and papers this week. I am so happy that I am no longer a student.

I managed to find a few minutes here and there to write in my blog but for the most part, I spent the time helping students find materials for their research. I got a break at dinner and then returned to the library and worked there until we closed at 11:00. It made for a very long day that was lacking in anything blog-worthy. Sorry folks.

Last Day in Bangkok - 08 October

2007-10-10T15:12:00.000-04:00

We all woke up early since we didn’t get much sleep last night. A combination of really hard beds and a too-efficient air conditioner. I can’t believe that I’m complaining that I was too cold given how I’ve been talking about the heat, but there you go. After a leisurely breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we took a taxi to the flower market across town.

We got out of the taxi and just started to wander down the street admiring the profusion of flowers. There were many lotus buds, marigolds and other flowers that were intended as offerings to Buddha. Then we stumbled into an alley where the wholesale market was located and were overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. There was a frenzy of activity and we were constantly in danger of getting mowed down by vendors pushing trolleys and baskets everywhere. We were the only tourists in the place and they just wanted us out of the way. We tried our best to do so but were busy taking pictures and didn’t pay as much attention as we should have. We were lucky to get out of there with all of our toes and shins intact.

After the market we decided to walk to Chinatown to see the shops since they had been recommended by a tour guide. We managed to figure out the right direction to take although we weren’t too sure which road we were really on. The maps of Bangkok are rather fluid, shall we say. One map will call a road by a certain name and another will call it something similar but not really. And neither map will match the street signs. So, basically, it was a big guessing game.

We walked for about ½ hour and didn’t even get close to Chinatown. I started getting cranky around this time due to lack of food and the intense heat. Have I mentioned that I’m very delicate? My brother and sister call it something else. We took a break in a donut shop where I had a donut and a coke which is not a combination that I’ve ever had before but one does what one must to ratchet down the crank-o-meter to acceptable levels.

After the donut break, we decided that we didn’t really need to see the Bangkok Chinatown since we just had a visit to China itself. Flash of genius, yes? So we got some help from a man who spoke English and got a tuk-tuk to take us to the part of town where they sell clothes. Let me tell you that three American women in a tuk-tuk is a very tight fit! Let’s just say that there wasn’t a need for seat belts even if they had been in the vehicle.

We arrived at the place and none of us had a clue where we were. We were going on blind faith at this point. We wandered up and down streets and alley for about an hour while Eileen and Carol found some clothes to buy. I refrained from purchasing anything since the psi on the seams of my duffle bag were reaching stratospheric levels and couldn’t take anymore. We declared ourselves exhausted, tired and hungry (ok – I did, at least) and we took a taxi (air conditioned) back to the hotel. We collected our luggage and checked out and walked to the mall where the bus shuttle to the ship would be meeting us at 6:00. It was only 1:00 but we were so eager to be on the bus that we got there early.

We found a restaurant that served noodles and sat down for a delicious meal of Pad Thai. Isn’t is a rule or something that you have to have Pad Thai in Thailand? If not, it should be because it was delicious – as was the ice cold beer that was served with it. After lunch, we wandered around the mall enjoying the air conditioning and the shops. We got lucky around 3:00 when we bumped into a fellow S@S person who said there would be a bus leaving at 5:00 if we wanted to leave early. Hell, Yes! (Please excuse my language, but that one needed the emphasis.) After four days in Bangkok I was ready to leave.

We got on the bus and settled in for a three hour trip back to Laem Chabang (3 hours due to the traffic, of course). We pulled into the terminal around 8:00 and the ship was such a sight for sore eyes. I enjoyed Bangkok to a certain extent but I definitely spent too many days there. One or two days would have been sufficient with the rest of the time spent elsewhere. Next time.

Once on the ship, I logged into my e-mail (I need e-mailer’s anonymous) and grabbed some dinner (I miss the Thai food). A quick shower and I was in bed at a ridiculously early hour. I’m officially a bore.

Thailand has some beautiful aspects to it that I need to explore more. At this point, I’m feeling rather ambivalent about Thailand. I don’t think I would ever need to return to Bangkok after spending four days there. Once you visit the temples and the Grand Palace, there isn’t much about Bangkok that distinguishes itself from other large cities. Although from the stories I’ve heard from fellow passengers there are places that I need to visit in Thailand. If the opportunity to return to Thailand ever presents itself, I’ll probably return – but only if I can skip Bangkok and focus on the rest of the country. On to India!

Ayutthaya - 7 October

2007-10-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

It was an early morning start so that we could be in the lobby by 6:15 am. Carol had made arrangements for us to take an all-day excursion to see the Summer Palace in Ayutthaya. A tour guide came into the lobby and escorted us to a van. We then picked up several other people at two other hotels and then made our way to the meeting point where we would get on motor coaches for the trip.

Our guide for the day was Andy who soon became known as Dandy Andy because of all of the rings and necklaces he was sporting (see photo). He talked for the entire two hours that it took for us to drive to Ayutthaya. My poor ears. What is it with tour guides talking non-stop? Do they get paid by the word?

Some background information on Ayutthaya courtesy of the internet since I tuned out Dandy Andy during this time. Ayutthaya was the Thai capital for 417 years from 1350-1767. At its peak it had three palaces and 400 temples. In 1767 after a 15-month siege, the town was destroyed by the Burmese. End of history lesson.

