Why SAS? Why have we gone again and again...and again?

As the end of our 3^rd Semester at Sea (SAS) voyage nears, we keep reflecting on the question of why we keep returning to this program.  There are so many ways to see the world – so why SAS?

The main reason we chose SAS is because of the tight community - on this voyage that consists of 549 university students, 131 faculty, staff, life long learners and their families (28 younger than 17), and the 175 crew members who are familiar faces on each of our voyages.  We spend over half of our 102 days on the ship, which functions similarly to a small University campus.  We eat, play, learn, exercise and bond with each other throughout the entire day.  We all come from different life stages and backgrounds, but share the common characteristic of choosing to take ourselves outside our comfort zone in order to learn more about the world and about ourselves. 

Another reason why SAS is so special is that we attend college courses and evening seminars that prepare us for countries we visit and provide knowledge about the world around us.  This on-ship and in-port learning is interwoven in a rhythm of preparing for a country, experiencing a country and then reflecting on our experiences.  As the countries layer on top of each other, we have more knowledge to compare and contrast what we are learning and we see things through multiple lenses.  We find experiential learning more impactful because we not only read something in a book or hear about it in a lecture, we go out and see it, touch it, taste it, and hear it – making all we learn even more relevant and real.  As a professor on our 2012 voyage said, "The more you know, the more you learn."  

SAS is also our choice because we visit some countries that would not be on a typical travel itinerary.  We traveled to countries in Asia and Africa where we saw few tourists and where we rarely saw people who looked and spoke like we did.  Throughout out travels, we find that touristy locations are enjoyable, but keep us more in our isolated bubble and the greatest learning is when we are outside our comfort zone.  The places we learned the most from on this voyage were a rural village in Ghana, a Berber village in Morocco and the floating houses of Inle Lake in Myanmar.   We still remember clearly our previous stays in 2012/2013 in a township in Cape Town, South Africa; in hammocks in the Amazon outside of Manaus; in mud huts on Lake Titicaca in Peru; and in tents in the desert of Jordan.

Lastly, SAS exposes our kids to a college environment.  Over our three family voyages, the boys have lived on a college campus, integrating with students and faculty, for almost a whole year.  They have participated and witnessed college classes, studying and tests.  This voyage, Luke did the course reading, presentations and exams for a history course called West and the World and also attended Comparative Politics.  The talent shows, Sea Olympics, and other special events exposed the boys to things outside of classroom that hopefully will encourage them to try new things. 

Some people think we have been "on vacation" over these past months.  Although we have had the luxury of traveling the world, it has not been a vacation.  We have submersed ourselves in learning not only on the ship, but also in the countries.  There is plenty to do and it's never-ending; most of our time is spent preparing for classes, teaching our own kids, and planning our travel in a country. (or actually traveling there!)  When we are not doing this, we are mentoring the college students, leading “Deep Dive” discussion groups modeled after the Aspen Institute, speaking in classes or catching up on emails and current affairs from back home.   

Of course, it isn't all hard work!  There are also a lot of fun events, like periodic fancy dinners (instead of college dorm food), the Sea Olympics, Neptune Day, the end of semester Ball, evenings in the faculty lounge and spectacular sunsets almost every day at sea.  But the real attraction to Semester at Sea is the learning and friendships we make along the way.

We know we are fortunate that we are able to make world learning a priority.  SAS provides us with a chance to step outside of our normal routine and to have a floating bedroom and the world as our classroom. How often in life do we get to fully submerse ourselves in non-work-related learning – especially as adults?  Life is short.  Set sail!

Morocco - Second visit for us and a nice surprise!

Way back in 2009 when the boys were just 5 and 6, we visited Morocco during Ramadan and spent our time in Casablanca and Marrakech.  The scorching weather and lack of food and water from sunrise to sunset due to Ramadan meant everyone in the country was a little cranky and inserted a slightly distorted lens to our view of Morocco.  It was removed from our itinerary in 2012 and, given the state of the world today, we weren't sure we would make it this time either.  

