Boston.

On April 15, in the middle of our staff special dining, our executive dean, Tom, got up and left the table. Moments later, we heard a familiar "bingbong" of the announcements but looking at the clock, knew that something was off as it wasn't the regular routine of noon or evening announcements. Tom let us know very concerned, very simply that two bombs had gone off at the Boston marathon. Those of us with family at the marathons left the dinner, and the rest of us tried to wrap our heads around what Tom had just said. Those words were followed with "Channel 6 is streaming Aljazeera." Just a few weeks earlier, a few members of our community had campaigned to get some (really any) news on the ship with the argument of circumnavigating the world with no idea what's going on in it - hence Aljazeera. Aljazeera was on some times.. After the Boston announcement, it ran constantly for the next week and some without interruption.

Watching what was going on at home, with limited communication to the US, through the lens of an international news caster put a whole new perspective on what I was doing. I can only imagine what it was like for the students, faculty, and staff on board in Fall 2001 - when September 11 hit, and they didn't have news or email. Did they know before the next port? Technology is certainly advancing (even on the open seas) but to hear news like that from so far away was hard even for me, who grew up nowhere near Boston. Very surreal - almost like it was a movie or something far away.

Anyway, after hearing updates on some of our friends (all okay), and checking on my sea, and especially those from Boston - all seemed okay.

I feel for those who were affected in that incredible tragedy and everyone who, even for a second, questioned if their loved ones were okay. I always think of Mr Rogers - "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,' I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world."