Port trips

Several weeks ago we got a packet in the mail from Semester at Sea. It was the long-awaited list of Field Programs--designed to provide hours of interesting and relevant programming for the ports that we visit. (For the listings see http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2010/spring-2010-field-program.php )Yesterday was the deadline for "pre-sale" trips. These were primarily class-related, overnight, or trips that required advanced arrangements. There was a bit of anxiety since the trips can fill ,and then selections are made on a lottery basis. So, Nancy and I spent hours reading the 100 plus pages of trip information and studying our guidebooks and conferring with friends.

Our goal was to do more than touristy kinds of things while getting to see some of the cultural and historical highlights for the countries. But, we also want to get a flavor for the everyday life and participate in programs that support the sustainability theme of this voyage. We chose our "big" trip to be the once in a lifetime (for us) safari in South Africa. It sounds simple, but there were many to choose from, and they ranged in price from pretty expensive to very expensive (for us). We'll let you know in a few months how it went. Our next big trip choice was a overnight trip on the Amazon River. We decided to forgo the Taj Mahal since our VISA card was bursting at this point.

One of my sustainability choices was UNITED FISHING AGENCY FISH AUCTION & LECTURE ON THE BIOLOGY OF TUNA in Honolulu that starts at 6 AM. I think it will be fascinating. A boat trip on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam could be another highlight.

We registered online, entered our VISA card numbers and hit enter, so now we wait. There will be opportunities to take other non pre-sale trips that we will register for on the ship. We'd like to do a service trip to help on a house with Habitat for Humanity in one of the ports. We will also make some independent trips to museums, bookstores, universities nearby hiking spots, etc. I also have former student assistants and friends in Hawaii, Japan, China and Ghana, so I'd love to see them if possible. So much to do--so little time.

Trip reports and photos to follow.

Inoculations

For this voyage, there are certain health requirements for each country, including medicines and inoculations (shots). Today was my appointment at the UVA Travel Clinic, a department in the UVA Hospital to assist foreign travelers. It was nice to deal with an organization that was so prepared. When I made the appointment several weeks ago, they took my travel information and had a packet printed for all the countries I would visit.

The Centers for Disease Control sets the kind of vaccinations or medicines that are needed throughout the world and has maps for each country. Since I had taken my tetanus booster a few weeks ago, I had to take 3 more shots today. One of the biggies was the Yellow Fever shot that I would need for Ghana. We also counted out the number of malaria pills I would need for each country. Normally, South Africa would not require malaria pills, but since we would be in Kruger Game Park, that region does require the medicine. I ended up with a prescription for 52 pills. The Typhoid vaccine is a live oral vaccine.

This was a pretty painless outing and quite informative. It's nice to have medicine for intestinal disorder should that occur. A trip to the pharmacy finished my day. It's nice to have one more detail checked off my list.

Weather

It's hard to figure out what clothes to take, so I've checked on weatherbase.com
Here is our schedule

Weather data from /http://www.weatherbase.com

Hilo HI month= Jan avg. min.temp= 63 avg.max.temp= 80 avg.rain= 2.73 in

Honolulu month=Jan avg.min.temp=66 avg.max.temp=80 avg.rain= 3.4 in

Yokohama Japan month= Feb avg.min.temp= 37 avg. max.temp= 48
days w/precip= 10

Kobe Japan month =Feb avg.min.temp=37 avg.max temp=47
days w/precip+16

Tokyo Japan month=Feb avg.min.temp= 36 avg.max.temp=49 avg.rain=2.8

Shanghai China month= Feb avg.min.temp=36 avg.max.temp=47
avg.rain= 2.4

Hong Kong month=Feb avg.min.temp=59 avg.max.temp=67 avg.rain= 1.7

Ho Chi Minh City Viet month=Feb avg.min.temp=73 avg.max.temp=90
avg.rain=.1

Chennai India month=Mar avg min.temp=76 avg.max temp=90
avg.rain= .4

Cochin India month= Mar avg.min.temp=79 avg.max.temp=89 avg.rain=1.9

Delhi India month=Mar avg.min.temp=53 avg.max.temp=73 avg.rain=.6

Port Louis Mauritius month=Mar avg.min.temp=75 avg.max.temp=83
avg.rain=9.6

Cape Town S.Africa month=Apr avg.min.temp=56 avg.max.temp=72
Days w/precip=9


Accra Ghana month=Apr avg.min.temp=79 avg.max.tem=87 avg.precip 3.5

Salvador Brazil month=Apr avg.min.temp=75 avg.max temp=86
Days w/precip=20

Cameras

OK, I'm finally going to have to seriously read my camera manuals. I have a pocket Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS and a Canon Rebel xTI with an 80-300 zoom.

