Spain

January 28, 29, 30, & 31 Spain

We are docked in Cadiz, Spain. This part of Spain has a long history and this city may be the oldest city in Europe. This Andalucia province has Paleolithic and Neolithic remains, Phoenician and Celtic early civilizations, and Roman, Moorish, Spanish, and even French history. The architecture represents this rebounding of cultures.
The first morning we explored some of the old city of Cadiz which is within walking distance of our ship. The café con leche and the Mercado Central were wonderful. We’ve never seen a seafood market with such variety! Les, Wendy, and I attended a Flamenco Night in Chiclana near Cadiz. First there were horses dancing with ladies in the bullring. It came time for the bull. Les leaned over to see the big bull come out, and out ran a small, fuzzy young bull! It was a bloodless training session and fun to see. After that we went inside to tapas (snacks), sherry (an area specialty), wine, and sangria. The flamenco dancers put all their energy and spirit into their performance.
Today, the 29th, Les and I went on a bus and walking tour of the “White Cities.” Arcos de la Frontera and Ronda are heritage sites where all the buildings are whitewashed. The streets are cobbled and narrow. The doors are massive with little doors built in which are people-sized. The towns are in a mountainous area with buildings built along the cliffs of river gorges.
Today we walked along the coast of Cadiz. In Parque del Genoves are trees of many varieties, fountains, and trees and bushes clipped in spirals and other quirky shapes. We saw garden cats, doves, and green parrots. On we went to the Old City where we negotiated the post office (take a number), the ATM machine, and purchased a queso bocadillo (cheese sandwich) on a freshly baked bun. Tonight we plan to go out about nine for tapas and wine.
We’ll be in this area tomorrow, but will board the ship for Casablanca about four. The ship departs at eight, but the line is long and if you don’t swipe your card before six, you get “dock time,” where you miss activities at the next port.

Across the Atlantic

January 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 Atlantic Ocean
At 1130 hours we had live streaming of Barack Obama’s inauguration. We went up to 7007, Matthew & Wendy’s room, to view it on their TV. Tonight there was an inauguration party to celebrate. I think the international crew is as excited or even more excited than we: they served a red, white, and blue cake and champagne to everyone.
The boat is moving at 20+ knots. At noon an announcement said that we had traveled 300 some miles and we had 3300 more to go. There are seven decks. Our room is on deck five. It has two single bunks, a bathroom, desk, refrigerator, and storage. When Barrett is with us we make him a nest on the floor between the beds for his nap. There is a large dining room on our deck as well as purser’s desk and offices. Deck six is the Union (assembly hall), coffee lounge, bookstore, library, computer lab, some classrooms and one cafeteria. Matthew’s deck has the staff lounge, wellness center, and bigger rooms. Part of deck two and decks three and four are student rooms.
Classes start tomorrow, but I won’t register for two days after students are all settled. I’ll visit classes tomorrow.
Wendy taught her first class today. We heard students talking excitedly about it. She herself said it was humbling. Matthew has met with all three of his classes. I have visited two classes, and I hope I can get in them. Tomorrow I will find out.
There are several children on board. They range from high school to about seven months. There is a program director for those from K through 12, but parents are still responsible for the bulk of their studies brought from their home schools. We often get together with Christopher (age 4), Abby (age 3) baby sister Lilly, and Eli (age 18 months) along with their mothers.
Jan. 24th and we are more than half way across the Atlantic. I registered for my two classes and am trying to catch up/keep up with the reading. Biology 105 is Nutrition Around the World and English Writing 357 is True Lies: Creative Writing as Critical and Trans-Cultural Consciousness. I realized that I have never taken a writing course! The two professors have different styles which makes it more interesting.
We have lost an hour most nights as we travel east. It means an hour of sleep goes by-by. Our days are full: early exercise, breakfast, go to Barrett’s room. One of us goes to the Global Studies course that gives everyone information on the countries, geography, and the ever-changing world environment which man has adapted to over time. The theme of the voyage is “migrations.” Barrett time in his room is play and stories, then we go outside on deck to play ball or try to swim if the pool has water, then in to our room for journal, stories, and “speedy beep” which is a ball game Barrett and Les invented. Lunch follows. Then it’s story and nap, during which I study and go to one of my classes. After nap is playtime with friends and then dinner. There are activities after dinner. Today we studied, went to salsa class, studied, went to a talk on food in Spain, studied, went to a meeting of preschool parents and volunteer university students who want to work with preschoolers (there were over 40 of them!), and then a walk around outside and more study. Now it is almost one AM on the new time, so I’m for sleep!

Bahamas

January 18 & 19, 2009 Nassau, New Providence, the Bahamas
The 725 students are on board, and we have really begun the trip, heading out of Caribbean waters into the Atlantic crossing. The ambiance of the ship has changed dramatically with lots of young energy. Over 70% of the students are girls. The most students from any one campus come from the University of Colorado, and the most students from any state come from various California colleges. All in all, there are 235 colleges and universities represented.
We awoke on the 19th and raised our shade to a colorful scene: pastel and brightly colored building of Nassau. We learned how to disembark and all took a water taxi over to Paradise Island, which is touristy and rich. We saw the aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel where you wander through dark caves and see fish in among “shipwreck ruins.” I liked the mantas, and Barrett likes the moray eels. Although he doesn’t want to get close to the glass with big fish swimming by, he loves those eels!
Buses are called jitneys, and the cars drive on the left side. Ladies in the market called me “Honey” and sit in chairs while they sew and sell. In the grocery, the girls sit to do checkout. They must not get paid much because they have a tip jar. The police dress in white uniforms, and students have on white shirts and green slacks or skirts. Most of the people are tourists, and between meetings on the ship, we didn’t have much time to go far. I enjoyed walking through the straw market and talking to some of the ladies. We left Nassau at 1700 hours with hundreds of parents waving from dockside. It was festive!

