Wish us bon voyage!

The MV Explorer, a "floating university" that will carry us 

from San Diego, down the Pacific Coast, through the Panama 

Canal and up to Costa Rica. Along the way we'll enjoy 

educational presentations by special lecturers on board.

Today I’m off on a Panama Canal cruise with 39 other Friendship Force members from five countries. It should be a great adventure for all of us, traveling together on the Semester at Sea April 2011 Enrichment Voyage. (www.enrichmentvoyages.org)

For years we’ve been wondering how to connect the Friendship Force with the growing popularity of cruises and I’m hoping we’ve found an answer. The unique educational focus of this cruise is ideal for our members, and the flexibility of allowing some of us to disembark part way through the cruise for a homestay in San Jose, Costa Rica, seems to be a perfect fit.

As with any new adventure there are lots of unknowns: What will the ship be like? Will the educational programs be effective? How about the shore excursions, will they work for our group? If we like the cruise will we be able to develop a partnership for future cruises with similar excellent fares? What about our fellow passengers? Will we be able to talk to them about joining the Friendship Force? Will the five-day homestay in San Jose be long enough? We’ll have answers to all these questions and more soon enough.  Having so many unknowns makes the journey all the more exciting.

On a personal note there is also a bit of history for me. It isn’t my first time through the Panama Canal. When I was just seven years old my family set out from North Carolina to Japan as the first step in my parents’ 20+ year career as Presbyterian missionaries to Korea. We traveled by train to Galveston, Texas, and there we boarded the SS Dr. Lykes. It was an aging freighter that looked magnificent to me, but I can still recall my mother saying it was so decrepit she wondered if it would make it to Japan. We sailed from Galveston in early September 1952 and made our way through the Panama Canal and from there across the Pacific to Yokohama.

It was a 30-day adventure that would be one of those early childhood memories that don’t seem to fade with time. I still remember sitting in deck chairs with my father, listening to the World Series on his brand new Zenith Transoceanic shortwave radio. I think it was the Dodgers and Giants – both in New York in those days. I can’t remember who won, or who we were supposed to be cheering for. Probably the Yankees, I’ll have to ask my father, who turns 90 this week. He has memory problems, but won’t have trouble remembering that!

This time it will be different. A modern ship, with Internet, entertainment, TVs in our rooms, and lots of amenities. And 500 passengers, instead of 12, for making new friends. But like my first Panama Canal crossing almost 59 years ago, I’m hoping it too will give me some memories to last a lifetime. Stay tuned.