Volcanoes

YEA! We have pictures! These are the huge volcanic craters of one of the many volcanoes that created the Hawaiian islands. Don't know if the pictures can convey how immense and awe inspiring these craters are. The volcanic sulfur gas is constantly escaping, this is an active volcanoe, but I forget when the last eruption with lava flows was. Maybe you could tell us, Bob.

Our cabin..pretty nice digs!

Dan on the balcony

This was taken I believe, as we were leaving Ensenada. It's hard to tell.

The M/V Explorer in Honolulu

This is our ship at port...and we're posting this as a test of our ability to upload photos to the blog. The windows that are visible surround the faculty lounge. As we write this we are about 300 km from Honolulu on our way to Yokohama. There are whitecaps on the Pacific now, but we are holding up relatively well. We've been warned to put loose items away tonight in anticipation of some rougher seas. Back later with a new post, and more pictures.

HILO

We're moving in on Hawaii. The ocean calmed down yesterday, so no more nausea. Night before last the motion was unreal. The bed would slide to the right 6 inches, pause, and then slide to the left. I felt like Dorothy when the tornado hits. In the cafeteria you'd hear a bunch of dishes crash to the floor when we hit a big wave. In the library books would fall off the shelves, and in the faculty lounge more than a few professors have toppled over in there chairs. We have several Albatrosses that have stayed near the ship. They are amazing, out in the middle of the Pacific. They can fly forever. They drink sea water and have some way to excrete the salt. They don't really sleep, just go on auto-pilot and drift on the wind. Have also seen little flying fish, which look like birds that pop out of the water and fly over the surface for 30 meters , then dive back in. The whales are out there, but haven't seen them yet. Ship board life is great now that it is calmer. Have done 2 yoga classes on the deck, you just can't do much balancing on one leg with the constant motion. Hope everyone back home is doing well and staying warm. Thanks for keeping in touch.

Mid-Pacific

Hey! We are now at longitude 131 west, latitude 19 degrees N, 2 days out from Ensenada, Mexico. Ensenada was nice, only went into the town once. It was almost a ghost town with empty restaurants. They must spring to life when the Carnival cruise ships are in. Dan had meetings on the ship for 2 days there. I read, and ate, and slept, fought with the computer, explored the ship, alphabetized the loaner library, and read some more. On Sunday the students, all 586 of them arrived. That night we left...I couldn't see any reason to stay in Ensenada, UNTIL we started feeling these big ocean swells. I had not realized how much the ship would rock, even on a calm day. The little loaner library shelves have had to be straightened several times already.I guess you could say the Pacific Ocean is nauseatingly beautiful. Am hoping that as my semicircular canals acclimate it will become less nauseating. It couldn't be more beautiful.

From the other Abel: Hola and Aloha

Dan here, with a quick note. I'm sitting in the Faculty Lounge on deck 7 of the M/V Explorer, overlooking the 15-foot rolling Pacific swells that pitch us from side-to-side, en route from Ensenada to Hilo. The first thought that comes to mind is how grateful I am for the generous and sincere enthusiasm that all of our friends, and a number of acquaintances too, showed in the nearly 14-15 months we waited for our sojourn to begin.

Secondly, I am in my element. I am ever-mindful of the expanses of the blue Pacific, and I feel insignificantly small. At the same time, I am surrounded by an amazing group of fellow travelers (the dean calls us his "dream team' -- a bit hyperbolic, but I like the basketball metaphor), and I feel truly valued by my colleagues. The food is amazing as well, not as good as what you all make, but definitely not dorm food.

One of my colleagues held a reading of Jaws at 9:00 PM last night on the stern, and I gave a history of the true story on which the book was based. The rapt attention on the students' faces reinforced why I'm here, although I miss Pawleys, particularly friends, more than I imagined.

Glad we had the opportunity in San Diego to see my sister Sara and nephew Harris and his beautiful family before we left.

Well, this is no longer a short posting. Troubling times, these, but the sense of serenity is overwhelming, and this is good.

San Diego to Ensenada

San Diego was beatiful, with probably the best weather in the country this week. We did some visiting, took a long walk along the ocean cliffs. My next task is to figure out how to post pictures on this blog. Anyway, S.D. was fantastic, don't know why anyone would ever leave there. Nevertheless.... we boarded our ship yesterday afternoon and left port before midnight. This ship is great, even better than the http://www.semester@sea/ ship tour shows. WE HAVE OUR OWN BALCONY!!! After a night of the ship rolling from unusually large waves (it was a little hard to sleep feeling like you were going to roll out of bed ) we woke to see the sunrise over the mountains of Ensenada. Will stop for now and get the pictures up...

Gratitude

I haven't been this filled with gratitude for 22-24 years, when my children were born. Nothing like 4 months off work, an upgrade to first class for the flight to San Diego, 2 free glasses of wine, AND a cruise around the world to fill you with gratitude. But mostly its the family and friends giving us such a great send off , with art supplies, a Vera Bradley bag, a silk dress,travel journals(one for each of us), a Pawley's Is. sea shell and an ocean of warm wishes, including the going away party my brother-in-law planned for us....the day after we left! Everyone has been sooo wonderful that I don't know why we would ever leave South Carolina. Nevertheless we are now in San Diego and the ship leaves Wednesday. And, after the free wine, you can add motion sickness bags on airplanes to my gratitude list.

Still Packing

We leave in 1 week, things are starting to come together. Just want to take a moment to document my gratitude: for Danny, whose hard work made possible this opportunity, for my job graciously allowing a leave of absence, for my mother reminding me to take sunscreen, gloves, and zip-lock bags, for Sara lending her long-underwear, for our friendsand family being so happy and excited for us, and for the earth for being round, so that we will come home!