Our first stop was at the temple ruins of Wat Phra Si Sanphet. It was a monastery on the grounds of an ancient palace. It served as the royal chapel and once contained an image of the Buddha covered in 375 pounds of gold. Needless to say, I think the Burmese confiscated that one when they sacked the town. The ruins were quite beautiful but it was difficult to get a sense of what the temple must have looked like in its prime. We could get a sense of the size and some of the components to the temple but not much else. I needed one of those computer-generated images while I was walking around the area.

One of the really interesting things at the temple was the head of a Buddha that had been buried three hundred years ago under a tree. The trees roots had become entangled in the head and it had slowly emerged from the ground and was cradled by the tree. Forget the temples, I just want to see Buddha heads in roots.

After the temples, we had extra time to walk around some of the surrounding grounds of the temple. Dandy Andy made a point of stopping by the happy rooms to show us the certificate of cleanliness that the restrooms had earned by the Thai government. He was very proud of these certificates and mentioned them three times so of course I have to show you the certificates too. This whole voyage seems to have a particular emphasis on bathrooms. From the porcelain bowls in the floor in Japan to the certified happy rooms in Thailand it has been quite an education that I was totally unprepared for. To share one more piece of knowledge on this topic – the Thai also have a euphemism for using the bathroom that I just have to share. Rather than using the phrase “go to the bathroom” they say that women “go pick flowers” and men “shoot a rabbit.” Do you think I’ll be able to work that into everyday conversation when I return to Virginia?

After the temple (and the certified happy rooms), we drove to the Summer Palace. It was a gorgeous compound which is used by the King and Queen only two weeks out of the year. What a waste. It was an idyllic park – well it would have been without the hordes of tourists – with beautiful buildings and residences. We took a turbo tour of the 2 kilometer-long estate in the dreadful heat in only 45 minutes. Can you say “heatstroke” boys and girls?

By the time we were done at the palace it was 1:00 and we were starving! We got back on the bus for a 45 minute drive to the river where we boarded a boat that served us lunch and took us back to Bangkok. It took us about 2 ½ hours to get back to the city and it was a very relaxing and enjoyable ride. For the first half of the trip the river banks were very similar in appearance to the Mekong Delta with dilapidated houses and over grown vegetation. What was different was the lack of boat traffic on the river. In Vietnam we were surrounded by all manner of boats but here in Thailand there was little activity – just lots of boys swimming in the river. We landed in Bangkok at 4:00 and we were taken back to our hotel. I had enjoyed the trip and was glad I had a chance to see a bit more of the Thai countryside.

As I mentioned before, the day had been blistering hot with the sun beating down on us for most of the day. I was the proud owner of a fantastic sunburn that coordinated beautifully with a pink shirt that I have. I won’t be able to tell where my shirt ends and my skin begins. Cool! I’m a chameleon!

We cleaned up and went out to the restaurant where the taxi drivers had refused to take us the night before. Sunday night traffic was actually manageable unlike Saturday night. The restaurant was worth the wait. The curry was excellent and the dessert even better – Mango with sticky rice and coconut ice cream. It sounds like an odd combination but it was so delicious.

We returned to the hotel to make sure we were around to greet Eileen who was joining us after a trip to the north of Thailand. However, we found that she had already gotten there and departed again to get some dinner. So Carol and I took the opportunity to buy a camera for Carol because the humidity had pretty much killed her old one. Not a good thing to happen when you are on a voyage around the world! 45 minutes later, she was one camera richer and many baht poorer. Back at the hotel we found Eileen ensconced on the sleeper sofa and we enjoyed getting caught up on all the activities of the past few days. We were all exhausted though and in bed by 9:30. So pitiful!

A Tuk-Tuk Adventure - 6 October

2007-10-09T10:58:00.000-04:00

I had a leisurely start to my day and eventually ambled out of my hotel around 9:30. I stopped for a quick breakfast at a small restaurant and headed for the huge mall down the block. When I got there a tourist policeman stopped me as I was about to enter the building. Because tourism is such an important industry to the country, they have a special police force to be advocates for the tourists. This policeman was very friendly and spoke excellent English. He advised me to wait until the afternoon to shop in the mall because that’s when all the sales would begin. He told me to spend the next few hours in other shops after asking me what I liked. He wrote down several names of shops and summoned a tuk-tuk for me. This photo is a typical example of a tuk-tuk. There is a local saying about tuk-tuks, “They turn left, they turn right, they turn over.” I’m glad I didn’t know this before my ride!

The policeman told the tuk-tuk driver exactly where to go and how much he would be paid. He informed me that the driver would wait for me at each place and then, at the end of the shopping spree, would return me to the shopping mall. At that point I was to pay him 20 baht which is the equivalent of about $.75.

We zoomed off in the tuk-tuk zipping in between cars and motorcycles. It was so much fun! I couldn’t really see anything because the roof of the tuk-tuk curved down and I was too tall to see more than the wheels and legs of objects flying by. It was really more of a blessing that I couldn’t see how close we were coming to dying on a regular basis.

