RTW with Ed and Bonnie

On to Rome

2010-05-14T11:06:00.003-07:00

Civitevecchia tomorrow

And the end of this wonderful cruise and life experience. I probably should take a photo of what this cabin looks like while packing is going on, but I don’t think I ever took one of it on an every day basis so for all you know, this is the way it looks all the time. Getting peeks into some of these “staterooms” I’m convinced some folks never unpack and just leave everything lying around. Not everyone of course, but my heart goes out to the poor cabin stewards who must do their best in these situations.
Sorrento
What a gorgeous place. And while rain was forecasted, we had absolutely breathtakingly beautiful weather. It was cool enough that I needed a jacket sometimes and while I could have used a hat, I certainly didn’t have to have one. I had a nibble in the Panorama Buffet and then waited for Ed which took much longer than my comfort level. Eventually we headed out to the tender and the Commendatore was on board dressed in a suit and tie. He was going to give a talk in Sorrento. There are a few other cruise ships in the bay of equal size. We finally landed at the base of this huge Cliffside. Princess provided a shuttle up the hillside and we decided because of time to take it. Last time we walked up and down it. Must be at least a 100 steps each way and requires dodging crazed Italian drivers hell bent to make it around those hair pin curves at a new speed record. We were dropped off near a store we had visited last time. We walked around a little and in one of the stores asked a lady for a recommendation on a restaurant. She gave us a few ideas including one that had caught Ed’s eye on the corner of the intersection with a minipiazza. Along the way, there was a cathedral somewhat hidden in a shopping area where a marriage had just finished. With body language, I asked the priest if it was OK to go in to see the church which was, not surprisingly, absolutely breathtaking. On the way out, we ran into Tom and JoAnn having cappuccino. Many folks wanted to have it in Italy to see how authentic it is. Since I don’t drink coffee I can’t give you a report.
So we found our way to the Aurora Pizzareia where that is only one of the dishes. I wanted Insalata Caprese (of course) which the waiter was trying to discourage us from ordering. He was pushing a veggie plate. We ordered both and each was fantastic. Not sure why he wasn’t very encouraging of the Instalata Caprese; Perhaps they were low on the gorgeous (looked like heirloom) tomatoes. Then we had decided on a pizza that had cheese, ham, mushrooms, and other goodies on it. This was big enough for 3 people though it was advertised as being for one person. We ordered a small bottle of white wine, enough for two servings, which was Ok by me and Ed said was really good. We both ate way too much but boy was it good! Before we went back to the tender, we got gelato: hazelnut for me, double chocolate for Ed. Mine was terrific; his was way too sweet even for him. But if we had not done that, we wouldn’t have forgotten the fact.
Many other folks from the ship wound up here as well. In fact, as usual, we saw folks from the ship everywhere. We even ran into Max, our dining room waiter who looked like a teenager though he must be over 50. We teased him about looking for a Chinese restaurant since that’s usually what his entourage eats when on shore. Ed also picked up a USA Today and an International Herald Tribune along the way. (as an aside: this morning I dropped off the IHT we picked up in Athens at the library on board and it was scooped up and devoured right away.
We went another direction but not before Ed went in search of the olive oil they served us at lunch to sop up with bread. It really was good but I would have been satisfied to look for it in LA. Not Ed. He wanted a bottle right away. So a waiter told him to try the supermarket down the block. Turns out they didn’t have it so he finagled the head waiter into selling him a bottle from the restaurant. I better not break in the luggage when that 400 pound gorilla in baggage at the airport slings our bags around.
We walked past churches which were (disappointingly) closed—a sign of the times I’m afraid. I recall when the church building was never closed. Lots of shops with lots of lemoncello themed goodies to get as mementos. We dropped a few Euros here but the economy will never rest on our shoulders. The strategies vendors use to manipulate you are fascinating though. When Ed presented his Amex card to pay at one place, the guy said he needed Euros since his “machine is broken.” He did speak THAT much English. I laughed to myself and we acted dumb about that strategy.
We took the tender back and soaked up more astonishing views of the shoreside in this bay that goes from Capri to Naples. And when we hit our cabin, it was back to the reality of packing.
Athens vs. Sorrento
I keep hoping I’ll like Athens more than I have so far. I haven’t been anywhere else in Greece except Rhodes which hardly counts in a way. But as Ed and I were walking around Sorrento, I remarked on how both countries have a long history with old everything but Athens is depressing and not at all a draw and Italy is gorgeous and happy and a wonderful draw. Go figure. I haven’t written Greece off, but I’ll need to keep looking for things that would draw me there.
As I write this, Ed is finishing up bags while I’ve been doing the tip envelopes, “you made a difference” cards, and the evaluation of the cruise and delivered everything (almost) where they’re supposed to be. So I’m going to close off and upload all this so that I can also pack the electronic gadgetry as well.
I’ll try to post a closing reflection sometime after we get back.

