Journal entry, February 14, 2004

The first day at sea after leaving Brazil, I was exhausted, having gotten very little sleep for four nights in a row. I went to meals, to Core, and taught one class. I slept between each of these.

I’ve been very busy ever since, trying to catch up on my class preparations. Fortunately, today 

was a “TBA day”—a day on which no classes are scheduled. There will be four or five of these during the voyage. They are a welcome break, since we don’t get weekends off.

The first TBA was Neptune Day. Today was picture day. The students got their pictures taken, grouped according to the colleges they normally attend. There also was a big group photo of everyone taken on deck. That one included faculty. They drained the pool and had the faculty stand inside it. The students stood on the deck around us. The photographer was on a higher deck shooting downward.

I slept late today, and missed breakfast. Last night they had a Valentine’s Day dance. I danced just a bit. Out on the dance floor an intoxicated young woman started flirting very aggressively with me. I had visions of being chewed out by the dean the next morning and beat a hasty retreat.

This morning I opened a lovely Valentine’s Day card from Beth. It was great to get some mail from her. She has to send it weeks in advance to a port that we will be visiting.

Students of Service is one of the student organizations aboard our ship. They work with various charities in the ports we visit. They had been selling cookies for people to send to one another on Valentine’s Day. Sociology professor Lynda Nyce (who lives in the cabin next door) sent me one, expressing sympathy for the fact that, like her, I was traveling without my spouse. Alana and Kristina, two students on my boat in the Amazon, also sent me one. I’d been feeling blue today, lonely, missing Beth. These kind gestures helped to cheer me up a bit.

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