Day 3 - Bon Voyage!

The time is 10 p.m.   The sky is hazy from a sun that is still an hour from setting and Jenn and I are writing from the ship’s library, located in the uppermost deck of the vessel.  As we sail through the Beagle Channel, I am mesmerized by the mist floating down over the southernmost part of the Andes Mountains juxtaposed against the ripples of waves sent out by our ship.

My daydreaming pauses with the sounds of our Jewish shipmates lighting a menorah and singing a Chanukkah song.  In a land so foreign and so far from home, I am warmly reminded of the holidays.  I feel a deep connection to my family and friends and smile as I think of them busily making preparations for their celebrations.  This year we will celebrate both Christmas and my birthday across thousands of miles and three time zones – I, from the most remote place on Earth. 

For a moment I become lost in thought about my upcoming birthday and my life’s path.  Could this all be real?  What sequence of events led me to this point?  And where will I go from here?

Travel will do that to you.  Good travel, mind-opening travel, gives you deep glimpses into the infinite possibilities that surround us at any moment.  When given the freedom to simply BE and to experience life outside of our daily routines, we are capable of dreaming big dreams -- dreams that may someday become our realities.

My dream is to travel the world and learn everything that I can about our lives on this planet we call Earth.  I want to take these experiences and use them to teach others, to inspire people to be their best selves and to live life to the fullest, to help them find balance and live in harmony with our natural world. 

What better place to study balance with our natural world than a trip to Patagonia, and the Tierra del Fuego National Park?  Upon landing here in Ushuaia, we boarded a bus that took us through the park to admire the landscape and learn about the flora and fauna of this unique region. 

Due to the chilly, but stable, climate in Patagonia (Patagonia refers to this region of the world, Tierra del Fuego is the province, and Ushuaia is the city where the park is located), there is low bacterial growth in the soil.  This means that when trees fall, their decomposition is slow.  Slow decomposition means that the nutrients in the soil are recycled very slowly, which affects tree growth and sustainability.  We noticed evidence of this in several downed trees and few saplings.

Fortunately, for the forest ecosystem, a parasitic mushroom has taken to growing on trees, which aids in the decomposition.  Our guide noted that these mushrooms are edible but that they lack flavor.

Not only do the mushrooms feast on the trees, beavers take their toll on them as well.  Originally introduced so that people could use their pelts for wear and trading, the beavers quickly became an invasive species.  Their fur did not grow as thick as it did on beavers living in more extreme climates, which rendered them useless to people.  Then, with no natural predators in this environment, the beaver population grew quickly, which led to some challenges in the ecosystem as large families of beavers cut down trees and create dams to destroy the forest and reroute rivers and streams.  Government officials have looked for innovative ways to solve this problem, but it persists.

After the park tour, we had a scenic lunch aboard a catamaran cruise of the Beagle Channel.  We conversed about the naturalist Charles Darwin’s survey work all over this region and how his studies in the Galapagos Islands continue to be relevant today.  Again, we were reminded of the power of global studies, as this quest for knowledge through scientific investigations led Darwin to develop the theory of evolution.

From there, we finally boarded the National Geographic Explorer!  Climbing the steps to board the ship was so exciting and the best way to describe the experience thus far is “surreal.”   Jenn, Mariam, and I are beyond thrilled to have been selected to represent educators aboard this expedition.  Everywhere we go, we are greeted with a friendly, “Hello, Teacher!” by the staff, and we are enjoying our conversations with guests on the ship.  Everyone is interested in hearing more about our fellowship and we are looking forward to introducing ourselves to the whole group tomorrow morning in the commons area.

Speaking of tomorrow, we are scheduled to enter the Drake Passage around 1 a.m.  All signs point to very fair travel – something called the “Drake Lake,” as the waves, so far, are very low.  Perhaps we will celebrate the summer solstice with smooth sailing through the Drake Passage!

For now, we are off to our cabins to get some sleep.  Tomorrow we wake up to completely open water and no sign of shore. 

Bon voyage! 

Tierra del Fuego National Park

View of the Beagle Channel from Tierra del Fuego National Park

We saw an entire island of sea lions!  View from the catamaran tour.

Day 2 - Multiculturalism in Buenos Aires, Argentina

One of the best aspects of traveling is experiencing the local culture.  Wherever I go, I enjoy getting to know the local people of that particular area and spending my time doing things that they do.  Participating in local culture adds a unique dimension to any travel experience.   

With its diverse population, rich in contributions from immigrants from around the world, Buenos Aires, Argentina, is full of culture.  The three main cultural influences here are Spanish, Italian, and Polish, although the city is full of global diversity.  Spoken Spanish is heavily accented with Italian, and pizza and pasta are popular dishes alongside Argentinian beef on menus around the city.  The city also boasts the second largest Jewish population, outside of Jerusalem, just behind New York City.  

Travelers from around the world converged on our hotel today to check in for our expedition, celebrate our voyage and socialize over champagne, and participate in an orientation to get us ready for tomorrow.  Together, we enjoyed an extensive city tour that took us through the political center, financial district, the bohemian community, and through an area that is currently under gentrification.  All around the city, culture abound.  

