Swells

*  I forgot to mention in previous posts that my goal is to blog once a week…or close to that depending on where we are and what we are doing.

After 11 days at sea we are due to reach Yokohama tomorrow morning at 8:00am.  I was going to write “Whew!”…but don’t really feel like that would be an appropriate emotional summary of our sea trek to Japan.  It has been an extremely positive, spiritual and calming experience sailing across the Pacific Ocean.  The crossing has been filled with multiple highs and lows that have been a perfect emotional reflection of the ship’s movements.  As is typical for this time of year (we are told), we have been battling 15-25 foot swells as we move through the Pacific.  The MV Explorer is known as the fastest cruise ship in the world—great if you are racing, not so great if you are searching for even sailing.  The same nautical attributes that make the MV a fast ship also prevent it from smooth sailing over rough waters—to the point:  It’s been a ROUGH ride!  Our captain did maneuver us out of harm’s way a few days ago as he skillfully sidestepped a major storm, but it is impossible not to feel the power of the ocean when its being its wild, rambunctious self.   

Below are the top 10 lessons I have been taught by the sea the past 11 days:

1.  It is liberating to see no land for extended periods of time—We become beautifully insignificant.

2.  Bend your knees and keep a wide base as you walk about.

3.  If someone coming towards you looks like they’re going to throw up, they are.  Move to the other side of the walkway mid-vomit, then return to console post-vomit.

4.  Teaching acting while the ship rocks makes for wonderful scene work.

5.  Take everything off the shelves BEFORE you go to bed.

6.  When jumping in basketball, be prepared for the ground to be in a different place when you come down.

7.  Catching falling shipmates is a good time to introduce yourself.

8.  LOVE and TURST the crew—they’ve been through it before.

9.  A rolling bed makes for AMAZING dreams.

10.  Like snow in Buffalo, ocean swells unite a community in friendly, special ways.

Every moment is a story.  The story continues to build upon itself.  Looking forward to land chapters.

What the Hilo...?

What the Hilo…?

It seems like several weeks between this entry and the last…ship life.  Each day is packed with classes, lectures, workshops and…Stories.  We are a city in and of ourselves.  Our “newness” has transformed into routine.  We have accepted our community responsibility, the weird is now our lives and multiple inspired dialogues are our fuel.  Balancing our intellectual pursuits are those familiar routines that keep us happily grounded:  breakfast, lunch, dinner, basketball, exercise machines, Ping-Pong and swimming.  Since we have such large distances to initially travel (Mexico to Hawaii, Hawaii to Japan), the precious time we have on board has helped to ground us. 

In AFP-ese, we have set the foundation for our storytelling.  While we realize there are MANY profound, rich experiences ahead but we will be unable to process them through the storytelling machine until we lay the bricks for our path ahead (if you don’t appreciate metaphors, this is the wrong blog to followJ):  The bricks: 

-Being physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually Present.

-Creating a community of mutual respect free of judgment:  Ubuntu.

-Freedom to immediately describe experiences with language.

-Communal commitment to recording each experience.

-Listening, listening, listening.

We had two days in Hawaii:  One full day in Hilo (off the ship) one full day in Honolulu (refueling, on the ship).  Hilo was spectacular.  We arranged a full day trip with our new Brada (brother) Coconut Joe Richardson.  My numerous phone conversations with him previous to our voyage clearly illustrated we had the right dude (Trip Advisor works)—but even with the positive vibes we had no idea that we had THE guy.  Joe has lived his entire life on Hilo and a true Hawaiian.  Every step, every plant, every piece of hardened lava had a Story.  Anne Frank would have loved Joe—finally someone with an excited answer for EVERY excited question!  Aloha means hello, goodbye, peace---he Muraho of Hawaii.  Hilo, an island with a story.

