32 days: a legacy

My mother traveled on Semester at Sea (at that time the S.S. Universe) in the Fall of 1981, a year after my aunt, 24 years before my cousin, and 33 years before me.

Whenever I ask her about her voyage, she lights up. I have been nurtured by her stories as much as her cooking. There's that story about the bugs in the bread, getting lost in the Forbidden City, swimming in a frog-infested pond in India. I have recently been rereading her half-finished scrapbook, laughing as she discovered the potency of Chinese wine. One residual from her voyage is the word 'starving'- my brother and I, when hungry, were never allowed to say "I'm starving!". Mom had seen children around the world who were, truly, starving, and she never permitted us to make such a claim.

In 2005 my interest was sparked again as my cousin boarded the M.V. Explorer. My cousin's year was the infamous near-disaster voyage, however, I'm not worried. She survived, and so will I! We followed her voyage on a map in our living room, and this photo has been in my room ever since (I even did an art project based on it in high school... it was bad). To me, this photo encapsulates wonderment, discovery, exploration, learning. I remember her telling me when I saw her about a month ago about how she recently went to a baby shower for a friend from SAS. Eight years from her voyage and she still is that close with the people she sailed around the world with!

As I said, my aunt did SAS a year before my mother. However, I have not had the chance to hear many of her stories- perhaps for a reason. The only story I know is her jumping port- that is, not getting back on the ship, because she wanted to see Rome (or some other country the ship wasn't scheduled to go to- this is a big no no, and now would get me expelled).

Luckily, as my mother says, I am more responsible at my age than she or my aunt ever were. I still hope to make amazing memories to one day share with my daughter.