Day of rest...

what a concept- a day of rest-had 3 whole hours off yesterday in the afternoon-I slept for 1/2 of it and it was soooo lovely...so I am taking another one today...too many people around me are getting sick, so resting seems to keep the cold away...the only exciting thing really was the lifeboat drill yesterday afternoon at which time I gave the Staff Captain a PHd and called him Dr Kostas Siamenthos...going to make him a diploma today to hang on his wall with my signature on it! We all had a great laugh about it-I think you had to have been there...

Interesting tension on the ship happening right about this time of the voyage-I think it is really that time in the voyage where the everyday routines are getting old and a 10 day crossing, although good for rest, can be trying on people's nerves with each other...actually the other big thing that happened was also who one is going to sit with at the Ambassador's ball-kind of a funny thing...it almost felt like the high school prom and who was going with who...and then who felt left out of the seating arrangement and so on...amazing...you know tensions are high when the conversation comes to this...kind of cute, but kind of " I think I will go to my room and sit on my balcony today mode"...

So, here I go~have a great Halloween...actually our party is tonight-we sold 2300 drink tickets yesterday, so it should be a doozer-just for that reason alone, I should take a nap! Lots of great pictures for tomorrow's blog...

until then~
ro

CREW HAS TRUE TALENT!!!!!!

Hi everyone~
Last night was the Crew Talent show and I must say that I am always amazed at their incredible spirit AND more importantly talent that they are willing to work on and then perform for us during this special evening!
I will tell you that they were clearly a success as we raised over $8,000 for their welfare fund last night-they are such an integral part of making this journey around the world! Between dance numbers, comedians, singing and more dancing, they took the house down! AND, the I must also say that there is a BIG difference in how they work now that they are working directly for ISE...and not a middle person in the triangle web from previous times, when we shared "leadership" with the Tung foundation...it is crystal clear that they work for us Tennessee - Texas - Utah - Vermont - Virginia - Washington -West Virginia - Wisconsin - Wyoming

Halloween for the kids!

DAY 60-I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!
The evening started with an amazing tribute on the news last night to me...oh my god, of course I cried, because it was so special...it always amazes me how "community" comes back and circles around goodness and love-I was very touched moved and inspired by their love-they gave me a copy-will have to show you when I get home...

It was also trick or treating for the kids last night-oh what fun-brings back memories of days gone by when deciding what to be every year was so much fun! And these kids were in several cases very creative...and of course I miss the hood and all the kids coming by the house during this special day-hopefully my tenants will get into it and participate and keep Mountain Ave the place to go for trick or treating...take a look...


We also did a reflection on India, PART 2, because there were so many feelings and issues that came up for students, they decided to do a second one-although mostly adults, some students did attend.

And then we had mummy night-best mummy wins...and sure enough Tim's mummification of Cullen won-pretty amazing what a simple sheet can create! The actual Halloween Costume night is on Saturday, so stay tuned for more to come!

love, ro

Ship shots

Hi there~
Wow, what a thing a day can do~I spent most of the day yesterday receiving messages of love from the students, faculty and staff...having been the "roaster" on many of the talent shows acts, I was feeling a bit unloved and actually like I might have not been doing a good job...yet, I think everyone realized that this may have been the way I took it, so reassuring notes, presents and hugs came my way most all day...I was full of love when I went to my room at 2000, as I was really tired and still catching up from India...I ended up watching "What the bleep" and all of it really got put right back into perspective...had a great night sleep and was up and chipper at 0555 this morning-so I took my first tai chi class, which I am planning to stick with for the rest of the voyage. Val Vetter, a faculty member's wife, is teaching it!
And then today, I needed to escort our videographer around the "crew area only" spots for him to get shots for the voyage video...so here are some angles of the ship one might never see...one of the benefits of my position~isn't she beautiful?(&$((#$&(!
Did the noon report and now going to work on the Dean's memo...Halloween trick or treating happening tonight at 1700 with the kids on board-can't wait!

