Blog Catch-up Sunday 1/06/13 – Sunday 1/20/13
Semester at Sea Website:
www.semesteratsea.org
It’s been so busy since leaving Cville, that I’ve never
gotten this old blog started. So I will
try to do a little catch-up now. It’s
hard to believe that we have been gone for almost two weeks – and that John
will be meeting me in Shanghai in two weeks.
So many new experiences have occurred since departing and so many new
people have been met. Here’s a quick rundown….
Sunday 1/06/13 –
John dropped Susan Fraimen and her husband, Jeff Smith, and I off at
Charlottesville Airport (CHO) at 5:20 AM.
Flew to Dulles, and then non-stop on to San Diego. Checked into hotel, walked to Target to
“provision” things for the voyage. It
was pretty funny to be walking around Target in San Diego where I really knew
no one, but kept running into ship people I “knew”. So, how much contact lens solution does one
need for almost four months? J Reception that evening for Semester at Sea
(SAS) Spring 2013 Voyage Faculty and Staff. Hardly knew anyone there, but I know most of
them now!
Monday 1/07/13 –
Faculty and Staff orientation in the morning at hotel. Line up late morning to board buses to SAS
ship, M/V Explorer, which was berthed in San Diego Harbor at Pier 3. Upon arrival at pier, we checked in with
passports, luggage scanned as if boarding airline, bags tagged for delivery to
cabins and went on, boarded and were screened to enter ship. Upon arrival in my cabin (see picture),
everything was waiting for me and I saw my new “home”. My port-side cabin on Deck 4 is very spacious
and well-appointed, with a big window, closets, sitting area, and nice bath. The ship seemed big and
confusing in the beginning. Which way
was fore? Which way was aft? What was on what Deck, and what Deck was I
on? It seems funny, because now it is
all so familiar – especially because a bunch of us have been walking at 1500 for 30
minutes – covering Decks 2-7, inside and out, all ends of the ship, up and down
and all around. Before the students
boarded Tuesday morning, we all ate our meals in the Garden Dining Room on Deck
6, which has a nice outdoor eating area at the stern of the ship. Quick lunch, followed by a little time to
start to unpack and “build my nest”.
Then more orientation in the afternoon.
2100 that evening was “On Ship Time”; 2145 was mandatory lifeboat drill
and muster stations; and at 2300 we departed San Diego for Ensenada, Mexico and
it really started to seem real. Boy, it
was great with only about 100 of us on the ship!
Tuesday 1/08/13 –
Introduction of Faculty, Staff, and Families, Captains and Ship Leadership.
Team Meetings. Computer set-up, and some
free time. Everything seemed sort of
discombobulated and with no routine yet, but that all came very quickly. Rosa is my cabin steward and takes good care
of me, making my bed in morning and turning bed down at night, and keeping my
cabin clean. I’m trying to figure out
how to work without a desk, and getting all my class materials organized.
Wednesday 1/09/13
– In the morning, 630ish students start arriving from bus from San Diego. Lots and lots of luggage – some by bus and
most by truck. 1500 “on ship time”,
followed by mandatory lifeboat drill and muster stations. @1700 M/V Explorer departs Ensenada, with
much excitement, for our first Pacific crossing to Hilo. 2000-2100 welcome and introduction of Faculty
and Staff to students. Still trying to
figure out what’s where on the ship and computer, internet, and intranet
workings. There are two dining rooms on
the ship – Garden DR on Deck 6, which is smaller and has outside eating area
aft (where I eat whenever possible) and larger dining room on Deck 5. Each has buffet long on two sides, an area
with soup or hot cereal depending on meal, and another area with sandwiches and
desserts. The wait staff are all
incredibly pleasant and spoil us Faculty.
Thursday 1/10/13
– Seas very rough and lots of folks not feeling so great. Worked on course prep, found classrooms, and explored
ship some more. Worked and finished
preparing for A Day classes the next day.
Friday 1/11/13 –
A Day classes start. Class Days on the
ship are divided into A Days and B Days.
