We have been on this journey for 14 days days.  We are voyagers.  For the record, saying we are on a cruise are fighting words. We are survivors upon a moving city.  We are living in a science fiction movie.  We gathered what we need, took to the sea, and now are in search of another land.  A safe place to establish our lives after an apocalypse.

Or, we just got back to the ship from Hawaii and have set sail to Japan.

Perhaps, we have not seen another human or another ship for days.  There are very few birds at sea. We are on our own.  Luckily, this ship makes fresh water as we sail along.  I have decided to start to grow potatoes in our cabin bathroom.  (I have stolen one from the kitchen.)  I am determined our family will survive.  I have pocketed strawberry jam, creamer and sugar-in-the-raw for 14 days.  We will eat like hummingbirds until the potatoes (raised in human waste) are ready.  I am going to need to do something to our steward.  He cannot know about this farming operation.  Hmm…another wrinkle to work through.

This adventure is most certainly an opportunity to watch, up close, some fabulous human behavior.  On the day that the “school store” opened (yesterday) there were lines running the length of the ship.  Students sitting, camped out, in the halls, patiently waiting in line.  The first known item to sell out were the yoga mats.  I immediately began to calculate the mark up potential on a black market yoga mats operation.   All I need is a sharpie, and a shipment of mats.   SAS (Semester at Sea) branding appears critical to the younger humans.  It is truly amazing to watch what humans will do when forced into a single confined environment.  Semester at Sea can be found boldly branded onto every single item that store sells.  This is confusing to me as it is fairly well known you are a  Semester at Sea participant without these clever branding hints. If you are on the ship, you are one of us.  There was one occasion that I noticed two strangers had managed to come aboard.  They may have boarded in Hawaii…..or maybe, they finally wrestled their way out of the cargo hold.  They busted out of the wooden crates marked “DANGEROUS”.   Stranger danger is a real thing when your world is pretty darn small and isolated.  Luckily, I have located the fire alarms on every level.  If I see a stranger, I will break the glass.  I have run through all possible outcomes.  Pirates are real.  I will stop them.

We have many activities daily. We attend classes, clubs, and lectures.  Oh….and 3 square meals provided by some magical crew members. You do not miss a meal.  It is mandatory.  Or, that is the way we are treating it.  “Free meals” are not to ever be ignored.

Last night a political science professor gave a lecture on the possibility that America is currently experiencing an identity crisis.  This professor teaches in Beijing and offered the Chinese perspective of the recent election.  It seems they were also shocked by the result.  It was fascinating to learn that the other super power countries may not be prepared to take the space that America has most recently occupied.  It seems that not all countries are necessarily prepared to police the planet.  At least, this is the theory of this academic.  Last night we attended a lecture regarding the massive amounts of garbage that have been found in the “gyres” of the oceans.  There are massive trash islands that have been forming in our oceans ever since plastic was introduced in the 50’s.  “Garbage Patches in the Pacific.” The boys are interested, and so are we as the rocking motion in the lecture hall instantly renders Lincoln incapacitated.  He falls asleep within 10 minutes of arrival every single time!   He even passed out during Scott’s presentation.  The lecture hall is a type of sleep aid. I caught Scott sleeping in there a few nights ago.  So did his students.  They saw his head nodding and his chin falling off of his hand that he was using to prop himself up.  “Poor exhausted professor”, they thought.

For those of you more alarmed by the trash islands than our entire family falling asleep, here is the description of that situation. “Ocean gyres are formed by global wind patterns, the Earth’s rotation, and Earth’s landmasses, and the centers of gyres are generally calm and stationary. Come learn how it is in these gyres that floating plastic debris has been accumulating at alarming rates since the 1950s, forming the so-called garbage patches.”

Here is the deal.  Do not use plastic.  It never goes away.  Never.  If you use it.  Re-use it.  80% of the plastic in the oceans come to the oceans via land.  Best case, do not use.  Worst case, use it, but put it into the right spot when you are finished.

