Day One: Move from CA to MI

Well, we're headed east. It's the first of August and we're moving to East Lansing, MI. After a big day of loading an extremely full truck, we set off this morning at ~7am from Oakes College. Some hot drinks and bagels and we were off...slowly and nervously in our 17 foot Uhaul truck and trailer (holding our Toyota stuffed with 6 bikes and topped with 4 kayaks). We're not messing around!

We made it safely over the 17 and through Bay Area traffic, arriving at the top of Donner Pass on I-80 at 1:30. After a quick lunch in Sparks, NV, we pushed on to Battle Mountain which we'll call home for the night.

I think it's finally settling in for both of us that we're really moving.
More stories and pics to come!

Pics are up from Costa Rica

www.heatherbill.shutterfly.com

Enjoy!

Costa Rica

Our last day on the Pacific Ocean.

We left Costa Rica late last night and are on our way to Balboa, Panama - this is where we will begin our transit through the Panama Canal. Bill and Ed Sobey did a really nice presentation last night on the history of the canal and also the logistical aspects of moving through the locks. Very interesting and exciting! We'll be starting our transit tomorrow morning around 6:30am. We are now on Eastern time. We had our final time change last night!!!!! I can't believe how hard it has been to lose 24 hours over the course of this voyage. Though we do gain 3 back as soon as we fly to California on Monday. ;)

Our time in Costa Rica was really nice. The first day we went on a zip lining canopy tour with SAS - there were about 20 of us so it was a nice size for a group. It was really fun to watch some of the students conquer their fears and have fun zipping through the trees. I'm uploading photos right now for you to see some good shots. There were 8 cables total (so 8 zips) and my favorite was over a big river gorge - I had time to look around and take in the sights. I asked the guide to give me an extra push so I could go faster! Bill and I figured out the higher you hold your knees the faster your speed so we were having fun!

The second day we had a delicious local breakfast (a huge plate of rice and beans and fried eggs with coffee) while we waited for the bus to Jaco (Ha koh). The ride to Jaco took about 2 hours along the coast and we hopped off and found a surf shop pretty quickly. Bill rented a board and hit the beach while I read. We had a lovely lunch with buttered shrimp and ceviche and some good local beer. Walked to our hotel and spent a quiet evening to ourselves. The hotel (which was more like a B&B as they served us a really nice breakfast in the morning) is run by a Canadian couple who built the place themselves a few years ago. They treated us to an upgraded room with 3 levels - such a treat! The whole place sits up on a hill overlooking Jaco with the ocean in front and mountains surrounding. The breeze up there was lovely and the whole atmosphere quiet and peaceful. I relaxed at the pool in the morning and read my book while Bill hit the beach for one more surfing session.

Caught the bus back to Puntarenas yesterday after a yummy lunch of guacamole, quesadillas, fish with rice and beans with a pineapple salsa and fried plantains. So delicious and our first reminder of food from home - we've been dreaming of burritos and salsa for weeks. Costa Rica was so pleasant and, to be truthful, we were limited to some of the least desirable areas. I would love to go back and spend more time exploring some of the less touristy regions and to learn more Spanish. In many ways, it was reminiscent of Santa Cruz and the ship felt very foreign after just a day away. Strange our perceptions when traveling sometimes.

We began packing last night. Without our lovely cards and goodies on the walls, our cabin looks very sad. Tonight is the Ambassador's Ball - a very special dinner for the entire shipboard community. Tomorrow the canal. Then it will be two more days of reflection and preparation for our transition back into the US.

*Woody - thanks for your lovely card and words of wisdom. And for the enticing map - I'm in!!!!
*Kiki - thanks for the card! Such a nice treat. And funny that you cut your hair as I have an appt on Dec 18th to do the same thing! My hair is super long and I'm also going to donate it to Locks of Love.
*Mary Hackman - I didn't get your card. :( But thanks for thinking of us!!!

More to come in these final days.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in the near future.

Much love,
heather ;)

Finally - land!

