As I find my way back to "reality" post voyage, days are filled with bridge-making and processing. How do I bring this abundance of new stories to my old life? How do I bring the joy of the children of Ghana to my student's lives? How do I bring the performance passion from India to my classrooms? How do I bring the blend of spirit and devotion from Burma to the programming of AFP? I am having an amazing time this summer wrestling, embracing and defining those answers. Its a process. Its a fight. Its a blessing.
As I complete this story, this Blog, this snapshot of much more than simply a "sabbatical," this life changing voyage...I am not going to attempt to write one final chapter that ties it all up neatly. It wasn't a neat and clean experience. It was a spiritual, intellectual, professional and personal shift. I look forward to remaining present in this shift and to my total participation in each moment. I look forward to the processing and application of the multiple gifts I have received overt the past 4 month--some I am aware of, many I am not. I look forward to the SHARING--sharing the international treasures with my students, the Anne Frank Project, the Theater department and SUNY Buffalo State campus. I am particularly excited to collaborate on new projects surfaced from my travels with new colleagues, from new disciplines, new departments, new campuses and new organizations. The world has opened itself anew to me and my appetite to learn, process and apply is at an all time high!
It is difficult to offer a sample of photos to support this final entry as has been my practice with this blog throughout. So, how can I help you visualize the sparks that ignited these thoughts? By sharing possibly the most important "country" we visited...the MV Explorer, our ship. This home away from home was much more than the place we ate and slept. This was the village where we laughed, cried, debated, learned, questioned, studied, rehearsed, danced, sang, exercised, rested, meditated, washed, sweat...Lived. This was home to our new family--a family of 600 students, 40 faculty, 50 staff and 185 crew members from around the globe all sharing a floating academic village in pursuit of dreams, ideas and change. A temporary family that has become permanent. Thank you to my, our new family, friends, explorers and colleagues. We grabbed hands and took a giant leap of faith around the world together. My hand is out and available to you for future adventures together...Ubuntu.
My students...
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| Intro. to World Theater: Burma field lab |
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| Acting I: on stage on the ship |
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| Intro. to World Theater: India field lab
The Mv Explorer...Home....
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Neptune Day--A nautical tradition where "pollywogs" who are crossing the Equator for the first time must kiss the fish, bathe in fish guts and shave their heads (optional) in honor of King Neptune.
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| Faculty and staff are cast in various roles |
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| Yours truly was the MC:) |
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| The fish is real |
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| The fish guts aren't... |
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| Nate went for the shave |
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| As did a surprising amount of women
The AMAZING crew of the MV Explorer.
FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY
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We are overcome with good fortune. The lessons continue to reveal themselves to us daily. The world is astounding and right in front of us. People are Good. Ubuntu, Namaste, Amahoro.
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