We quickly reached a jewelry store (are you sensing a theme with my shopping?). I was quickly seduced/hypnotized by the offerings and I attempted to get out of there with minimal damage to my credit card. I went out to my personal tuk-tuk and chauffer for the morning and we tried to zip to a tailor’s shop but got stuck in the ubiquitous Bangkok traffic jam. For about 20 minutes I got to bake/steam to death under the tuk-tuk roof while sucking in exhaust fumes from vehicles that would never, in a million years, meet EPA standards. This photo gives you a small sense of what the traffic is like.

I took this opportunity to “chat” with my driver. His English was much better than my non-existent Thai. He asked me how old I was and when I told him his eyes popped out of his head. I’m not sure if that was good or bad. I asked him how old he was and he said 22. We exchanged a few comments about the king since he had the king’s photo in his vehicle and then we had exhausted his entire English vocabulary. He went back to observing the traffic not moving and I went back to sucking in exhaust fumes and melting into a big puddle of Kathy-goo from the heat.

We finally arrived at the tailor’s shop and I went in long enough to price two 3-piece cashmere suits, two blouses, and a cashmere winter coat. It was the very reasonable price of $1,200…dollars, mind you, not baht. I said that it was a very good price and then bolted as quickly, and politely, as possible.

Back to my tuk-tuk and new friend for a trip back to the shopping mall. He had learned his lesson about the traffic so he figured out some back roads to get me to the mall a little bit faster. 15 minutes later, we arrived at the mall but only after I witnessed some ferocious tuk-tuk maneuvering. I climbed out of the vehicle, said goodbye to my chauffer, and gave him some extra baht in gratitude for a wonderful morning.

I went into the mall and located the food court and enjoyed some delicious Thai noodles. I spent the next few hours wandering around which is the biggest mall I have ever seen. My nieces would have been in heaven in this place! It was late afternoon by the time I walked back to my hotel with my purchases clutched tightly in my hand, bags banging into everyone around me.

One of my roommates for the trip, Carol, was supposed to arrive at the hotel between 4:00 and 5:00 so I settled in to wait for her arrival. She arrived around 4:30 and did her own worshipping of the air conditioner before taking a shower and then heading out to dinner with me. After many futile attempts to find a restaurant (we even had 2 taxi drivers refuse to take us to a particular restaurant because the traffic was so bad), we found our way to a traditional Thai restaurant that was very close to our hotel. The meal was wonderful. I adore Thai food and it’s such a relief after being in Vietnam. Back to the hotel for yet another shower after a long day of melting in the heat and humidity and then time for bed.

Venice of the East - 5 October

2007-10-09T06:45:00.000-04:00

I signed up for a trip into Bangkok called the “Venice of the East”. We were to tour the canals, temples and palaces of Bangkok. We were on the bus by 7:30 with our guide for the day, Dee Dee. She was a hyper drama queen who got on my nerves before we had even passed the gates of the port. She never stopped talking – even when she promised she would. And it wasn’t like she was talking about anything interesting. It was the most inane chatter about God knows what. I tried to tune her out quite quickly. Unfortunately, it was a two-hour bus ride to Bangkok. Somebody get me a stun gun. Quick! There was some relief though, because we had about five faculty members on the bus who wrested control of the microphone away from Demento Dee Dee. I guess they didn’t appreciate her either. The faculty gave an impromptu lecture about Thailand that was so much better than the drivel that Demento Dee Dee was dishing out. Having the professors talk was an act of mercy as far as I was concerned!

We finally arrived in Bangkok and slowly made our way through the traffic to the main river, Chao Phraya. Traffic in the city was heinous – it took forever to get anywhere. We made a quick to the happy place (bathroom) and got on board the boat for a one-hour tour of the “alleys” of the canal. It was fascinating to see the houses and temples along the river. The majority of the houses were dilapidated shacks but you could tell the people took care with their houses as best they could by the profusion of potted plants and royal flags (images and symbols of the King are everywhere!). Another great feature of the boat ride was that the motor was so loud that it drowned out Demento Dee Dee on the microphone. We couldn’t hear a word she was saying the entire time. Sweet!

We eventually emerged from the canals onto the main river again and cruised up to the Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn. It was a spectacular structure and very beautiful. Not only was it a striking architectural structure but the detail on the temple itself was notable too. The photos describe it best.

After the all too brief visit to the temple we went across the river to a restaurant. The food was unbelievably good. Several of us were trying to figure out how to make some of the dishes when we are back home. I don’t think we’ll have much success but it will be fun to try.

Replete with the tasty lunch, we abandoned the boat and walked down the road to the Grand Palace. The complex of buildings and temples was established in 1782 when King Rama I decided to move the capital to Bangkok from Thonburi. A tome of adjectives wouldn’t even come close to describing the beauty of the complex. The façade of each temple was covered in gold leaf and a mosaic of colored glass (to represent gems). Mythical creatures guarded the entrances and were also covered in gold and gems. The detail on each structure and statue was overwhelming. I hope the photos convey some of the details of the place. One of the buildings contained the Emerald Buddha which is one of the most venerated sites in Thailand. The Buddha is enshrined on a golden Thai-style throne and is clad in one of the three seasonal costumes (summer, rainy season, and winter). The costumes are changed three times a year by the King. One of the interesting facts about the Emerald Buddha is that it was carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434. At that time the image was covered with plaster and was thought to be an ordinary Buddha image. Later, the abbot who had found the image noticed that the plaster on the nose had flaked off, revealing the green stone underneath. The abbot initially thought that the stone was emerald and the legend of the Emerald Buddha began.

