Lunch With Desmond Tutu

I woke up quite early (8am) which is quite surprising seeing that I played a lot of soccer last night, and was dead tired. Its times like this when I notice how much happier, healthier, and more energetic I am when I exercise, and how after exercising I sleep much better yet shorter. I then look out the window and see a city. My initial reaction was, "We are already in Ghana? Did I sleep for 6 days and nights in a row?" After turning on the TV, I saw that we were refueling in the Canary Islands. Now things made more sense, but I was still confused why we were refueling. We were in Morocco just two days before. Probably because the fuel in the islands is cheaper, or something like that. I had breakfast with the ship's security faculty, Mary, and her husband James. They were very fun to talk to and had many interesting stories. Mary is an ex-secret service worker, and James is a hell of an athlete (he swims for 5 hours for fun). After classes (comedy was a great experience as always, and history was confusing [on what exactly we are doing] as always) I went to lunch. As I was looking for a place to sit, I noticed Desmond Tutu and his wife siting alone by the window. I took a deep breath, walked up to them and asked if I could join them for lunch, and was given the "yes" answer. The two of them seemed a bit tired, so I didn't pester them with many questions, and we mostly talked about my aspirations and related topics for a short while. It was kind of annoying though because many of my friends who walked into the dining hall afterward noticed me, and gave me weird faces in the attempts to make me laugh/giggle. I think they were just jealous that they didn't have the courage to do the same thing I did. After lunch was done, the Archbishop and wife took their leave (the Father gave me a fist bump), and I was left thinking to myself "I just had lunch with Archbishop Desmond Tutu......... AWESOME!!!" My friends and I then just fooled around after that, until it was time for the Father's book signing event. After that I thought to myself "I had lunch with Father Tutu, and now I have a book signed by him, and a picture with with..... AWESOME AGAIN." Score: me. Then they day was a matter of trying to get some work done, and kind of succeeding at doing so. At 6, I went down to the main dining hall, where I would be meeting my "extended family" group on the ship. I was part of a small group compared to the others. There was me, two other students (Alyssa and Ariel), and a lifelong learner (Pat). Dinner was a pleasant time, as these people were full of curiosity and energy to learn. I didn't get much work done after that though. I went back up, and played Apples-to-Apples with the others, and then hung out with some other friends in their room. Today was an eventful day. I had lunch with the Archbishop, got my book signed by him and took a picture with him, and met my shipboard "family" if you will. Good times aboard the MV Explorer.
-Nimish
September 16, 2010