We fly home tomorrow

2010-05-13T23:28:00.001-07:00

In the bay near Sorrento as I post this.
Tomorrow Sorrento

And the day after that, we fly out of Rome back home. With luck that is because of the volcanic ash cloud which seems to be meandering over Europe and North Africa willy nilly.
Disembarkation Lecture
This is a review of the process and all the requirements for leaving the ship and getting to the airport safely. I think they do a magnificent job considering the logistics but it is not without it’s “challenges” as Ed’s problem with the luggage tags, and thus our time to leave, can attest. I’m putting a positive spin on it: it means we will have more buffer time to make the airport and thus our flight, comfortably.
Culinary Demonstration
He did Baklava. Wow! That’s a LOT of work. He also showed us how to do manicotti dishes and cannelloni. At the end, there was a tour of the galley which I passed on since we’ve seen it a few times. We got our certificates of completion attesting to our participation in these culinary classes (which we are told would cost us $5K in LA.
Trivia
I got there late but we did well as we won! It is also the time to redeem our tokens so we are having some choices to make. We have over 60 and the “prizes” are things such as Princess mugs (actually quite nice but too big and heavy for us to take), luggage tags, recycle bags, lanyards, passport cases, hats, and playing cards. In the afternoon we didn’t win but we were only 1 point from the winners. We gave Frankie an envelope with our tokens in it and a wish list. He sent a bag of our “order” to our room.
Whatever will we do with it?
Last world cruise, we were given a crystal globe a little larger than a golf ball. In our room today was a wall plaque for each of us engraved with our name and the dates of the cruise. It’s gorgeous but…
Lunch
Visited with some folks we have come to know on the cruise including an 80+ man from Slidell near New Orleans. This will be his last long cruise (he only does about 30 day cruises now) as he’s tired of the long flights. He’s sticking to the Caribbean in the future. Not a bad idea: these ships are pretty good assisted living facilities.
Packing: yuk!
This is never a good time for us. And today was no different. I tried to arrange things as Ed wanted them but without much success so I simply left him to do whatever with the packing. I no longer even attempt to pack as he has always undone it and redone it as he likes so I gave up long ago. But it does mean this cabin is waaaayyyy too small for us.
The Hero’s Journey: Timeless Tales from the Mediterranean
While Ed went to take a computer class I went to this lecture by the anthropologist. She discussed the commonalities in cultural terms, think Joseph Cambell’s mythological lectures, of the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Dante’s Inferno. Since I missed these in my education, and you hear of them all the time, I was interested in the synopses and analyses of these three classics. Now I won’t guarantee you I can remember any of it long enough to explain it to others but I enjoyed the lecture.
Captain’s Cocktail Party
This was the last hurrah for everyone and the place is packed for free booze. It is also formal night so everyone’s gussied up—well most anyway. It’s fun to see people in their finery.
Dinner
David brought champagne so we toasted everyone’s health and a safe journey home. The other couples are both spending some time in Italy before returning home. Jo Ann’s ankle is better off and on. She has to elevate it frequently and keep ice on it. The Commendetore met us at the door to the dining room and we each got a parchment menu. Fancy dinner time. Food as always was scrumptious. In fact too much so. We’ve been celebrating so much I know I’ve gained a few pounds this last week. It’s back to Lean Cuisine when we’re home.
Tonite’s show
It’s the musical extravaganza they do on formal nights. This one was new and it’s title was Sounds of the city. As they always do, the singers and dancers were outstanding.
The Straits of Messina
The weather and the views have been spectacular today. After the show, it is still light since we are going so far north so it was twilight as we viewed Sicily on our port side and the coast of Italy on starboard. It was absolutely like something out of a movie.
Tomorrow is Sorrento and we’ll take the tender in and just walk around this fun hillside city between Naples and Capri. It is also the beginning of the Amalfi Coast which is noted for it’s small towns clutching the sheer cliffsides. Positano where the movie “The Postman” is set is one of the first as you go south. You need to leave the driving up to the Italians though as there’s no room for error on these roads around these cliffs. Packing will be done tomorrow evening with only our roll aboards left with us. We are taking the Princess transfer bus to the airport; this is so much easier and their prices became competitive closer to the voyage. Even though we get another hour tonite (YEAH) it still means a 5 am docking of the ship and we must be ready to leave the ship at 6:45 am. Ed has finally settled with that. I’m just as glad for the extra time.