We wandered around the temples for about an hour soaking in their beauty before walking to the Grand Palace which is where the Thai State dinners and such are held. Very impressive. We arrived just as the changing of the guard was concluding and was able to see at least a little bit of the ceremony.

After the Grand Palace we walked back to the bus for a “quick” trip (traffic, don’t ya know) to the Reclining Buddha which is an amazingly large Buddha that is reclining…hence the name. Go figure. We spent 10 minutes admiring the ginormous Buddha and then were herded back to the bus for another traffic jam-laden bus ride to a jewelry factory. Huh? It turns out the purpose to the factory was to take advantage of the free transportation that they provided to anyone who spent at least 15 minutes getting a hard-core sales pitch. Because we had participants in the tour who wanted to stay in Bangkok rather than return to the ship, Demento Dee Dee decided to complicate matters to a phenomenal degree by “organizing” our departure from the tour. She went into a frenzy of phone calls and planning that was total overkill. She decided that this factory was the best way to provide transportation for the people staying in the city. We could easily have taken taxis or tuk-tuks but this was never considered to be an option by D.D.D.

The 12 participants (including myself) who left the tour were dropped off at the shopping mall where the shuttle bus for the ship would be picking us up on Monday. Fortunately, I was close enough to my hotel to walk there rather. Thank goodness! The thought of sitting in Bangkok traffic again was unappealing.

I made plans to have dinner with a couple who were staying at a different hotel and then set off for my place. 15 hot and muggy minutes later I found the hotel and gratefully galloped into the lobby – drenched in sweat and totally bedraggled. The staff was very gracious and overlooked my appearance and quickly processed the paperwork.

I was soon in my room where I cranked the air conditioner to arctic-like temperatures. I kiss the feet of the person who invented air conditioning. I sprawled out on the bed and let the cool air do its job of making me human again while I channel surfed. I waited for the couple to call me but the phone never rang (I later found out that they tried many times to call the hotel but were never successful). So at 8:00 pm I went to the end of the street where a Burger King was located and had a quick meal that I wolfed down. Back to the hotel and the fantastic, marvelous, stupendous air conditioner and then bed-time.

A Plethora of Pachyderms in Pattaya - 4 October

2007-10-04T08:21:00.001-04:00

We pulled into the Thai port of Laem Chabang at 8:00 this morning. I looked out the window long enough to decide that the scenery was less important than my cozy bed and tried to go back to sleep. We had been warned that clearing customs would take forever and not to rush to get ready so I heeded their advice. I discovered that going back to sleep was futile so I decided to take advantage of faster internet service and check my e-mails. I'm finding that the umbilical cord between me and my computer is a strong one that is difficult to cut. I'm glad I'm not like this with the phone too.

Around 11:30 customs had still not cleared us so I wandered into the dining hall to get some lunch. Finally at 1:00 my tour to the elephant village was called even though customs was still doing their paperwork. I later heard that the customs officials had taken a lunch break and then wanted to do some shopping in the ship's store before resuming their paperwork. If the students had known about this there would have been a riot. So many of them had plane reservations out of Bangkok which is a three hour drive from the port. Many of them were in danger of missing their plane.

But as I was saying, my tour to the elephant village was called at 1:00. We loaded onto the buses and made a 1/2 hour journey to the city of Pattaya where the village was located. We pulled into the area and made our way to the picnic area. We could see glimpses of the elephants and we started to get excited. The manager of the elephant village greeted us and then drummers emerged from a pavilion to guide us to the elephant area. A long line of elephants were there to greet us with their masters on their backs. They are such impressive animals.

The MC for the afternoon greeted us and gave us some time to feed the elephants bunches of bananas. After that, he asked who would like to go for a bath with the elephants. About seven brave souls (not soules) volunteered and climbed onto the elephants' backs and lumbered off to the swimming hole. The masters commanded the elephants to submerge themselves in the water at which point the students got totally wet. They were clinging to the elephants head for dear life and shrieking quite loudly. I'm was so happy that I had declined this opportunity when I saw the elephant dung floating on the water as they dunked themselves. Ick to the nth degree.

After everybody returned to the main elephant area, we had the opportunity to ride the elephants "bare back" without the seats that we would use later. I decided that this was the time to participate and when an elephant was available approached her with great determination. Two men were standing by her side ready to help me on to the great beast. She was kneeling for me and I stepped on her leg as instructed and slung my leg way up over her back. I just barely got my leg over when she started to get up. Jumping Jehoshaphat! The men started pushing me up the rest of the way and the master sitting on the elephant grabbed the back of my shorts and started pulling. I got the wedgie to end all wedgies but I was on that animal! My friends got pictures of this debacle and you can see that the men were finding this very amusing. So I was for that matter.