Hi!
Just a quick note...waiting for customs clearance as we sit on the water outside Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. We are tendering (taking small boats to and from shore) this morning and then moving onto the pier in Puntarenas, which I can see from our deck, in the evening. Something about the pier not having room for us today...not sure.

It's been another long stretch at sea that included many fun things and lots of final classes and tests. The last day of exams was yesterday so the only academic work being done know is by the furious grading faculty. As a teacher, I do not envy them especially as we pull into Costa Rica for 3 days. Grades are due on the first day we leave this port - kinda brutal for them.

Thanksgiving in Hawai'i

Hello and Happy Holidays!

We had a lovely stop in Hawai'i yesterday - got to see Bill's sister, Elyse, who moved to Oahu in August to take a teaching position. We arrived around 8am and were cleared to get off the ship by 10am. Throughout the day, we had the opportunity to speak with family and friends in Illinois, Indiana, Virginia and California. I wish I could have called all of you and want everyone to know we were thinking of you!!

Elyse showed up at the pier and we shared tearful hugs and excitment at seeing one another (we last saw her at our wedding in August). She brought us both a beautiful ginger orchid lei - I love that ritual in Hawai'i and it reminded me of my trip in May of 2006 when my sister, Michelle, welcomed me to Kauai in the same manner. The flowers smelled lovely and it was fun to wear the lei all day (it's tradition to greet guests arriving to the islands with these but also to give them for birthdays and other special events). It's also fun when people see you wearing them and exclaim "Oh - you've been lei'd!"(haha). They are now hanging in our room so that we can continue to enjoy the island spirit.

After a great cup of Kona coffee and some catching up with stories of life since August for all of us, we met one of Bill's friends from his time in Vermont - Gabe Scottie and his wife, Michelle. They also live on Oahu and they took the time to stop and say hello on their way to a holiday feast with friends. Bill got to see them last year when we were in Hawai'i for my marathon but Elyse and I hadn't met them so that was fun.

We then drove to Elyse's house but first stopped at the Pali overlook to see a beautiful view of the windward side of the island. We ran into some friends from the ship and they offered us some sushi and fresh mango (they had gone to Whole Foods upon arrival to land) and this proved a delicious snack. From there we drove to Elyse's home which she shares with three other women, none of whom were home so we didn't get to meet them unfortunately. Next time!

We sat down to a Thanksgiving feast that Elyse had prepared the day before (to make life simpler) and the three of us stuffed ourselves silly. It was so wonderful to break bread with Elyse and to share the day with family, as we were both, obviously, far away from our larger clans. I think it was as wonderful for Elyse as it was for us and we greatly appreciated her time and effort in preparing her first turkey dinner! She made the Heinrich usuals, including Grandma Dobbeleare's Cranberry Fluff. We also had fresh pineapple...when in Hawai'i - it was delicious!

To top it off, we shared dessert (chocolate fudge brownies with vanilla frosting, slightly undercooked and moist like Mom H's) on the sand at the local beach just 5 minutes from Elyse's house. Bill jumped in the water and caught a few waves on Elyse's boogie board and he was grinning from ear to ear with delight.

Finally, we drove another scenic route back to the pier and stopped quickly for some indulgent and light reading material (Outside, Newsweek and Oprah magazines) at the grocery store on our way back to the ship. Elyse was kind enough to do some shopping for us before we arrived and we're now stocked to the brim with chips and salsa, chewing gum, candy, healthy cereal and granola bars, beer, hot cocoa, chocolate, coffee and other goodies until we arrive in Miami. I think she was surprised at how happy these few groceries made us! Thanks, Elyse!

I've uploaded some photos from our day in Hawai'i. I've also added some pics to our Shipboard Life album from a fancy Faculty/Staff dinner we all shared last week.
www.heatherbill.shutterfly.com

Thanks for the snail mail: Woody, Nicole P, Laurie, Jeanne, Rebecca,
Ed H and Joe D, my Mom, and Sarah Coy!
Thanks for the drawings: Lynne, Elena and Andrew! They are hanging on our cabin wall.

My phone will be functioning again on Dec 14th.