Headed to Sorrento, Italy

2010-05-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Athens on your own

Ed got up and started getting ready so I did as well. The ship was in the process of docking. The Aida diva ship was to our side scooting up to the pier beyond us. There were 5 cruise ships in port today. That does not include all the ferries and small boats, plus so many other vessels. This is the major port for Greece and it shows it. I did my internet stuff while Ed went to get breakfast. He met Tom there and he is on his own today as Jo Ann has an appt with an MD in Athens to have her foot checked. She’s been here before but this is Tom’s first time.
We met them both in the hallway and made it out to the terminal where Jo Ann left to return to the ship while we strolled out to find out how to get to the metro/subway station. As it turns out, we kept walking and decided to take the bus from Pireas to Athens and this was not only cheaper (1 Euro per person each way) but we got to see so much more of Athens and vicinity on the way. We also went by the hospital where Jo Ann had her appt and so on the way back, Tom got a photo for her album.
We made it to a square that sounded something like Smyrna and then we picked up the Hop on Hop off bus. We went one stop to the Plaka area where we walked in. You could see the Acropolis from everywhere in this area with the Parthenon on top. We also saw the brand new Acropolis museum. Clearly this was a busy tourist day. The weather was warm enough but not blazing as it has often been on this trip. We walked around various cute little streets and finally decided on a restaurant, Evisla or something like that, where we decided after a while to dine family style. Ed ordered Mousakka, we got pita bread, hummus, tzadzeki (sp) and Aubergine (I can’t recall the English name now but it’s the Eggplant dish. We also ordered a salad and the guys had beer while I had tea. We shared a bottle of water and at the end, the waiter brought us some ouzo. Yeech. What a waste on me. I can live without licorice and this is definitely strong flavored. But I do have to say it was really smooth.
This was Tom’s first time having Tzadzeki and I’m glad he liked it. This was a little more bland than I like but it was very good. We (again) asked for directions to the cathedral where Ed wanted to get another Greek fisherman’s hat from the same place. We did eventually find the place and Tom also bought one. We then wandered all around and eventually made it back to the hop on hop off bus and we took the full circuit and listened to the acoustic guide. At one point we saw bullet holes, and they looked fresh, at a metro entrance. Later we saw an impromptu memorial with lots of flowers where obviously someone had recently died. We don’t know the details about any of this.
We caught up with the bus to Pireas and off we went. I still am not impressed with Athens; perhaps the rest of Greece would be more interesting. But I am glad we did the bus and saw so much of the back alleys of Athens. We made it back to the ship with 30 minutes to spare.
The advantages of going off on your own as we did is the fun of exploring an unknown place and transport. People want to be helpful and many speak excellent English. And it’s less expensive by and large. But the disadvantages are considerable. You waste a lot of time trying to get around and find places. You’re out to sea in terms of prices and good shops and restaurants. The main thing that is nerve racking for me is the time factor. If we were staying in a hotel, it wouldn’t matter if we were late getting back. But there is simply no fudge room if you’re delayed in returning to the ship. We did very well today but we had planned on being back before we actually made it.
Ooops
In addition to the expected sweating and such, I looked in the mirror and discovered that some bird had left a rather large “present’ on my right shoulder, so I showered and changed before dinner. We are not sending any laundry out now so we can be sure that we have everything when we leave the ship so I will be doing hand laundry again tonite.
Dinner
All present. Jo Ann was very funny in telling her story of going to the doctor in Pireas. Basically he said she has a Level 2 strain and gave her some advice on how to manage it. The taxi ride to the hospital cost $44 Euros; the one back only $8 Euros. The charge for the hospital and MD costs? Zero! The other couple took a hydrofoil to an adjacent island, rented a car and travelled around that island where there is a temple to Poseidon. They had a nice lunch in a seaside restaurant.
Tonite’s entertainment
It’s hard to describe this except to say that it was the crew doing a pub night. They were very good and there was a singing competition with the Lounge divided into two teams singing two different songs. Later there was a balloon bursting game which I’ve seen before and which is hilarious. One of the poor male dancers had a pin on him to break the balloons to spare him the pounding from the women. Long story. And finally they did my all time favorite skit: If I were not upon the sea. Each time it is different and each time it is hilarious.
Disembarkation “challenges”
We have completed 3 questionnaires about our flight plans. This information is important because we must be able to leave the ship and take the transfer bus in time to comfortably make our flight. The tags were here tonite and they were wrong. So Ed went down to clear it up and picked up white tags. I was looking at the schedule and it is true our tags should be white, but they should be a different number. So Ed went down to the purser’s desk to clear it up. They would not change it which means we must get up earlier and leave earlier than what would otherwise have been necessary. He is steaming so I’m keeping busy until it passes over.
And the days are definitely getting longer as we go farther from the equator.