My Fundamentals of Epidemiology class (15 students) is at 0800 on A
Days, while Genomics and Public Health: Behavioral, Social, and Ethical Issues
(7 students) is at 0800 and Introduction to Public Health (30 students) is at
1540 on B Days – each lasting 1 hour and
15 minutes. Seas still very rough and it was a challenge to walk around due to
the pitching of the ship. I figured that
if this kept up it would make for “thunder thighs” and strong “glutes”. Still lots of people feeling seasick.
Saturday 1/12/13
– Seas are calmer now. B Day classes start. Getting up at 0500 each day to finish up prep
for 0800 classes. Most time each day is
working on class prep. Evenings
1700-1800 the bar in Glazer Lounge at the front of the ship is open for
Faculty, Staff, and Life Long Learners (LLLs), so that is my social time. The view through its big windows looking out
over the bow and to either side is great.
During the day, the Glazer Lounge is reserved for Faculty, Staff, and
LLLs, with many folks working up there in what is reminiscent of study hall!
Sunday 1/13/13 –
Monday 1/14/13 – Calmer seas and classes continue. Things are starting to feel much more routine
and familiar.
Tuesday 1/14/13
-- @0800 Pilot comes out on yellow boat, climbs up ladder onto our ship, and
helps guide our ship into Hilo Harbor, where we spend the next two days
berthed. Because we were coming from Mexico, everyone
on the ship had to go through US Immigration.
Sixteen agents came on the ship; we went through line to retrieve our
passports and turned them back in at the other end of the line. Once all 1,000ish passengers cleared, we were
free to disembark and many students went off to do things in Hilo. I walked into
town both days (2+ miles) and explored Hilo a little and had lunch. The second day was big Hilo Farmer’s Market
and watched Hula Dancers while eating lunch.
I thought Hilo was OK, but not great.
Wednesday 1/15/13
– “On Ship Time” was 1800 and amazingly enough, only one person was late. Being late for “On Ship Time” results in
“Dock Time in the next port – something like 2 hours Dock Time for every 5
minutes late. At 2000, the Pilot arrived
by boat to guide us out of Hilo Harbor and we headed overnight for Honolulu
where we the ship would “bunker” (take on fuel). We were supposed to arrive Honolulu at 0800,
but it was 1130 by the time we arrived and the Pilot came out to guide us in
and we docked. Because we were just
“bunkering” there and not cleared by Immigration, everyone had to stay on the
ship and it was business/classes as usual.
Honolulu was beautiful, and entering the harbor was spectacular with
Diamond Head and Waikiki off in the distance.
Thursday 1/16/13 – While
in Hawaii (both Hilo and Honolulu), it was a great treat to have my usual
Verizon cell phone and Wi-Fi service so I could talk with folks, speedily send
e-mails, and have fast Internet. The
Internet on the ship is painfully slow – like working on a modem in the old
days. I’ve taken to having something
next to me to read, so as not to go nuts.
Taking on fuel in Honolulu was supposed to take 6-8 hours on Wednesday. We anticipated leaving that evening to head
to Japan, which is an even longer Pacific crossing than from Ensenada to
Hilo. However there was a big storm
between Honolulu and Japan, so our Captain elected to keep us put until he was
sure it was safe and therefore we did not leave Honolulu until Thursday
noonish.
Sunday 1/20/13 –
Since departing Honolulu, we have been chugging pleasantly along at about 20
knots with warm weather in the 70s, blue skies, and pleasant breezes. Tonight we cross the International Date Line,
so when we wake up tomorrow it will be Tuesday, 1/22/13 instead of Monday,
1/21/13! Since leaving Ensenada, we have
already changed time zones three times (or is it two?) It’s definitely much better going west and be
gaining an hour every few days.
On the blog of one of the other faculty, he has set up a
Google map that plots our location at noon each day, which is sort of fun to
look at.
More later. Hopefully
more frequently! ;-)
