at sea

We are more than half way from Halifax to Cadiz, our next port. Last night we were north of the Azores. The air and water temperatures are getting warmer, though we have had two days of rain.
I have been to the Global Studies class twice--we all take it. The first was more interesting than the second. Just that I already knew the stuff. I guess he had to slow down the content so the students could keep pace--they haven't lived as long as he rest of us, so haven't been exposed to as much as we have.
I went to Rob's class yesterday on Global Influences on the US South. He has written a book on the subject, so that is one of their texts. The class was great. Rob got all the students talking--most are from the South. Rob says he wants to bring out the boy from NY and get him talking more. A half dozen or so Lifelong Learners ( the grown-ups who are taking the voyage as passengers) were also in the class and they piped up and contributed only after the students has wrestled with a subject. Slavery and its influence was a big part of the class discussion. The Lifelong Learners could tell the students about race relations in their childhood, which the students hadn't experienced and didn't know much about. The whole class time was interesting and never dull and never antagonistic.
This afternoon I am going to a class about Women and Movement taught by my brand new Iranian friend, Farzoneh Milani. Women and Islam is her area of expertise. She is quite a scholar and teaches at UVA. Her husband died two years ago and she was a little bit lonely and feeling left out not to be a part of a couple at first, so Rob and I took her with us walking all over Halifax. We seek her out at meals and sit with her at meetings. She is lovely, and is the best dressed woman on the ship. I always enjoy her company.
Tonight Rob and I have been invited to dine with the Captain. All the faculty and Lifelong Learners will be invited sooner or later. Carla Tolbert and her husband, Charlie, are going tonight, too, as is Farzoneh. We dress up (we were told ahead to bring appropriate clothes for the occasion). Carla and Charlie have been our friends for over 30 years--we spend a lot of time with them. Carla and I agreed before the trip to bring books to read and then share with each other. I have already passed on to her the wonderful novel by Robert McNeil about the Halifax explosion, which his parents and grandparents lived through I highly recommend Burden of Desire. Carla and Charlie are the parents of one of Hailey's closest childhood friends, Michelle Tolbert. Charlie teaches three Astronomy courses. He just retired from UVA. I hear lots of good things about his classes, Farzoneh's, and Rob's.
All the teachers were hand selected because they are good. Bob Chapel, of the UVA Drama Department, is our Academic Dean. He says his greatest strength has always been in casting--and he is pleased as punch with the job he did selecting the faculty for this floating university. This afternoon I am going to a class taught by Jahan Ramazoni and his wife Caroline Rody, also good friends. They have brought their three children with them. Jahan's father was a mid-east expert on the UVA faculty. Hailey says Jahan, who teaches in the English Department, is the best teacher he has ever had, and Jahan says Hailey is among the best and most brilliant students he has ever known. You can just imagine how much I adore him.
Rob doesn't seem to get sea sick at all. I have had headaches and once I learned that they can be a symptom of sea sickness, I have taken Meclazine and the headaches stopped.