Processing Peace Boat

It's been three weeks or more since I disembarked the TSS Topaz in Yokohama. My voyage around the world is quickly becoming a dream: some scenes I can forward and rewind in my mind and somethings clearer while other memories quickly becoming fuzzy. I remember the port hole being open in my three bunk cabin in New York, where else it remained pretty much closed for the rest of the journey. I remember the halls in where guest educators lectured and the neon lighting in the Topaz dining area. More importantly, I remember standing out on the front deck and watching the glorious sunsets. I remember thinking how I had never seen the ocean so blue before. I originally wanted to go through and write brief blogs on each port of interest but I'm finding that my life moving forward and my desire to write about others things emerging. So as my journey on the 53rd Global Voyage of Peace Boat fades into the background, ideas and new understanding begin to surface.
In our last week at sea between Seward, Alaska and Yokohama so much changed in the world. My job as the web writer has me more obsessed with media than ever. That week North Korea launched missiles over Japan, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, and thing in Iraq looked grim as ever. While we visited 19 ports around the world, most of our time was spent at sea. And while at sea, we learned about issues concerning the regions we were traveling to. We learned about the effects of Agent Orange of the Vietnamese people, the Sri Lankan civil conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian issues, fair trade, small arms trade, nuclear weapons proliferation, and Article 9 of the Japanese constitution. The ones that I have highlighted have left a discernible impression on me.
As far as the ports, the one other port that stood out to me is Jamaica. Jamaica, of course of it's warm weather and people. I participated in an eco-tour and it was refreshing to think about caring for the environing and take a break from the heavy conflict issues that I had been writing and thinking about. In Jamaica, I drifted on catamaran through a protected lagoon learning about the mangrove trees (probably the most important plant to the world's ecosystem ) and the endangered sea life. I remembered how much I love the tropical ocean, how easy it is for me to call it home. In my search to create peace, I had forgotten how important our environment is and how vital it is to sustaining peace. It reminded me how so many conflicts have been caused due to lack of resources and how our carelessness is rapidly depleting those resources. It showed me how in every person is the capacity to be in tune with nature and easily connect with the one. I leave you with a photo of my journey there. (Pic up soon)