Mile 23: No Time for Africa

There is a song, by Shakira, called, “Waka Waka (This time for Africa)” and the bartenders in the Glazer lounge have been playing it in the evenings during happy hour to get us dancing. Today, though, they stopped playing it because we are no longer going to Senegal and Ghana. The announcement was made about two weeks ago and the entire shipboard community had very mixed feelings about it. The voyage will not be going to these countries because the first case of Ebola has been reported in Senegal. The ISE admin are worried about the possible health and safety issues associated with docking there (rightly so!). Additionally, the rest of our Fall Voyage program is at stake if we go to Senegal and Ghana because Brazil informed the ISE that they would not allow us to dock there if we set foot in either of these African countries (so we could have been literally floating out at sea for weeks on end). Even though the risk of contradicting the disease is low, one student victim would set the program back quite a bit (the reputation, lawsuits, etc). So, no Africa this round.

While I understand the safety and health issues associated with the Ebola virus, I am a bit bummed about the itinerary change. I think they made the right decision and I wouldn’t want to go there now that the virus is spreading so quickly, but it does change the voyage to not have a third world country experience. Students have been reacting as well. Many of them state they want to go home now (a little excessive, don’t you think?), others are more optimistic about the journey and still feel it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. The Faculty seems to be more unnerved than the students though as they work to revise their curriculum and somehow supplement the lack of Africa port time with classroom instructions. Some are revising their teaching/readings significantly while others want to keep their original Africa material. Then, there are those who are just plain pissed and will let everyone know it (annoying).

When the announcement was made to remove Senegal and Ghana from the itinerary, the admin stated that they would be replacing both ports with two new ones. We spent hours speculating where we might go, Greece? Italy? Maybe even Turkey? We knew that the Mediterranean was our best option since we would be in the Spain and Morocco area. I prayed for Turkey (although I knew it would be a long shot since it was so far). After a few days of figuring out their options, they told us that our new ports would be Civitavecchia, Italy and Barcelona, Spain. My heart initially sank. I think I was a bit disappointed because these two ports, while lovely places, were a very poor replacement for Senegal and Ghana because they were so European and would not provide students with a contrasting cultural experience. But, they had made the best financial and logistical decision possible and, while we quibbled over teaching days and field lab options, the itinerary was once again set, much to the chagrin of some faculty who thought they could influence the decision somehow.

The energy on the ship has changed a bit since the announcements, especially since they were made so early on in the voyage. There is a general hmph! in the air. My attitude is: full speed ahead. I’m trying to get as many students on board with this attitude as possible. We’ll just have to drink really good Italian wine and indulge in the architecture of Gaudi instead, not such a bad deal really. Secretly, I’m hoping they give us a surprise port, Oh by the way, we get to dock in the Canary Islands for a day! Fingers crossed!