Southampton to Lisbon

We're off! We sailed from Southampton the other night, on the way to Lisbon. The energy on the ship is high, dazzling even. Life on the ship is intense: we began with several days of orientation for the 800+ people on board (students, faculty, staff, families, Lifelong Learners), focused on things like health, safety, academics, and shipboard life.

We have 41 faculty members, teaching a wide array of classes, from anthropology to religion, commerce, marketing, international business, literature, travel writing, film, politics, photography, media studies, gender studies, psychology, environmental studies, geography, marine biology, and the like. It's a full spectrum so students can get the credits they need from the more than 150 colleges and universities they represent. We have 54 international students from places like Canada, China, Mexico, Saudia Arabia, Ghana, Guam, Jamaica, and Turkey.

Each class has an obligatory field program assigned to it. This is a one-day in-country event led by the professor that combines the classroom learning with hands on experience in country. At other times students will do assignments in country related to their classes, they can travel with Semester at Sea trips, or travel independently. Some will play (they are teenagers) but most will take advantage of the challenges and opportunities they will encounter to grow in maturity and intellectual acumen.

We have docked in Lisbon, and are having class and lectures until late tonight. We get off tomorrow morning.