bienvenidos a los estados unidos

ok, so wrong language. But here we are in San Diego, where of course there is equally much Spanish as there is English. I spent the afternoon with Dawn and Joel in Old Town, where everything is bilingual. We walked around before Old Town dazed and confused by all the everything on the street: Target, PetSmart, Payless, Home Depot, Chipotle, Chilis, Staples, Big Lots, Olive Garden, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Ross, Marshalls, and on and on and on …

But before all that …

the motto of this morning was "hurry up and wait" -- I got up at 6:45 for breakfast, took a quick shower, and then watched us pull into port.

There were families with banners screaming to us from the dock, but honestly not so many people as I expected. I guess they had already figured out there was no point to hurrying up and waiting. There were students on cell phones saying: I’m here … don’t you see me? … I’m wearing lime green … I’m waving … I’m jumping up & down … I’m here … to parents on the other end of the phone line standing on the dock. They were on the opposite side of the terminal building -- past customs -- so they could see us (and we them) as we pulled in, but not once we had docked.

Then the customs officials came aboard (around 8) and they did whatever they do while we sat and waited for further instructions. We moved aimlessly from place to place. It’s odd not to have something we were supposed to be doing. After taking photos of the city and the people screaming for us, eventually many of us gravitated to the faculty/staff lounge where we sat around and whimpered until they kicked us out to start the Customs process. Then we all processed through to pick up the declaration cards that they mistakenly made us fill out in Hawaii.

Then Les McCabe, President of ISE, addressed us on Burma. With the Archbishop in the front row and initiating standing ovations for the students.

Les had sent an ISE response the day before which said that they appreciated the students’ concerns, they were impressed by the student activism, they would form a committee with students from this voyage and alums from previous voyages (students who went to Burma), and they would consult with scholars in the field to make a decision. Les reiterated all of this to a packed audience in the Union and, although I had concerns that forming a committee is pretty much a sign of death, he did convince me otherwise. He seemed genuinely impressed by the students. He said that he’s been involved with ISE for some crazy number of years, students often find a cause they care about over the course of the voyage, and that he has met over 60 voyages at their port of re-entry. But, this was the first time that on re-entry day, the students were not focused on packing and saying goodbye to friends. This was the first time the ship ever arrived with an immediate activist agenda. And then he went on to talk about the committee. The students pushed back during the discussion afterward. They feel a time pressure. On May 27^th, there will be a decision by the military government about whether or not to continue the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. They wanted ISE to make a statement now (with the Archbishop aboard) that ISE supports the democracy movement in Burma in an ongoing effort to press the U.S. government to press the U.N. to press the military government. They had a big agenda and they thought that with the Archbishop aboard there would be a good press opportunity. Les said ISE understood the time crunch, but they were not prepared to move today. Another student in the discussion spoke to the contrary points -- that going to Burma raises the level of discussion and education, maybe some of our dollars will reach the people who need it, etc., etc. Les said this was a serious counter-argument and exactly why the issue needed to be debated through process. The Archbishop raised his hand to that question and immediately took the podium. Angry. He talked with much anger and passion and, as usual, incredible eloquence and said this answer made him mad. He said that, during apartheid in South Africa, many people were against divestment and sanctions because they felt like economic pressure might hurt the people who most needed their help. His response was: “we don’t need our shackles made more comfortable.” We need to be free. We don’t need our shackles made more comfortable -- that line really got to me …

Les went on to tell the students that they needed to keep the pressure on, they need to stay mobilized, he was very encouraging in all those regards. But, ISE wasn’t prepared to do anything dramatic today nor to take advantage of the Nobel Peace Laureate’s singular access to a microphone. It’ll be interesting to see what happens and whether the students can maintain momentum after they get off the ship.

There were many hands still up in the audience and discussion could have gone on and on and on, but we were interrupted by an announcement that we could begin disembarkation. The Sea that won the Sea Olympics was called to the gangway and the faculty/staff all headed back to our cabins to collect our stuff because we would be next. And, with that, we were in good-bye mode. I met Phoebe in the hall, who was crying-crying. I started crying, I hugged Judyie who started crying, I came down the stairs and there was Miriam. We hugged and she started crying, and then I headed back to my cabin and there was my cabin-steward, Rolando, who hugged me and I was still crying. And then came Robin down the hall and we hugged and there was more crying. And then I collected my stuff and headed back into Purser’s Square where Sherri was crying. And on and on. Except for Giles & Kate who (again, elegant New Yorkers) out-right refused to cry. The disembarkation process turned out to be remarkably orderly. We got off, what’s the opposite of a reception line? a departing line? The administrative team was standing along the gangway every few feet and there was more hugging. Then, we collected luggage, there was UPS, and we were done.

Robin’s partner, David, met her at the ship and he had a truck and they drove me to my hotel. Everyone was pretty much in goal-mode. Collect luggage, find UPS, get a taxi. Robin and I dropped our stuff and David went to the parking lot to retrieve the car.

Since we had a plan, we had the luxury of knowing what we were doing and so I was able to intercept everyone else before they departed. In the end, I did get to see most everyone I wanted to see before we left. Not everyone, but most. Here's my final view of our ship with all her flags:

David and Robin and I had trouble finding the hotel (it has to be around here SOMEWHERE!), but I got a nice tour of San Diego in the process. I was grateful for the ride and it was really most hard to say goodbye to her. The circling around Sea World & the airport at least postponed the trauma a little longer …

Dawn and I had made tentative plans for the afternoon. She and her son, Joel, who was a student on the voyage, were also spending the day in San Diego. We both had random hotels somewhere near Sea World and the airport. Dawn disembarked with the faculty/staff, but her son wasn’t allowed to disembark with her. He had to wait until his student group was called and she had to wait around for him. I had given her my cell number and told her to call when they had a plan. After I dropped my stuff at the hotel, I went in search of lunch. I found some food and just started walking around aimlessly. The hotel is on a very busy road full of all those box stores mentioned above. It was a beautiful San Diego day and so I enjoyed the sunshine and tried to re-enter slowly back into the American universe. And then I heard my name. I looked across the 6-lane road and there were Dawn and Joel. Our hotels, it turns out, were about a 5 minute walk from each other! The three of us decided to take a cab to Old Town and we wandered around there for several hours. I’ve been to San Diego -- and Old Town, actually -- several times in the last couple of years, so it wasn’t so new to me but Joel had never been to California at all. It was a nice afternoon. We found a lovely park and just strolled and decompressed.

Tonight, I’m in the hotel room watching CNN and enjoying free high-speed Internet. It’s been 3 ½ months since the last time I had high-speed Internet. WOW! It’s amazing how fast these photos upload! Other parts of re-entry have already proven difficult, but this one makes me very very very happy!

At the hotel, as Robin and I were saying goodbye, Robin said to the desk clerks that we had traveled ‘round the world together. And they looked totally incredulous as we explained. On the way back with Dawn and Joel in the taxi, the driver asked us where we were from. And we told him we had just come from ‘round the world. He also looked at us incredulous. Actually, his first question was: is that as expensive as it sounds??? Target, PetSmart, Payless, Home Depot, Chipotle, Chilis, Staples, Big Lots, Olive Garden, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Ross, Marshalls ... I’ve been off the ship only seven hours, yet it’s already starting to feel incredulous & un-real.