Almost to Spain!

We arrive in Spain tomorrow! Aside from about three hours in Halifax, we have been on this ship for 12 days. In many ways, it still feels unreal we will be seeing all these amazing countries, including Spain tomorrow. I have been so engrossed in my role here that it feels like the ship is the ONLY piece to Semester at Sea right now.

A few exciting things happened this week. For one, we ate dinner with Desmond and Leah Tutu. They love to laugh. One of the lifelong learners really wanted to talk about truth commissions and his biography, but this definitely did not interest them. Chris and I both recognized this and tried to make the conversation more ordinary. It was a day after our anniversary so we ended up talking about marriage. In fact, the “arch,” as he likes to be called, gave us a fist pump for our three years of marriage. He also talked about “kissing Leah’s feet,” which brought a lot of laughing among the group. The arch loves to giggle and loves the children on board. One dinner, he started dancing between the tables. I envy his ability to be in the moment with such joy, especially with the life of hardship he has endured. Truly inspiring!

The other interesting event, though doesn’t compare to the above, was an 80’s birthday party for a staff member. We dressed in 80’s gear (okay, Chris had to convince me a little) and danced to awful music all night…completely sober. Chris was cutting up the rug! He even slow danced with Dan (video below). I kept asking him, “Who are you?” since he never wants to dance at home. I guess he felt he could be quirky with 80’s music. It was a great way to connect with staff and earn some “street cred” on the ship.

We arrive in Spain at 0800 tomorrow morning. After a few duties, we will be exploring Cadiz. We can’t wait!