Our latest visit was completely different and we wish we had another month to explore this beautiful country.  The weather in April was perfect with temperatures ranging between 50-75 degrees.  We immediately fled the large, commercial town of Casablanca and hired a long distance cab to take us on the 3 hour drive to Riad Dar Oulhoum, inside the medina in Marrakech. 

Taxis and cars are only allowed to go to certain points in the medina and then everyone must walk or travel via bike (or motorbike!).  Our two French innkeepers, Bruno and Guy, met us at our taxi and lead us through a maze of streets and doorways (some that you needed to duck under) until we reached a dead-end with a small door.  Once we walked through the doorway, we were welcomed into a lovely home build around an open-air courtyard.  It is shocking these narrow, dull concrete alleys hide such beautiful homes, restaurants and shops behind the unfinished exteriors.

Bruno, Guy and their staff made us feel welcome and tried to get us comfortable navigating through the medina.  This was not an easy task considering the complexity of the maze.  They gave us a 20-page picture book to show us the way between their home and the main square, Djemaa el-Fna.  It consisted of photos of archways, shops and different landmarks to tell us where to turn - ingenious!  We just had to laugh and try to stay alive as we wove through the souks with all their shops, motorbikes and tourists.  We ate at La Jardin, the Cozy Bar, and Il limone – which all had a great atmospheres and food.  As we walked through the cramped, somewhat rough streets of the medina at night, it felt as if we were in some places we shouldn’t be and that there was the possibility of something unfortunate happening.  However, it is actually the opposite, we never had any negative experiences or encounters the entire time we were in Morocco.  We had been lectured ad naseum on the ship about how sexual harassment of women was a national sport in Morocco but we didn’t see or experience anything of it. 

After doing some last minute research of the snowpack conditions in the Atlas Mountains, Jay found the ideal place to stay in Imlil, called Douar Samra in the small village of Tamater.  Morocco’s landscape is extremely varied.  It transitions from lush farmland between Casablanca and Marrakech to dry desert to high mountains.  The highest peak on North Africa is Toubkal (13,700ft), and the town we drove to was a day’s hike below it.  The drive from Marrakech to Imlil was beautiful and climbed up a river valley, weaving up the mountain passes and through small villages.  Eighty percent of the Moroccan people descended from the Berbers and although the West still refers to the rural people as Berbers (adapted from the Romans calling them barbarians), they prefer to be called Amazighs. 

To get to our guesthouse, Doura Samra, our taxi dropped us off on the road above the small village and Mohamed and a donkey from our inn carried our luggage down a loose rock path through the local homes and to our guesthouse. 

The guesthouse was made of clay like all the homes in the village and the main gathering room and our bedrooms were powered by candle light.  The newer rooms in another building had electricity and the village had intermittent Wi-Fi (which seemed crazy in such a remote location).   We relaxed on the decks and in the hammocks overlooking an apple orchard in full bloom and the larger village below us.  Above us the mountains jutted into the clear impossibly blue sky.  The air was crisp, but the sun made it feel 20 degrees warmer.  Village life bustled around us and there was a constant chattering of birds, chickens, donkeys, and the villagers.   

During meals, we sat on the floor atop cushions around a communal, candle-lit table.  The food was delicious with lots of breads, fresh jams and locally grown vegetables.  Most of the guests were from Europe and they shared ideas with us on where to go on our upcoming travels through Eastern Europe.  After dinner, we walked through the village while giggling kids and baaing goats headed home for the night.

Another interesting experience high up in the Atlas Mountains was having a “hammam”, the Moroccan version of a Turkish bath.  It’s basically a combination steam room, bath and exfoliation treatment.  It was offered at our guesthouse and we had no idea what to expect.  They arranged it and when the time came, we went down to a little cave-like room in the basement of the guesthouse (Christy went first with the female attendant, all the boys went later with the male attendant).  Even the change room was stifling hot.  Inside the actual bath, there was a big bucket of water, a few little plastic platforms, and a single candle.  And a flaming hot floor!  Apparently the room is heated by a fire underneath the floor.  And to make our experience as awesome as possible, they decided to build the fire below at “nuclear”, with the result that parts of the floor were so hot you couldn’t touch them.  After we got in there, buck naked of course, we sat for a bit in embarrased silence, holding the glove they had given each of us.  After we got good and sweaty, the “scrubber” came and lathers us up in deep cleansing soap.  Then he (for men, she for women), took the scrubbing glove we received on our way in and proceeded to scrub every bit of us until any dead skin, and a good bit of the living skin, was gone.  We all walked out at the end feeling like we were glowing pink!  Christy thought it was awkward to be in the bath with her bare-chested scrubber and not being able to communicate.  The boys found it equally awkward to be wedged in together, all naked and trying to relax while a guy in shorts worked us over with our gloves!

