We are on our way to Halifax to pick up the students. Why, you may ask, are we picking up 745 students (710 of whom are in schools in the USA) in Nova Scotia?? Well, the answer is not quite simple. There are two reasons---- the easier one s this.... we train the faculty and the staff on board the ship. We are doing that in the 4 days between Ft. Lauderdale and Halifax. That sets the premise for our second answer.... which answers the obvious question, "Why not pick them up in Boston or something??" Well, there is a U.S. law that requires vessels in American ports transporting passengers to foreign destinations to post a Federal Maritime Commission bond in the amount of whatever it would cost to fully refund every paying passenger's money back. When you leave out of a foreign port, you don't have to post that bond. See, complicated. But in our case, fiscally responsible. Plus the students get the taste of a foreign country before they even board (yes, I know Canada is hardly foreign, but it counts.)
Here is another cool thing that is going on the ship.... there is a Global Awareness Symposium happening while we are all getting trained. Guest speakers include Sandra Day O'Connor and Julian Bond. I got to see them both speak. Bond was funny and magnanimous. O'Connor was direct, captivating, and very feisty, which I liked. She loved Parker, too!
Ok, off to do more training. I'll blog a little more once we get to Halifax in a couple of days.