Currently in PIreas Greece

2010-05-11T22:58:00.001-07:00

At sea before Athens

That sun is BRIGHT! It’s impossible to ignore it blaring around the curtains. I was up first about 7:30 and Ed woke up pretty soon after I came back to bed. I did my usual with the internet in the library.
Today’s purchase
They are having outlet sales on board and I got a congrats card for Kathy and Chuck as they will be getting married soon after they get home. And I got a jogging suit I had been interested in earlier in the cruise but it wasn’t present in my size at that time. I had a little pang about getting anything additional at this point but Ed didn’t bat an eye.
He had asked me earlier to put out the hanging clothes that I didn’t need between now and Rome. So I drug out all but a few things, put them into two piles (those that should stay on hangers and those that could be folded. Well somehow we got our wires crossed and so I had to put much of it back. Since Ed just redoes it if I pack, I simply put things out and get out of his way as a rule. Since Sorrento is our port before we disembark at the port of Civitivecchia a few miles from Rome, that last day will be nuts. Perhaps we can get some packing done during the day at sea between Athens and Sorrento.
And speaking of Athens, we got another letter from the Captain today keeping us up to date about the unrest in Athens where a protest has been planned for the foot of the Acropolis tomorrow. So they are playing it by ear. This will be interesting.
Port Talk: Sorrento
We have been to Capri, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast on earlier trips so I’m not quite sure what we’ll do in this tender port, but we will enjoy doing nothing but walking around if that’s what we decide. What an interesting part of the world and how colorful.
Trivia
We are getting to the end and so we took a photo of our “team” since Susan and Hazel do not often show up in the afternoon. We had our usual fun and WE WON! We scored 19 missing the question about the nationality of the first woman to top Mt. Everest (Japanese just in case). So now we have to deal with these 60+ tokens and collecting our gifts. This afternoon we lost fair and square. Even had we gotten the question for which we selected the wrong answer among us, we would not have beaten the top team this afternoon.
Lunch
Since we have a BIG dinner tonite, I stayed in and enjoyed an orange while Ed went for a snack upstairs.
In the Shadow of Mt. Etna: Volcanoes & Tectonic Plates
This was done by the professional Journalist and he did a very nice job of describing the top 10 volcanos in the world and why they made that list. Along the way, he talked a little about Pompei near Sorrento which is our port in two days.
The Pacific Princess Choir Farewell Concert
David Crathorne has done a magnificient job of pulling together between 40 and 50 passengers into a very credible choir. The concert had a great theme of friends and the selections of pieces from various genres were perfect. A very unusual thing to expect on a cruise.
Red Hat Society Social Tea
I went down for this get together but not with much enthusiasm. One of the ladies just turns me off so badly; the others are pleasant and I enjoyed the visit but left after 30 min for trivia. That time was long enough for me. But I was able to show everyone the photo of the wedding dress I dyed as many of them want to try it too.
Cocktail Party for World Cruise passengers
There are a lot of folks who have been on here for the whole cruise and this was a get together for us. We were introduced to all of the staff who oversee things. A few we had heard of but never seen at least where we knew who they were.
Choosing photos
This was a chore I didn’t look forward to completing but I also didn’t want to put it off any longer because the lines will be fierce after tomorrow. We have been saving the best of the photos along the way and so today we winnowed out and whittled down until we had a manageable stack of photos from which to choose. One of the cutest is from the formal night where we wore somewhat matching Chinese outfits and Carlos had us bow to the camera. It’s probably our favorite from this cruise.
Chef’s dinner
Ed wanted to do this again and while I enjoyed it, it is waayyy too much food at one time for me. It is impressive how they put all these multiple courses together. The service is impeccable. The food unbelievable. I most enjoyed visiting with a fellow who worked most of his career with the Public Health Service including a few years in Gallup, NM. He is an engineer, born in Kansas, and he and his wife are now retired at a Del Webb site in Arizona. You can see his humble beginnings in his personality and I just simply enjoyed how genuine he is. There was a young couple present as well. They do trading on-line so they are working on this cruise. They have four laptops with them and have to keep track of the time in the US and work those hours no matter where we are in the world. I have seen them on some of the cruises but had wondered why we didn’t see them very often while on ship. I actually thought they were ship’s staff in some fashion and simply lived somewhere in the bowels of the ship laboring away at some menial task.