Hope you are all having a great Monday today...it is Tuesday out here at sea~but we are getting closer and closer to east coast time everyday_ I think we are now 7 hours difference...I love this gaining an hour direction of the sail around the world~we get 2 more before we hit Egypt~ wohooo!!!
much love, ro ship's bridge ships' smoke stacks ships all purpose sports court

Olympics reflections...

Darn! I just wrote an entire piece on the Olympics and the computers have been nasty this morning and then my blog disappeared...so here is the shortened version of the day and my thoughts...long, exhausting, disappointing, too competitive and glad to have it be over...perhaps with a day or two of perspective, I will regain my belief that this is a team-community builder and it is a lot of good fun...right now I am needing the rest of the day off to gain some perspective...here are some pics...more later...

lots else going on this week, so I know that it can just get better...halloween for the kids tomorrow, crew appreciation and talent show and halloween dance before we get to Egypt on Sunday afternoon-we will get off the ship on the 30th! I will stay on the ship up the Suez instead of going by land to Alexandria-most will be off the ship, so a day of rest for staff!

love for now~
ro


dru~this is a pic of Cory-3rd guy from left~ my 4th place finish in cherry pie contest

Marathon India!!!

Phew! I am just recovering from India with a small cold and we left there at 2300 on the 19th! What a crazy time...so, India. I knew my trip north was going to be a marathon, but I could have never imagined how exhausting it really was going to be....BUT, let me first say, I AM GOING AROUND THE WORLD ON A SHIP OF DISCOVERY FOR 100 AMAZING DAYS!
With that said, I never knew I had the energy I had to be able to complete the 4 days and 3 nights visiting, Dehli, Agra and Veranasi!
Day 1:
Our trip started the day we arrived in Chennai~the ship cleared around 1130 and we were off at 1430 for our adventure. Plane to Dehli took a little over 2 hours, then a bus ride to the hotel was an hour to be fed dinner once we got there. Most of us went straight to bed, realizing that the 0430 phone call was only 6 hours away and our day was going to go until 2330 that night!
Day 2:
The next morning, breakfast was in a box as we were whisked off for a train and bus extravaganza! The train was about 2 hours, followed by a bus ride of 1 hour to the hotel. From there we went to see Fatehpur Sikri, red sandstone palace which was beautiful, but not much more. From there, a shopping stop, where the least expensive item was over $100~sorry, no one got gifts from there! From there to lunch at another hotel followed by a 1 hour bus ride to the

Agra Fort, which was built close by to the Taj Mahal by the Mughals~this is the view from the fort to the Taj. Then of course the Taj...we got there late in the afternoon to be there for dusk and sunset~a spectacular sight! It almost is sureal looking, even in real life! I met some great women from India that spoke fluent English-it started by me taking a picture of them in their beautiful sarees and turned into an amazing conversation about life in America as a woman and the same interests of their life in India-things are surely progressing there, but they were amazed at the fact that I owned my own home and was single at my age~I suppose I am sometimes shocked at that fact as well, but tell some ladies from India and they think you are a goddess! From there, we headed home, but not before having a pizza dinner at Pizza Hut-the best part was the waiters also turned into dancers in the restaurant during our meal! Take a look at some shots from day 2~

Day 3: Started much later at 0600! We woke up to go by the Birla Temple and Sikh Gurdwara...from there, we saw some sights by drive by although most folks were asleep, then headed to the airport for our flight to Veranasi. As soon as we arrived, we went straight to both an ancient monastery, where there is the biggest stupa I have ever seen. The wild part was that there were many buddhists that come from all over the world to pray to this stuppa, dedicated to Buddha~here are some women monks from Taiwan that we kept running into...close by in the town of Sarnath is where Buddha preached his first sermon to the 5 decipals or followers, who then helped him spread the word. So, of course the buddha that I am, here I am in the very spot, hoping to be enlightened~but come to find out that woman cannot receive enlightenment, but can only hope to come back as a man in the next life...hmmmm... It was already a long day, but we got to the hotel late and I was out for the night!

