Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
My Hair is Ready to Go! (I wrote this entry on 5/30 but forgot to post)
Hello Again,
On Friday, I got my hair braided. This is a momentous step in my preparation because I haven't gotten my hair braided since I graduated from my Master's program in 2005. Check me out. how does it look?!!
On Friday, I got my hair braided. This is a momentous step in my preparation because I haven't gotten my hair braided since I graduated from my Master's program in 2005. Check me out. how does it look?!!
Greetings from the Ocean!
Despite missing everyone back home desperately, this place is AMAZING! It is my first full day on the ship and it’s a weirdly wonderful experience thus far. So you can fully understand, I will endeavor to detail what has been going on over by me!!!
I flew out of Philadelphia on Wednesday, June 9 at 7:50pm. While this is an admittedly late flight I ended up needing every minute I left for the airport. I packed that morning (I packed for a 2.5 month trip in 2 hours- I’m sure I forgot something- oh well!) and every second between when I awoke until I left was filled with things to do. I returned the tags to my car to the great state of Delaware and put my car into my sister’s garage and a million other tasks that I swore I would have enough time to do back in May, crept up on me on that last day. Anyway, I managed to get everything done and arrived to the airport with time to spare. I had a brief moment of panic when I thought I lost my wallet when I got to the airport, but alas I found it in my overstuffed bag.
Upon arriving in Ft. Lauderdale I was pleasantly surprised by the sweet room I would be spending the night. My friend Chela has a connect with someone who works for Marriot so were in this beautiful suite for the low, low price of $40 (that’s $20 each folks, you can NOT beat that!). I’ll see if I can post the pictures!
Chela kept laughing at how big my bags were and I tried to express to her that for me, this was a light packing job! Oh well, I think only ONE bag for clothes and shoes for a 2.5 month journey is more than reasonable. The other bag contained my other random stuff such as electronics, medicines/teas, bath and body products, etc! a girl had needs, geez!!!
Anyway so we had a lovely night’s sleep in our super cheap, comfy pad and awoke the next morning ready to start our adventure. After a quick drive to the port, we were all set. I forgot to mention that both our shuttle bus driver AND the port agent who checked us in where Haitian. I am still so tickled whenever I come to Florida or NY by the sheer number of Haitians who are everywhere. Chela was jealous that the driver and I shared a few words in Creole on our short drive. I assured her that we were NOT talking about her!
To continue we board this massive structure, the MV Explorer and my level of excitement and enthusiasm quickly doubled and tripled. Everyone is so incredibly friendly and was wonderful in helping us get settled. There were lots of hugs going around at the check in area! The ship is very nicely and modernly detailed and our rooms are small but nice. Excuse me; our cabins are small but nice. You have to use the proper language when discussing ship related items! I am sharing a room with a lovely woman from Pittsburgh. She also is a PhD student and we have been getting along swimmingly!
So three notable things have happened so far! On the very FIRST day we met Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and have a lovely picture with her. She was very approachable and spent some time talking to us about her thoughts regarding the SPA, which is located on our ship and how she thought this was inappropriate. If you are interested in that, I can tell you more about that conversation! So I have a picture with a judge from the highest court in the land! So cool!!!
The second amazing experience I’ve had today is the opportunity to hear renowned civil rights leader Julian Bond speak. He gave a very thought provoking talk about the unfinished business of repairing America’s racial issues. He did an amazing job tying it to the current immigration debates, which really spoke to me. I also have a picture with this living legend.
The third and final AMAZING thing, which has happened, was sort of random but I think worth noting. I was walking down the hall minding my business and a fellow shipmate stopped and asked me if I was Tutu’s daughter. Who’s Tutu I replied, prepared to say my dad’s name is Jean BaptisteJ Archbishop Tutu he said! He continued to comment that I looked distinguished. How about that? Distinguished!! Made my day it did!
So the ship is great, it’s sort of like a hotel. We have a wonderful steward Edwin who comes and makes our bed and freshens up the room every couple of hours. I have some serious reservations about that level of service for the entirety of the summer. Most of my objections are related to the values we are passing on to the students when we structure a program in such a way. Really raises questions of class and economic consciousness, which many of these students will not consider in a meaningful way. Anyway, I don’t want to get on my soapbox so I will end for now. Please stay tune, I don’t have my camera set up yet but pictures will be come soon. Stay tuned. I miss you and love you and please email or comment. I would love to hear from folks back home!!!
I have full access to email and will be checking regularly so send me some e-loveJ
Sg
p.s. right now the ship is along the coast of Virginia. I will likely pass by PA, NJ and DE tomorrow. I will be sure to wave, if you have a second, wave back. Happy SabbathJ
Sunday, May 23, 2010
My Departure!
