Bill Seney's

Semester at Sea: Rock 3

7 Sep 2005

Back to sea and to classes. It was interesting that even after this short a time people were saying “I was glad to get home to the ship”.

8 Sep 2005

Today we advanced the clocks one hour as we have turned east to round the bulge of Brazil. Our first few days traveling were almost due south so there had not been any need to

9 Sep 2005

One of the programs SAS runs to make things easier for the students is Adopt-A-Family, where staff and adult passengers serve as surrogate family for interested students. I signed up and was partnered with another adult passenger, Marie-Louise (her husband, Wille, hadn’t signed up) and together we are meeting with 4 students to see how how they are doing.

10 Sep 2005

At 1700 we crossed the line to the southern hemisphere, but due to the press of studies (first exams are coming up) the official line-crossing ceremony with King Neptune and all the trimmings is postponed until 20 September 2005, after we leave Brazil.

In addition to Adopt-A-Family I signed up for the vicarious Voyage program, where students are matched up with K-12 classes back home, to exchange e-mails and packages so the school kids can learn about the voyage and the places we are visiting.

Seas were a bit higher than previously (2 metres or 6 feet, compared to an average of 0.7 – 1 metres or 2 to 3 feet) and while we all noticed the change very few people were bothered by it.

11 Sep 2005

We had a 3 minute silence on board this evening, in remembrance of those killed in 9/11 and other tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina. I also saw someone wearing a souvenir NYFD t-shirt with the message "All gave some, some gave all" on the back. I thought it was a good day for it.

12 Sep 2005

Today was the first exam for Global Studies, the course all the students take. As an adult student I didn’t take the exam, but I did get to be a proctor, handing out pencils and answer sheets and collecting the results.

The day ended with the logistical pre-port meeting, covering what will happen when we dock in Brazil, followed by a briefing for those of us going to the Amazon on the prevention of, and if necessary the treatment for, traveler’s diarrhea.

Tomorrow, we dock in the city of Salvador, Brazil. Next trip report will be after we sail on the evening of 17 September 2005.

- Bill Seney

Follow up on the 2 students who got mugged. The Brazilian police have made one or more arrests and the stolen cameras were recovered. Beyond that details are hazy but we are all glad to for the news.

Ship is currently en route to South Africa with Archbishop and Mrs. Tutu on board, although they are resting from long flights. More to follow.

- Bill Seney