Pireas Greece tomorrow

2010-05-10T23:26:00.001-07:00

In the Mediterranean Sea

Someone came on the PA system between 5 and 6 am to tell us that we were entering the Suez Canal. Well needless to say, there wasn’t much sleep after that. Eventually we both rolled out and Ed went to the gym. I got ready and went to the library for the internet stuff.
Holiday Store at Sea
This is (supposedly) our last chance to purchase goodies for $10 USD. The prices are certainly lower than other places I’ve seen them but then you have to figure out who would like them as gifts. So as usual, I just looked.
Spectacular Culinary Demonstration
Commendatore dazzled us again with his quick, and deceptively easy looking, preparation of Caesar salad served two ways, pork chops with veggies, and creama caramel in individual or group servings. Along the way we learned a lot of helpful hints. And we received two recipes not to be found in the cookbook: one for moussaka and one for a dessert that is loaded with Calories!
World Cruise Lover’s Luncheon
There were folks from the 2008 and 2009 world cruises who are on this cruise. There were probably 40 + people. It was a fun reunion. We sat with the two Chucks at a window seat with a wonderful view of the Suez as we sailed along. Commendatore prepared a wonderful luncheon. We looked at the menu and figured we’d get choices. As it turned out, we got a little of everything on the menu. And there were wines to join the foods.
I went to the computer area to see if I could audit a course. No one showed up for it and Tim had an agreement with another passenger for a private lesson if no one showed up for the class. I got a few answers to some challenges in Photoshop and then ran down to see what was left of the 1:30 pm program
Reflections: A Voyage of a lifetime 2010 World Cruise Highlights
Werner, the videographer on board, prepared a video of less than an hour of many highlights from this cruise. There are 4 DVDs of his videos and Ed had ordered them some time ago so we’ll have all of it. They do such a great job in the Video and Photo departments. Simply amazing talented folks.
Port Talk: Piraeus
Marty Green did his usual terrific job of presenting Athens in a quick tour. I’m still not sure what we’ll be doing there but we may take the Metro Subway into the Plaka area and just walk around. You can see lots of the sights we’ve already seen from that area and Ed hopes to buy another Greek fisherman’s cap.
Transiting the Canal
Originally, the plan was to stop at Port Said, Egypt on the northern exit of the Canal to refuel from a barge. The Captain came on around noon to let us know we wouldn’t be doing this as the seas are too high near Port Said for a safe transfer of fuel. While the transit of the canal was quiet and smooth as you would expect, as soon as we approached the mouth of the Canal near the Mediterranean, the seas became very choppy and the ship began it’s usual swaying when you are in choppy waters. After all this while, we can feel when the ship leaves a harbor or quiet waterway. It is almost winter like outside with wind, sprinkles, and gray skies.
On either side is this sugar fine sand. Periodically there are sentries who seem to be perpetually sleeping on duty, so what’s the point. Here and there, fishermen can be seen plying their trade. The unique pigeon domes are seen here and there. Egyptians grow birds in these beehive looking, tall structures for eating. Occasionally, there were fields with crops growing on the edges of the shore.
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty currently standing in NY Harbor was originally conceived to appear at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal? There was no money to pay for it and through a very circuitous route, it eventually wound up in America. Another bubble burst.
Frankie’s International White Elephant Auction Sale Extravaganza