I leave Philadelphia on June 9th at 7:50pm. I will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. to board the MV Explorer on June 10th. June 10th- June 15th, the faculty and staff will have our training and orientation workshops as we sail up the Eastern seaboard of North America:) On June 15th, the students board the ship in Halifax, Canada and the adventures BEGIN!
Pre-Board Musings
Hello Hello~
So this is my first attempt at blogging. I've always wanted to journal regularly but have never committed to it beyond the random entry here and there. But as I am going on a new adventure, I feel I should challenge myself to take on new endeavors. Not sure that I will be any good at this blogging thing but I'm thinking of it as an extended Facebook status update. :)
So my goal in establishing the blog is to create a space where I can catalogue my experiences and reactions to them as I go on this once in a lifetime journey. I look forward to reading the blog years after I return from this Semester at Sea experience and reflecting back on times gone by. My other purpose for creating this blog is to have a dedicated space to provide updates to you, my friends and family about what is going on with me while I am so far from your loving embrace. I know that I will undoubtedly forget to tell you about all of my adventures in phone calls or regular email communication so I hope the blog will capture what i may leave out.
Today, I woke up to the sounds of the contractors wrapping up the sidewalk project. I was excited to hear them outside because I thought for sure that I had abandoned the task. But finally, I have a completed sidewalk. This was my major home makeover project I wanted to complete prior to my departure. So I can now check it off my list. Some other things on the home makeover project list will simply have to wait until the Fall. It's so weird to me that I know speak of so much of my life tasks needing to be put hold until the Fall. THAT's three months from now! That is one of the weird and scary things about this Semester at Sea thing: You essentially put your (real) life on hold for a specified period of time. There is so much in that last sentence to unpack. Not to say that Semester at Sea (hence forth S@S- haha I said henceforth:)) is not part of my real life and that I won't enjoy it but it sort of like a break from reality--- or my current version of reality, which includes the many tasks of home ownership and schoolwork. Oh well more on that another time.
I started to think yesterday about the job component of my S@S experience. I will be serving as the Intercultural Affairs Specialist while on the ship. For those of you who are thinking, what the heck is a Intercultural Affairs Specialist, this means I will be primarily working in the same capacity as a Multi-cultural Affairs officer or Diversity person would on a land based campus. So I will be advising student groups for students who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented on college campuses: ethnic and racial minorities, LGBTQ students, students of lower socio-economic status, religious minorities, and students with disabilities---really any students who is part of a historically or currently oppressed group. I am really excited to be working with students from under represented backgrounds. (What does the term under represented really mean? I struggle with the underlying meaning and assumptions tied to that phrase whenever I use it). Well do you use other language I'm excited about working with students of color, LGBT students, religious minorities or any other student which does not fit the dominant white, heterosexual, christian, etc. categories. particularly on the S@S experience which has so few of those "underrepresented" groups. I look forward to serving as a mentor and advocate! should be fun and enlightening!!! Since S@S draws students from all over the country and yes even the world, that should be doubly fascinating experience. so I need to give some more serious thought about how I will reach out to my target populations. I may have more on that later.
So final thing, I realize that I have been talking about all these things with the assumption that you know exactly what I'm referring to when I say S@S. I am so excited to be spending my summer months working for Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea is an innovative, one of a kind experiential learning experience for college students. Students from colleges and universities all over the country apply to be a member of the shipboard community for a specified period of time (a summer or a full semester). during that time their "campus" is aboard the MV Explorer (a HUGE ship) equipped with everything a campus would have- classrooms, library, computer labs, student union, campus store, gym and recreation, dining hall, etc. You can find more info on the S@S website about the MV Explorer. So, the students take classes which they get academic credit for on their home institutions (like study abroad). the major difference is that their coursework is linked directly to the destinations the ship docks throughout the voyage. So students taking a oceanography class on the ship will have field trips to coastal locations along the voyage route to examine the different ocean conditions. Students studying urban poverty will have a chance to witness the conditions of the urban environment in multiple locations. Pretty cool huh! So in addition to the classroom component, no college campus is complete without a dedicated and well developed student life component. that is where I come in and my amazing job as the Intercultural Affairs Specialist. There are other great Student Life folks on the ship but I haven't really met them yet so can't tell you too much about that now.
One final thing, I thought I would share my itinerary:
Sort of exciting, right!?!?!?! Anyway, I must go. I have a million things to do. My mom and I are going to see Shrek! Not on the to do list but a necessary task all the same. Thanks for reading!
Sg
So this is my first attempt at blogging. I've always wanted to journal regularly but have never committed to it beyond the random entry here and there. But as I am going on a new adventure, I feel I should challenge myself to take on new endeavors. Not sure that I will be any good at this blogging thing but I'm thinking of it as an extended Facebook status update. :)
So my goal in establishing the blog is to create a space where I can catalogue my experiences and reactions to them as I go on this once in a lifetime journey. I look forward to reading the blog years after I return from this Semester at Sea experience and reflecting back on times gone by. My other purpose for creating this blog is to have a dedicated space to provide updates to you, my friends and family about what is going on with me while I am so far from your loving embrace. I know that I will undoubtedly forget to tell you about all of my adventures in phone calls or regular email communication so I hope the blog will capture what i may leave out.
