21 sleeps to go

We are in Sudbury for Christmas and I wonder how we'll get everything ready for us to leave Dundas on January 13th....we are leaving Bess here with Tessa and family and I dread saying good bye to her tomorrow. She is my constant companion and shadow. For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting her she is a little, white Bichon Terrier.

We are very deep in snow which fell steadily yesterday; today there is a bright blue sky and sunshine but brrr it is COLD! Hoping for good clear roads for our drive home to Hamilton tomorrow.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to any one who reads this over the festive season

itinerary changes

Just to let you know that to our great excitement our Semester at Sea itinerary has been changed....poor George has to adjust all his lectures..

We are now going to AFRICA(!!!!); Morocco (Casablanca!), Namibia (Walvis Bay), South Africa (Cape Town!!!) and then Mauritius in the middle of the Indian ocean, (where both George and I have always wanted to go.)

Jean, we shall be in Cape Town from the 18th - 22nd February...can we meet for coffee?! This has been done because of the Somalian pirates who are operating where ships are slower coming out of the Suez Canal into the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. So we shall be sailing down the other side of the continent. Just had to share this news with you.

the chase

Somali pirates fail to hijack US cruise liner - 12/02/08 - New ...
2 Dec 2008 ... Pirates near Somalia chased and shot at a US cruise liner with more ... The gulf links the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea ...abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=6534087 - 60k -

Well done....let's hope we can out run them too!

piracy and speed

We thought yesterday that there were going to be changes to our itinerary as there was apparently concern about the Somalian pirates. However it has been decided that as MV Explorer is one of the fastest ships afloat we should be fine. No word of any changes to visiting Chennai in India or Bangkok in Thailand. All should hopefully be well in both places by the time we get there next year.

My correct address here by the way is:-
http://semesteratseaandbefore.blogspot.com

Just thinking about it....

I have no idea how to do this... I have great plans though about writing every day to all my friends to keep in touch....very necessary for me as I dread leaving you all behind! Of course I am terribly excited but I shall miss your company alot. However I don't know until we board the MV Explorer how easy it might be to use a computer as the demand will be enormous for the students doing projects etc. We shall have our lap top in our cabin so hopefully it will be quite straightforward.

There are going to be about 700 students on board and George is going to be working extremely hard with lots of lectures and also accompanying students on excursion ashore. We have had a very helpful meeting with Evelyn Hannon , the Editor of Journeywoman, the travel newsletter for women. (www.journeywoman.com ) Earlier in the year she went on board as a 'late learner' intending to fly home from Chennai. However the students prevailed upon her to stay for the whole trip as one of them had an empty bed in her cabin. So Evelyn did just that and had a marvellous time. She has also introducedus by email to some others going on the trip from Calgary, a professor of psychology and his wife so we have been exchanging news and views with them.

This in a nutshell is where we're at right now. Christmas is coming and we have all that to prepare for....we still have a number of shots to get and collect our prescriptions for anti malaria prophilactics. We are somewhat used to all that after five trips to various parts of Africa.

Before Semester at Sea

Hello family and friends

This is to show you my blog which I shall be writing in from January to May. My URL is http://semesteratseaandbefore.com