Getting to Know You
As I mentioned before, 28 people on a boat. We are sailing on a pretty good sized boat, but it s not exactly a yacht, so we had to get to know each other pretty quickly. On the second night, this was accomplished by a time honored favorite, the animal game.
What? You say you don t know the animal game? You haven t lived. The game involves the group clapping in time, then one person does their own animal move, followed by someone else s animal move, thus passing the turn to that person, who does the same. If it sounds juvenile, that s because it is. The majority of the boat formed a huge circle on the deck, and those who didn t play were watching. We each picked an animal, invented a motion, and got down to business.
Led by Crab, an 18-year-old Aussie, we spent a couple of hours chanting animal names and doing animal moves. The consequence is that I still see people as their animal first, and spent most of the next day calling people Elephant, Fox, or Crocodile. It s getting better now, I am starting to put names to faces and eliminate the animal titles, though I still respond to the names Lauren and Shark.

The result of our entire boat getting on really well is that we travel in large groups. Tonight is no exception, as I am due for dinner in half an hour, when 22 of us will be meeting at the docks before going for pizza and pasta. It s a mixed group, aged about 18 – 30. A substantial number of people are teachers in their other lives, but there is also a forensic scientist, a charity fundraiser, and someone who plays online poker for a living. The people I meet while traveling really change my perspective on career possibilities sometimes.
I will get some photos up as soon as I have more time onshore, hopefully tomorrow. But if you are desperate for a visual, just imagine blue skies, masts swaying in harbours, and extremely happy people walking around in swimsuits. This is my life.

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