CURRENTS07

Ship Shape

It feels like the voyage that just got underway yesterday has nothing but amazing times that await us. But in between our fascinating ports, we spend a good amount of our time on the ship. And getting used to ship life has been interesting.


Last night the students had an activity fair, where they could sign up for all sorts of clubs, like yearbook, environmental awareness, and many more. We represented and got a bunch of kids interested in helping out with our Currents programming, which is great. Here's Joanna and Mark putting the word out about our project


Mark says "GNG is off the chains son!" Joanna says "Word is bond!"


It's like a floating college campus, with five floors of rooms for the students, faculty, staff, and crew of the ship. We have a library, computer/internet center, a campus student store, bar, pretty much everything a small college campus has. We even have a little basketball court, so I can show all the whipper snappers my old school Kevin McHale up and under moves.

(wow, not creepy at all. but how bout the slick photoshop skills? it's all about the shorts)



Remember, we have 702(whoa!) students on board this year, the most Semester At Sea has ever enrolled on their voyages.
At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of students, especially with the idea that we're all on the boat together for long stretches of time, with nowhere to "get away". But, surprisingly, it doesn't feel at all claustrophobic. The college kids are great, really motivated and excited to be here. and there are still plenty of spots when you want some time to yourself, like the side decks, or up at the front of the ship. It's great when I want a little "Ben" time, you know? To reflect on the direction of my life, the state of the world......or whether today is Taco Day (it's like a mosh pit in there when tacos are served...bits of crunchy shell and lettuce flying everywhere - but oh so worth it).

I've found a lot of folks just staring at the passing sea. It has this hypnotizing effect that can be hard to shake. You can gaze for hours, depending on what kind of mood you're in(like regretting that 8th taco).





Back inside, when we're blasting along at 20 knots(nautical miles an hour) and the ship is rocking back and forth pretty good, it basically it looks like we're a bunch of zombies walking through the halls, taking big steps in attempts to stay steady and avoid bumping into each-other. If any of you do make it on the ship one day, a word of warning: please, please don't fill up your coffee to the brim. you're putting lives at risk.

(this is how it looks sometimes coming down the halls...except for mj. he's not on the ship.)

A lot of people are battling sea sickness currently, since we hit more open water(the atlantic) since leaving puerto rico. We're a bit green in the gills(a old sailing term I picked up from my merchant marine days...or watching the Love Boat, can't remember which), but hopefully everyone acclimates soon. Apparently this is nothing compared to what we hit crossing the Atlantic from Brazil to South Africa. But thinking about how capable the ship's crew are and how state of the art this ship is, there's nothing to worry about...except spilling my coffee.
And maybe tossing my cookies.



-Remember, safety first. I even wear this in bed, although (wait for it, wait for it)...that might be going a bit overboard.

wow that was bad.

Either way, I'm super excited to be here, and can't wait for the voyage ahead. Make sure to check back on our Currents blog, we'll do our best to update it as often as possible.

-Ben

CURRENTS 2007 - The Crane and the Golden Arches

THE WHITE CRANE AND THE GOLDEN ARCHES


I realize that there are a lot more important and exciting issues for me to report on, and shortly I will be posting pictures of old San Juan in Puerto Rico, where we stopped for two days. But this Puerto Rican white crane had obviously not seen SUPERSIZE ME:









Mark

Puerto Rico!

Dear GNGers,

We are now back at sea after spending 3 days in Puerto Rico. We were docked a walking distance away from Old San Juan, where we spent our first day walking around exploring. On day 2 ventured out of the city to visit the El Yunque rain forest.

We will be posting a video about the rain forest but right now I would like to share with you my favorite part of Puerto Rico. The food stalls know to Puerto Ricans as Kiosks.


While we were picking up the rental car we met a very nice Puerto Rican woman who told us if we were going out to El Yunque we absolutely had to stop at the Kiosks by Luquillo Beach. As we drove out of the city and into the more rural areas we saw tons of little food stalls along the road. Some of them had huge BBQs some were just like a bar and others had tables and umbrellas. We were tempted to stop at whatever one looked good but we held off and managed to find the Kiosks at Luquillo beach.


..

It was most definitely worth the wait. There was a row of about 20 Kiosks all lined up. The Kiosks offered an assortment of Empanadas, which are fried dough patties, filled with all sorts of things like cheese, meat or fish. They also served up different types of rice, beans, plantains, meats and creatures from the sea.





After filling our tummies we headed to the rain forest although most of us felt more like taking a nap after all that good food.



To really savor the experience on the way back we stopped once again at the same row of Kiosks. This time we ordered some refreshing coconut milk drinks which are served up in the actual coconut.



Often times when I travel I enjoy the little things. Being somewhere or experiencing something truly authentic to the region. In the case of Puerto Rico that was the Kiosks.

-Joanna

Ps- We would like to thank our travel buddies Shannon and JP for being awesome navigators and drivers!

CURRENTS 2007 - CURCUMNAVIGATING THE GLOBE

The GNG Currents team has had quite a tumultuous past 5 days,
but ones that helped us prepare for the next 100 day voyage circumnavigating
the globe. We left NYC on the 1st February








heading for Nassau Bahamas, where the MV Explorer, a 24,000-ton passenger ship
built in 2002 and equipped as a floating university was docked








in anticipation for the arrival of faculty and staff. Chris Burkie Plutte joined
us in the Bahamas to get us acclimated to the program






After about 4 days of being indoctrinated into community life on the ship, meeting
crew, staff and faculty, eating and drinking loads, we and our Captain Jeremy
(over 30 years of experience at Sea…a real British character) were ready to
leave….but not before the 702 students arrived along with about 600 parents,
loads of hugs and tears, waving,










crying, more tears and then a loud horn call indicated we were leaving port.
As we headed out we all looked over board to say goodbye to the Bahamas





















and think about our next days, when suddenly I looked out directly in front
of me and after hearing about pirates was absolutely sure that not only the
motor boat but also the two jet skies were full of vicious crazed pirates and
they were heading straight towards the boat……









but it turned out that they were locals just showing off a bit. I ask all of
you reading this to check out our stories, see our images and of coarse check
out some of our cool short videos and most importantly some of our longer docs
that we will be creating in each port city. A few facts I bet you did not know
about da Bahamas: The Lucayan Indians were the original inhabitants who lived
throughout The Bahamas from 900-1500 A.D.


The Bahamas consists of 700 islands,
about 40 of them are populated.


The Commonwealth of The Bahamas became an independent
nation-state on July 10,1973.


The Bahamas does not have an army.


The Capital is Nassau, located on Providence Island.


A native of Nassau is called a Nassuvian.


Oh ya I also want to introduce you to the WARRIOR OF PEACE we are going to be
seeing him pop up in all kinds of places…in case you can not see him in the
last picture he is in-between Ben and Chris!

-By MARK