Much love,
heather ;)

Yokohama and life on the Pacific

We spent two days in Yokohama - a really pretty port city just south of Tokyo. The first day we spent wandering around the streets of Yokohama, admiring the beautiful fall foliage and checking out the baseball stadium (home to the Yokohama Bay Stars), Chinatown (the largest one in Japan) and the Yamashita Park right on the water bordering Osanbashi Pier, where our ship was docked. In the afternoon we walked through the Cosmo World area on the other side of Osanbashi Pier - it's like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk but much bigger.

According to some folks on the ship, Yokohama has really reinvented itself and the harbor front is much nicer than 30 years ago. The city is preparing for next year when they will celebrate 150 years.

The second day we hopped onto the local train with Brooke and Ian and ventured out to the Ramen Museum near Shin-Yokohama station in the 'burbs. It was interesting albeit a bit disappointing. It didn't cost much to get into the museum and the place was set-up as a re-creation of old Japan. If you've been to Las Vegas, picture the painted ceilings and replica buildings inside casinos that make you feel as if you are walking through the streets of another place (in the case, early-1900s Japan). It was fun and we enjoyed the atmosphere. The ramen, on the other hand, was too pricey to taste (there were 8 mini-restaurants each selling samples for 900-1500 yen which is roughly $9-$15). Since we'd already planned to search out a particular restaurant back in Yokohama for lunch, we weren't really interested in spending that much on tastings. We opted to browse the gift shop and the noodle factory, the latter of which was closed unfortunately.

The train back to Yokohama was uneventful but Brooke and Ian were entertaining. We all had lunch at a place run by a woman from Mexico who married a Japanese man. It was our first taste of Mexican food since leaving California and a welcome treat. Afterwards we wandered the shopping district a bit more before returning to the ship to wade through immigration and prepare for sailing.

Life has been quiet at sea, for the most part. It's been nice to re-group and fall into some familiar routines again. The last month was a bit of whirlwind of ports and sights, all wonderful. I've managed to run and/or bike every morning this past week, something I haven't been doing at all for a long time. Have also been helping one of the LLCs with preparations for the Ambassador's Ball on December 10th (I've just been cutting invitations). And yesterday was the Students of Service Auction (silent, raffle and live) for charity. The ship community voted to split the money between three charities that we've come into contact with on our voyage: Operation Hunger (South Africa), Agent Orange Orphanage (Viet Nam) and Victims of Acid Violence (Cambodia). All told, the three auctions raised over $16,000!!! So exciting!

Have to go. Hope everyone is well.
Thanks, Woody, for your letter(s) in Yokohama!!
Really looking forward to seeing you in a few days, Elyse!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Much love,
heather ;)

Nostalgia and Reflections on the Pacific

Hi everyone. It’s November 19th, the anniversary of Grandpa D’s birth in 1915(?). He passed away last year in April at age 90-ish and on many days I think of him and(and Grandma) and on days like today I miss him. I’m not sure if he would have approved of my traveling and not being so close to family, but travel is an example he and Grandma D. set for me. All the stories I heard from them were of travel to places around the U.S. and (maybe) abroad. The overseas part might be a constructive memory, though.

We’re sailing on the Pacific Ocean now, on the MV explorer, and I’m talking with a student about paying off loans, career choices between teaching and economics, micro finance and non-profit work internationally or domestically. It’s these type of students, who ask tough questions of themselves aloud, that make working here a pleasure. Even if I’m just a sounding board, a place to reflect the questions for students, it seems to be a useful role. I consider this work to be rewarding both personally and professionally. I also struggle with wanting to continue to do this direct work, advising and training students, and wanting to take a leadership role in a university setting, and separating from the direct work with students. I realize through the context of my family and from being apart from them, that my values around the education, in a university setting, of students is a uniquely held one and that same set of values would inform my work as an administrator in any university setting. I guess the question then becomes: Which supervisor wants my leadership values?

