in the morning -- india!

Yesterday was our shipboard daughter Jane's birthday, so this evening we had a family dinner to celebrate, to catch up, and to figure out what everyone is doing in India. The kitchen folks are kind enough to help with birthday cakes, so we had a great ice cream cake and lots of fun conversation at our meal. We have plans to catch up when we all get back, since there will be much less time between countries over the next few weeks.

There is lots of excitement tonight because in a few hours we will be in India. We have just had the logistical pre-port and I am getting ready to pack for a little trip I am taking. I will be offline for 3 days while I attend a program called "Art of Living" which involves a two night stay at Dakshinachitra Heritage Village http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakshinchitra. There will be lots of activities which I will tell you all about when I get back. John is going to stay with the ship and look around Chennai. There is a yoga session on board tomorrow morning for his students, and he will be trip leader on a city orientation tour tomorrow afternoon.

I realize I didn't give location information yesterday. I think there is some recorded that I can find and post later for those that are plotting the trip, but the most interesting thing about that is probably that we did go around the east side of Sri Lanka rather than between Sri Lanka and India. We have been in the Bay of Bengal on the north side of Sri Lanka most of today and the speed has been slowed to control our arrival time. Back in a few days...

gearing up for india...

We will be arriving in Chennai, India day after tomorrow. Usually, two evenings prior to arrival, we have a cultural pre-port session at 8:00pm for everyone on the ship, and we have just had the one for India. Our dance professor and her students presented an Indian dance demonstration, then we had presentations by two university students and a political science professor, all from India, who had joined us in Mauritius.

We also prepare for a port in Global Studies class, which meets every class day from 9:20am until 10:30am or so, and which everyone is required to attend. We have readings and lectures on history, geography, language, politics, religion, anthropology and other subjects that are relevant to the upcoming country. Usually there is a visiting interport lecturer who is either from the region, or who otherwise has exceptional knowledge about the area. We often have visiting students as well, as we have this time.

There are also relevant films about the upcoming port that are shown on four of the six closed circuit tv stations in the cabins. These loop several times a day so that everyone has an opportunity to work them into schedules. Other films or cultural activities that are optional are presented in the student union or in the classrooms. Sometimes faculty or staff who have particular expertise present at these sessions.

In addition, there is always a logistical pre-port session the night before we arrive in a port, and usually there is a diplomatic briefing the morning of arrival. Attendance is mandatory, and we receive information concerning emergency phone numbers and procedures, recent issues that might affect travel, advice on things to look out for, and so on.

All of these activities combine to immerse everyone on the ship in the country and the culture we are about to visit. You may recall that we had a significant last minute change to our itinerary, and this meant that putting together the resources for the African countries and Mauritius was quite a challenge for those managing this program. They did a great job for those countries, but we have really seen it come together for India.