In addition to the hammam, we hiked during the two days in the Atlas Mountains.  The first day we hiked up a valley path to a nearby pass.  The second day, we went with a guide on a 4 hour hike to a waterfall and through surrounding villages.  It was beautiful and we loved seeing the towns and how they farmed and built their waterways.  We were told that, Mount Toubkal is a non-technical climb in summer.  We would love to hike this and the surrounding areas when we return. 

This is the kind of place we love to go, where we want to stay for 1 month to get to know the people, their culture and the countryside.  It is quiet and peaceful.  It is the kind of place where people don’t seem to have too much, but they have enough and they are content with the life they have.  Where life is simple and enjoyed.  Somehow the natural beauty of the place enhances the beauty of the people and their home.  It will be interesting to see how the outside world (tourists, wifi, general connection to the world) encroaching into places like this affect them.

Morocco is 99% Sunni Muslim.  It is a largely peaceful country ruled by King Mohammed VI, who is highly regarded by his subjects and has managed to hold the country together while its North African neighbors, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, have overthrown their governments. Morocco seems more progressive and tolerant than some of the other Muslim countries we have travelled in, although there is plenty of evidence of the state religion.  A few women wear the full burqa or niqaab (veil covering entire face and veil leaving a slit for the eyes respectively), but the vast majority simply wears a headscarf or just dresses conservatively.  It is still a male dominated society and men run most of the shops and businesses while women take care of the home and children. 

We had a fascinating discussion with our guide during our hike about the rise of radical Islam and his viewpoint.  As he put it, “Islam is the religion of love, what they do is not Islam”.  It seemed that it was the predominant view among Moroccans that the more fundamental interpretations of Islam are offensive and do not resonate to the Moroccan people.  Morocco is on the forefront of combatting fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, which makes sense because it is a threat to their power structure. As we learned from the US State Department representative who briefed us our first morning in port, Morocco is very vigilant domestically and breaks up terrorist cells before they act.  In addition, they are one of the best sources of worldwide terrorism activity and have shared information about the French and Belgian attacks prior to them occurring. 

Morocco was a great country to end our voyage in – somewhat familiar yet very different from home.  By getting ourselves out of the big cities and into the mountains we saw a new side of Morocco we had never seen before – fascinating and beautiful!  Next stop is England to disembark and then we are on to spend a month wandering Europe.  Plans so far include getting to Croatia at some point, but other than that, it's pretty up in the air!

Ghana - Life in a rural village!

Once again, Ghana stands out as one of our most memorable ports – this time because of Fredrick Benneh Frimpong and our 4 day homestay in Senase village. Fred is a 25 year old Ghanaian from Senase and currently finishing his studies in the US.  He flew back to Ghana from San Francisco just for this trip and to check on the school you will hear about later in this posting.

When we signed up for the Semester at Sea field program to a rural village in northern Ghana, “2 hours” north of Komasi, we knew the drive would take longer than the 5 hours touted, so we doubled the expected travel time, and were not surprised when it to took 10 hours there and 11 hours back (we left the ship in Takaroti then met it in Tema).  

We joined 24 other shipmates on a trip that provided us a glimpse into a non-touristed part of a Ghana and the chance to interact with Ghanaians in their village and school.  We were well cared for during our 4 days, eating local dishes prepared by Fred’s family over campfires in their yard and sleeping in rooms generously vacated so that we had a place to sleep.

