Crossing the Atlantic Ocean

Here we are, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  So far the seas have not been terribly rough, although we have had some 8-foot swells.  It's funny to watch people trying to walk a straight line down the halls and weaving back and forth or running into walls.  No injuries so far.  I think more and more people have developed their "sea legs" because I'm seeing fewer people with patches behind their ears. I was very nearly vomitted on once but managed to escape that trauma.

The medical clinic has been fairly uneventful, I'm happy to say.  I've seen a couple of unusual things, but mostly it's the standard stuff I'm used to dealing with.  Dr. Sloane, the doctor that hired me and is sharing duties with me, is very nice.  We have clinic for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon, and then one of us is on call.  It seems to work out ok most of the time.  Somehow, I continue to have trouble carving out any free time.  I've yet to even open the cover on my kindle, but plan to make that happen soon.  I've been trying to fit in a workout daily in the small, but adequate workout room, or with the P90X training program I brought.  Jeff is in charge of schooling the kids, but I try to be there to help if needed.  I've also been sitting in on a comparative religions class (fascinating stuff, in my opinion), and on the mandatory Global Studies class.  It's fun to be back in college classes without the stress of needing to complete papers or tests.  Tonight I will be speaking to a group of interested students about the Baha'i' Faith.  I haven't done many introductory presentations on the Baha'i' Faith and hope I can do justice to this amazing, transforming, emerging global religion.

8/26/11 Student Embarkation Day

Hello again!  450 college students, mostly from the USA, but from all over the globe boarded the ship today.  The doc and I spoke briefly with every single one of them, which took all morning and into the afternoon.  There can be up to 700 students on the voyages, so this is a relatively small group.  Maybe that will translate to more free time for me???  In the afternoon we had our first clinic.  Today it was mostly questions about medications and malaria, but there were a couple of people with unusual conditions that saw us.  The clinic has more resources than I expected, although I could not get access to the internet when I needed it.  I'm told this is usually not a problem, but the internet is often very slow.  "Up-to-date" and "Epocrates" may be harder to use than I expected.  Before every voyage sets sail, there is an extensive lifeboat drill.  The freaky thing is the amazing number of people that fit into each one of those not-so-big boats. 150, to be exact!  It brings to mind the old Volkswagon bug commercials (?) where more and more people keep getting out of the car. Hopefully none of us will get to experience those lifeboats, except to look at them!

At 5 pm we pushed off from Montreal to the cheers of the students and the goodbye wishes of their families and friends on the dock.  It was a picture-perfect afteroon with no hint that there is currently a not-so-nice storm named Irene heading our way. We were told by the captain that we will never be within 600 miles of Irene.  I was very glad to hear that, having lived though a previous typhoon experience on Semester at Sea in 1988. That is the kind of thing that you never want to experience once, let alone twice.  After a nice dinner and some picturesque country-side viewing from the sunny deck, there was an opening presentation where all the staff and faculty were introduced. There is some amazing talent and experience on this voyage, and I hope to take advantage of this opportunity to "sit in" on some of the course offerings.  The required "Global Studies" course starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to participating in that course, and maybe a comparative religions class also.  I'm on call tonight and it is late, so I'd better get some sleep while I can.       

On the way to Montreal, 8/22/11

I just finished dinner at sea. Tonight was taco night and I was very impressed. In addition to all kinds of taco fixings, there were enchiladas, quesadillas, chicken mole' and flan. It was delicious.  I will certainly not starve to death on this journey!  I started the morning with a yoga class.  Yoga is something I encourage my patients to do, but rarely make time for in my own life. It's a wonderful thing to do in so many regards, but I'm here to tell you that the balancing poses are especially difficult on a rocking ship!  Speaking of rocking ships, the seasickness patches were out in force today.  Some people looked downright miserable. Jeff and the kids have been fine so far and I've only had one "episode" of short-lived, mild nausea.  I hope this means we'll all escape seasickness.

Today was my first official day of training.  The entire faculty and staff met in the morning for some general "community building."  After lunch I met with the rest of the medical team, the administrative dean, some medical consultants in charge of the ship, and the captain of the ship. We discussed things such as the procedures for handling drunk kids and the responsibilities of each person. It seems that throughout the years many of the kinks have been worked out and that the medical team functions pretty smoothly.  I guess I'll find out as soon as I really have to start working.

We left the port in Boston last night at 9 pm. It was so exciting to be tugged out into the ocean to begin our journey.  I slept like a baby on the rocking ship and plan to do so again tonight. 

Boston

After an early morning (too excited to sleep) and an uneventful flight (thankfully) to Boston, I'm in a nice hotel room at the Radisson in downtown Boston blogging about Day #1 of our big adventure. We had delicious Thai food for dinner and then explored the large hotel pool and rooftop deck overlooking the city lights. The kids are wild. Even though it's 10:30 pm here, they are obviously still on Denver time.  I have acclimated to the time change quite nicely, thank you.  With that, I'll say good night.

Packing

Today is my first free day to start packing.  Packing for four months is a daunting task. We'll be going to hot and cold climates, will need everything from formal wear to exercise clothing, and can only bring a small amount of luggage. I've also heard that it's cold on the ship, and I hate being cold. Therefore, I'll need lots of layers.  I better start making my list.

Yesterday was my last day of work at Northwest Family Medicine for the next four months.  I'm hoping that my PA job on the ship will be less consuming than my regular job and that I'll have lots of time to play with my kids and catch up on my reading. I won't have to cook, clean, shop or do laundry for the entire voyage, which buys me many hours a week.

If you are interested in getting the perspective on the journey from the rest of my family, their blog addresses are:

http://jeffwarnerphoto.blogspot.com/

https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/ReadeAroundTheWorld/

https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/TateAroundTheEquator/

Our Semester at Sea Voyage

When I tell people about our upcoming trip, they all want to know how we managed to make it happen, so I should probably start with that.  I went on Semester at Sea as a college student in 1988.  It was a wonderful, life-changing experience. Recently, I'd been thinking about trying to get some travel-abroad experiences set up for my kids because I feel travel is a valuable learning experience that is difficult to duplicate any other way. I wish every kid could have some foreign travel experiences.

Some time in early 2010 I had a chance conversation at work with a pharmaceutical rep who had just spoken with a local physician assistant who had worked on Semester at Sea the previous Semester.  I hadn't realized that Semester at Sea hired PA's (in addition to many other staff), and was thrilled to see job postings on their web site.  About one year ago I applied for the Physician Assistant job after making sure my employer was ok with my taking a leave of absence until late December, should I get the job.  In the Semester at Sea medical arena, the ship physician is hired first by Semester at Sea staff, and then the physician hires a mid-level. I just happened to be lucky enough to land the job.

That was five months ago. Now we are a week away.  Yikes!  I've got to get packing!