At Sea, Post Puerto Rico 1/29-1/30

While we are at sea I probably won’t blog every day, since there isn’t so much to talk about: things are starting to become a bit routine (which is good!). Today is the third full day of classes. We alternate with A Day and B Day, and attend classes whenever we are at sea, including weekends. But everything stops and closes when we are in port (except basic ship services like meals, health clinic, housekeeping, etc). Our next port is Salvador, Brazil, which is quite a distance from PR: it will take us 8 days, so that means 8 straight days of classes and library work. It is a different life for us all this semester. Today in Global Studies we heard a guest lecturer summarize hundreds of years of Brazilian history in about 40 minutes. He did a great job and I learned a lot. Visual aids such as maps help tremendously: once you acknowledge the relative proximity of Brazil and Africa, you begin to understand the extent to which slavery impacted the development of Brazilian culture and its population.

In other news, I attended a faculty meeting this evening, which was just over an hour long but wine and cheese were served! My kind of faculty meeting.

This Is What Lucky Feels Like 1/27/08

What an extraordinary day we’ve had! Nothing planned, just me and Margie wild and free on the town. We had a leisurely morning on the ship, tidying up the cabin and uploading photos while the bandwidth was good (always in the morning before most students get up). Then we walked along the ocean to Old Town San Juan, stopping often to photograph the breathtaking views. We also captured many iguanas (on film) and debated smuggling one back to the ship, but Bryan, our cabin steward, would probably catch on quick. The largest iguana we saw was about 24” and we even saw one with a partial tail. There are also 12” lizards (geckos?) running all over the place and about giving me a heart attack. They blend in to the earth, frozen, and then move very quickly. At least they are running away, not toward. I am such a big baby. We had a delicious lunch at Tamarind and an even better cup of coffee at Café Berlin, and then wandered alongside the wall of Old San Juan with the ocean to our left, glorious breezes, kites, many locals, not many Americans. Eventually we walked all the way around the perimeter of Old San Juan. It was fabulous, so relaxing and pleasant! Then we meandered the streets without a plan, taking the paths that intrigued us. At one point we wound up at a fountain that sporadically spurted water that the breezes carried far beyond the fountain, and kids jostled for prime spraying position. The shops and streets were packed, and traffic was awful for some reason, but it didn’t bother us because we weren’t inconvenienced by it. Wandering in and out of shops was fun, and there were many street vendors set up selling crafts. Eventually we wound up at the Puerto Rico Café and had a wonderful dinner there in the heart of Old San Juan. A quick cab ride back to the ship, and we called it a day. An extraordinary one!

Docking in Puerto Rico 1/26/08

When we awoke on Saturday it was thrilling to see LAND out the window!! And I must say, this is the only way to arrive in a new city: roll out of bed, schlep to breakfast, and watch as the palm trees seem to float by while sipping coffee (note that I’m drinking the coffee, not the palm trees). Gorgeous sunny skies, refreshing breezes, about 78 degrees. Not bad for January. We were able to disembark after about an hour and I didn’t see anyone falling to their knees to kiss the ground, but it was really nice to be on a land mass again. We headed directly for the bus and enjoyed our tour guide, Manny, who said “Welcome to Havana, Cuba” and got a laugh. Our first stop was a beautiful beach on Isla Verde, which I believe faces the Atlantic. I called my mother from the beach, which was a real treat because I wasn’t sure my cell phone would work anywhere on this trip. She reminded me about her summer in San Juan when she was a teenager, hanging out on the beach at the Condado Hotel. It was a brief but delightful chat! We then jumped back on the bus (Manny likes to keep things moving) and jumped off at the Capitol, an impressive domed structure with a view of the ocean. Didn’t get to go inside, though. Then, on to El Morro, a striking fortress against the bluest skies imaginable. Throughout our tour Manny gave us many historical details about the founding of Puerto Rico, which I will summarize here by saying that Ponce De Leon sailed sometime after Christopher Columbus but still dozens and dozens of years ago, and he became the first Governor of Puerto Rico.

