Wednesday, September 9, 2009 11 am-ish.

First of all, I woke in the middle of the night, slapped my thigh, so to speak, and said out loud: “The feast of the Immaculate Conception is DECEMBER the 8th, dum-dum!” At least I was thinking about you, Mar.

At this moment, I’m sitting in the faculty lounge (which we are allowed to use) looking out at an enormous cupcake with humongous globs of whupped cream on top, sitting on a navy blue tablecloth: The Rock of Gibraltar with hovering clouds, no less!!!

Before I forget – will some family member please send Maeve my blog and e-mail addresses. People have asked how I heard of SAS. It was from you, Maeve, that day at Spring Hill when I listened to you and silently prayed that God would please, please make Carolyn want to go on Semester at Sea and keep me from opening my mouth, lest I say the wrong thing and turn her off. Needless to say my prayers were answered. Oh what a gift this was/is. Thank you, Maeve.

We’re re-fueling just off Gibraltar.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

We spent almost a whole day bobbing in the waters off Gibraltar, waiting in line to refuel. It was a beautiful day and the scenery could not have been better. Funny thing I always thought Gibraltar was on the northern edge of Africa and that you could look across the Mediterranean from Spain and see it. Wrong. It’s part of Europe, as everyone probably knows, but is British, I believe. This is a time when I’m frustrated by not getting a signal for the internet in my room. Gotta go out in the hall. I’d like to Google Gibraltar right now.

So after refueling we headed off for Casablanca. It felt so good to be back at sea. It is SOOO soothing to me, so relaxing. Tonight I have the balcony door open and can hear the purr of the engines and the splashing of the waves as we glide along ever so smoothly. At noon today the water was 74 degrees F and the air was 73. The water was 2000 feet deep! Announcements are broadcast each day at noon and at 6pm (1800) and always include info about our speed, water temp etc. Today was gorgeous and I spend quite a lot of time on my balcony, reading. Thank you God for such blessing!

So…our next stop was Casa, as they call Casablanca. The port was an impressive sight as we approached it early in the morning. Cranes, cranes and more cranes jutting into the sky along with the tower of the new mosque. As we drew closer and as we docked we found ourselves in a vast port area that was paved with containers stacked two high. I sat and watched a- I don’t know what to call it – a huge upside-down u- shaped contraption with a cab on top for the operator. Hanging down at the end of at least 8 cables was a metal thing that looked like a table with enormous claws on each corner. This thing would descend over a container, hover then the claws would reach out and grasp the corners of the container then the whole thing would rise in the air and slide over to the waiting ship where it would then disappear into the hold of the ship. I watched this operation for a while and decided to time how long it took to move one container from the ground to the ship. Two and a half minutes. It was intriguing because this vast area was covered with containers and I just wondered how long it would take to move them all. When you think of all the ports in the world and all the containers…do the math. Amazing world we live in!

I went on what they call the “City Orientation Tour” which is a good way to get an overview of a city. We got a look at an old market with narrow aisles and aggressive merchants, many office buildings and apartment buildings – all dingy white – with laundry hanging on lines strung between windows; fancy hotels; we visited some kind of building the king uses for Idon'trememberwhat; we saw many women in long dresses and veils- a sight we found startling if not disturbing. It’s not that we didn’t know to expect to see covered women in Morocco, it just was so striking to see. Thank God they don’t have the Taliban there insisting on blue burkas! I would have stood up and screamed! Eventually we went through a residential area with nicer apartments and townhouses. Then we came to a very upscale area where Arab jillionaires have houses they visit occasionally. Oh and we passed one of the king’s houses – one of his 36 or so palaces. He’s a good guy and has made many improvements in Morocco since taking office – in the 60’s I think.

Is my lack of enthusiasm for Casablanca coming through? I wasn’t the only one who found it missing a je ne sait quoi. Even those who explored the city in a little more depth reported their disappointment.

Rabat, down the coast, however was more appealing. I ask myself if it was because it was cleaner and chastise myself for thinking cleaner is necessarily better. How in the world will we do in India? Again I was on a bus going to Rabat and loved getting outside the city and seeing open space, farms (no, not like in Iowa or Nebraska). The harvest must just be over because the fields were brown stubble often dotted with small groups of cattle and largish herds of sheep or goats with a shepherd standing watch over them. We saw many people walking down little dirt roads, an occasional donkey cart – with a woman at the reins, covered, of course. We saw kids playing soccer. Everywhere laundry was hanging on lines. The houses and outbuildings appeared to be made of adobe. Too bad there was no time to walk around, to meet some of the people. I’ve had to reconcile myself to the fact that this experience can only be a cursory glance at the places we visit.

Noon report: the sea is 4000 feet deep; we’re 64 miles from the nearest land, sliding down the coast of Africa! Can I believe I’m, actually here? …

… So the noon report was upstaged when one of the students came ripping past my window here in the faculty lounge, pointing and screaming as she rounded the bow and began jumping up and down. “There! There!”

Dolphins! LOTS of dolphins!!! Jumping. Surfing. Oh lord, there are no words to describe the excitement of seeing them. “Cetaceans”: Grace? Luca? Devon? Dictionary time. Will someone please send me an e-mail with the definition of ‘cetacean’? And how bout some of those other words? Comeon, kids!

On Tuesday I had dinner with my Extended Family. I was assigned six kids and invited two others I’d met to join us. We were stealing chairs and silverware from other tables when they all showed up. I must admit to having felt a little nervous. Who is this lady? What are we supposed to do or say? Everything was fine and fun and I spend some time in the bed that night mentally going around the table remembering their names: Grace, Rebecca, Marcus, Denise, Charlotte, Barry, Louis, and Carol. I’ll get pictures of them all. Oh lord, I don’t want to think about pictures. At least I have them all in the computer and the camera is emptied. I’ve labeled some and created categories based on our ports. I’ll keep trying and getting help with this project. Anyway the kids are all so cute. We went around the table and told a little about ourselves. I told them they couldn’t say “Me and Billy went to the store.” And they had to ask to be excused when they wanted to leave the table. All that was good for some laughs.

The Talent/No Talent show is tomorrow night – the 18th. When I see one of my family in the halls or the dining room I remind them that they have to come to the talent show and clap for me. I told Allysa, who’s running the show, that I wanted a dressing room backstage with 2 dozen roses in a crystal vase on my makeup table. I’ve told the Life Long Learners they have to all come and cheer for me. They want to know what I’m going to do. “I’m going to recite a poem.” I say. “Oh, how interesting! Which poem will you be reciting?" they ask ever so politely. “No, no, no. You have to come.” I sit here laughing, It’s just wonderful to be able to amuse one’s self! Stop rolling your eyes, Kathy!

Before I forget, Linda & Bub: the gal’s name is Shirley Lowes.

Just in case any of you didn’t see it, here’s my new e-mail address: earubin@semesteratsea.com. I don’t think you should send anything very long like jokes etc. By the way, I told Rankin the Clarence joke and he cracked up. He’s a lawyer from Huntsville. There are several southerners on board and you know what happens to me when I’m around the drawl. Lots of fun. “I don’t know Clarence…there’s just something about you…” Credit: Karl Gordinier. It was so good to see you and Vera at the dedication, Karl. Thanks for your support. Same for all who were there. So little time to talk; such depth of feeling for you all.

Ahm gunna go put this thang in the ether. More next time. Love to all. EWR xxxooo