Only a day away from port, the classes and programs in the Seychelles were shaping up impressively, including cooking classes and snorkeling excursions, visits to national parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, spiritual monuments, and a university exchange. Faculty, well-versed in the voyage theme of flexibility, were heroic in their enthusiasm for leading valuable learning opportunities for students. And, in the blink of an eye, it all changed, again. At the last minute, Seychelles Ministry of Health and Seychelles Port Authority denied the MV World Odyssey entry citing health concerns related to the spread of the coronavirus. Again, ISE and the ship’s leadership worked diligently behind the scenes first to appeal the decision, then to devise alternate plans. Based on information received indicating Mauritius would likely follow suit, as well as many other factors like distance to alternative ports, berth availability, and as always, safety, a new itinerary was announced, including only a stop for provisions in Mauritius followed by a week in Mozambique.

Throughout the voyage, the same screen we watched to see video feed from the bow toggled to show a real-time map of our location. Just before the announcement, we were millimeters away from the Seychelles. We returned to our office to see our path take a sharp turn south toward Mauritius.

The collective resilience of this community was truly awe-inspiring. Stress, disappointment, and overwhelm was channeled by most into building excitement about Mozambique. They embraced the new realities of this unique voyage and began researching the new country on our itinerary. For a few, the fear and uncertainty were too strong to overcome, resulting in anger, criticism and accusations. The leadership team organized group and individual meetings and worked with the home office to find ways to support those who were struggling.

A top-notch group of lifelong learners proved to be significant contributors to this resilience as they strove to be role models and offer support for students. I was lucky to get to know most of them through my mom whose natural interest in others and communication skills made her the perfect fit for the role of Assistant Coordinator of Lifelong Learners. I was so proud of the energy she put into creating interesting programs for their daily seminar while learning as much as possible from such interesting, accomplished and kind individuals.

In the field office we set aside our Seychelles work and began exploring Mozambique. Each morning, we were buoyed by sticky notes with encouraging messages of support on our door and desks. The sticky notes began to make their way to the dean and assistant deans’ offices offering the same kind of gratitude for their tireless efforts to make this a successful voyage.

We forged ahead finding space to acknowledge “zero shadow day” when the sun was exactly at zenith at noon, to take group photos in our banana fabric attire purchased in Vietnam, and to stargaze on the unlit deck with Scott Denning. I cherished my routine of exercising at 5 a.m., always encouraged by Meir in his “office” on Deck 7 on the way, inspired by an unspoken friendly competition with Colleen and Brian to arrive first, heartened by a wave and a nod from Daniel in his office on the way back, and uplifted by Jim’s gentle kindness as we passed on the stairs. Mom and I would then meet on Deck 9 aft to watch the sunrise and share breakfast with several lifelong learners and other early risers, lingering as long as possible before moving on to Global Studies and other tasks for the day.

Of course, nothing was really routine on this voyage and just as we were settling into the idea of Mozambique, the tides turned again. In ongoing conversations, officials in Mauritius were signaling a willingness to work with us. If we were able to disembark during our refueling stop, there would be no reason to keep us from staying longer. While Mozambique currently looked promising, there was no guarantee that things wouldn’t change by the time we arrived.