I finally got situated on the elephant and clutched at her head - as if you can actually clutch something as big as an elephant's head. I managed to pull myself together in time for the official photograph and actually looked like I knew what I was doing which was such a farce. We made a circle around the grandstand and returned to the docking station which is level with an elephant when they are standing. I dismounted with much more grace and dignity than when I mounted.

After that bit of fun, we sat back down in the grandstand and saw a show about how elephants used to be used in Thailand when they were clearing the forests. It was a fascinating show but everyone wanted another ride. After the MC was done with his show, we went back over to the docking station and paired up for a ride on the elephants with a bench seat this time. It was wild! There was so much rocking that we grabbed for the railing that was placed in front of us and held on for dear life. We took a walk around a pasture with all the other riders and then, after 10 minutes or so, went back to the docking station to disembark. We all had huge smiles on our faces as we got off. It was so much fun.

That was the conclusion of our time in the elephant village. We were given the opportunity to buy our official photos for $10 complete with a frame which I did. We got back onto the bus for a very quick ride back to the port. This has been an amazing day that I will remember for a long time. I got to ride an elephant!

Two Days between Vietnam & Thailand - 2 & 3 October

2007-10-04T08:06:00.000-04:00

The two days at sea between Vietnam and Thailand were quite unremarkable. The seas were a little bit rougher but I am thrilled to report that my seasickness is a distant bad memory. The library is going strong and our student workers make it a really fun place to be for all of the students. We have started a library blog to post information about databases, books and travel tips. Eileen and I are responsible for the dry stuff and our students write about travel tips for our upcoming countries. The first iteration of the blog that they created was much more colorful and humorous but we decided to make it much more practical and had to tone down the humor. Check it out at http://infospaistheplacetobe.blogspot.com.

The only other notable event was when the ship's doctor alerted us to the fact that over 5% of the passengers on the ship were suffering from diarrhea. The CDC rules state that a ship can only dock if no more than 2% of the passengers are suffering from the "squirts" and "gushies" as she so lovingly calls it. Apparently, some of the students who visited Cambodia went swimming which is a no-no of epic proportions. A lot of students in Vietnam also ate the fruit and drank unbottled water which is also a no-no of stupendous levels. Makes you question how their GPA is high enough to be on this ship! I'm happy to report that I am not stupid and am not suffering.

We land in Thailand at 8:00 tomorrow morning but we have been warned that clearing customs is going to take a very long time. I'm lucky that my trip to the elephant village isn't scheduled until 1:00. Plenty of time to sleep in too!

Last Day in Vietnam - 1 October

2007-10-03T02:34:00.000-04:00

It was another blissful morning of sleeping in and then I met Eileen in the ship's lobby for our shuttle into the city. We had no plans other than to shop today and we did a magnificent job of achieving that goal! We went to jewelry stores, craft shops, handbags stores and every other store known to man. We had a wonderful time boosting the Vietnamese economy and bought many items that we just "had" to have. I think Eileen and I need to sign up for Shopaholics Anonymous. Perhaps when we get home. After all, we still have Thailand, India, Turkey and so many other countries that need our input of cash. This is our form of diplomacy. I realize that this is supposed to be a voyage for educational opportunities but I figure there are educational opportunities in the markets too...just a different kind.

We exhausted ourselves and our checkbooks by 4:00 and headed back to the ship for a quick nap (shopping is a very physical activity, don't you know!) and then had dinner on the ship. It was a wonderful day of walking around the city and exploring the markets. It is our last day in Vietnam and we have had a wonderful time. I had very low expectations of the country when we arrived and have been surprised at what a great time I've had here. This is definitely a country where I would like to return and see more of country. My wish list for return visits to countries is getting very long but this is one that would be very much worthwhile.

Catching up - 30 September

2007-09-30T08:10:00.000-04:00

I slept in until 8:30 this morning and it felt fantastic. That is one of the things that I really miss-having a weekend for sleeping in. I finally got out of my room around 10:00 and caught the shuttle into the city. I brought my laptop with me and went to the Rex Hotel where I was told by a student that they have free wireless access. I have been so behind in my blog and posting my photos to Flickr that I was desperate to make some progress on it. I spent the first hour getting the blog up to date. It took forever to load all of the photos that I included in it. I was fighting a time deadline since I usually only get about three hours out of my laptop battery before it shuts down on me.

As soon as the blog was done I was able to get my pictures from Japan loaded. After that I started running into trouble. Flickr was misbehaving so I wasn't able to get my China, Hong Kong, or Vietnam pictures uploaded. What a pain in the patoot. I was in the lounge for three hours and still had so much left to do when the battery started giving me warnings. Grrrr!

I went back to the ship to drop off my laptop and get some lunch and then went back into the city for some shopping. I went to a couple of stores and the big market that I visited the first day. I had fun bargaining with the merchants but it was so hot and humid that I started to fade rather quickly. I walked around the city a little bit then decided enough was enough and went back to the ship for a shower and dinner.

It's been a rather unremarkable day although I got some useful things accomplished but I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a bit more fun since Eileen and I are going to the city tomorrow to do another round of shopping. It's fun to spend time with her and we both love to shop so it's a win-win situation. Hopefully, I'll have more interesting things to write about tomorrow. We'll see.