Today, I woke up to the sounds of the contractors wrapping up the sidewalk project. I was excited to hear them outside because I thought for sure that I had abandoned the task. But finally, I have a completed sidewalk. This was my major home makeover project I wanted to complete prior to my departure. So I can now check it off my list. Some other things on the home makeover project list will simply have to wait until the Fall. It's so weird to me that I know speak of so much of my life tasks needing to be put hold until the Fall. THAT's three months from now! That is one of the weird and scary things about this Semester at Sea thing: You essentially put your (real) life on hold for a specified period of time. There is so much in that last sentence to unpack. Not to say that Semester at Sea (hence forth S@S- haha I said henceforth:)) is not part of my real life and that I won't enjoy it but it sort of like a break from reality--- or my current version of reality, which includes the many tasks of home ownership and schoolwork. Oh well more on that another time.
I started to think yesterday about the job component of my S@S experience. I will be serving as the Intercultural Affairs Specialist while on the ship. For those of you who are thinking, what the heck is a Intercultural Affairs Specialist, this means I will be primarily working in the same capacity as a Multi-cultural Affairs officer or Diversity person would on a land based campus. So I will be advising student groups for students who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented on college campuses: ethnic and racial minorities, LGBTQ students, students of lower socio-economic status, religious minorities, and students with disabilities---really any students who is part of a historically or currently oppressed group. I am really excited to be working with students from under represented backgrounds. (What does the term under represented really mean? I struggle with the underlying meaning and assumptions tied to that phrase whenever I use it). Well do you use other language I'm excited about working with students of color, LGBT students, religious minorities or any other student which does not fit the dominant white, heterosexual, christian, etc. categories. particularly on the S@S experience which has so few of those "underrepresented" groups. I look forward to serving as a mentor and advocate! should be fun and enlightening!!! Since S@S draws students from all over the country and yes even the world, that should be doubly fascinating experience. so I need to give some more serious thought about how I will reach out to my target populations. I may have more on that later.
So final thing, I realize that I have been talking about all these things with the assumption that you know exactly what I'm referring to when I say S@S. I am so excited to be spending my summer months working for Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea is an innovative, one of a kind experiential learning experience for college students. Students from colleges and universities all over the country apply to be a member of the shipboard community for a specified period of time (a summer or a full semester). during that time their "campus" is aboard the MV Explorer (a HUGE ship) equipped with everything a campus would have- classrooms, library, computer labs, student union, campus store, gym and recreation, dining hall, etc. You can find more info on the S@S website about the MV Explorer. So, the students take classes which they get academic credit for on their home institutions (like study abroad). the major difference is that their coursework is linked directly to the destinations the ship docks throughout the voyage. So students taking a oceanography class on the ship will have field trips to coastal locations along the voyage route to examine the different ocean conditions. Students studying urban poverty will have a chance to witness the conditions of the urban environment in multiple locations. Pretty cool huh! So in addition to the classroom component, no college campus is complete without a dedicated and well developed student life component. that is where I come in and my amazing job as the Intercultural Affairs Specialist. There are other great Student Life folks on the ship but I haven't really met them yet so can't tell you too much about that now.
One final thing, I thought I would share my itinerary:
| Destination | Arrive Depart | Day | Date | Time |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | Depart | Tuesday | June 15 | 1700 |
| Barcelona, Spain | Arrive Depart | Thursday Sunday | June 24 June 27 | 0800 2000 |
| Civitavecchia / Naples, Italy | Arrive Depart | Tuesday Monday | June 29 July 05 | 0800 2000 |
| Dubrovnik, Croatia | Arrive Depart | Thursday Sunday | July 08 July 11 | 0800 2000 |
| Piraeus (Athens), Greece | Arrive Depart | Wednesday Sunday | July 14 July 18 | 0800 2000 |
| Istanbul, Turkey | Arrive Depart | Tuesday Saturday | July 20 July 24 | 0800 2000 |
| Alexandria , Egypt | Arrive Depart | Tuesday Saturday | July 27 July 31 | 0800 2000 |
| Casablanca, Morocco | Arrive Depart | Saturday Tuesday | August 07 August 10 | 0800 2000 |
| Norfolk, VA USA | Arrive | Saturday | August 21 | 0800 |
Sort of exciting, right!?!?!?! Anyway, I must go. I have a million things to do. My mom and I are going to see Shrek! Not on the to do list but a necessary task all the same. Thanks for reading!
Sg
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