Day 4: We departed again from the hotel at 0500 to be at the Ganges river for sunrise. On boats, we were able to observe all the locals, worshippers and visitors carry on their religious practices with the holy waters of the river~they immerse themselves to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth...of course, we got no where near touching the water, as we saw procession after procession of dead bodies being brought down to the river to be cremated (pic of cremation place in pic w/smoke) & then the ashes to be thrown into the river...from there a walk through the village above the river was enlightening as well...animals, people, garbage, people, somwhow all living together...the smells, sights & children of India never leave you...take a look...

From there we headed to another shopping stop but many students took off on their own to do their own thing-many of us went back to the hotel and hung out until we left back for the airport, to Dehli and eventually back to Chennai...I am exhausted just writing about it!

I slept in the next day for a bit, but was pretty tired...although shopping for a saree called and the RD's were going out and had a location~here we are w/successful purchases...the theme for the Ambassador Ball is "A night inBollywood"...so must have the outfit...I did do some additional power shopping with Kate, one of the RD's and was back at the ship by 1630...the crazy city of Chennai with all of these little "tuck-tuck's" running around, people and animals again everywhere and one of the most beautiful (and found out 2nd largest) beach in the world sped by in our tuck tuck...on ship time was 2100...at which time the Indian officials decided that they wanted to see every single person with the passports...personally, I think they just wanted to stay on the ship longer...so we dragged everyone through the union for one last hurrah...I must say that the cultural context of India is something to get use to and with only 4 days, there just isn't enough time to do so...because it is not "figure-out-able"...you just do it and smile, as Tony, the Hotel Director said the next day!

We left on time with everyone on board except 2 people-one a older 39 year old student, who came on with serious issues of alcohol recovery who then had a series of relapses and the other was one of our RD's, Nam, who had to go home to be with her mom, who suddenly got ill...does not look like she will be back, but I know we will all see her again, but being she lives and works in San Jose, I know for sure I will!!! She is already missed by all, and it has only been 2 days....life moves on and so we try to do so as well...here she is making a final farewell on the speaker system...until the next time we meet, Nam!

Tomorrow is the Olympics...an all day affair with lots of pomp and craziness...going to bed early tonight to see if I can kick this cold for good..especially because I am doing 2 events-the "find the cherry in a pie tin full of whip cream" and on the obstacle course team...gotta go for it...the faculty staff and dependents are from the "Pacific Ocean" team and we are the purple people!!@!! Stay tuned for some zany pictures!!!!

love from the indian ocean, ro

Chennai, India!

We are in Chennai, India-we arrived early today at 0730....and it is now Sunday morning. Here is the welcoming committee...the second picture of the growing economy in India...we are about to start the diplomatic briefing, so I must go...I will try and find internet up in northern India while visiting the Taj Mahal-we leave today at 1500 and will be back on Wednesday night at 2330...ok, that sounds a bit flippant...but I am getting pretty use to this world travel thing...one day in Burma, 2 days later India!
until the next time...
ro

Oh Beautiful Burma...and Inle Lake

WOW! What a beautiful place I had the opportunity to spend 4 relaxing, fun and blessed days! We arrived in Myanmar on Saturday night but the customs took 4 or so hours, so we were not planning to let anyone off the ship that night! The ship was cleared the next morning at 0430 for anyone who wanted to get an early start. Our trip to Inle took off from the ship at 0930 and we were off to the airport for our flight to Inle Lake. Our group of 61 was immediately divided up into 2 groups and other than a few spots, we never saw the 2nd group again. We immediately fell in love with Uncle Winston, who would be our tour guide from the beginning to the end... anyone ever wanting to come to Burma, let me know and I will out you in touch with the best tour guide ever!
The flight was short and we arrived to buses and about an hour ride to Inle Lake. We then boarded 4-5

person motorized canoes, which would be our mode of transportation for the rest of the time there. Our first stop was Ann's restaurant on the lake...from there, we went across the absolutely stunningly beautiful lake. There were several times where I found myself in tears of joyful serenity~I just could not get over the fact that I was here, on this beautiful lake in a 4 person boat with Theresa, JB and Tim-3 amazing people who I had the chance to share this with along with 27 great students! This would turn out to be an amazing experience-one that now goes to the top 5 list of worldly adventures for me! Here are a couple of shots to get you into the spirit of my spirit at that moment...