This thought comes to me often on this voyage as I consider the leadership demonstrated by my family, my grandfather and parents, my siblings, aunts and uncles and then consider the leadership of the countries and governments that I visited. My perspective feels like a jumble now. I think that’s the point of this voyage. Opening ones eyes to the world in a direct, hands on way really has made me think hard about my leadership and what it means to lead.

The ship moves forward every day, this morning followed by a single albatross. This particular huge bird was very efficient in its use of wave draft and subsequent lift. Did you know that albatross sleep while flying? The part of their brain that makes them fly stays awake (like the part that makes our heart beat when we sleep). This animal seems to have evolved away from land, probably because every time it stopped, someone tried to beat it over the head and eat it. I’d evolve too if that was the case. Students seemed to have gotten the routine of ‘getting on the ship on time’ down by Japan. I’m so glad they can learn, even it took a while. Most of the students are buckling down on papers and reports from their ‘field trips’ in the countries. Some of the students, we’ve learned have hugely outstanding debts from this trip and will likely have their accounts turned over to collection agencies. This seems harsh, but it’s the end of the line for many of these students. Financial aid has been exhausted and they’ve been less-than-responsible for their costs. This includes items like ‘trips to the Taj Mahal.’

Students are getting the point of these travels, for the most part. I’m impressed. Over and over, students get to a place where the relationships they build here matter and the lessons of viewing difference really sink in. The natural comparing and contrasting of cultures, lifestyles, cleanliness, sharing, costs, collective psyche’s, propaganda posters and behaviors is truly an enriching experience. The tension created for some students by all this new information and stimulation comes out in some predictable and some really creative ways, both on the ship and off. The least fun and most predictable is the over use of alcohol as escape/coping/self medication for the stress. More than a few of the students arrive to the ship intoxicated for those and other reasons. But this isn’t the first time we’ve worked with drunk students, so the outcomes are fairly predictable too.

Between the ports, so many very fun things happen on the ship, not the least of are highly competitive circuit of scrabble games, all varieties of strategy games like ‘Risk’ ‘Risk-Star Wars Edition’ ‘Risk-2010’ (which looks way more futuristic than what I’m anticipating for 2010), ‘Stratego’ and various fantasy games. There are monopoly, ping-pong, basketball, volleyball and mini-soccer tournaments. There are study groups and work groups and paper writing support groups and diversity discussion groups and knitting and reading and movie-watching and kids groups. I have great conversations about really esoteric topics with students when they come out of classes. I laugh with and at the stuff people do at talent shows and sing a few songs myself. But I really admire the many students who want to learn and grow and gain important experiences from this voyage. This is a first rate voyage in so many ways.

Japan was a really nice break, being a first rate, first world country, as it is. It’s clean and no one hassles you to ‘buy now’ or ‘how much?’ The transportation is efficient and well loved by the locals, and us, for that matter. My red-ish beard and Heather’s blonde hair caught a few stares on the subways, but mostly from curious 4-6 year old kiddies…the littler ones didn’t know what to do with us. Little kids would stare in awe, as only little children can do: mouth dropped open, eyes wide, ice cream cone forgotten and dripping onto the floor. The only permanent object right then was a large, hairy and odd looking thing (man?). Some were moved to tears and nestled into their caregiver, others responded better when I made silly faces or played peek-a-boo. At times, in certain moments, I would get lost in a book at some little café or stare out at the changing maples and ginko trees, ablaze in yellow, red, orange; leaves swirling in the wind. In these times, I’d look up and literally have to ask myself aloud where I was. “What country are we in?”

Heather answered, “Japan”

“Interesting.”
“Really?”
“Well, not this second, but it seems better than saying ‘terrifying.’”

Back in my book, a turn-for-the worse novel about Tokyo’s organized crime, I find myself longing for the small town congestion of an underdeveloped infrastructure in Santa Cruz and the bustling holiday cheer I get to approach with family in Illinois.

I suppose more good news is on the horizon and I’m looking forward to celebrating Thanskgiving with my sister, Elyse, in Oahu and then Costa Rica for a few days before packing up, squeezing through the Panama Canal and a warm jaunt to Miami. Just 20 more days at sea

Peace!