Summing Up

OK. What can I take away from this cruise experience? Certainly it has been both bad and good. On the negative side: the guides' presentations were for the most part disconcerting, if not upsetting. Too many were pitched at a less educated audience. Granted, Greek and presumably Turkish law allows only licensed guides to explain sites, and clearly the guides themselves, except for the two well-informed gentlemen in Istanbul, regard their task as primarily entertainment. Facts come second. I'm afraid one has to put up with that. I was also concerned about the access problems Ron ran into. Some of the sites were rugged, and he definitely would have had a hard time at Aphrodisias. Mosques, with their rules about wearing shoes, were an even greater problem. If we were to do a Black Sea cruise, which features Byzantine and medieval history, there would be a large Islamic component and he might not be able to enter some of the places we were scheduled to visit. Positive features, though: first, Bill and Suzanne Murray were excellent hosts who made a point of bringing the three academic couples in the group together and facilitating socialization. Second, access to the Archaeological Museum at Istanbul and to Rhodes, Delos, Samos, Ephesus, and Aphrodisias was a stunning experience. Even though the first few days of the trip covered material I knew well, I was exposed to so much new stuff that the cruise could easily be justified on professional development grounds. Second, I've learned a lot I didn't previously know about Islam. After I accidentally left my copy of Cameron in the Athens hotel, I borrowed David Levering Lewis' God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215 (New York and London: W. W. Norton, 2008) from the ship's library and have been working through it, especially on long bus rides. Lewis concentrates on the rise of Islam, starting with the long-drawn-out conflict between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia beginning in the fourth century, which, in his view, exhausted both sides and weakened them to the point that they became easy targets for militant Islam after the death of Mohammed. His particular focus is Islamic Spain vs. the Christian Franks under Charlemagne. What strikes me after reading his work is that Christianity may not have been the principal factor in the change of sexual protocols after the second century CE, as I had assumed (along with most other scholars who follow Foucault). Islam must have been part of the mix as well, and I should take account of that when writing the last chapter and the conclusion of Sexuality. (Although I need to bear in mind that Islamic sexual protocols are closer to the ancient sex and gender scheme than to those of Christianity.) For the rest of it, the normal cruise amenities--food, relaxation--are acceptable, though the cuisine is suited to conservative tastes and sitting around without exercise is something I'm not used to. I should have risen early and joined the aerobics class. We have made some good acquaintances on board, so it is possible we will keep in touch. And, factoring in the costs of airfare, travel between sites, and food and lodging per diem, a cruise works out to about as much money as I would spend on a normal European vacation, except that expenses are front-loaded. As long as I don't go on any trip on which I know more than the tour guides, AIA cruises are a viable solution to the problem of planning an overseas holiday that works for both Ron and myself.