WE'RE BACK!

I was brushing my teeth at 6:00 a.m. when all of a sudden on the loud speaker (emphasis on LOUD) Neil Diamond was singing "Coming to America." It was blaring all through the ship, as people came out of their cabins and gathered on the aft decks to watch the sun rise. Magnificent. Then we walked to the forward deck to see Ft. Lauderdale into view. The sun was so warm and welcoming, the sky clear and blue. When we docked at 8:00 a student was playing the bagpipes, parents were cheering from the pier, and soon the students were talking to those parents on their cell phones, "Look toward the back of the ship, I'm in the orange shirt waving at you from the 6th deck", etc. And now, it is 10:30, and we are back at the computer lab, which has been my nemesis throughout the voyage) waiting,waiting for passports to be stamped. It is so weird to have said all our goodbyes, not without tears, and then be milling around, chomping at the bit to get off the ship. And get to StarBucks! See Y'all soon!

So Long Salvador !

Salvador, Brazil was interesting. People who traveled to the waterfalls had an amazing trip, as did those who traveled to Rio. The Amazon trip would have been amazing also, were it not for numerous cases of food poisoning. Dan and I decided to stay in Salvador (he had a lot of grading to do) and just take day trips from the ship. Not 2 hours after we first walked from the ship into the old, historic part of the city did we hear about several purse or camera snatchings, in spite of plenty of police standing around. Something fishy about this tourist area, but we still had fun. We later heard about a handful of people who used ATMs at BANKS and had their accounts plundered. You'd think their tourist industry would not want this to happen... Salvador looks very Mediterranean, from the Portuguese settlers. The city is right on the coast on the edge of the second largest bay in the world (the largest being Hudson Bay.) It was a big port for the slave ships coming straight from Ghana. We went to an orphanage one day, 25 children, mostly toddlers, some infants and handful of older children. Volunteering there was a woman from Atlanta, whose son goes to the College of Charleston. You never know when you're going to run into someone from back home! She volunteers through Cross Cultural Solutions, for 6 weeks at a time, and loves it, even though it is heart wrenching. We also visited one of Mother Teresa's places where 4 nuns try to meet the needs of the many poor here. We took a ferry to 2 lovely little islands one day, from which Danny has already posted pictures. The last day a big group of students and faculty helped to paint a community center in a favela (that is what they call slum communities here.) The young men who had built the very rustic center are very inspiring, working to give the young people a place to go. So, in the midst of deplorable conditions there is hope and very positive energy. Enough said..on to Fort Lauderdale!

Last Post from Dan

As you can see from the number of posts I've made this evening, I am very bored without my wife, who will be back in an hour, at which time we are planning to go listen to Brazilian jazz with Stu, Don, Audrey, Amy, and perhaps a few others. (Note added the following morning: Three of us adventured out into this Bohemian area known as Rio Vermelho to a club called Sao Jorge and, unfortunately, because we had not made reservations, we heard little Brazilian jazz last night. We did enjoy a cerveja under the stars..almost as much fun.)

The last few days our thoughts have been drifting to how much we are looking forward to being with our kids, seeing the rest of our families, enjoying our friends, and returning to our lives in Pawleys Island. We miss you more than we could have imagined. Much more.

Our experiences have been amazing, and we have absorbed in these last few months a lifetime of stories. I'm not sure yet how I've changed, but I know I have, and I hope I don't bore all of you trying to figure out who I really am after all of this, what my place is in the world, and what I need to do to lead a moral life.

A few days ago I held a little girl in an orphanage in Salvador, Brazil. She cried when I tried to put her down. Finally, it was time to leave and I reluctantly returned her to one of the caretakers, and I walked away looking back through a haze of tears, her sobs penetrating to my soul. I wonder what her future is, and the future of all of the kids on this fragile planet that we are so awfully mistreating.

At the orphanage I also saw the Semester at Sea students playing with and hugging the infants and toddlers, brightening their day. I've witnessed this on several occasions, remarkable if ephemeral bonds forged between these privileged students and very less fortunate kids.

One young boy at the orphanage mistook a Chinese student for Jackie Chan, and spent the entire 2 hours trying to get this poor student, who knew no martial arts, to do some kung fu for him.

