Dino Cruises from Panama to Ecuador

Dino was gone last week to check on a semester-at-sea program called the Scholar Ship. College students spend 90 days on the ship traveling throughout the world. They have ports of call in many cities where meet with local universities, non-profits, gov't agencies, and multinational corporations. There are about 250 students from 50 different countries, so it's a very cross-cultural experience brining them together, plus all the experiences they have while on board.

Dino joined the a leg of trip from Panama to Ecuador. When they crossed the equator there is a big festival on the lido deck where there is a King Neptune and his wife. Students pass through a series of crazy challenges and ceremonies and in the end are blessed by King Neptune where he puts an "S" on their foreheads. The "S" symbolizes a change from pollywogs to shellbacks.

On the trip they visited a very poor community in Panama that had been displaced by the gov't. In Ecuador, they went to an iguana park and anthropological museum where they saw shrunken heads from the Amazon.