On the Amazon, reflecting on service…

The Amazon River during the day

 Sunset on the Amazon

I cannot believe that we are actually sailing on the Amazon River right now.   It's kind of crazy to be going about our day to day work, and look out the window to see brown water, jungles, different
vegetation along both sides of the ship, and sometimes even a small village or canoes with kids going by.   We've also had a few different types of insects join the voyage.  Our journey takes us 1,000 miles
into the Amazon, where we will stop in Manaus for about 5 days. Surreal and beautiful, the sunset tonight was breathtaking, and the cloud formations and trees were like something out of a movie. It's
neat to see the different people on the ship gravitate to different moments. We were glad to witness the last sunset on the Amazon from the forward of the ship.

Earlier in the week we had an MLK Celebration, and it was great. Quite a few people were in attendance and we were able to show a clip of MLK as well as. Raja, Bianca and I co-facilitated this event, and made it a collaboration between spirituality, diversity, and service.  I played a clip from one of my class projects I did on MLK, then Raja  facilitated small group discussions. It was very heartening to have  great discussions about service, social justice, and spirituality on
this voyage.

Another moment that stood out for me in the last week (or so), was in our required course: Global Studies.  Jeffrey Kottler shared his amazing experiences starting the empowernepaligirls.org group to help provide education and new opportunities from lower castes in Nepal. It was so great to hear about his work and also to see the response by the students, faculty, and staff who are touched and interested in getting involved.

I've also had an amazing time getting to know the students and learning about their interest areas within service. There are a number of students interested in different human rights campaigns, and
it also happens to be that the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps will take place while we are at sea, so we'll be planning something around that as well. For now… off to sleep before some exploring in
Manaus tomorrow!

Snorkeling in the Champagne Reef...

 The Champagne Reef in Dominica


Our first stop on this amazing voyage was in Dominica (pronounced Do-mi-NEE-ka).  Dominica is a lush tropical island in the Caribbean, with lots of vegetation and has a big export industry of bananas to the UK.  When we first arrived, we wandered around the town, spoke to the local people, who speak English, and got a nice feel for the town of Roseau.  Dominica is 65% Catholic, and 35% Protestant, which came with the French and Spanish colonialists.

Everyone we ran into was very nice, and strangers even stopped to say 'Welcome to Dominica!'  I guess it's no secret when a huge ship like the MV Explorer comes to town increasing the number of people in town by 1000.  Roseau's population is only 17,000.

A young boy pointed out where the markets were, and spoke with us for a bit.  I loved meeting different people.  We also met a few women at their market stands who taught us different words, and exchanged stories with us.

Our first SAS adventure on land was snorkeling in the Champagne Reef, and it was wonderful.  They call it the Champagne Reef because of the bubbles that come from the sulfuric hot springs under water.  It is supposed to be like swimming in a glass of champagne.  There were just a few bubbles, but very cool nonetheless.  We also got to trek to the Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls the following day.  It was  truly a tropical rainforest, hence the large quantities of rain that came down throughout our little hikes.

This first stop in Dominica overall was great - the students all got back to the ship on time (yay!) and generally everyone was healthy.  Now we are on to the Amazon River, which is already a lot smoother waters.

 The MV Explorer at the dock in Dominica

A first look at the dock in Roseau...

Sea at last....

Wow, I can't believe we've been at sea for a few days now.  Classes have started for students, and now that our orientation schedule is over, I have a few moments to breathe and reflect on the fact that we are sailing our way around the world.  Our schedule has been crazy and packed for the past few days from orientation to meetings, etc.  but it has been fun and exhilarating as well.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was the actual rocking and movement of the ship.  I knew I was going to be sailing, but there are literally times when you are walking down the hall, swaying side to side, or getting pulled from one direction to another.  It's a trip and a reminder of how powerful the ocean waves are.  It provides me with a great sense of scale.  Unfortunately some people have struggled with seasickness, but I've been pretty blessed and feeling good.  I felt a little queasy a few times, but ginger pills work miracles (I'm so glad I grabbed those at Whole Foods last minute - wow, Whole Foods seems like such a foreign concept.)

Another amazing phenomenon in this journey is that when you look out the window, you are surrounded by the vast ocean.  I know that's not the most newsworthy observation, but it truly is stunning to see the sea with no land in sight.  If I ever feel that this experience is surreal, all I have to do is look outside, and/or on the map of where we are and it simultaneously confirms that feeling and brings it to the present.  The color of the water is no longer the bright teals and light blues that hugged the white sand beaches of Nassau.  It is now a deep, rich, navy blue, that looks almost as if it were dyed that color.  The sea just as calming as I expected it to be, and I look forward to more time outside on the decks. The rocking motion has also served as a great sleep aid, as even though I've had little time for sleep, what sleep I've had has been very deep.

The students on my deck, 'the Baltic Sea' are great.  We had an involvement symposium last night, and over 200 students came to sign up for my area, Service Learning.  It was very heartening, and they already had a dinner to get started with ideas.  

We are a few days away from Dominica, and looking forward to it - our first port!  The night before we arrive at each port, we have what is called a 'Port Lecture,' which is required.  That's where we get updates about culture, safety, etc.   

On the ship (not a boat)...