The Floating Market - 29 September

2007-09-30T00:20:00.000-04:00

We were out of the hotel at 7:00 this morning to visit the floating market. We walked to the river front which was only a block away and we all got onto one large boat. It took us ½ hour to get to the floating market area. Fortunately, it was still early enough in the morning that the market was still busy. It was such a unique and incredible sight that words are failing me. I think the best way to share the experience is with the photos that I took.

Approaching the Market - this was the view of just a small fraction of the boats selling produce as we approached the floating market. It stretched for about a 1/4 mile down the river. It was fascinating to see all the activity around the boats.

Boats with produce - these are the farmers' boats loaded down with fruits and vegetables ready to be sold to locals coming up to them in smaller boats.

Showing their merchandise – the farmers used tall poles to show to everyone what they were selling. They usually had one product that they were selling but would put several samples on the pole to show people. Some boats did have more than one item that they were selling and had their poles loaded down with produce.

Dragon fruit - this was a farmer selling dragon fruit to a buyer. It was a fascinating fruit and very colorful. I haven't tried it yet though so I don't know how it tastes.

Selling drinks to the tourist boats - a mother and her little boy brought their boat up to ours to sell everyone soft drinks and water. She would hand us the drinks and collect the money which she gave to her son. He looked a little baffled by all of us.

Cabbage galore - farmers preparing cabbage for the person in the boat. They would take off the outer layers and make a few chops and then toss it to the buyer in the boat. It was a very efficient process.

It was fascinating to watch yet I couldn’t help wonder how these people felt about all the tourists circling around them snapping photos. Can you imagine having a group show up in your grocery store taking pictures of you as you shop for food? Tung assured me that they don’t mind the attention but you have to wonder.

After returning to the dock in Can Tho we took a quick visit to a Temple that was totally unremarkable but we spent a few minutes admiring it before getting back on the bus for a three minute ride back to the hotel. We then had 2 hours to spend before lunch. I walked around the town a little bit but didn't really see anything that inspired me. Instead, I spent the two hours in the hotel writing notes for my blog and having fun channel surfing again.

At noon, we loaded our luggage on the bus and waved it goodbye as we went back into the hotel restaurant for lunch. We were doing the same thing we did yesterday with the ferry and rickshaws to save time. The bus was leaving early in order to meet us in time on the other side.

We then had lunch which consisted of deep fried shrimp paste, fish (with the head still attached), more shrimp, another seafood dish, and one measly little pot of beef. I contented myself with a spoonful of beef, lots of rice and a beer. My nutritional needs are definitely suffering in this country since I don't like seafood.

After lunch, Tung had arranged for the rickshaws to be waiting for us and, again, we loaded onto them and barreled through the streets of Can Tho being stared at by everyone! We had a slow poke driver this time so it wasn't quite so much fun but still a wonderful experience. We arrived at the ferry, stood in line with 1000 of our closest Vietnamese friends and then got on the ferry. On the other side, we gratefully found our bus waiting for us with the air conditioning on which is such a huge blessing in this country. The heat and humidity is oppressive!

We had a four hour bus ride back to the ship with one happy stop along the way. We got back to the ship at 6:00 and said goodbye to Tung. He had been a wonderful tour guide for us and we had a great time.

I had dinner on the ship and avoided the fish they were serving. I spent the remainder of the evening writing blogs and postcards while enjoying some wine in my cabin. An excellent way to conclude my day in Vietnam.

Tour of thte Mekong Delta - 28 September

2007-09-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

We left the ship at 8:00 am this morning and loaded onto the bus for a four hour drive to somewhere up the Mekong Delta. Our tour guide for the trip was Tung. He gave us a lesson on the proper way to say his name that beyond my tongue gyrations. That’s him in the yellow shirt. He gave us a running commentary as we headed out of Saigon. Unfortunately, I can’t remember a word of it.

Around 9:30 we made a “happy stop” which was Tung’s way of saying we were taking a bathroom break. I’m going to have to use that from now on. He also told us that refreshments would be available including something that he called “Weasel Shit Coffee” and that is a direct quote! It is coffee where a weasel (or many weasels) eat the coffee beans. It goes through their digestive tracts but does not get digested and comes out the other end whole. The beans are then collected (can you imagine having that job?!), washed (thank God!) and ground into Weasel Shit Coffee. Tung tells us it is very good but I’ll just take his word for it. They had the beans available in the gift shop and I was seriously tempted to get my brother some. However, I refrained because I am such a good sister… and I’m afraid that he would get even with me.

We got back on the bus for another hour towards our destination. We arrived at the river and got onto two boats for a ride past the floating market. Since it was so late in the morning, the market was over but we will see it in action tomorrow. We went to a coconut candy factory and got a quick lesson in how they make it along with a sample. Very tasty. The really interesting part was watching two women make rice paper which the candy is wrapped in. It was fascinating. One woman ladles and spreads a rice and water mixture onto a cloth stretched over a kettle that is over a fire. A lid was placed over the cloth and she let it sit for about a minute. When it was done, she used a spatula to carefully lift the rice paper off the cloth and then draped it over the side of a round revolving bamboo table. It dried there for a few minutes before another woman took it off and carefully draped it over a rack until it was completely dried.