Mostly, I can change the mode around and take pretty good pictures. I recently learned that the little pocket PowerShot will take videos with sound as well, so I've figured out how to do that. Last week I actually learned to turn on or off the flash, and I know which modes to use for motion shots. Now I need to learn to take some macro shots and more about how to change the file size. My Christmas list includes memory cards. But mostly, I just need to read that 100 page manual that accompanies each of the cameras. They will each fit a need on the ship and at ports, and I'll just have to figure out when to best use each one.

Getting my finances in order

While I'm at sea, I don't want to have to worry about any financial concerns, so I spent an hour at the credit union today making sure everything was in order. I already have a primary credit card and an ATM card, but it is recommended that you have a second credit card in case you lose that one, or heaven forbid, the company cuts you off. All of my bills at home are already set up to pay with automatic withdrawal except for the pesky propane bill, so I set up a new checking account with the credit union to give me an additional ATM card and online bill pay.

I also had them notify the credit card company that they would be seeing some charges from around the world. Otherwise, one charge in Japan would create a hold on my credit card, and I don't want that to happen. Then I moved some money around from savings to checking so I can make my credit card payment online. It only took 3 tellers 20 min to get all this set up--along with a bunch of forms. I'll go to my real bank tomorrow and get another VISA card, and I'll be all set.

That's one more check off my to do list.

What will you be doing?

OK, I won't to clear up a little confusion with my friends. This is a "voyage" and not a "cruise". It has a purpose. "But" they ask, "what will you be doing?" They know that I'm the librarian, but they haven't realized that the ship has a 13,000 volume library. The collection has been carefully selected to represent ports we will visit and the classes that are taught. Each voyage has a different theme, so we've added volumes to support the "sustainability" theme of our trip. We have also acquired the books needed for reserve reading and copies of some of the textbooks. In a few weeks, Mary Johnston and I will meet to pack the books to be shipped to San Diego to the MV Explorer. HOPEFULLY, the boxes will be waiting in the library when I arrive and will be lovingly located in their assigned places waiting for the student to use. The subjects of the books range from psychology in foreign countries, to literature of a country to bird watching. The catalog can be searched at http://virgobeta.lib.virginia.edu/catalog?f[library_facet][]=Semester+at+Sea&facet.limit=500&facet_sort=hits&id=library_facet&random=1260222488985&sort=date_received_facet+desc&width=490


Once we arrive on the ship (several days ahead of the students), the assistant librarian, Theresa Pepin, and I will get into the online library system to load the "patron records" of all the students and faculty so that they can check out materials. We will also load the bibliographic records for the new books. Then we will load the digital files of the course readings (ie. journal articles) on the ships intranet, so that students will have access to the readings on their laptops.

We will work with the faculty to let them know what kinds of support we can give for their class assignments. The library will have eight student assistants to help with the shelving and evening checkouts. They will all have to get extensive training.

Then the students arrive, and we give presentations to their classes and serve as an information point to direct students around the ship since we are in a central location. As the student trickle into the library, we will assist them in setting up their "proxy accounts". These accounts verify that they are students and then give them access to all the UVA databases and the 70,000+ journal titles. That's a lot of hand holding.

Theresa and I will start to provide reference assistance and trouble-shooting. I'm a morning person, so I'll staff the library in the morning, and Theresa will staff in the afternoon, and we'll both be on call at all times. The library will be open 7 days a week when we are "at sea".

So, I expect to be busy.

Countdown

It just struck me on this December 1st, that we leave next month. I've still got lots of books to read and some shots to get. If anyone wants to help with the above two, please let me know. I've also started to squirrel away some $1 bills. One recommendation I read said to take about $200 in singles. I've also just spent some time on Amazon.com and ordered a money belt. This shopping is a lot of fun.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LO6OOU/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Anticipating trips is exciting if you don't get too stressed about it. I'm going the fun route.