Shipboard Life Continued...

Some recent highlights from the ship...

* "Going to the Chapel...": We had our first TSS wedding onboard the
ship! Gianni from Italy and Kersten from Germany. Kersten is one of
our faculty members, and she brought her partner Gianni, who she met
while working in Australia. The two of them decided to get married
on the ship, and created a beautiful ceremony, with a collection of
wedding traditions from all over the world--Buddhist and Christian
rituals, integrated with a Moroccan ceremony dance and Indian and
Ghanian dances during the reception. It was a truly a community
effort. The Captain led the ceremony. The Worlds of Art & Culture
Learning Circle students decorated with Riikka, hanging brightly
colored saris and displaying beautiful flower arrangements. There
was a little band of students and staff playing music during the
ceremony, and Amanda and Cherine sang a beautiful song together. The
crew band was asked to play during the staff reception, after
discovering their talents at the Crew Talent Show. A truly memorable
occasion.

*Dolphins--I saw dolphins; lots of dolphins! Probably over 30 of
them, leaping out of the water, into the sun. So spectacular (and I
don't use that word very often--Rico, is that your word?)! It was
early in the morning, and I was up on the sports deck, when I heard
Sarah and Ron screaming by the railing. I ran over to join them, and
there they were, leaping away (the dolphins, not Sarah and Ron)! We
were so excited.

*U.S. & Canada Cultural Show: Our third cultural show was "U.S. &
Canada Night". It was interesting to think about what defines our
North American culture and what the students chose to present. The
evening consisted of: national anthems, historical accounts/stories,
skits, a lovely Native American song and dance by Amanda, rich
soulful singing, a hip hop and step routine, and Michael Jackson's
"Thriller" dance to end the night. I was in the hip hop and step
routine. It was a blast. Ja'hnette, one of the students who is my
age, and I broke out the "old school" hip hop dances--The Running
Man, Roger Rabbit, Kid-n-Play, Cabbage Patch, and the Snake. And of
course, this was all to Kriss Kross , Bel Biv Devoe, etc.

*Pride Day & TSS Drag Idol: The Happy Club organized a "Pride Day"
for LGBT community members and allies. They decorated the ship, as
if it were one big float (which it is), with tinsel and signs from
the Cape Town Pride Parade. That evening, we had our very own
version of "American Idol", with host Ryan Secrest. What's funny is
that we really do have a student named Ryan Secrest on board, so it
worked out perfectly. What was unique about our idol event was that
it was also a drag show, so people were invited to dress as a
different gender. Amanda, Sarah, and I entered the performance,
dressed in matching grey t-shirts, jeans, backwards hats, sunglasses,
and painted-on goat -tees. Our stage names: Antoine, Sam, and
Yaunice. We created our own little special something to Young MC's
"Bust the Move." It was ridiculous and hilarious.

*Sleep Outs On Deck: Although it hasn't been consistent, a few of us
decided to sleep out on the deck the night before arriving to port.
We probably won't be able to continue after Cape Verde because of the
weather, but it's been great when we've done it. Sarah and I slept
out once during the first voyage--The whole process was pretty
funny. It took us half an hour to decide where we wanted to sleep,
given that bright lights seem to shine everywhere. We finally found
a spot on the top deck astroturf area, laid down our yoga mats,
ordered breakfast from our "Breakfast Intern" Ty (a random funny
joke), woke up around 5:00 am, at which we decided to go back to our
cabins (after a ten-minute discussion of whether or not this
"counted" as a sleep out). This voyage's sleep-outs have been more
successful. We now wear eye masks to alleviate the bright lights
issue and we lay on the lawn chairs, pulled up close to the railing
so that we can hear the ocean. The best part is waking up to sunrise
and enjoying breakfast in our lawn chair beds.

*OBL activity by Marcela and Ann--Two of our IRC's, Marcela and Ann,
led a great activity today in our OBL meeting. They had us simulate
a situation where we could only speak in the present tense and we
could only use the pronouns "we" and "us", instead of "I" and "me."
The purpose of this activity was to experience a taste of what it's
like to communicate in a non-native language, using different
grammatical rules. I found myself feeling frustrated and tired from
the activity, which is what many of our non-native English speakers
experience every day onboard the ship, both in the classroom and
during social interactions. The activity reminded my of times when I
have been with my extended family, where farsi is predominately
spoken. I feel like more of my personality is contained and that I
am not able to express myself in the way I would like or have deeper
conversations as I would like.

So, I think that covers some of the most recent shipboard
highlights. There is always more to tell, but I'll stop there for
now. Before I sign off...A special "hello" to Chris C.'s parents--
Chris mentioned you were reading my blog. Welcome! We adore your
son--He is such a gift to our team and this community!