We left Boston on the night of August 21. The first leg of our voyage was an orientation for faculty, staff, and dependents. We traveled with a group participating in a global program on China-US relations.
From Boston we sailed north and then up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. It was a beautiful trip with waterfalls, whales, farms, and a nighttime view of Quebec City.
Most of the students joined us on Sunday, August 26. They were able to visit the boat with their parents the previous day. There was a lot of activity as students found their rooms and asked countless questions, like Where is the front of the boat?, Where is the dining room?, and Why is the Internet soooo slow and limited?
It was both exciting and emotional to leave Montreal and say goodbye to North America. The decks were lined with students while parents looked on from the dock with both groups waving good-bye to each other.
We are now sailing back down the St. Lawrence River and heading for Africa. In the picture below you can see that we narrowly cleared the bottom of one of the bridges. We are all excited that classes start tomorrow. It will be nice to have more structure and settle into a routine.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Nadya Andrews, whom we lost yesterday.
Greg and Louise
