last night at open mike, one of the students, Ryan, told a story about Hawaii that I had also experienced. Everywhere else we’ve been, when you get off the ship and you run into a group of American students, they belong to us. Likely half of them are wearing Semester at Sea attire, but even without that, they are highly recognizable as being one of us. As we were walking around Hawaii and I’d see clusters of students, I kept thinking them to be from SAS until it struck me as odd that I didn’t really recognize a single one of them. And then I remembered/realized there are many other groups of American students here! They are not all us …
After open mike, the deans threw an end-of-voyage-party. I told Miriam that she was the life-long-learner I was going to miss most. And she got all teary, I nearly made her cry! I’m not sure that I’ve blogged about Miriam. I like her a lot. She has biting humor. She is very sarcastic and she makes me laugh. She’s another one who always says exactly what everyone else is thinking. During our first conversation, we were on a small boat back to the ship from Itaparica Island in Brazil and I asked her about her family. She said very calmly and sweetly that she had four children and a myriad of grandchildren and that, after this voyage, she would be having a birthday-of-note and that they had better all show up, goddamnit. She says everything so conversationally all in the same tone of voice, so you don’t see it coming. I enjoy Miriam.
This morning was crazy in the library. Yesterday was study-day A and, although I was there to open at 8:00, I don’t think there was a single user until about 11:00. Everyone slept in. Judyie said that she felt like she kept saying hello to the same six people over and over, that only 6 people must be awake on this whole ship. But, today (exam-day A), the dining hall was packed at 7:45, there was business looking for me at breakfast at 7:59 and it never stopped. Faculty in last minute panic about printing out exams, students grumbling over the fact our stapler is broken *again*, our printer was out of toner and then replaced but still not working, and lots of books being returned and lots of books still being checked out. And things coming off reserve. And I’m trying to get rid of those last videos that still need attention ... and still working on documentation … We got a few volunteers in the library this afternoon, since we’ve cut back on workstudy hours so that the students can study. The students are mostly working evenings. Kate and Shannon helped us shelve and (un)process reserves and that was very helpful. When I told Erika that we had volunteers, her response was "but how will they know what to do?" ... it made me smile that the workstudy students have clearly taken responsibility for the library!
And then tonight our extended family had a pizza party. I took some family photos:
Victor, Katie, Mary:
Erika, Ryan:
Andrea, Amanda:
Jennifer, in her beautiful midnight blue saree, which she modeled for me:
My whole family, back row: Jennifer, Victor, Ryan, Michael, Mary, Andrea; front row: Erika, Katie, Amanda.
At the end, we played Apples to Apples, which thanks to Rich & Laura has traveled all the way around the world.
And then there was a birthday cake!
Before I became part of Mary & Michael's extended family, they had scheduled everybody’s birthdays and “invented” birthdays for the students whose real birthdays didn’t occur during the voyage.
I missed the original scheduling and my birthday is in November, so it would have had to have been invented anyway, but tonight after the party a cake arrived!
And Mary gave me a little bag she made.
Andrea made me a card -- Aunt Erin.
It was very sweet and I was very surprised.
And it made me teary and almost made me cry.
Everybody is pretty much on the verge of tears around here.
At the party tonight, Katie said that she’s never felt such conflicting strong emotions before:
so sad to be leaving the ship and, simultaneously, very happy to be going home.
We’re all in that space right now.
4 days left.