January 14 & 15, 2009
I heard a short-eared owl call from our neighbor’s ridgepole. The furnace quit ten days ago in subzero temperatures, and the truck broke down. Grammy was in the hospital. Jesse arrived, and we went to Charlie’s Bakery to meet Garrett, Sarah, Edison, and Jasper for Chinese chow. When we began to drive home, we noticed rain; then, as we climbed the mountain, wind and blowing snow. Rounding Kamakazi Curve, we faced a full-blown blizzard. We knew that by morning, the road would be plugged, and we would miss our flight. Fortunately we were all packed, so we put on our traveling clothes and called Margo. Could we sleep there? Margo and Howard to the rescue! The owl, the blizzard, dear friends all remind us that we are leaving our wonderful home in Alaska.
We made it to Miami. The moon is lying on its back like a smile. We speak the wrong language. Coconuts are ripening on the trees. We think we spotted the M/V Explorer across the water from our Continental Bayshore Hotel on Biscayne Avenue.
That was it, pier J. We met up with Matthew, Wendy, and Barrett and began orientation. At exactly 11 pm, the crew untied the ship from the dock. A tug Dade tied off on the port stern and began to pull us from the pier. We are on our way to the Bahamas! Time for the lifeboat drill.
Jesse says Alaska is mad at us for leaving: the weather has been wild, wild, wild!

Boat and classes

Friends have been asking me about the ship we'll sail on. It is the M/V Explorer. It was built in Germany as one of the world's fastest cruise ship and completed in 2001 by Blohm and Voss shipbuilders. The gross tonnage is 24,318. Length is 590 feet with an 84 foot beam. Its draft is 24 feet, and the cruising speed is 28 knots (1.15 mph/knot). There are 418 cabins and six participant decks. It has a library and large hall for the entire student body to meet together. There are 196 crew from 20 countries. Approximately 32 professors will hold classes in nine classrooms. There will be up to 836 passengers.

Matthew will be teaching Technosonics, Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble Tour (better known as MICE), and Ecoacoustics - Sites and Sounds. Aniseh will be teaching A World of Dance - An Interactive Study of National Dances.

My choices for possible classes include Theatre History - Theatre and Ritual, Studies in Poetry, True Lies: Creative Writing as Critical and Trans-Cultural Consciousness, Golden Peaches and Vermillion Birds: Introduction to Chinese Poetry, English as a Global Language, Classical Asian Philosophy, Physics for Mariners, International Service-Learning, Introduction to Biological Anthropology, Comparative Educational Systems, and/or Nutrition Around the World. They all sound pretty interesting, so it will be fun to see which two I can fit into my nanny schedule.

Judy

trip countdown

Today is Jan. 1 2009 and we have two weeks before leaving Anchorage for Miami to board the M/V Explorer. It's time to button up loose ends and seriously begin packing for a four month trip around the world. Nothing was open today so tomorrow I'll start
marking off the list and check it twice and think of more to add as I drive around Anchorage in -15 degree weather.

LesB

Our itinerary - 2 weeks until departure!

Miami Staff departs 15 Jan.
Nassau, Bahamas
Depart Mon. 19 Jan. 1700
Cadiz Spain Arrive Wed. 28 Jan., 0800
Depart Sat. 31 Jan. 2000
Casablanca, Morocco Arrive Mon. 02 Feb. 0800
Depart Thurs. 05 Feb. 2000
Walvis Bay, Namibia Arrive Sat. 14 Feb. 0800
Depart Mon. 16 Feb. 0800
Cape Town, South Africa Arrive Wed. Feb. 18 0800
Depart Sun. 22 Feb. 2000
Port Louis, Mauritius Arrive Fri. 27 Feb. 0800
Depart Fri. 27 Feb. 2200
Chennai, India Arrive Thurs. 05 Mar. 0800
Depart Mon. 09 Mar. 2000
Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand Arrive Sun. 15 Mar. 0800
Depart Thurs. 19 Mar. 2000
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam Arrive Sun. 22 Mar. 0800
Depart Fri., 27 Mar. 0800
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China Arrive Sun. 29 Mar. 0800
Depart Fri., 03 April 2000
Kobe/Yokohama, Japan Arrive Mon. 06 April 0800
Depart Fri. 10 April 2100
Cross International Dateline – add one day
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Arrive Sun. 19 April 0600
Depart Mon. 20 April 2000
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala (Antigua, Guatemala City) Arrive Tues. 28 April 1100
Depart Thurs. 30 April 2000
Transit Panama Canal – Sun. 03 May
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA Arrive Wed. 06 May 0800