So first, before I get to my Ghana post, I want to talk a
little bit about the things that happened on the ship before we got there!
April 2 was our ship wide auction. We did a silent auction
where people sold skills (resume writing, paintings, etc…), autographed swag
(the children’s book signed by Arch before he left that I bid on for my two
favorite girls went for almost 10x my original offer! Amazon it is!), and stays
at vacation homes. The money raised was truly impressive. I am sad to say that
I got outbid on the oil painting of your pet (Fletcher is too handsome for that
anyways!), but Christine and I won the “Choose a Menu” for the dining hall, and
are looking forward to our thanksgiving inspired meal to be served on April 22!
A taco party for 15 people went for almost $700 and the boxes of Girl Scout
cookies would have cleared my savings account! Aparna and her student workers did
an unbelievable job and are still working to meet their goal of 100%
participation.
April 3 we had a film festival on board – the student talent
on this ship always finds new ways to amaze me. They were given three days to
create a film using specific props/lines and could win prizes in a variety of
categories. If you didn’t see the winning film (which tugs at the heart strings
and stars one of my favorite children from the ship) check it out! SO ADORABLE!
On April 4, our amazing bossman took the Student Life Team
to special dining. If you recall, from my birthday, special dining is awesome
food, dress up, and fancy pants wait staff making your every wish come true. If
you’ll also recall from my birthday, the cream cheese hors d’oveures were my
FAVORITE.. this time, instead of on toast they were on celery and had some kind
of nut on top. New fave snack. Anyway, dinner was wonderful and company was
wonderful. Captain Jeremy and Hotel Director Stefan joined us (and I think the
food reflected that – yum!).
After dinner, Craig and I headed to the Talent Show
Auditions. Over 60 people wanted to participate in the talent show (in which we
had a whopping 20 slots!) – Luckily only 41 of those acts emailed me in time,
so Craig, myself, our faculty friend Becky, and my work study Braden had speed
dating tryouts (everyone got two minutes), and watched acts until way past
midnight to choose who would get a spot in the talent show! Again, the talent
on this ship impresses me sooo much!
The view from my window the morning we arrived in Ghana.
Shout out to my Ladybugs!!!
Then we were in Ghana! First day in Ghana I was on duty – I
was broke out of the ship (thanks Kindra for holding the phone) to have dinner
with Craig, Jason, and Kelly at Captain Hooks in Takoradi. I ordered calamari
and a personal pizza. It was expensive but pretty good. Craig’s lobster came
out too late for me to try it… I won’t get into all that. Around 8:30pm or so,
the bar/restaurant started filling up with students, and we got our check and
got out of there before the first shot was ordered. It took us a little while
to get a cab. We stood outside the restaurant with two Ghanese teenage
(probably) boys trying to sell us little cakes but we were stuffed. They then
started playing an old American song, that I wish I could remember right now,
and singing along which was pretty magical… unlike our cab ride. We finally got
a cab and the boys negotiated a price. We got in and to say the cab was falling
apart would be too kind.. it was almost Fred Flintstone where we used the holes
under our feet to help propel it… almost! Well the cab driver thought Jason
asked him to take us to the “fort” (what fort I don’t know) but luckily Craig
and Jason quickly realized we were going the wrong way… After saying “port” and
“ship” a dozen times, the cab driver finally turned around… at the corner of
murder and scary in an abandoned car graveyard where the car stalled…. Three
times… and then we were on our way. While driving back, just past the trash
fire on the side of the road, we were stopped by a policeman. We were told in
preport that policemen will often stop cab drivers to check their license,
registration, and make sure they paid their tax but we were also warned that
sometimes these policemen are fake and make you pay them to not rob you…. Which
seems like the same thing to me. After he stared at us, and spoke to the cab
driver in a language I could not even recognize, he sent us on our way. When we
arrived at the port gate, we were surrounded by people who wanted to sell us
stuff. Bracelets or trinkets or whatever… they were everywhere. We made it
inside and took the long walk back to the ship. It’s mostly an industrial port
and we got a good laugh out of the scary noises, and smells we passed. At one
point a strong vinegar smell hit us so hard it made my eyes water.. then we
passed what looked like an airplane hanger-
the door was open and inside it was a giant black tent. The sign in
front of the tent read “fumigation center – do not enter. POISION!”
eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
My dinner buddies at Captain Hooks in Takoradi
Day two in Ghana, I stayed on the ship and worked on my tan…
I know I know but it was like 45654623 degrees out,I didn’t hear great things
about Takoradi, my trips to the cape coast didn’t work out, I was left out of
the beach trip plans (petty I know), I didn’t want to fight off people in the
market, and I heard the horror stories from some of the students and figured I
would quit while I was ahead.. I did go to the duty free, and the ship food
that day was yummy. We sailed that night from Takoradi to Tema. The first day
in Tema we took the shuttle to Accra to go to the market. It was still so hot
that it felt like we were on the sun’s surface, but we made it out. The shuttle
ride took almost 3 hours. We got downtown and just wanted to eat. The second I
got off the shuttle I was surrounded by people selling sunglasses. I kept
pointing to the ones on my face but they were relentless. When we were finally
on our way, I found various members of the group kept getting stopped by
salesmen on the street trying to sell them things. Since I was a woman – they went
to the men first (and somehow I ended up with Willard, Kevin, Josh, Craig, and
Dan so I was covered) but I kept getting stuck behind them. We found a KFC
which worked for half the group and was accosted by another salesman before we
said “we’re going to the mall”. The mall was nice.. I had pizza again, and we
did some shopping and some food shopping and then head back to the ship to cool
off and get dinner. The best cultural experience was attempting to wig shop
with Kevin for the drag show in an incredibly conservative country. Needless to
say, most of the people didn’t believe he was actually going to dress like a
woman to preform, even though we said it was for charity.
Traffic Jam!
The most impressive thing about Ghana was the amount of
stuff these women can carry on their heads while still looking BEAUTIFUL! It’s
unreal. Day three, we were supposed to go see the monkeys at the monkey village
but luckily we didn’t because most of the people that went there got scratched
(the monkeys climb on people) and needed rabies vaccines (just in case). I
wouldn’t do well with 1)monkeys crawling on me, 2) the pain/ickiness of a
rabies vaccine, or 3) the cost of a rabies vaccine so I was glad we skipped it.
Craig went out in Accra again but I couldn’t muster the energy. It was so hot
and I didn’t want to fight off the salespeople. I applied for a bunch of jobs,
hung out with my colleagues, did calendaring for when I get home, and watched a
lot of Glee.
Traffic was bad EVERYWHERE!
The last day in Ghana was the best day. I led a SAS trip to
the Cedi bead factory. 30 of us went to meet Cedi – a man who at the age of 7
got in trouble by his parents for breaking up some glass and melting it in the
oven – until they saw the gorgeous bead that came out. The bead factory was
awesome – seeing how they hand make everything would’ve been awesome enough but
Cedi let us each make our own beads – both using glass shards and pieces of
glass that were pounded by mortar and pestle into fine powder and then dyed to
be different colors… I am going to make my mom the world’s ugliest necklace
with my beads (your welcome, mom!).
"Bead all you can Bead"
A tour and tutorial from Cedi, himself!
Giving the beads a good polish
End Result! They don't paint them- it's all done meticulously with colored or dyed glass!
The powdered beads waiting to go into the oven
My beads
We set sail from Ghana, and started the long trek to
Morocco, our last port. It’s unbelievable to think that this is almost over but
we’re still doing a lot of amazing things.
I got photos of cute puppies too while I was in Ghana! How handsome is that face?!?!?
On April 12, it was picture day! Check out the awesome
photos of the Baltic Sea and the Faculty/Staff photo :)
BALTIC SEA!!! (photo credits to Danny Askew)
Faculty/Staff Team
Staff photo
At night, we had an AMAZING Talent Show. There were some
serious show stoppers. I worked backstage making sure everyone had the mics and
props they needed. AV is hard. At one point when I was taking a mic stand off
the stage the mic fell off and hit me in the head… in front of everyone, and I
bowed. Luckily others had better talents to show off! We had cultural dances,
singers, musicians, tap dancers, hip hop dancers… it was unbelievable. I was so
proud of everyone, especially the students who went on stage and laid it all
out there. So stinking good.