First stop:  Lili’uokalani Gardens

Dedicated in 1917 to the memory of Queen Lili’uokalani and her “enduring love for Hawaii’s people.”  This, like of all of Hilo, was beautifully dense with lush, exotic foliage indigenous to Hawaii.  Paradise, simply Paradise.  Hilo is the least “touched” of the Hawaiian Islands.  The concrete terrains of Honolulu and Maui have not taken over the overgrown jungleness of Hilo.  There is an organic, natural, tropical quality throughout.  We appreciated this deep sense of Aloha at every turn.

Second stop:  Rainbow Falls

Classic Hawaiian waterfall set amidst lush gardens, hanging mango lava formations.  The walk up to the falls opens into an amazing storybook like jungle where winding trees grasp winding vines to create a magical tree park.  This is where the largest tree in Hawaii calls home.  Multiple nooks and crannies to climb, hide and swing from.  These trees represent centuries of stories and events.  It's not “if” these trees could talk, its just about listening…happy place.  We felt like we were in a Hawaiian pop-up book.

Third stop:  Volcano National Park

Over 1,000 years ago the Tahitians came to Hawaii and brought with them their belief in multiple gods and their strict code of behavior and social hierarchy called Kapu (where the word Taboo originates).  The central goddess is Pele—goddess of fire, volcanoes, lightning and wind…”Earth eating woman.”  Pele controls the volcanoes and we were honored to experience her power, mystique and stubbornness.  Hardened lava dominates the island and no wonder—these mountains are awesome.  To witness the steam vents, a giant active crater and walk through a lava tube (literally a lava crusted cave cut through the guts of a mountain by flaming lava bombs) was an awesome experience.  Nate’s science work on platonic and volcanoes was a perfect preview for the field experience—THIS is the perfect way to learn:  study the theory then experience the reality.  We were all beaming with gratitude.

Fourth stop:  Richardson Beach

Richardson Beach is a great example of Hilo beaches:  black, coarse sand and jagged lava rocks surrounding clear pools which quickly spill into pounding, uneven surf.  The entryway into the ocean is tricky but once you are in past the rocks…again, Paradise.  Thankfully, we have swum multiple beaches around the world so we came prepared:  hard soled swim shoes, mask and snorkel.  This is Joe’s family beach (Richardson) that was sold back to Hilo some time ago.  But this was where Joe grew up, so he was proud to share his boyhood watering hole; proud to include us in his Ohana.  He assured us that we would be swimming amongst Hawaii’s finest ocean life and he was right!  We dropped Nate in the oceans of Mexico when he was 3 years old, so he is an excellent ocean explorer. The current was strong, but he and I swam amongst brightly colored fish for some time searching for the sea turtles we had heard so much about.  As we were making our back to the beach…Boom!...Nate fiercely tapped my shoulder as he was giggling with joy through his snorkel…wow!  A giant sea turtle was drifting along looking for sea grass to munch on and was totally content having us follow along.  He was about 4 feet wide and 6 feet long…serene, gliding, awe-inspiring.  It was an honor to witness…especially with my boy.  A definite bucket list contribution.  We patted his shell in thanks and swam our separate ways.  Aloha.

The Highs and Lows to Hilo

As we prepared for this trip for the past 18 months we never imagined getting to the ship would be an adventure in and of itself.  The arctic blast that hit the northeast the first two weeks of January presented us with three cancelled flights out of Buffalo (the cancelled flight alert ring from the United Airlines app was like a shot in the gut each time).   While United was happy to reschedule a new flight out of Buffalo, we were not.  We now were assured to miss the entirety of faculty orientation and one more miss would have us missing the ship altogether.  So, Maria and I looked at each other and started to go through the closest airports that had reasonable flight success the past day—we rented an SUV (totally against our enviro-ethics, but large enough to fit us and 4 months of luggage), drove to Cleveland, kept United on the phone and eventually secured a flight the next morning to San Diego (where the ship was docked) through San Francisco—we arrived on the ship a few hours before departure, took a giant exhale of relief and thanked the traveling angles who were looking out for us.  By the way, Ana from United reservations is an amazing soul and has made me a lifetime United airlines groupee—above and beyond—Thank You Ana.

