Cape Town,
South Africa
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Today the MV Explorer is under apartheid. We got the announcement between Global and our 10:55 classes. Those who shaved their heads or got Mohawks are the privileged of the ship, and those who did not are the non privileged. The privileged must eat in the Deck 6 dining hall only, and have the privilege of going to Deck 7 and using the pool area and bar. They get to use any of the restrooms and the elevator is reserved for them. Those who did not alter their hair styles (or even if they did for Locks of Love but did not shave or hawk it) are allowed only in the Deck 5 dining hall and cannot go to Deck 7 for any reason for the 24 hours that apartheid is in effect, do not get to utilize the 10pm snack service, and can't use any restrooms but the ones in their cabins. I have to admit, I was pretty excited about this simulation. Even though they were taking away petty things from us, I don't think the idea was inconsequential. For a full day, everyone had to change their normal routine because of restrictions placed upon all of us. Even the privileged couldn't do just anything. They had to adhere to a few rules as well, like not eating on the fifth deck. On our way to South Africa and in the midst of our discussions of the country under apartheid, why not try to give us some sense in the context of our lives on board of what it was like, how it affected everyone? Unfortunately, I missed the protest because I was eating dinner but the non privileged organized a protest at 6pm outside of the dining hall. They sat there, and some sat there for an hour or more after it was finished to protest not being able to go into the 6th floor dining hall. It really was a cool little exercise. Because a majority of the ship couldn't go to Deck 7, the coffee shop by the Piano Bar was flooded with people who normally get their coffee and snacks on the upper deck. I did feel bad for the crew who manned the coffee shop tonight because they just had masses of sleepy and hungry college kids who had homework to do. Personally, I am excited for apartheid to finish because I want my quiet Piano Bar back. I like to do my writing there in peace. Speaking of writing, my Creative Writing professor (who led the protest) separated the privileged and non privileged in class today by making the non privileged give up their seats in the front. He also made the in class assignment optional for them. None of my other professors today did that, so I liked how he really pushed it. Semester at Sea's motto is "the world is our campus". We are out here doing it and not just reading about it, so why not experience apartheid? I also thought about again today the fact that I'm doing a lot of self discovery, or will be over the voyage. I couldn't necessarily put down what I've learned about myself or how I think I've changed, but because I'm so isolated out here on the ocean for quite a bit of time and cannot easily get in touch with people from back home, I have a lot of time to myself to think. I have a lot of time to contemplate myself and my plans. Today for instance, while I was sitting in the Union watching An Inconvenient Truth, I realized I don't want to spend my whole life planning because then I'll miss the steps it takes to get me there. If I'm always looking ahead, I'll miss what's around me. This helped me for a few moments to stress a little less about what plans I have for after college, for a career. I spent all of high school making plans for college that changed in the last year and a half of high school. Regardless of why the changes came about, they did, and I'm incredibly happy with the way everything played out. And while I have plans for, hopes for doing the Independent Honors Program that sends you for nine months around the world again, I know that something will open up for me. When the time is right, I'll be met with an opportunity that sparks me, and I will take it. The past few days I really feel like I've been a little bit homesick. Out at sea, schoolwork gets intense, and I talked to my parents the other day for a short time and it made me miss them even more after having talked to them. And since I have no phone to call them and this ship isn't it making it any easier for me to fix the problem, I just wait for them to call. I emailed my Mom and told her to call me, but that was silly because my Dad checks his emails so much more often, so he'd be sure to get it and call. But the point is, in my state of being a little bit homesick, I didn't have the most optimistic ideas about what to do with my future. I overwhelm myself sometimes by trying to look at every possible piece of information, in the books I read or the videos we watch in classes, that will help me find my place in the world. We keep hearing about how my generation is the generation that needs to make all the changes if we want the world to be habitable for our children. That's a lot to comprehend, and makes finding a place in the world where you can make a difference seem like your only option but when you have no idea what that place is, it can get frustrating. That feeling mixed with a bit of homesickness, it's easy to want to escape it all. And perhaps that's why I've been sleeping so much. I don't know if it's because I'm homesick, seasick, tired from all the time changes, or what. Because we've been at sea for a few days and I've had the chance to catch up on some work, I've had some time to nap. Actually, I've taken the liberty of napping my afternoons away the past two days. I think that might be due to feeling overwhelmed by it all. Consequently, when I had the thought about the opportunities coming up at the right time, it helped me relax a bit. I'll tell you, for the worrier or the obsessive-compulsive personality, this trip can get your mind going. But I still love it, more and more each day.