Sadness, wonder, joy, humor, celebration, hopelessness, and renewed hope on our long journey, and unmitigated excitement at returning to our little slice of this huge, complex, confusing world. Thanks for sharing and enriching the experience. ~dan

Dan Again: Brazil Photos

From Dan: Some Photos from Ghana

From Dan: Itaparica Island, Brazil

As you can see, Mary had a difficult day today on this incredibly gorgeous tropical island. As I write, she's out dining with friends. Rest assured she will soon gather enough energy to resume blogging.

Ghana, West Africa

In the 4 days we spent here I have come to love Ghana, its landscape, its history, and mostly its people(mainly the children). The coast reminds you of southern California, cliffs overlooking the ocean, waves crashing on the rocks. But its weird to see a "California" coastline with thirdworld structures. The city of Accra is very hot, dry and dusty...and flat and crowded. Most of the commerce is through street vendors, who sometimes combine their stands to make a mall of sorts. They also have drive throughs, but theirs are so advanced that the merchandise is brought to you- balanced on their heads- while you sit in traffic(Which is what we were doing when Danny got the picture of the taxi with its 2 distinguished passengers). The history is mainly centuries of the slave trade and colonialism, and finally independence in 1957, so Ghana is younger than I am. After a series of coups they have had a constitutional democracy since 1992 (can you tell I am reading from the Ghana Fact Sheet?). And the people...at first I was once again disdainful of the aggressive marketing of the vendors, "Come to my shop, I give you good price, you buy my jewelry, or cloth, or drums,whatever", but relentless and multiplied several times over. But it finally hit me, after how many poor countries, that these people are just struggling to survive. I have more admiration for the fishermen who work just as hard and don't annoy me, but now I have respect for the dignity of the others. There are also areas of the city devoted to mechanics, where men salvage parts from old cars to keep other old cars running. "Running" sounds inappropriate in the face of their horrific traffic jams. And women set up cooking spots among the broken down cars, and children run around playing, and babies are slung onto their mothers' backs, so day care is not a problem. I offended one Ghanian (that I know of) when we were talking about healthcare, and he said that they have to pay for it. I asked,"but what about the poor?" And he looked back and sternly replied, "Poor! What is poor? If you have two arms and 2 legs you are not poor. If you have a family you are not poor." I guess I agree, but typing this I just remembered the dump that Danny visited, where people live and go through the garbage and live off what they can recycle, just surviving the best they can. Absolute poverty? Yes. Poor? Never!

SAFARI in South Africa

We had to take a plane and then a 3 hour bus trip to get to this national park, but as you can see it was so worth it! The hippo's are camera shy, but the lion didn't even flinch with a truckload of us shining a spotlight on him from 15 feet away. We saw much more than I can post...will do a slide show when we get home if anyone is interested...birds, millipedes, fascinating plants. Oh, and jackals, springboks, and monkeys. And of course Dan has pictures of the meals they served at the lodge. Imagine how it feels to observe these majestic animals, then come back to a buffet of wildebeast and springbok stew. I feel so very fortunate to have had this experience....I hope this ecosystem can survive the human juggernaut. Now on to Ghana.

Cape Town, South Africa

Capetown was great fun, and extraordinary to look at with Table Mountain looming over everything. Our ship docked at a wharf teeming with tourists and locals enjoying all the waterfront restaurants, shops and taverns. It felt just like a coastal city in the U.S. except for all the shops selling African souvenirs. We had a lovely Italian dinner there, and a fantastic Greek lunch. It doesn’t get any better than that. We started hiking up Table Mountain, but the wind was fierce and we stopped after 30 minutes. That was enough to get some exercise and good pictures. Our friends Warner and Nancy made it to the top, determined souls!