My view from the talent show (photo courtesy of my fuzzy iphone)
View from the front (photo credits to the amazingly talented - Danny Askew)
One of my favorite students, Stephen Brown, read an original piece that is copied (with permission) below!
April 14 was a big day. First, our fearless leaders hosted
another faculty, staff, life-long learner reception. I really appreciate how
much they value celebrating the work we are doing, and giving us opportunities
to get to know each other socially. It’s so important and when times get tough,
it’s often the first thing cut. We have great appetizers and beer and wine and
it’s so nice to mingle and chat with everyone.
After that, I was invited to the LDS service. We have a few
Mormon folks on board that hold service every Sunday, and since this was the
last Sunday, they invited those they loved. The Allreds, Brent (faculty), Kristen
(ship mom), and their five kids came onboard semester at sea as a family.
Nathan is on my sea and he is an amazing person. I had to go. I am so glad I
did. They talked about the family on the ship, and in the world, and shared
song, and prayer with us. Nathan talked about his mission coming up in the
Baltic States, and they truly just were sweet and welcoming and wanted to share
their love and thankfulness for the opportunity outside their normal
congregation. It was beautiful. It was even more beautiful because they invited
a lot of the students who were dressed to participate in the drag show that
evening who came, and in return, they were in attendance at the Drag Show that
night. It was all over awesomeness and learning from each other and Kristen gave
out mom hugs at the end (which aren’t as good as my mom’s hugs but were an okay
substitute in a pinch). The Drag Show was a HUGE success and was filled with
education and fun and laughter – the students who put it on were AMAZING and
I’m so thankful they let me be a part of it all.
On the 15th we had ANOTHER special dining for
staff. This one was also spectacular. I had steak. YUM! It was interrupted with
news from the Boston marathon. I will blog more about this one separately.
Yesterday, I treated myself and got a facial and manicure, which
I messed up exactly 5 minutes later trying to get my room key out of my bag.
#storyofmylife :)
Body Voyage
by: Stephen Brown, Spring 2013
Look at this body.
Wait.
Now, look.
Look past the arms raised,
The hips dipped
The knees bent
Now, look past these things and see the bow’s wake
See the ship breaking eight-meter swells
See this body leave that word and become something
new
See it become a voyage
Bon voyage….
Look at these feet, these toes and these nails
Remember the miles they have walked
Remember the dirt, the cuts, the blisters
Remember the gravel roads they traveled
Remember the houses, countries they reverently entered
Look at these knees, these joints
Remember the temples, the kneeled deference
Remember the squatting to see children’s faces smile
Remember the bus rides, wedged hard into corners
Look at these hips, this round, sturdy meat
Remember the cramped trou-trou’s, the motorbike adjustments
Remember the twerking of transit hours,
Look at this stomach, encased in metal
Remember the street food, the impulsive cravings for food
Remember the questionable water, the stirrings of acid
Remember Doc Micah saying “no,” but remember saying, “yes.”
Look at this chest, peeling away to give light to a heart
Remember the crew, their faces and stories in early hours
Remember the students, faculty, staff, Lifelong Learners coming together as ubuntu
Remember the recognition of humanity, from each laugh, each smile, each meal shared
Look at these hands, smooth yet rough
Remember the hand held in silent solidarity
Remember the first and last embrace
Remember the touch of a friend’s fingertips, grazing, almost as if to say “I’ll remember you”
Look at this smile, wide from ear to ear, digging deep into cheeks
Remember the seminars, mouth wide, eating each lesson
Remember the hollering, yelling out in case we forgot that this was a moment
Travel up, one last time.
To these. To my eyes.
To these brown ovals in quiet acceptance.
Remember this look.
