Ship time 2325 (EDT) our location is...
Latitude: 24 degrees 18.19' N
Longitude: 80 degrees 44.63' W
Course: 58 degrees
For those of you who tried to see us come through the Panama Canal -- I gather everything worked as we were passing through the Miraflores Locks, but later as we were navigating the Gatun Locks, the website was down. I think everyone on the ship had notified family and friends and perhaps this created some strain with the servers. In any case, I hope at least some of you got to see the first part of our passage. It was fascinating for us to observe the operation of the canal. I believe this is the last full voyage to go through the Panama Canal -- the cost for our ship to pass is about $125,000 so future trips will be planned differently, although there is one shorter trip this summer that will involve Panama.
I neglected to mention in my post on May 2, that we had a performance that day by the World Dance classes and their instructor Aniseh Burtner. It was a fantastic performance with dances representing many of the countries we had visited. At the end Aniseh surprised her students and the audience by performing a dance of appreciation to her students and others she has met. It was very moving for all of us who got to see it.
Once through the canal, we entered the Carribean and came up around the west tip of Cuba. We are now between Cuba and Florida and will be arriving in the morning. We will disembark for the last time in Ft Lauderdale and we have had a busy few days leading up to this. On Sunday evening after our Panama Canal transit we had the Ambassador's Ball, which involved a lovely dinner and lively dance. Monday morning John spent a couple of hours sitting in the Student Union passing back papers and exams and letting students know their grades. I started packing in earnest, since we had been told that our bags needed to be ready to be removed from our cabin by noon today, and John came to help with that once he finished meeting with students. We haven't made a lot of purchases, and spent some time getting rid of some of the things we had brought that we no longer need, so this went fairly smoothly. Semester at Sea has this down to a science and provided boxes in public areas marked for unneeded toiletries, office supplies, clothing and food. These items will be passed along to crew members or given to charity in Florida. With all of our things gone, our cabin now feels like more of a hotel room than the home we have had for the last four months. We had our bags ready to go by about 9:00 this morning.
Yesterday afternoon there was a concert by the Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble (MICE) led by our music professor Matthew Burtner (Aniseh's husband). This was followed by an awards ceremony recognizing students who were nominated by each of the professors for outstanding academic work and achievements.
At 10:30 this morning we had a convocation ceremony, complete with Pomp and Circumstance as students and professors walked in procession. We had words from the Executive and Academic Deans, a couple of faculty members, and some students, as well as a performance by the A Capella Choir. Again, a very moving occasion at which we all recognized how short our time on the ship is now. This afternoon there was a reception for faculty, staff and life long learners -- plenty of opportunities over the last couple of days to spend time wrapping things up.
And so we arrive in the morning in Ft Lauderdale, and friends and families will be meeting many of these students. Breakfast will be served very early and I expect the faculty and staff will be off the ship by 10:00 or 10:30. We will be going through customs on arrival, then John and I will head for a hotel for a couple of days before flying back to Calgary on Friday. I plan to do a couple more blog entries, perhaps including some photos, once we get better internet at the hotel. So stay tuned -- a little bit more to come!
