Thursday, August 27, 2009

At Sea At Last







We boarded the ship in Norfolk on Monday and were glad to escape the incredible humidity; 100% humidity and 100 degrees equal 1 gazillion degrees of discomfort. The MV Explorer, our seafaring campus, initially looked BIG to us but after arriving at Halifax we felt dwarfed by the two monster cruise ships berthed next to us--we carry a full complement of 1,200 and the mama ships moored next to us seemed like floating cities with 4-5,000 passengers and crew--these ships looked and felt like floating Las Vegas islands.



The first four days on the ship were jammed with orientation sessions, ranging from emergency escape drills where we hunkered next to our designated lifeboats to discussions on life-long learning, global studies, how to deal with phony "good" water drawn from polluted sources, dealing with rich/spoiled students who don't attend classes, and a host of other important topics that we have already pushed to the back of our expanded and ready to explode frontal lobes.



We landed at Halifax this morning and given the case that we finally had a reasonable night's sleep we missed the bagpiper duet that welcomed our ship at 8; apparently the big ships had a much bigger reception with gobs of pipers but those are the breaks. After our morning session on how to deal with emergency medical situations ("don't go native with food in Ghana or suffer the consequences, etc.") we had a lovely breakfast with two of our new buds, Bernie and Elaine who head up the Service Learning and Life-Long Learners programs, and then took a bus ride to the Wal-Mart located at the opposite end of the city. We made the pilgrimage to buy firm pillows, chocolate, tea, and other items that we neglected to pack.



Halifax is pretty cool and reminds us of a compressed Victoria with the city perched on some puffy lips around the harbor. After the Wal-Mart stop we headed to the Five Fishermen restaurant where we bumped into about twenty of our new Explorer buds. Alicia had a fabulous lobster dinner but the real hit of the evening was the endless supply of local mussels that were very yummy and fresh (hauled out of the ocean this morning) and the best part is that we could eat all the mussels we wanted at "no" additional cost as they were part of the salad bar. I stopped at about 100 or so as I didn't want to spoil my appetite.



We probably walked five or six miles today and made it back to the ship in time for the reception for the parents of the students, none of the students were at the reception as they come on board tomorrow. It was a very well done reception with some great food (none of which we had seen or eaten to date but were glad to acknowledge as coming from the ship's kitchens) and about 300 plus excited and worried parents. Alicia and I mingled and met with several parents and committed to being surrogate parents to about a half dozen students, including a couple of students from Newport Beach and a Latina from Denver whose father almost genuflected to us when we agreed to meet and befriend her.



Tomorrow we sail for Cadiz and we will test out our new pillows tonight--thankful for small blessings like firm pillows and great ones like the adventure we have started and can only get better.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Bon Voyage Feasts with the Spenuzza, Rodriguez, Hedrick, and Marquez Families


We have to go around the world more often as the food and drink send-offs have have been great albeit we are straining at the waist and have yet to board the MS Voyager! First, Pete and Connie Spenuzza graciously hosted us last weekend for a great bon voyage send-off brunch at Sapphire Grill in Laguna Beach--the food and conversation were wonderful and it was great to be with them knowing that Pete had been a student on one of the earlier/earliest voyages back in the 60s. This will be the 100th voyage and how very cool to know that Pete had blazed the trail that we will follow in a week.

Then Steves and Cindy Rodriguez had us over for an incredible dinner of the most succulent fish tacos, sangria, and conversation that was both celestial and educational as they filled us in on their adventures in Vietnam and Japan--great to have such beautiful young friends pave the trail for our upcoming treks.

If that were not enough we were hosted to another fabulous brunch at the Hedrick household with the core family on Sunday with custom made omelets by our Nekane and Lisa (our girls), more than a few mimosas, and an announcement about the first baby coming to Viviana and Jeff--a phenomenal way to start our voyage in less than a week. We enjoyed this feast under the perky eyes of Diego and Dora, the intrepid explorers whose tradition we will carry on. So, we will waddle onto the ship with promises of waking up before dawn to hit the workout gym and race around the decks at least a hundred times before breakfast. Life is good with family and friends, especially when we have champagne, omelets, and good conversation to share.

We have one day left before we leave for our voyage and dinner tonight was spent with great friends Frank and Anita. A wonderful evening at Phlight enjoying good food, wine and conversation. So, we leave on Friday and hope we can waddle onto the ship and find room for all of our "stuff".

Friday, August 14, 2009

One week to go and we're getting into the high anxiety/gear mode; did we remember to pack for hot/cold weather, are all of the monthly statements/bills migrated to e-mode, will the girls keep my garden plants and pots alive, will my remaining wine collection be happy in a someone else's wine closet, will we be happy sleeping on a micro-bed, and on and on. Tune it to see how it turns out if you give a hoot.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Prep Time

Two weeks of manic preparation left as we leave for our Fall Semester at Sea (SAS) Odyssey. Far too many clothes laid out as we figure out what is really necessary; do we really need so many shoes and hats? Thank the IT gods for thumb drives to house years of Power Points, lecture notes, case studies, video clips, et al that I will use to help ignite the undergrad minds that make this trip possible. Its crunch time as we struggle to decide which of the many fabulous field trips we can and should take and we will finance the whole operation. Two weeks before we begin a lifelong dream.