one week in

HI all,
Today we are cruising down the coast of Brazil toward the opening into the amazon. We cant actually see the coast. I imagine we are 100's of miles off of it. Last night we left Dominica @8 pm and headed right into rough waters. Our rooms are forward so each wave impact was extra notable both for noise and motion. Not a great nights sleep. Today the ocean is busy and there is a slight wind hitting us over the port bow. Every so often a large wave crashes into us and the ship shakes and heaves, and spray covers the windows. Many are ill including Beatrix, but not amazingly me. I seem to have found my sea legs. I got up this morning and went to two classes. First was an Anthropology class on foods of the world and the second was a sociology class on the Geography of cities. Tomorrow I will attend one on Global Studies. I am still trying different classes out to see which I am most interested in and with which instructors I resinate most. It is nice to have the flexibility, unlike the college students, to "dapple" as I go. The students just had their add-drop opportunity so now they are locked into classes. I on the other hand can be wishy-washy the whole way around the globe.
Our visit to Dominica was very enjoyable and a good first stop for the kids aboard who have never been out of the country. The island reminded me a bit of the islands I experienced the first time I traveled to the Caribbean in 1969. It is a tropical and wet island with lots of waterfalls and thermal hot springs. The beaches are black sand but there are not a lot of them, as the mountains shoot straight up and come straight down into the sea. Very lush and green island. The main town of Roseau is small and mostly "authentic". We had an architecture prof. speak to us all about the building style in the caribbean islands and it gave me a new appreciation when I walked through the town. Rather then see "shacks" I saw 300 year old free slave houses, for instance. There are no big resorts, only small hotels and inns. A great place for hikers and adventurers.
The island is changing though. The chinese have come in and are underwriting a huge road construction project to get the tourists to the interior sites. I wonder what else the Chinese will bring. this island had been a British island until 1978 so everyone speaks english even though the islands to the north and south are both french still. so, my advice is to go and to go soon. We snorkeled, saw waterfalls and even swam in river gorges in the rain forest. This is the island that was the backdrop for Pirates of the Caribbean.
We are now one week into our voyage of discovery. One week, thirteen to go! So now I am off to the spa for a massage. Doesn't every college campus have a spa? Best to all.






-Melissa

Location:Atlantic ocean