Sights we saw included:

• La casa rosa (The Pink House) - Similar to the White House in the U.S., this is where the President, Cristina, conducts business.  However, she does not live in the building, and instead flies in via helicopter to meet with other government officials and ambassadors.  This is an area full of daily demonstrations and protests.  Today's demonstration involved enlisted veterans advocating for equal benefits as active veterans from the Falklands War of 1982.  This war was fought in an attempt to regain Argentinian control of the Malvides Islands from the British.  The Argentinian defeat continues to affect many today.
• Tomb of José de San Martín in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires. San Martín was instrumental in declaring independence from Spain and leading the revolution to remove Spanish rule from Argentina.  Also of note, the current Pope, Pope Francis, was born in Buenos Aires and used to lead services in this massive church.
• La Boca - a bohemian, artistic community, full of color and flair, La Boca is a fun place to shop for souvenirs and support the local arts community.  The iconic corrugated steel buildings used to house recent immigrants to the country, but now many poor Argentinians are also living in this tenement housing district.  Residents often share bathrooms, have limited access to kitchens and ample living space, and are bitter cold in the winter and sweltering hot in the summer.  Because of the amount of fires that occur in these homes, La Boca has the largest community fire department in all Buenos Aires.
• The tomb of Eva Peron.  Born into poverty, Eva Peron became an actress and later married Juan Peron, a famous general who became Argentina's president in 1952. Because of her background and her captivating personality, Eva was widely loved by the people of Argentina, and was mourned by the nation when she passed away at age 33.  She was later portrayed by Madonna in the famous musical, Evita, by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice.

Upon returning from our city tour, we went for a small ice cream cone filled with dulce de leche (fantastic caramel-flavored ice cream) and almonds, and then for dinner at a local restaurant.

The customary way of eating dinner in Argentina is to gather at a restaurant very late at night (around 9 or 10).  Dinner begins with wine (Argentinian Malbec is fantastic!) and appetizers, followed by ordering large plates of food to share family-style.  It ends with dessert, and on the weekends, Argentinians may choose to go to a bar afterward to have a few cocktails before going out to the local club where they dance the night away -- often until 4 or 5 in the morning.

Having a 4:45 a.m. wake up call tomorrow morning prevented us from wanting to explore local Argentinian culture any further than the restaurant for dinner.  Back to the hotel we went in search of some much-needed sleep before our next big adventure -- a 4 hour flight to Ushuaia, Argentina, which is the southernmost city in the world, followed by a lunch cruise around the bay, after which we will finally set foot on the National Geographic Explorer and venture out into the tumultuous waters of the Drake Passage.

Good night, Friends!  We shall chat again tomorrow!

Our quick visit to La Boca

Day 1 - The Power of Experience

Imagine an experience you have had in your life - a meaningful experience, powerful, emotional.  An experience that made you feel like you really UNDERSTOOD it and needed to DO something as a result of it.

Now imagine how the intensity of that reaction -- that motivation -- would have changed had you only read about the experience.  Or heard about that experience from someone else.  Would you still be as invested in the outcome?

We humans are inquisitive by nature.  We desire to know things; we seek to understand why things are the way they are and how we can impact the world around us -- our own environment.  In order to care about issues, we must first understand them.  That understanding comes from our experience.  

Sparking the intellectual curiosity that our students bring to our classrooms every day is the goal of student-centered educators.  We strive to design meaningful learning opportunities that give students authentic opportunities to learn about themselves and the world around them.  Our subject areas become engaging when we contextualize them for students and give them a real purpose for learning.  Our language amplifies when we learn situational appropriateness and begin to use different kinds of language for different kinds of purposes.  

When we dig deeper, we realize that if we are going to challenge students to see meaning in the world around them, we, too, have to look for meaning and make connections all around ourselves.  We have to fuel our own intellectual curiosity, learn what questions to ask and how to ask them, and seek out opportunities to learn and grow both as humans and professionals.

This unbridled curiosity and my eternal quest to be the best educator I can for my students is what led me to apply for a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship. My passion for education and travel shone through my application and I was honored to be awarded a fully-funded study abroad to the continent of Antarctica this year.

And here I sit.  Documenting the experience in real time as I wait to board my flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

There are many questions on my mind:

• What will this experience teach me about myself?
• How will I learn all there is to learn about this polar ecosystem in a relatively short amount of time?
• What questions should I ask to get the kind of information that piques students' interest?
• How can I write curriculum that resonates with students?

And, perhaps,most importantly:

• How can I replicate this experience in meaningful ways so that my students in Madison, Wisconsin, see themselves reflected in their learning, feel powerfully connected to the topics and issues raised by polar studies, and are challenged -- even compelled -- to grow in their own travel experiences and to become positive agents of change in our increasingly interconnected world?

The experience begins with my own.

Thank you for reading this journal in the quest for your own knowledge, and thank you, National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions, for believing in our capacities as educators to infuse global studies into our diverse curricular areas and to excite our students about the many ways in which they can become amazing citizens of our amazing planet.

With that, I have a plane to catch and the experience of a lifetime to have.

¡Hasta mañana! 

A sleepy, but excited, departure from Madison!