After returning to the ship for a few hours we headed out again for nighttime kayaking on a bioluminescent bay, one of only four in the world (three in PR). “You strike the sea with a rod by night and the water is seen to shine.” Thus spake Aristotle. Bioluminescence is, according to our field program book, the ability of living organisms to emit light and is primarily a marine phenomenon.  We took a long bus ride and arrived at dusk at Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve on the East side of the island. Margie and I hopped in a two-person kayak and followed the others into the narrow, mangrove-lined passageway into the bay. It was completely dark other than the blinking lights on the ends of each kayak, and navigation was difficult in such tight quarters with many other novice kayakers. Plus large fish were jumping nearby and it was hard not to think about iguanas and other things dropping into the boat with us unannounced. In the dark it seemed like a ride through a haunted house. My expert kayaking skills caused us to run into a tree branch and I lost my hat to the watery depths. Fortunately, it was a freebie hat given to us earlier that day so I didn’t feel the need to go in after it. The guides trained their spotlights on iguanas sleeping in the branches of the mangroves but I managed not to see any of them. When we got to the bay we heard Alvin, our guide, give us the ecological particulars on this phenomenon, which I will summarize here by saying that photons are soaked up by the bay inhabitants during the day, and at night they turn into Ponce de Leon, although I may have a few facts mixed up. It was a fabulous night to be out in a kayak with a canopy of about a billion stars.

At Sea, Classes Begin 1/25/08

After the mandatory bout with seasickness yesterday Margie and I are feeling more like ourselves today. The ocean didn’t seem that rough, but there is an adjustment period, clearly. One really does get used to the constant motion. It feels most peculiar at first and there were many green faces yesterday, and no, it wasn’t easy. But today we are all old sea dogs. Not surprisingly, this is a very adaptable bunch of people on this adventure. The first official Global Studies class was this morning. This is the class that all passengers attend: Mandatory!! Do not miss it!! Today Dr. Max Brandt, our temporary academic dean, gave a lively lecture on Puerto Rico and Brazil, complete with music, Espanole, and even a little dancing. It was a great kick-off to this daily class. Why is he temporary, you may ask? Our ‘real’ academic dean, Dan Enhbom, chair of UVA Art History, had an unfortunate meeting with a motorized vehicle a month or so ago, but is planning to meet us in South Africa in mid-February. Until then, Max is running this ship, at least from the academic side of things. His colleague is Kenn Gaither from Elon College, who is the Administrative Dean. All staff report to Kenn; all faculty, to Max/Dan.

We had our first Pre-Port Logistical meeting tonight, where we heard about, you guessed it, the logistics of getting off the ship tomorrow morning in San Juan, our very first port! Margie and I will get up around 7am to watch the tug boat bring in our ship to port. We disembark sometime after 8, after all passports for all passengers are checked by the Customs and Border Protection Board. Then it’s on to a city orientation with Jim Danziger, one of the faculty. Can’t wait!!

Finally got some photos up on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbaumann/sets/72157603209712029/) but descriptions will come later.

Off We Go Then!! 1/23/08

 

What a day we had on Wednesday, the day that was both check-in day for most of the 733 students AND the day we departed Nassau. Mike, Kelly, and I schlepped massive quantities of baggage (really, you must all learn how to pack lighter) and Margie checked passports. I invited all luggage-schleppers to my cabin for Ibuprofen, showing my age… The waits were long but most folks were in a decent humor about it. Once all were onboard, the mandatory lifeboat drill was next. We all looked pretty dorky in our long pants, hats, and life jackets, but everyone took it more seriously than I expected them to. Then, departure!! Exactly on time, too! It was rather emotional to pull away from land, all the remaining family members and ISE staff waving and walking as far as they could along the dock. Even some faculty members had tears in their eyes! Who knew we were human. Then, meetings in which a number of people basically tried to put the FOG into the students about drugs and alcohol and miscreant behavior.

A few days before we left Nassau some very exciting projects got done: the first was that Margie completely organized the Browsing collection and did copious weeding. I know Kathy will be particularly glad to hear that. She even alphabetized. The only trouble is that now she doesn’t want anyone to mess it up! It looks beautiful and she boxed up something like 16 boxes for Better World Books. The second exciting project is that the library service desk got cut off so that it is now possible to get behind the desk without crawling, pole-vaulting, or limboing. It was quite a site to see us maneuver under the desk, but no longer! Our backs and foreheads are thankful for the good work of Joe, the crew member who did the fine work. He’s been back every day to do some other little cleanup, painting this, covering up that. I would have been thrilled with a ragged edge but Joe wants it done right!

