From a Janaury 17th Time Magazine article on "The Science of Romance":
"Human beings make a terrible fuss about a lot of things but none more than romance. Eating and drinking are just as important for keeping the species going--more so actually, since a celibate person can at least continue living but a starving person can't. Yet while we may build whole institutions around the simple ritual of eating, it never turns us flat-out nuts. Romance does."
We started the day having to attend an emergency meeting concerning the possible spread of the Norwalk Virus among our community. The virus was brought on board the ship from India and was now spreading. As we were told how we should work hard to contain it, I joked to the students and said “stop having sex!”…
Feeling somber, we proceeded that evening to the dining hall only to be met with a dazzling array of sweets the chef has prepared for as a Valentine’s Day celebration. The students squealed with joy as they witnessed the piles of cakes and chocolate treats and the buckets of ice cream. They went on to pile up their plates and forgot right away about any possible stomach aches that may signal they may have contracted the virus.
As we stuffed ourselves with chocolate, the conversation at each table turned to the party we were having that night. As faculty, we were a bit reluctant initially to go into a students’ party, but then we decided we wanted to join them and, especially, see how they will get dressed! And we were no disappointed…
The students started coming into their student lounge in their finest cloths – boys in suits and girls in sexy dresses - and the place changed into a hip club with pulsating music and many of us on the dance floor.
In the midst of drinking Champaign and trying to keep up with the students’ dancing (lots of salsa mixed with hip-hop), two of our colleagues – Kirsten and Giovanni (The German and Italian lovers from Australia) decided to announce to their students their upcoming wedding. What a reaction! As the students hooted and hollered their encouragement, the shy couple invited them all to become part of the celebration by contributing to the planning of the whole event (I, of course, have already volunteered to lead the Bachelorette party once we get to Cape Town…).
We have truly become a big family!
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