After the coconut place, we walked to the rice puff place for a lesson on how to make that. It is a similar technique to making kettle corn (found at state fairs). They heat a large kettle over a fire but instead of using oil, they use sand that has turned black from heat and use. The man then poured in the rice and stirred the contents continuously. It soon began to puff and he poured the popped rice into a sieve to get rid of the sand. It tasted pretty good but I wanted it to taste like kettle corn L

During the demonstration, the rain had moved in and was drenching everything so we donned ponchos procured by Tung and went back to our boats. Fortunately, the rain soon abated and we puttered up the river to an island where a farm was located. It was a place where the tourist boats could come for lunch. We all had lunch boxes from the ship. Blah! The only good thing you can say about a boxed lunch from the ship is that all of the contents can be identified.

We boarded the boarded the boat after lunch and continued our trek around the island. It was great. We slowly motored around the island at a very slow pace gawking at everything. The water was quite shallow in several paces since it was low tide so we had to shift weight in the boat by having 5-6 students come up to the front to take away the weight from the outboard motor in the back.

Eventually, we came out to open water again. The wind had picked up and the water was choppy with waves and spray coming over the side. Since I was in one of the front seats, I got soaked but I had a great time.

Back on the bus we drove for an hour and half before stopping behind a very long line of traffice. Tung explained that one of the roads to the city of Can Tho was under construction so all traffic was funneled into one road thereby causing an epic traffic jam. We had two options – 1) stay with the bus and take an extra 3 hours to arrive in the city or 2) walk ¼ of a mile to a ferry, take the ferry across the river and then take a motorcycle rickshaw to the hotel. We voted for the walking/ferry/rickshaw option.

Our got our luggage and walked past many small shops where the occupants stared at us in stupefaction. We arrived at the ferry with about 1/3 of the population of Vietnam – all of whom were on scooters. The cacophony of honking horns and the smell of the streets was overwhelming. We waited a few minutes at the terminal being crowded by the scooters and then were finally allowed to board the ferry. There was a mad rush of pedestrians and scooters and the scooters won. We managed to get the entire group safely on the ferry and enjoyed the 15 minute crossing. Once on the other side, there was another contest between scooter and man that we survived. Once clear of the ferry area, Tung secured motorcycle rickshaws for us. It was so cool. I got the privilege of sitting up high behind the driver (although with my back to him) and got a great view of everything. We had a speed demon for a driver and zoomed through the streets – a parade of Americans careening through the streets at a high rate of speed. It was so much fun! I had a big goofy grin on my face. We all agreed that the ride was one of the highlights of the trip.

We arrived at the hotel much too soon and we were safely deposited on the hotel steps. We paid the drivers and soon got our keys to our rooms. I totally scored and got a single room rather than having to share. Once I figured out the air conditioner with the help of the hotel staff, I jumped into the shower with a groan of relief. It felt so good.

At 7:00 we all met in the lobby and walked to the restaurant which was only a block away. The food was excellent. It started with a tomato soup that definitely didn’t come out of a Campbell’s can. We enjoyed the food and each other’s company until we were beyond full. A quick walk back to the hotel and the adults retreated to their rooms while the students did lord knows what. I took yet another shower – the third for the day. After crawling into bed I watched a variety of channels on television; a game show, a Vietnamese soap opera, a Chinese historical soap opera that was dubbed, BBC news, CNN, and HBO. It was fascinating and quite the channel surfing opportunity but I finally had enough and went to bed.

Arrive in Vietnam - 27 September

2007-09-29T23:36:00.000-04:00

Our time in Vietnam started at 4:00 this morning with the local pilot joined our ship for the journey up the Mekong River. I managed to miss all of this during my peaceful slumber but made an effort (a very painful one) at 6:30 am to go up to the bow of the ship and see the sights of Vietnam. First impression – stinking hot for such an early time. Second impression – very muddy water and lots of vegetation on the shore. It was fascinating to see the traffic on the river too.

Around 8:00 we pulled into the dock and were greeted by a group of women holding up a sign. Sort of reminiscent of our arrival in Kobe - minus the brass band, the dignitaries and the crowds waiting for us – but other than that, very similar. I had had enough of the steamy heat and escaped inside for a quick breakfast. I had intentions of taking a shower but we cleared customs very quickly thanks to the fact that the customs officers had joined us in Hong Kong and had spent the last two days processing the paperwork. I like their efficiency! I had to get my paperwork for going on shore before I could take a shower but then decided that immediate disembarkation was highly over rated and crawled back into bed.

My travel buddies from Japan, Alexis and Lara, were heading into the Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon) after lunch so I met up with them for the shuttle bus into the city. We were joined by another faculty member and Lara’s husband who had just flown into the country at 3:00 am that morning. He was a wee bit tired but a good sport about exploring the city with us.

It was a ten minute ride into the center of the city and we arrived just in time for the skies to dump copious quantities of water on us. Our timing needed some serious work! We quickly bought some ponchos. Mine was blue and made me look like a blueberry blob. Fortunately, only one photo exists of me in this ensemble and it will never make its way to this blog!