I worked on a Habitat for Humanity house one day with a group from the ship. The children playing all around were so sweet, to each other and us, very cute. They had made a go cart out of wheels from a baby stroller, a piece of re-bar (with a sharp point sticking out) scraps of wood and a plastic milk crate. They put various toddlers in the milk crate, then 2 more kids climbed on and several others pushed them down the road. It was priceless. The neighborhood had a lot of tin shacks, with outdoor toilets, but they were very proud of the Habitat homes. One family invited us in: the sofa took up the whole living room, there were no closets, but a roof to keep out rain, and real walls to keep out the cold and they were thrilled. It was an honor to get to work on the house, we helped get the whole roof on in one day. Many hands…

We had learned about the Truth and Reconciliation Committee so instrumental in resolving racial conflict after Apartheid. It was an extraordinary endeavor, and things would have been much worse without it. Nevertheless, friction remains. There is a huge new stadium for the World Cup in Soccer next month. The CEO of Oracle bought a yacht and docked it near where we were docked, so that he would have a place to stay when he came to watch soccer. (see pictures) Next day: Safari!

Magnificent Mauritius

On March 23rd we arrived at Mauritius for 2 lovely days. It is an island country of 1,267 sq. mi and 1.2 million people, 550 miles east of Madagascar. The guide book says it is 11 times the size of Washington D.C. It is a melting pot of Indians, Africans, Chinese and others, with French and English influence from colonial times. Besides being an "island gem in the middle of the Indian Ocean" it has a stable democracy and one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. (not saying much, I know, but seemed to have good quality of life from my perspective.) Danny led a snorkeling field trip, and I went hiking with friends...As for quality of life, the pictures speak for themselves. I'm not ready to come home yet, but am really missing everybody. Maybe you could meet us in Capetown! Many thanks for all the comments that keep us anchored to home!

From Dan again: Not my words

A still from a video on a friend's Flickr web site.

From Dan: AFRICA!!!

Setting: M/V Explorer, Deck 7 aft (pool deck), 0800 - 0915

I took my marine biology class outside this morning, and taught in full sunlight on a calm Indian Ocean with the coastline of Africa as background (about 3 miles away). I don't have any words to describe the emotional high I'm experiencing. No words. Period.

Professor Abel

Here are some pictures of Danny teaching, since that is the reason we are on the voyage. The students seem to enjoy his classes almost as much as he does. It may be hard to keep him on land after this. I know, I'll tell him he can't go back out to sea until he organizes all his sunrise/sunset pictures. That should take quite some time.

More on India

First off, my apologies for lagging in the blogging recently. I've been keeping up with attending my 3 classes, but doing all the readings and taking tests would be out of the question. (I don't know how these students get it all done, and still have time to have a good time, which they certainly do. ) Speaking of my American Politics class, how about that health care bill! After learning about all the hurdles a bill has to go through I was amazed that it actually passed. Am not sure of all the details, but just the fact that you cannot deny someone health insurance because they are sick and really need it seems quite civilized.

Back to India, we did spend one serene, enchanting day on the lake and backwaters of Alleppey. People live on the narrow strip of land between the rice fields and the canals. We passed people washing clothes, dishes, and themselves in the canals. The big houseboats are what tourists rent for 75$ a night, meals included. In the bus out of town we passed a guy on an elephant, talking on a cell phone, a family on a motorcycle, and we stopped at a spice shop. It was a lovely, enchanting day. Then we were off to Mauritius!

Population

So far we've been to Japan, 127 million people; China,1.3 billion; Viet Nam, 87 million; India-1.16 billion....Adding all the other countries we have a world population of 6.81 billion people. Oh! Add one more- Welcome to the planet Abel Zachary Thayer! We love you! Uncle Danny & Aunt Mary.

About India

Yes, I've been avoiding blogging about India. It will take me a long time to understand what we saw in Chennai and Cochin. It is jangling to the senses. The cities were crowded, chaotic, dirty and hot, but women glide by in beautiful saris, all colors of the rainbow. There are piles of garbage, and there is the Taj Mahal, (which we saw only in other people's pictures). India is the largest democracy in the world, with a president and a prime minister, but apparently little central planning. The cab drivers cheat you, but the restaurants serve a delicious feast for 2 dollars. We loved every single meal here; everything else will take much longer to digest. Such as: Women getting water, the lovely port in Chennai, the rooftops in Pondicherry( a small coastal city), the salt farms, and I give up with trying to arrange pictures on this #*&%$##@!! thing. Love you all!

From Dan: Magical, Intoxicating Southern Hemisphere Sunrise

I'm in heaven.