The time has come... we are finally on board the ship, and learning
lots by the minute. The ship is great, a lot more spacious than I
originally thought, and we have learned to be creative with storage
strategies in our cabin (not room). I'm learning the shipboard lingo
- and just for your future reference, the MV Explorer is a ship, not a
boat, we are staying in a cabin (not a room), on the 3rd deck (not
floor). Oh and also for the record, it's a voyage, not a cruise :).

It's actually been quite fun to meet the faculty, other staff, and
family members on board. Everyone has been extremely nice, and I have
a feeling that this group of people will create an incredible
experience. We have a number of seasoned SAS faculty and staff
members on our voyage, and it's neat to hear their different stories
and perspectives. So, we are all on board, a few days before the
students, to complete our orientation and prepare for their arrival.
The schedule has been packed with good info, and I'm still trying to
get my bearings as to where things are on the ship.

Mark has some free time, which has actually been helpful for me, as
he's helping me with a few things I needed to get done... and I think
he's enjoying the basketball court and gym, all to himself. Lucky
guy:)

Off to my next orientation session...

On our way....

The time has finally arrived! After a great farewell meal with the Everetts, and a tearful goodbye with little Abigail, we are now at SFO eagerly awaiting our flight. Not that we need any more reasons to know that this is going to be an amazing experience, but we got the last two business class upgrades for our flight at a super great price! I have a feeling the extra legroom and seat room, and cocktails will help us sleep well on the red-eye.

I love the travel butterflies I get before any big adventure but this time is so different. It is by far the longest and biggest journey I have yet to experience and I am so looking forward to each moment of discovery along the way. For now, taking care of some last minute online things and getting ready to relax on our way to paradise.

The final countdown....

Wow....  I feel like I can consider myself a pretty well traveled person, but the experience of preparing and packing for this upcoming voyage at sea has been like none other.  I had no idea all the prep work that went into packing for a 3 1/2 month voyage around the world.  After multiple trips to the travel clinic for medications, lots of errands, finishing a few letters of recommendation, tying up loose ends, cleaning our house to prep for a sublet, and of course, prepping our technology, I am so wiped out.  I am also SO thankful that our first stop is the Bahamas, and we are ecstatic about arriving and just relaxing for a few.  I am used to fully and thoroughly preparing for and researching about the country I am about to visit, but because there are so many countries, it's been hard to dive deep.  Nonetheless, I am so excited about this new adventure and can hardly wait to meet the other staff, faculty and students who will be on the voyage.  It's really a shipboard community, and there are already a lot of connections being made.

Now, for the final days, we've pretty much wrapped up our packing and cleaning, and will be heading up to Roseville for a final girls night with my sister and some friends.  For Christmas I gave my twin nieces, Abby and Sophie, a globe so that they could follow along on this adventure too.  They know that their auntie is "going around the world on a boat."  They also plan to talk to me via the globe and send me lots of love.  Abby asked if I would write to her, and I'll most definitely be sending those two some notes from Auntie abroad.

We'll be on a plane, on our way in exactly 2 days, YAY!

Journeys of a lifetime

I can hardly believe that in 9 days, we will be embarking on quite possibly one of the biggest and most amazing trips imaginable.  In previous adventures, I've likened some of my experiences to the Amazing Race, but this is by far the closest to it.  It is something I've been wanting to do ever since my undergrad days at UCI, when I would hear the stories of my mentors in the Dean of Students office talk about their travels as administrators on a floating university that circumnavigates the world. 

I am SO excited to be headed out on Semester at Sea.   On January 7, we will be leaving our humble abode to embark on a journey of a lifetime. After a quick stop in Atlanta, to visit some family, we'll head to the Bahamas where we embark on the MV Explorer, our home for the next 108 days.  Our itinerary is as follows:  Bahamas, Dominica, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hawaii, and finally San Diego.  We will actually be traveling down the Amazon River in Brazil -- wow!   With about 700 students and 100 faculty and staff on board this small cruise ship, my job will be to facilitate reflection activities and promote awareness about community service and learning.  I'm ecstatic about this opportunity to bridge my dissertation work and recent experiences in Bolivia, all together on a voyage unlike any other I've been on before.

Another journey of a lifetime coming up, is that I'll be getting married in the fall!  My fiance, Mark, will be on board the SAS voyage as well.  One thing we are looking forward to doing as part of our personal pre-wedding journey, is learning how to say 'I love you' in each language and find out about the different customs and traditions for celebrating love.  This journey will have so much meaning in so many ways.  Not only will I be traveling with my life partner, but it just so happens that I have a few great friends who will be on board as well.  Another good friend will be meeting up with us in Vietnam.  Once in a lifetime is an understatement, and 2011 literally feels like a dream.

Right now we are in packing mode... both for storage and the trip.  How do you pack for 4 months on a boat traveling around the world?  Well, I'll do my best, and have various experiences to draw from to help me out - and I need to remember to pack light since I'm sure to accumulate things along the way.  One perk of heading out on the Spring voyage is that we will skipping winter this year.  Well, okay, we've got a few days in here, but for the most part, being in the Southern hemisphere will be great.  As with every experience I've had abroad, it's impossible to know what I will see, who I will meet, what experiences we will encounter, but one thing I know for sure is that this is going to be an AMAZING adventure and I am looking forward to each step of the way.