We’re going to Tahiti

It’s our first ever cruise, and we’re looking forward to it. The whole package is run by a company that sets up travel programs for alumni associations and other groups of interested and interesting people, so we expect that the social experience will be fun as well as the cruise itself. Represented institutions include MIT (nobody that we know shows up on the list), Harvard, Dartmouth, Hopkins (again, nobody we know), Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Smithsonian, and other places of renown.

There will be optional activities every day of the trip, most involving water or exploration. And talks onboard by visiting scholars and other well informed speakers.

We are presently visiting Karin and Dan in Los Angeles, where the flight to Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, departs tomorrow. Then it's a hotel for a day or so, onto the boat, a new island every day, hotel, and fly back to Los Angeles for another quick visit before heading home to New Hampshire.

Everybody knows where Tahiti is, right? Yup, over there somewhere in the Pacific. We had to look it up too. Tahiti is a the major island in the Society Islands, a collection of islands in the larger collection of islands called French Polynesia. It is indeed located in the Pacific, south of Hawaii (below the equator—a first for us) and west of Peru. Only two timezones west of California.

It has an interesting history. In contrast to many such overseas possessions, these people actually asked to become part of France rather than kicking out the invading oppressors. Though we’re sure that there are probably a few who would still disagree with this situation. It was the destination of HMS Bounty at the time of the famous mutiny.

We'll try to post something here every day—photos, Sue Anne's drawings, the occasional video, together with reports of what we’ve been up to and what we’ve learned. Just check back daily, or if you want instant notice, sign up at the box over to the right. We’ll also have a few things to say on Facebook.