We now are acclimated to sea life, we have our sea legs!  I do not notice the constant movement of the ship.  I can stay on a treadmill and elliptical facing the back of the ship. The opposite direction we are headed.  A roller coaster of a ride, add gym equipment and random winds.  This morning, in the gym, a cry went out from those of us “riding the waves, and the machines.”  Whooop!  We raised our hands when the swell passed.  We are rodeo riders.  Or, rodeo clowns.  Either one works.  We ride every morning no matter the size of these waves.  Watching the sun rise behind us.  We feel certain we are part of something larger than this floating spaceship.  We just cannot see it.

Experiencing life without reliable internet is like attempting to learn how to ride a bike again, but this time, we are heading backwards.  Many “adult” moments are spend in a huddle attempting to find a way to access the blog, bank accounts, or simply break into facebook.   It is mind boggling.   And, so the feeling of being somewhat unproductive seems to wave over me again and again.  I do love to work.  I really do.  Currently, in its place I find I can spend my new found extra minutes trying to determine what archaic process will allow you to print a single document.  It is a mind cluster of a puzzle.   I am also attempting to just enjoy these quiet weeks.  Just this morning, I settled into the whole thing by watching the clouds (nothing else to see), and thinking…..not very often that I sit and watch clouds.  My mind may be mush in a few days.  Or, really truly inspired.

Yesterday, Lincoln told me that I may be the best homeschool teacher he has.  In the next breath he explained that school work is stupid and he ran to the pool bar to order a tall cold smoothie.  Yup.  The boys have their own ship board accounts.  They have freedom to spend a few dollars here and there, and to sign their own names.  This restrictive life has allowed them some freedoms they would never have.  Of course, we use the shipboard accounts as incentives.  They are not aware it is tied to our bank account.  “If you finish your reading and shower today, we will put $4.00 in your account.”  A new parenting strong arm.  Best part is, we did not have to organize it.   “You will get $5.00 if you try one new thing today.”   “Say “hi” to 30 people you do not know yet and you can go get a Dr. Pepper.”  Our parenting brilliance continues to play out.  We are masters of manipulation.  We are winning.

We have enjoyed exploring a variety of subjects including folding paper dragons, paper cranes and tinkering with flying airplanes.  When not attempting to get him to believe I am in charge of his education, I have managed to sit in on a few classes with Tate.  It seems I learned a few things back in high school and college about the wonders of the planet.  I am surprised to find out this is not the first time I have learned all of this.  A gentle reminder to take a look around and understand their connections to one another.  Academia can be filled with theory, big words, and people who have studied single topics for years and years.  We need them.  We also need the regular folks who apply the learning to the real world in front of us.  Scholars.  Students. And, common folk.  (Put me in that last category.  I am comfortable there.)  And, so many curious minds. Clear our daily schedules and learning commences.  Of course….. it is up to us what we do with the knowledge.  Even if we just toss it over the side into the frothy ocean.  I have never liked someone telling me “the way it is”.  But, I can appreciate that they force me to stretch.  I will try to listen.  I am very aware I do not know all that much.  Maybe that puts me ahead of a reasonable amount of people??

After spending many hours staring at the massive huge ocean that never ends… I am starting to get the idea that these waters are unbelievably huge.  For 3 days, the only thing I saw outside our balcony was a single Starbucks cup floating by.   No birds, no ships, no other humans.  Just a single Starbucks cup floating by the ship.  I turned to the boys and said, “Let’s clean up after ourselves”.  The ocean needs to be left alone.

It can be unimaginable to consider where your Starbucks cup will end up.  I may have just seen it! 3500 miles from where you consumed your cup.  It is in the Pacific.  Floating around until it meets up with the garbage island.

The circle continues.  We are off to Japan.  Aboard a life boat.  With a crate that appears to have been used to film Indiana Jones.  Strangers.  Adventures.  Learning.  What a long strange ride this may be.

I have a feeling this trip is going to change all of us.  Even if we attempt to resist.