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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
August 17, 2007
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 21, 2007 |
In Pictures – Photo Tour II of Life Onboard |
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On the eve of the 58th Voyage’s first stop in the Middle East, the Peace Boat held a night to celebrate Arabic culture. Under the bright full moon, Mohammad Alfalahat – a Guest Educator invited onboard to talk about Jordan’s role in caring for more than one million Palestinian refugees– prepared participants for the coming ports with a fun Arabic lesson. Over a feast of pita bread, humus and falafel, many also enjoyed cultural performances such as belly dancing and a traditional Egyptian stick dance by Atef (pictured), one of the ship’s own crew members. |
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How much would you pay for this sort of treatment? One lucky participant outbid his competitors and secured an exclusive massage session as part of a charity auction for Peace Boat’s Sanaa Project. Coming from the Arabic word mean ‘light’, the Sanaa Project helps support Palestinian refugee camps across the Middle East. Also on offer at the auction was a private piano lesson, aromatherapy treatment, a salsa dancing experience and even a dinner date with the Captain. More than ¥1 Million (approximately $10,000) was raised to help support essential services for Palestinian refugees. |
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July 7 is Tanabata festival in Japan, a day to remember the Chinese legend of Hikoboshi and Orihime – two stars deeply in love with each other but separated by the Milky Way. On this date every year, they are fabled to meet in the night sky after God granted their wish to be together, but only for one day. Nowadays, people make their own wishes to the stars, writing their hopes down on slips of paper and tying them to bamboo trees. The evening is traditionally filled with poetry, song and performance, and the Peace Boat was no exception. This 300 year old kappore dance (pictured) comes from Osaka in Japan, and expresses the hopes for a good harvest next year. |
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Why does instability in the Middle East make the cost of orange juice go up? Akira Ikegami, well known in Japan as a presenter of children’s TV news, explained this curious puzzle of the world economy while onboard from Jordan to Greece. In the trademark plain-speaking style that brought him fame, Mr. Ikegami clearly explained how politically driven oil price rises that begin in the region lead to greater demand for alternative energy sources, particularly ethanol produced from corn or sugar. As crop land in Florida is given over to sugar cane growth to feed this demand, less space is left for the orange plantations the US State is famous for. And with fewer oranges in supply, juice prices start to rise as consumers compete to purchase what is available. This is just one example of how actions and individuals are linked across the globe, said Mr. Ikegami. |
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Heading from Asia into Europe, Peace Boat travelled through the Suez Canal on July 8, the first of the great canals on this voyage. The ship sailed the 90km from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean in 12 hours. Nearly halfway through, participants got the chance to sail under the Peace Bridge – a project funded by the Japanese government that links the Sinai Peninsula to the east with the great body of Africa to the west. |
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More than 150 participants took part in the hotly contested Language Olympics as the ship sailed from Spain to The Netherlands. The games were organised as part of Peace Boat’s Global English / Español Training (GET) Programme, which gives participants the skills to communicate with people around the world using these major languages. Among the events was this blindfolded obstacle course (pictured), where contestants relied on their team mates to lead the way, using only directions in English or Spanish. As GET teacher Jon Chin explained “it’s a fun way to get our students to use what they have learnt. It also brings everyone together and gives them a chance to practice the language among themselves.” |
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Asuka Maruyama called on her friends aboard the ship to help fold 1,000 colourful paper cranes. The 19 year old is part of Peace Boat’s Global University, an onboard study programme that explores peace issues. During the European leg of the voyage, students have been focusing on nuclear arms and are due to visit a weapons base in Faslane and a nuclear reprocessing plant in Sellafield, UK. Asuka hopes to present the cranes to the local communities she will meet in a gesture of solidarity and peace. The gift of paper cranes is a symbol of peace in Japan, following the story of Sadako - a young girl who was exposed to the Hiroshima bomb. After developing leukaemia from the fallout, Sadako began to fold 1,000 cranes in the hope that she would be granted her wish to live. Although she never got the chance to fold them all herself, her friends completed them in her memory. |
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