March 14, 2013  Sea Day

There is a new guest lecturer on board by the name of Robert Schrire who is from South Africa and is a leading political analyst. He has taught at many universities including Princeton and John Hopkins. He has a doctorate from the University of California, and has authored 13 books on social issues and world politics. His lecture this day was titled: The Most Unlikely Democracy-India where he discussed how India has many qualities that make it an unlikely democracy. It has caste conflicts, religious differences, poverty and illiteracy, yet it remains a vibrant democracy. He is a very interesting speaker who does not use notes but has a great understanding about his subject.

In the afternoon Adrian Cooper presented a lecture on: Natural Wonders of South East Asia where he spoke about a variety of habitats and species of animals found in the region. He had some wonderful slides of exotic and unusual animals found in the forests and under the sea.

It was a formal dinner night with the theme of Oriental, which brought out many guests dressed in beautiful embroidered silk jackets and dresse.  Many folks had either purchased on this trip, or a previous one, brightly colored and festive outfits. The dining room was dressed in red Chinese lanterns, red and gold fabric, with the wait staff dressed in local silk jackets and hats.

Tonight’s entertainment was a Vietnamese young woman, Van-Anh Nguyen, from Australia who played the piano.  She played several classical pieces and some of her original compositions.