On the way to the Bahamas and here

We arrived in Nassau, the Bahamas today to have the passengers embark.  Man, was that a process!  Several of us staff members/teachers went out to where folks were waiting to try to make their experience as pleasant as possible and to gather up forms and show them where to go. It was probably 85 or 90 degrees in the shade, so I am sweaty after 5 hours of it!  We have 692 passengers so that was a LOT of folks to get on board.  Many of them waited over 2 hours.  It was interesting seeing how people responded to the experience of waiting in line.  A couple were unpleasant and wanted to make sure I knew how unhappy they were and how much they had suffered.  Others were so nice and friendly, it was lovely.  They talked about the people they met along the way and how much they enjoyed the experience.  I liked seeing the difference in folks.

Yesterday was fascinating, arriving on board, getting settled into our very small, but accommodating room - plenty of clever storage space, attending staff meetings, meeting some of the fascinating people who'll be teaching.  I even had the extraordinary pleasure of dining with Sandra Day O'Connor and a gentleman who'll be giving some history lectures including about her.  I think they're friends.  It was great talking to her and learning more about her.  She's very straightforward and feisty and funny.  I didn't ask her about the Supreme Court because I'm not knowledgeable about it to even know what I should ask her - I didn't want to show my ignorance.  Instead we talked about Dylan who's at W&M where she was Chancellor for a while.  That took us to her daughter who is fluent in Mandarin and Dylan who's learning Chinese.  Kids are such a great conversation topic for mothers (and probably dads too).

I had so many interesting and fascinating conversations I can't recount them all, but I know it's going to be an amazing time.

The Bahamas - I've had 30 minutes to explore it and decided I'd seen enough after 15 min to come do internet instead of exploring more.  Around the harbor here there is nothing but shops, shops, shops, folks trying to make some decent money selling baskets, woven purses, carved sculptures, badly done paintings, and jewelry out of conch shells.  I'm not in the market for any of those, and I don't enjoy such an atmosphere, so I took it in and am headed back out.  I have to be on board again in 8 minutes. We're heading to Jamaica this evening.

So... see you next time.  I have no idea when it'll be!  I teach for the first time tomorrow.  I'll do Vacation Photography first b/c I don't need any supplies, and my boxes of supplies have not shown up yet so I can't depend on them - yet!