Remember their expression, aged with sights and sounds
Remember their creases, squinting as if asking silently, quietly, why?
Remember the tears, tracking dirt down this face
Because, it’s looked towards the horizon each morning, each night
Because it has hoped that this won’t end.
Because these eyes, this heart, this body, it cannot bear to think of a time without family
Without ubuntu.
Without you.
For you have made these feet, hands, knees strong
You have stopped the aches in this chest, this smile
For you have given a face, a beat to each pump of my heart.
Listen to these hands that shape these words, their words
Their “I love you”
We do not leave it behind with the last embrace
Not love lost
Not love misplaced or forgotten
We know where it is
Love given
Love received
So look towards these eyes, follow their gaze.
Towards the horizon, we watch, we wait for forever to continue until a voice whispers back
It rides the waves, as quiet, as secret as the crests of the Indian Ocean
It finds its way to our eyes and pulls a current with each word, saying
That if this be the end of things, if this truly be the end, a midnight signal of stating finality,
Then let it reach deep into us
Let it take hold of our souls
Let it shake our foundations
And, when the earthquake settles
When our souls can finally catch a breath
Then,
Then,
Then, let it feel like infinity.
Wait.
Now, look.
Look past the arms raised,
The hips dipped
The knees bent
Now, look past these things and see the bow’s wake
See the ship breaking eight-meter swells
See this body leave that word and become something
new
See it become a voyage
Bon voyage….
Look at these feet, these toes and these nails
Remember the miles they have walked
Remember the dirt, the cuts, the blisters
Remember the gravel roads they traveled
Remember the houses, countries they reverently entered
Look at these knees, these joints
Remember the temples, the kneeled deference
Remember the squatting to see children’s faces smile
Remember the bus rides, wedged hard into corners
Look at these hips, this round, sturdy meat
Remember the cramped trou-trou’s, the motorbike adjustments
Remember the twerking of transit hours,
Look at this stomach, encased in metal
Remember the street food, the impulsive cravings for food
Remember the questionable water, the stirrings of acid
Remember Doc Micah saying “no,” but remember saying, “yes.”
Look at this chest, peeling away to give light to a heart
Remember the crew, their faces and stories in early hours
Remember the students, faculty, staff, Lifelong Learners coming together as ubuntu
Remember the recognition of humanity, from each laugh, each smile, each meal shared
Look at these hands, smooth yet rough
Remember the hand held in silent solidarity
Remember the first and last embrace
Remember the touch of a friend’s fingertips, grazing, almost as if to say “I’ll remember you”
Look at this smile, wide from ear to ear, digging deep into cheeks
Remember the seminars, mouth wide, eating each lesson
Remember the hollering, yelling out in case we forgot that this was a moment
Travel up, one last time.
To these. To my eyes.
To these brown ovals in quiet acceptance.
Remember this look.
Remember their expression, aged with sights and sounds
Remember their creases, squinting as if asking silently, quietly, why?
Remember the tears, tracking dirt down this face
Because, it’s looked towards the horizon each morning, each night
Because it has hoped that this won’t end.
Because these eyes, this heart, this body, it cannot bear to think of a time without family
Without ubuntu.
Without you.
For you have made these feet, hands, knees strong
You have stopped the aches in this chest, this smile
For you have given a face, a beat to each pump of my heart.
Listen to these hands that shape these words, their words
Their “I love you”
We do not leave it behind with the last embrace
Not love lost
Not love misplaced or forgotten
We know where it is
Love given
Love received
So look towards these eyes, follow their gaze.
Towards the horizon, we watch, we wait for forever to continue until a voice whispers back
It rides the waves, as quiet, as secret as the crests of the Indian Ocean
It finds its way to our eyes and pulls a current with each word, saying
That if this be the end of things, if this truly be the end, a midnight signal of stating finality,
Then let it reach deep into us
Let it take hold of our souls
Let it shake our foundations
And, when the earthquake settles
When our souls can finally catch a breath
Then,
Then,
Then, let it feel like infinity.
Awesome blog!
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