Wrapping Up in Nassau

Despite the best of intentions, I have been too tired to write for the past few days (and the photos will have to come later, too). It’s mostly a good kind of tired, the kind that comes from working numerous 12-14 hour days in a row. I’ve been sleeping well, but most of my waking hours have been spent in required orientation meetings or in the library, with brief breaks for meals. I will say again that I am so very thankful that Mary is here, for it would be impossible to be in meetings all day while simultaneously setting up the library. Mary got the patron and catalog records loaded (took several tries and consultations with the IT folk) and placed all the books for about 100 courses on reserve. That took three solid, long days of work. She and Kelly are leaving tomorrow and I am already in mourning. It seems they should be coming with! But it has been wonderful to have them both here for any length of time. We had a delightful dinner this evening with them (the first time Mary and I had been off the ship since Friday).

Yesterday I did a brief Powerpoint presentation for the faculty to remind them of the services the library will provide and to review through a few technology basics. It has already been very confusing for everyone to deal with multiple logins: a Windows login for faculty to put files in their course folders on the ship’s intranet, an internet login (all internet use is logged by time and bandwidth, although faculty have free access), and the ever-popular proxy login. Add to that that there are about 50 ‘free’ sites for students that don’t require using valuable internet minutes, and then try to explain how to navigate to do research… 

Also met my work study students yesterday: Amy, Tiffany, Eddie, and Patrick. We may get another one or two over the next few days, but these folks are great. I’m sure they’ll help to make the library the happenin’ place on the ship. Today was the parents reception: there were 600 parents sending off 730 kids! It was fun to schmooze with the parents, assure them that their kids were going to be fine. The ship’s captain, Captain Roman, told the parents that he promised to bring their children home safely, but that he would not bring them home unchanged. I thought that was perfect. I also heard the quote today that the Semester at Sea experience is like trying to get a drink of water from a fire hose. I am beginning to understand that, too. We have been told over and over that SAS is a life-altering experience. I am ready for it to really start. Even a few days ago the Bahamas felt exotic, but I can’t imagine it can compare to what we are going to experience next. The majority of the students board tomorrow morning, and we will pull out of Nassau at 5pmEST. And then the adventure begins.

Two Days in Paradise

We are in Nassau, and it is as beautiful as advertised. The water really is that amazing shade of blue, and there really
are palm trees and balmy breezes. It wasn’t fun getting here, what with leaving in the middle of a snow storm, but we
arrived about three hours later than planned, retrieved all our baggage (which arrived before us) and made our way to the
ship. Our cabin is a little smaller than I expected, but perfectly good for our needs. Lots of storage, and the doors are
very heavy and swing shut automatically and with great force (they are ‘unrepentent’, according to the warning in the cabin
literature, which Margie wanted me to mention).

Mary and Kelly arrived a day late, due to the weather, as did Mike, my assistant librarian. We have been hard at work for
two full days to get the library into ship-shape. There were boxes of reserve books to unpack, Destiny catalog records to
import and alter to indicate their Reserve status, and a myriad of things to figure out how to do best to avoid redoing.

What is the code for the photocopier? What is my login to the ship’s server? Where in the world are the scissors? I know
they are here someplace. After two days and much collaboration I think we have most of it figured out. Except the scissors, which are still MIA. So far I LOVE being in charge of my own little library.

Today the rest of the faculty and staff boarded. I’ve had numerous conversations about proxy, but mostly people are just
chatting about where they’re from and whether or not they’ve been on a voyage before. It is amazing to hear the enthusiasm
for the SAS program: anyone who’s been before has become an ambassador, willing to expound upon the wonders of the SAS
experience to all who are nearby… it is rather inspiring!

Hope to take photos and load them tomorrow. Off to a faculty meeting now. Yes, it is almost 8pm on a Saturday night! This
is a different life!

Leaving tomorrow!

It’s been very hard to say farewell to friends and family these last few days. But today as we were packing some little elves must’ve quietly come to our door, for when we went out we found this:

Upon closer inspection, we found a note attached:

From our wonderful neighbors, Marion and Sarah and Ethan! A big shout-out to ALL our wonderful neighbors, who will keep things on track while we’re gone. This is what ‘gone’ looks like:

Avast, ye landlubbers!

Or it goes something like that. Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day because my cousin, Rachel, send us a pirate flag! We may hang it out the porthole to ward off scurvy dogs, or in the library, up high and away from temptation because it is so completely cool that everyone will want one. Note: it is probably very bad luck to abscond with a pirate flag.

Techno-chat

New regulations about air travel with spare lithium batteries, effective 1/1/08: http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

New iphone capabilities: Order Starbucks from down the block, breeze in, jump to the head of the line like a rock star. Is there anything better than combining mobile technology with caffeine?