From there we went to canoe by the Inndein Unique temple pagoda and then we pulled up to our floating hotel for the next 3 nights-

OH MY GOODNESS...take a look...this was the picture of the next 4 days of riding around in the marsh on these boats, pulling up to houses, silversmith's, pagodas and monasteries, boat races and trekking that were mostly built on water...

The second started with the boat races that we happened to hit on the last day of the festival-pretty festive and full of people-this was definitely the most people we saw the entire time there because everyone in all of the neighboring "water villages" came to see the final races. From there we went to a cigar factory and to visit the Inn Paw Khone village to see silk weaving. That day, we also got to go on a "traditional" canoe ride, which is what most of the locals rode around on...the amazing part of this was the way in which they steered and powered their boats with
one leg, balanced on this skinny canoe, while many times pulling up fishing lines, fish baskets or getting themselves across this huge lake...the funniest part is that we could not even do this on dry land, let alone balance and do it on the water! AMAZING! The day ended with a stop at the jumping cat monastery, which I must say was a bit disturbing-I am not sure what the significance was, but for a cat lover, it looked borderline abusive-I only stayed to see one cat jump and left to check out the amazing Buddha shrines that were in this monastery. Check it out...

Other than the terrential downpours that came and went, the skies were mostly cloudy with a few exceptions of sunny moments...come to find out later that the town of Inle itself was flooded most of the time, as there were several groups that stayed on land that dealt with floods everywhere...of course living and being on water, we were never really aware until the last day on the way back to the airport-photos later in the blog on that!
The next day was a visit to the Mine Thauk Village orphanage, a food donation at the Mine Thauk Monastery where we participated in feeding the local monks and a soft trek which turned into a 4 hour lost hill climb for those who went-Theresa, JB, a student Kelly and I decided that we were going to go back to the town, visit a silversmith and enjoy the afternoon at the hotel...much better choice come to find out later, as they lost people on the mountain and spent a great deal of time trying to find them!!! The morning was very intense for me, between meeting these beautiful children and spending time with them and then feeding the young boy monks at the monastery~ I needed a break and it was a wonderful one! The last dinner and evening at the hotel included some traditional Shan Dances, which culminated our time at Inle Lake.

I also got to spend some time the last afternoon speaking to the owner of the hotel, Ms. Ann, who grew up in the village and saw the vision of this hotel when she was a small child-she built this on her own about 10 years ago and has succeeded at creating a place where tourists can come and experience the local living, with a few added amenities like running water and electricity and screens on the windows so the gheko's stay out...I will definitely come back and would recommend this to anyone who wants to head to Burma-what a beautiful place.

The last day had us practically "trekking" back through town, as the roads had turned to lakes during our stay on the water-the ride to the airport was an adventure, as several times, we thought we would end up either on the side of the road or surely in the water stuck...but we made it safely and flew back to Yangon. Here is the same road when we arrived and on our way out!

In Yangon, we got to stop at a glass blowing factory, that turns out to export to Pier One and other such places-all created by hand one by one in this huge factory. We had lunch at the local shee shee hotel, where many folks stayed who did not travel~it was almost a sereal experience to come back to a 5 star hotel and have lunch with clean linens and white cloth napkins-other than the food being excellent, I was ready to be back at Inle! A little time at the local crazy scott market, with chatski's galore, a quick walk through China town and the final stop at the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda, making Yangon famous and we were done for our 4 days in Burma... I even learned that I was born on Saturday and did a blessing to myself and my family in a buddist tradition at the Pagoda.

I have not spoken much about the goverment situation here, although we have heard so much about what has been happening here over the past 18 years or so, my experience in Inle Lake with the local people in a beautiful environment much far overode the feelings I have about how the government works and keeps the Burmese people down. We ended the journey with bringing Winston on the ship to tour and visit-this was his dream and it became an emotional end to an amazing trip-because of my position, I was able to get him on the ship at the last minute~here are some of us with him at dinner on the ship......perhaps we can talk about the government when I get home...but for now I leave you with Burma, oh beautiful Burma!
love, ro