This is where people put their regretted purchases up for auction for themselves or to donate to charity. It’s amazing what people have. Two dresses were actually the nicest. There were two bottles of wine. One person introduced a bag of the chocolates they put on our pillows each evening. Go figure. But sometimes the competition for the most mundane things is astonishing. One fellow paid $5 USD for a faux (of course) Rolex watch. When I left, it was up to $20! Ed came back with a pareo with Vanuatu, his favorite port on this trip, on it in large letters. He paid $5 for it. Now….I want to see HIM wear it. Ha.
Yikes! No water
There was an announcement at one point that the transfer to fresh water on board is taking longer than expected and that it will be an hour before the water is back on. First time ever on a ship where they provide water via desalination. And then I went to the restroom and forgot…
Afternoon movies
There were two documentaries about the Suez Canal and one about the Egyptian Pharoahs. Both well done and full of great photos and old videos. Ed missed them. He was either at the auction or slept through them.
Dinner
Everybody present. JoAnn’s foot is still a problem so she will be seeing a MD in Athens. She asked Nikolas if the MD will speak English. He said he’ll be an expert to address her needs.
Tonite’s Entertainment
This was a professional pickpocket who has done videos showing how pickpockets work and explains the techniques to you. But in all of this, he is madly picking pockets in the audience. It’s amazing how fast and subtle he is. We have seen some of the same tricks at the Magic Castle, where all the magicians are members. But he went much further. He had folks put things in a bag unknown to him (though he did know who had the bags) and then he would first guess what was in the bag with a great deal of accuracy. He’d then describe the item and what type of person the item would fit. Eventually he returned all the items to the people who had originally put them into the bag(s) with 100% accuracy. Ed was one of the “victims”. He put in his coffee card for the ship. Of course, he just blended into the audience with his shirt with the tiger emblazoned front and back, in gold, on a black shirt!
World Cruise Costume Party
Dancing and games where passengers wore costumes they had picked up in the various countries. I put a purple Red Hat T-shirt, pants I bought in Sharm El Sheik, my Egyptian headdress, and over the body, I wore the belly dance outfit I got in Dubai (or was it Oman?). We had dancing and then the costume contest. I made the first cut but in the end there were two ladies who won. One was all in black with only her eyes showing. I thought this one was a worthy first place winner. The other lady came into the contest well after it had started. She did have a good sense of humor (you’ll see why I say that in a minute) but I thought she took advantage by popping up after the first cut. She was about 5’ tall and about as wide. But she had a lot more guts than I did. I wore the t-shirt and pants UNDER the belly dance costume. She just wore the belly dance costume! She had a shawl on and covered her face with a lacy top with coins all over it so it was a cute and authentic looking costume.
All of this was followed by a Champagne Waterfall: greatly overrated imho. Even so, Ed and I went up to be silly with the rest, help the Maitre d’ pour the bottle, and have our photo taken. There were in excess of 600 wine glasses in that pyramid. We get free champagne with this event. I took a few sips, and then put the glass down with the comment: “life is too short to waste it on cheap champagne.” One of the perhaps not-so-good things to happen on this cruise is that I’ve tasted some really good champagne and I am now ruined forever. Now I know why I’ve never liked champagne before!
I’m not sure when we left but it was after the ship’s crew had departed. It takes a while for my body to cool down after dancing and such so we surely got to sleep well after midnight. We were laughing at ourselves because we have been in smooth seas for so long we’ve had to learn anew how to hang onto the side rails when walking around the ship, and anticipate the movements of the ship.