In our welcome briefing, Fred had suggested that we all might try to get up early and help our host families hauling water from the local well, sweeping and getting ready for the day.  It sounded like a great plan, but in reality, we just tried to hang on in this foreign environment.  Our bodies were not used to the 90+ degree heat (day and night) with no A/C and there were constant activities and people swarming around us at all times so by the time we fell asleep we were exhausted.  We sweated 24/7 and we found ourselves sweltering in our beds as we tried to fall asleep waiting for the oscillating fan to finish its 15 second rotation back to our bed.  Just before 4:00 a.m. the neighborhood roosters, which Jay called the Vietnamese roosters since they clearly were calling out dawn in the wrong time-zone, would sound their alarms and try to rouse us from our beds.

We spent our first day volunteering at the Semanhyiya American School that Fred had founded and built.  The school, whose name means “if we had not met,” was the result of Fred’s meeting Barbara Allison, a SAS lifelong learner who funded Fred’s university schooling in the US and who started the Godfred foundation that built  the school.  Semaysheya represents a new approach to schooling that is in stark contrast to the government run schools in Ghana.  Fred incorporated the best teaching techniques from London and the U.S. into his school’s kindergarten and 1^st grade classrooms.  They filled the initial classes with a lottery since they had so many applications for limited spots.  Now that they have a year completed, we are sure their new class of pre-K will be even more oversubscribed. 

Our 3^rd day started with a 5:30 wakeup call since the school bus left at 6 to pickup kids from neighboring villages.  Despite the early hour, we greeted by energetic smiles at each stop.   We arrived at the school by 7:30, served breakfast to the kids and began a morning of games and activities with the kids.  A highlight was seeing what the kids built from toys we brought from our toy company, Brackitz.   Another highlight was pehaps the funniest part of our day.  The students begin each morning by dancing and singing the Electric Slide and, even better, the Macarena.  By the time we finished delivering the kids back to their homes, we were exhausted by the heat and constant interaction with dozens of kids.  But Fred had one more treat in store.  He had organized a soccer game against the locals on the village field.  With heaps of spectators, Luke and Jay joined three students from the ship, the teachers and Fred's friends in a referee-aided 5-3 victory over a group of local players.  It's a miracle that Ghana's Black Stars regularly qualify for the World Cup but we suppose practicing tin that heat will kill you or make you stronger!

In addition to our time at Semanhyiya, we also visited different villages, government schools and hung out with the locals in Senase.  With the intensity of 4 straight days living at Fred’s parents’ house, we were able to see the realities of living in a subsistence farming community and the stark difference in teaching styles, facilities and overall resources between public and private schools. Ghana remains primarily a subsistence farming country with 60% of the population involved in agriculture, usually on a small scale. To achieve its long-term goals of becoming an industrialized country by 2030, it will need a new generation of entrepreneurs and leaders to challenge the status quo and bring about significant change. It is the very rare exceptional person who will come out of the rote-learning, fear-based model of teaching in the government schools prepared to drive the changes Ghana needs.  And so Semanhyiya’s model gave us a glimmer of hope, but the concept will need to be replicated on a much larger scale.  We plan to support the construction of the 2^nd grade classroom that will open next September and Fred is planning to expand his concept with other schools in nearby villages.  We think Fred has a great chance to succeed through his leadership and drive.  He and Barbara have created a model where the schools need support for construction but are self sustaining for operating expenses.

Although this was a tiring 4 days, it was the best trip we have taken through SAS because it allowed us to authentically interact with locals and understand a way of life that is so starkly different from our own.  We have made new lifelong friends and have found a new way to give back and make a difference in one small place in the world. 

To learn more about Semanhyiya and its founders, Fred and Barbara, visit this website.  The foundation is called Godfreds Foundation and was named after a bright young student named Godfred.  Fred's first aim was to make sure that Godfred had a path to a good future and would have opportunities that Fred never did.  Ironically, Godfred is too old to attend Fred's school since it only has pre-K - 1st grade (and is adding a new year of school each year as the kids advance). 

So that’s a wrap on our experience in Ghana. If you want to hear more about our take on Ghana, look for another post soon.  On the ship we had a lot of discussion about the costs and benefits of “voluntourism”, and tourism in general.  We will explore that and other things in a non-country blog post soon.