The MV Explorer is small city of positive action…all the time.  We were immediately plugged into shipped life, embraced by all of our SAS family and remember the environment like it was yesterday.  There is a sublime energy on the ship—185 crew members from around the world, 40 faculty, 30 staff and 600 undergraduate students from over 230 different home university campuses.  Since we have been planning this trip for so long it is wonderful to replace the email address with the faces.  There are many returning staff, faculty and crew from our last voyage in the summer of 2011. 

We sailed from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico where the students boarded and set sail for Hilo, Hawaii on January 10.  We arrive in Hilo on the 17^th.  This first crossing allows for crucial community building time—the students have extensive orientation, the faculty/staff meetings and everyone a chance to get their sea legs.  Like a land-based campus, the first week of classes is an adjustment period where syllabi are exchanged, questions answered, classes added/dropped and new routines established.  Actually, the best way to describe the routine of Semester at Sea is: beautifully inconsistent.   The best advice I continue to give first timers:  surrender to the rhythm of the voyage.  The rhythm and movement of the ship, the rhythm of classes, the rhythm of meals, the rhythm of life at sea.  While we have consistent classes for this first passage, the typical routine is anything but typical since we only have classes when we are at sea…”sea days.”  On “port days” the world is our classroom as we explore each new city in a variety of ways:  class assigned field programs, SAS sponsored trips that we are free to purchase and traveling scheduled on our own.  We will be engaging in all three varieties of in country travel. 

Nate goes to school on the ship only on sea-days as well.  All of the children (about 30 total) meet for three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon as a group.  The morning session is their schoolwork where each student is taught individually by their caregivers and the afternoon session is enrichment actiivities and time to catch up on homework--yesterday they ran about the ship feverishly trying to win the scavenger hunt. We worked with Nate’s teachers at City Honors for several months prior to the voyage to prepare his curriculum—they were extremely helpful and accommodating.  Some of his work is exactly what his classmates will be doing in Buffalo and some of it has been adapted to connect to the various countries we will be visiting.  Maria and I feel VERY fortunate to be providing this unique experience for Nate.  A terrific addition has been college students who have volunteered to tutor in various subject areas.  This is a true win-win:  great lab experience for future teachers and impassioned, informed instruction in those areas Maria and I may be a bit rusty in…in other words, WE FOUND A MATH TEACHER—HURRAY!  All 5^th/6^th grade students at City Honors are required to take Chinese….who did we find for that?  Why a Chinese student from Peking University of course!  She is also in my acting class….the world is being good to usJ

My classes are filled with bright, curious, adventurous students who consistently take advantage of my “office hours”….breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I am teaching Acting I:  A Universal Vocabulary and Introduction to World Theater  where we will investigate the performance traditions of the countries we will be visiting as inspiration for the students creating their own stories to be performed for the campus community at semester’s end.  They will be deeply engaged in the process of creating original theater and, hopefully, left with the tools and vocabulary for storytelling that can be applied the rest of their lives.  They were a bit surprised by this concept initially but seem to have warmed to the idea.  They all sparkle when I share the work of the Anne Frank Project—several students have already voiced interest in coming to Rwanda.  Anne Frank continues to shine as the theme of our voyage is Ubuntu.  This is Nelson Mandela’s credo that has become South Africa’s commitment:  I am because you are.  Sound familiar?

A New Story Begins...

In a few short days my family and I will board the MV Explorer for a four-month international adventure--an experience we are thrilled, excited and deeply grateful for.  Even though this will be our second voyage with Semester at Sea (Summer 2011) we are prepared to be shocked, surprised and completely blown away by the unknown stories that lie before us.  Semester at Sea is an educational dream come true--literally a floating university filled with university students, faculty, staff and crew from around the world.  We will be visiting 12 countries as a community of learners passionate about global citizenship, social responsibility and our shared humanity.  I will be the drama professor on the ship and will use this blog to share my experiences, research and thoughts with friends, family, students and our wonderful Anne Frank Project community.  I am off to finish packing.

Amahoro (Peace)

SAs Spring 2014 Itinerary