The ocean has become rougher and we are all stumbling around like drunken sailors. But people seem to be feeling OK and getting the hang of how to avoid collisions in the hallways. Since there aren’t any interesting travel anecdotes to tell, I’ll talk a bit about the food. It is served cafeteria-style, although there are crew members who are very attentive and bring drinks and take away trays. I am getting spoiled, for sure. The food itself is pretty good, if repetitive. There is always at least one egg dish in the morning, and a fish and a meat dish at dinner, and pasta at lunch and dinner. And dessert! Always dessert. The coffee isn’t too good, so I’m glad Margie insisted on bringing the press-pot and a supply of ground coffee. We will look to replentish our supply in future ports.
As of this morning (2/1) we are now two hours ahead of the East Coast. On this voyage we will keep losing an hour, which is difficult for those of us with 8am classes or who have to open the library! Last night I went to an excellent lecture about the impact of the West Indies on U.S. history. We have really top-rate faculty here; I have been very interested in whatever they choose to lecture about. They speak without many notes and are engaging and impart a lot of knowledge in a concise manner. I admire it a lot. These faculty are also the epitome of flexible (our favorite ‘f’ word on the ship: everyone is always saying ‘Remember the ‘f’ word) and are able to pretty much throw together lectures with great relevance to our future ports. I’m impressed by how collegial they all are: everyone is pitching in to make Global Studies a success. Greg Orr reads poems, Joe Merino talks about music, the historians and the economists talk about their areas of expertise. There is also a strong emphasis on conservation woven throughout the lectures. This has caused me to wonder if we are leaving less of a carbon footprint by traveling around the world by ship. The fuel usage is significant, but that is true for air travel as well. Maybe we’ll try to figure it out in Global Studies.
Posted by Melinda Baumann 
