Day 4

9/8/2007 - 11:20 (At Sea)

I'm in my room, getting ready for bed after my 3rd full day aboard the ship, and I am exhausted. We had our first classes today, which were incredibly fun, and we are continuing to become more and more comfortable in our oceangoing home every moment. Yesterday we completed our on board orientation, which basically means I now know the answer to just about every question you could possibly ask about living on the boat with us.

My classes so far seem pretty exciting. My International Communications class is a core class which all undergraduate students have to take, but in groups of about 15-20 students. My professor is a crazy American with a love for Star Trek and bad sarcastic humor. But the class concepts are good enough that I don't think I'll hold that against him! The course is designed not only to learn how to converse and interact with people of different nations, cultures, and backgrounds, but also to help us to define and recognize our own personal beliefs, values, attitudes, and biases. My second class is Leadership for Sustainable Development. I think that this class will be, by far, the one I am most interested in. Not only is the subject material incredibly interesting - adding a leadership component to a subject which is so prevalent in today's world - but the class also contains the most diverse group of students of any class on board. Out of the 12 of us, there are only 3 countries being represented by two students each, and the other 6 are all from different places. Having this much international influence in one classroom has, in just one class period, created a dynamic that I've never seen before in my academic career. We have students who are interested in everything from the survival of the rainforest, to aiding in the development of so-called under-developed communities, to the reversal of over-development in certain countries. Most exciting is our professor, Chris Brown, who is an expert in the field of sustainability. Originally from Ghana, Professor Brown has taught and studied in numerous countries around the world, and brings an excitement to the classroom. We are encouraged to debate and ask questions, and so far we've mastered both of those skills!

Probably the most difficult thing about studying in a transnational community in which we do not want to limit anyone's ideas is to try to make sure we are all using the same vocabulary. This forces us to not only be very articulate in our ideas, but also to be willing to ask questions when we don't understand something. Though in the States we assume that articulation and asking questions is common practice, here it is so much more important and relevant. What is good though is that we are all very aware of the situation we have put ourselves in and we are working very hard towards creating our own intentional community and culture which is based on trust, openness, acceptance, and willingness to be vulnerable. Even in all of my years working in my summer camp community, I have never seen such a diverse and open community as we have here. Walking down the hallways and across the deck, everyone says hello to everyone. Entering the Coral Dining Room (where we have our lunches and dinners), it is common for students to sit anywhere and with anyone. If there is an empty seat, it doesn't matter whether you know the rest of the kids at the table, or if you are in the same learning circle, or even if you are the same ethnicity; everyone is welcome.

In a couple of days we will be participating in our orientation for our port study of Portugal. We are all really looking forward to finally getting out into the world and experiencing a new country. Though we're all so excited to be here, we're all a bit curious about when cabin fever will begin to set in!