We made our way to an indoor market and were immediately overwhelmed by the sights and smells of the place. It was a market for everything! Clothes, fabric, leather, wood, food, toiletries and so much more. We walked around for about ½ hour but there were too many of us to do an effective shopping. We also wandered into the food area which was a lesson in all of the extremely gross things that the Vietnamese people like to eat. Gak! I don’t think I’m going to do so well here.

After walking around a bit, we abandoned the market and stumbled upon the Visitor’s Center and loaded up on money, maps, restaurant recommendations, and tailor information. We decided to split into two groups with Lara and her husband going off on their own. They were married only three weeks before Lara left for this voyage and they have very limited time together until December. We arranged to meet for dinner later.

Alexis, Patty (the faculty member) and I headed off for a tailor’s shop. The two women wanted to get some cocktail dresses custom made for them while they were in port. We spent about ½ hour in the shop – they selected fabrics and a design and I shopped for gifts. It was the perfect arrangement. Afterwards, we gratefully found a café right next to a post office (very efficient) and enjoyed an hour of drinks and snacks which were very much needed since my crank-o-meter was getting into the red zone. We did a bit more browsing while killing time before dinner and then Lara and her husband, Steve, at the appointed place.

We had intended to try out the restaurant the visitor’s center recommendation but they were full and had no seats for us. Out came the tour guide books and we deduced that there was a place only a block away that would be good. We easily found it thanks to Steve’s great sense of direction. We were led up to the third level of the restaurant and found ourselves all alone when the only other occupants of the room left. Was it something we said? The food was pretty good but only because the menu had pictures and we had a fighting chance of figuring out what we wanted to eat.

With our belly’s stuffed full we decided to head back to the bus shuttle and the ship. It was a satisfying day without being totally exhausting. What a concept! I need to try that more often.

Two Days at Sea - 25 & 26 September

2007-09-29T23:33:00.001-04:00

We spent two days at sea between Hong Kong and Vietnam and it was miserable. Everyone was exhausted, sick and completely unmotivated to do any kind of school work. That included me. I caught some sort of crud in China that moved into my sinuses and decided to stay there for a while. I was operating in a fog for the two days and managed to walk into several walls and a garbage can. Not the epitome of grace!

During this time, we had all sorts of meetings that required at least some semblance of sentient thought. I hope I faked it well enough. We had a faculty meeting on the second night at sea and it turned into a catharsis about being trip leaders to students who just want to party and get drunk. Apparently, my particular trip wasn’t the worst of the lot which is a blessing of sorts. After the faculty members finished venting, the Executive Dean got up and vented too because he was having a horrific day dealing with the aftermath of the drunken students. I don’t know that anything was actually resolved at this meeting but we all felt better knowing that we weren’t the only ones having problems with the students. I’m rather dreading being the trip leader for India. That has the potential to be a disaster of epic proportions.

We also had meetings for the cultural and logistical pre-ports on each night. I was feeling uber cruddy on the cultural pre-port meeting so I skipped it and went to bed with my box of Kleenex. I recovered enough to attend the logistical pre-port and got another earful from the Dean, the doctor (who had been dealing with the drunks too) and a student who all made comments about the poor behavior of the students while in China. There was no joy in the South China Sea that night!

With our ears ringing with recriminations, I scuttled off to my cabin to get some blogging done on China and get another early night. Not much to report I’m afraid. It was just a couple of days that had to be endured.

Hong Kong - 24 September

2007-09-26T11:58:00.000-04:00

Despite our fatigue, Eileen and I vowed to get up this morning be off the boat by 9:00 am so that we could explore Hong Kong. We were a bit off with our estimate and didn’t make it off the ship until 10:00 but I consider that to be a major victory considering the sleep deprivation we’d been experiencing for the past five days. We had no specific plan other than to wander around the streets and enjoy the day. This was made a bit difficult with the Level 1 Typhoon that was blowing through the area. The rain was coming down in torrents at times but we were determined to see the city in spite of it.

At first, we wandered around areas of the city that could have been found in any large metropolitan area with many upscale western stores. We walked past the Pennisula Hotel which is known for its five-star quality. We decided to walk through it despite our less than elegant apparel and were very impressed by the place. We considered having tea there later in the day but learned that the wait list is usually hours long. Since I don’t even enjoy tea, I didn’t think that was an efficient use of my limited time in Hong Kong so we went back out into the rain and continued our wanderings.

We finally found a side street that had potential and wandered down that way. Our soon found ourselves amidst interesting herbal shops and a bajillion jewelry stores. Eileen was looking for earrings with Chinese characters on them and we were quite diligent in our quest. We found other jewelry to buy – opal earrings for Eileen and a lapis lazuli ring for me – but no earrings.

We enjoyed lunch at a small restaurant where we were the only westerners and then continued our quest to see the streets of Hong Kong. We finally got tired of that around 4:00 and returned to the ship. Drenched but bejeweled.

Dinner was at California Pizza Kitchen – sorry, but I just had to get a bite of American food while the opportunity presented itself. It was so damn good. The memory of it will probably sustain me for at least two or three weeks. After that, I spent some time working on the blog until the ship left port at 11:00. It was the most beautiful port that I’ve seen. Absolutely spectacular at night. It was a very quick visit to Hong Kong and certainly didn’t do it justice so it’s going to be another country to add to the list where I need to return.