cookie-grams & real-mail

yesterday, was a very lovely day, our first day back on the ship from India. For starters, it was a no-class day. We opened the library at noon, but it gave us a lazy morning. It was also cookie-gram-day. One of the student organizations called "Students of Service" organizes this to raise money for charities around the world in ports we visit. I got a number of cookie-grams. Dia says I'm the coolest librarian ever; Aya and Priya, two of my favorite students who are in the library all the time, said that Semester at Sea has the greatest library staff in the world; and there were a few others. Two were unsigned so I have no idea who they are from or who to thank. And then it was also mail-day. It takes a few days to sort through all the mail that arrives in port and yesterday I received a letter from UVA. It was my first real-mail and made me surprisingly excited! Many thanks to Leland for spearheading this, and to Joe & Liz & Virginia & Barbie & Elizabeth & Mary for all signing. It was very sweet. And we ended the day with a party that the spouses threw in the faculty/staff lounge for all the faculty. Everyone was decked out in new colorful clothing that they bought in India. It was a day for decompressing about our experiences in India, getting our minds around the transition from long stretches at sea to this new period when we'll be only a couple of days at sea between each country, showing off & telling about all our new purchases, and having life & work celebrated all around. Lovely day!