Rites of Passages and Reflections

'Twenty Years from now, you'll be more upset with the things you didn't do than the things you did!'

                Mark Twain

Neptune Day

There is a tradition in crossing the equator at sea, that pollywogs become shellbacks, and bored sailors must’ve come up with hijinks at sea out of boredom in the past. What is delightful about this ritual is the crew’s enthusiastic involvement, from preparing the “fish guts” for baptism to prepping the deck and pulling out their costumes for the early morning wake-up parade. Pollywogs endure a plunge in the pool, kissing a fish, and revering King Neptune and Queen Minerva. I am the chamberlain to the right of the queen in this adventure. Quite a few guys and a smaller number of women also opt to have their heads shaved, added evidence of their new status.

I do see the value of ritual, of a community coming together in whatever the tradition is to celebrate. This one has its comedic features, but the pride of our new shellbacks, and the celebration when we did cross at the Prime Meridian, making them in more elite Emerald Shellbacks, has its benefits.

Post-Port Reflections

Before sailing, I knew Damian and I would be co-facilitating the mid-point session. The focus was to be on the emotional impact of the traveling to date, and we gathered together a group of students that we did not know, but who were recommended by their Residential Directors. We were not disappointed, and the two meetings prior to our session were so valuable. We recalled our initial hopes for the Voyage when we first signed on, and checked in with how folks were doing staying on track with those. We also talked about intentions for the rest of the trip. Upon regrouping after Ghana and in preparation for the evening, each person was passionate about their experiences, and very reflective about the visit and how it radically changed some of their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs.

There is a painful component of coming from a multicultural town like Los Angeles, and being in an environment talking about colonialism, slavery, and viewing Africa as “the exotic place”. I know the word is meant to reference something foreign, but I cringe at the talk of culture shock, poverty, and 3rd world locales. As Erica Patterson, faculty says, they were here first. Why aren’t they first world?

 

I opened up the conversation with a suggestion that we abandon the phrase Culture Shock, and instead, adopt an attitude of Culture Expansion. Instead of anxiety about difference, let us extend what we know about culture. The idea seemed to resonate with folks.

Experiences shared during the session included the need to not view Africa as a distant land in need, but to respond to injustice in our own backyards too. There were Black students who had never been part of a celebrated majority as they were here. There were students who were embraced by the warmth of the Ghanaian people and acknowledging that our own culture falls short of this by far.

Women who got little attention on their home campuses were celebrated as beautiful. There were students who challenged a practice of handing out toothbrushes, and an account from a local who said that it meant we thought that it meant they didn’t brush their teeth. Ah, the importance of context and accurate information. globalgrins.org has great information about the value of oral hygiene, a vital motivator of their mission. but once again, how does one distill something important into a concise enough message to be heard?

Contemplative Damian.

The psychologist in charge of these sessions is Bob Weigl, and we conferred after about how to assist students in understanding and engaging in what reflection is, not just storytelling, which happens in every kind of space throughout the ship. It involves thinking about the experiences, about how it affects our view of the world and our place in it. The conversation with the 8 students before Post-Port involved this level of dialogue, and the classrooms certainly encourage this level of engagement. Still, to convey ideas and influence behavior change is HARD!

The Archbishop Desmond Tutu was not able to join us as planned. We sang happy birthday to him on video, and the Spring voyage is blessed with him for the whole trip. We did get two facilitators from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Bob and Alice Evans, who are doing an intensive course on mediation, and a 5-day field trip in the townships.