life at sea

the crossing between brazil and south africa is eight days long.
today is day five. it is still an amazing experience to be living on
a ship, but there are a lot of people who are anxious to be back on
land. fortunately, the remainder of our crossing are shorter (at
least by a day or two).

the most exciting part of this voyage is the addition to archbishop
desmond tutu and his wife. the archbishop has yet to make an
official public appearances, but his presence is the buzz of the
ship. my first archbishop sighting occurred in the dining room (but
more about that for my update on neptune day!), but since then, i've
seen him a good bit in the faculty/staff lounge and during meals. he
usually pops in to the lounge a couple of times a day to check his
email, so that situation is not so conducive to conversation. but
today, he is having a formal reception for the faculty/staff, so i
will have my opportunity to meet him.

here's the dilemma with meeting someone like the archbishop. what do
you really say? this is a man who has made a tremendous difference
in the lives of his fellow south africans and in the history of his
country. i don't supposed this is something he wants to have a
conversation about with all 800 members of the shipboard community,
which is okay with me because i would feel seriously inadequate in
such a conversation, but i seem to be at a loss for other topics.
but it is still exciting to have the opportunity to meet him and
learn from him. he will be speaking in global studies in a couple of
days and will also be leading the cultural pre-port before we dock in
south africa. it should be extremely interesting.