Transiting Suez Canal now

2010-05-09T22:35:00.003-07:00

Into the Gulf of Suez

We had a 9 am mtg so I set the wake up call for 8 am. Though we were both awake long before then, it still wasn’t fun getting up.
Health Check
Since Ed has signed us up for another Chef’s dinner, we had to appear to be sure we understood the rules. For example, no open toed shoes, must wear a lab coat while in the galley, must wash our hands on the way into the galley and sing Happy Birthday, to ourselves if we wish, twice as we wash our hands. There is a video on the ship’s channel that reviews the handwashing procedure at regular intervals. So I guess we passed! Whoopie!
Port Talk: Suez Canal
I’ve heard other port talks about the Canal and have transited it twice before, but I learned so many new facts about the Canal. I never knew there is a 2 lane tunnel under the canal, joining Egypt with the Sinai peninsula, at the south entrance. There is a swing bridge which I may have seen but forgotten. Many of the little towns along the way were new to me—at least what I recall. 50 ships a day transit this crucial waterway. Oil tankers who are too tall can off load some of their oil into a barge which follows them through the canal, and then take it back on at the opposite end.
Trivia
Those taking the dance classes had champagne right before Trivia so they may not have been as sharp as we’d expect. Our team again was one point below the winners. I think the teams must be pretty well matched since this is often the case and not just with our team. Occasionally one team will blow the others away but it’s rare. And the winning team changes a lot and is certainly not a given. The afternoon session was awful with questions that defy description. Perhaps it’s the staff’s revenge for our (meaning that all of us are responsible for how all the trivia players behave) behavior. We lost this afternoon; our score was 9, the winning team got 10. The team who’s quiz we graded got 3. That tells you what it was like!
Mother’s Day/Sunday Brunch
The Commendetore put together the big Happy Mother’s Day display by himself and it was gorgeous. He just used stuff available on the ship: wine glasses, red covered chocolates, serpentine, balloons, and an enormous cake the pastry chef made which is likely not edible. The decorations inside were ice carvings and the ones made with fruits and vegetables. Many of them were of a mother and child.
Afternoon project
I was toying with the idea of submitting a photo for this segment’s contest where I have put monkeys around Ed in our cabin. I borrowed Chuck’s Mac and spent the whole afternoon trying to get it where it looked seamless. Eventually I decided not to spend more time on it. I don’t have the documentation to help me over some of the hurdles, and the handouts from the computer class are often absent the little side things you want to achieve. And finally, my neck and shoulders were hurting and so it became clear to me that this was not something I should be doing. Fortunately there wasn’t anything compelling this afternoon; Estelle Harris was talking about her life again and the book club was meeting about Nicholas Sparks’ book “The Choice” which I had read before we came on board.
I was checking out the computer classes to audit and there were none this morning and only one this afternoon that I had taken before and I couldn’t deal with auditing it one more time. Of course, just wait until I try it on my own with my own photo and I may be sorry I didn’t try to embed those little traces in my brain yet one more time.
Dinner
All present. JoAnn’s ankle is up and down. Of course, she walked Petra yesterday with it wrapped in Ace bandages and it’s getting back at her today. We laughed about some odd behavior on the part of fellow bus travelers, the book club discussion, and such. The dessert tonite was Cherries Jubilee so I sinned again and had some. We did talk about how going on a world cruise changes your thinking about world events. You begin to see how and why other cultures and ethnicities think as they do. Some of achieve this learning but certainly not all. Some folks are still very sure that their way is the best way for all. Wonder how they’d feel if they were on the receiving end of that attitude in their native land.
And speaking of the Petra experience, I think we are finally rehydrated. I was surprised that a little muscle that runs parallel with the tibia in the lower leg is letting me know that it was not happy with the walk yesterday. I don’t ever recall that muscle being a problem. And my plantar fasciitis (at least that’s what my MD thinks it is—it’s gone on for a year now) is not really any better though I’ve certainly been doing what I’m supposed to be doing.
Entertainment
Tom Fletcher is billed with the idea “no thinking required.” That fits this population pretty well. We saw him on the last world cruise. He’s an older guy with a booming voice and is a good joke teller. Of course, we have heard some of them before but it’s still fun to hear them with someone else’s twist to it. And he put JJ into some of them which was great fun since we are all so fond of him.
Our view over the ocean today
We can often see land on either side but the haze is such that it’s often indistinguishable. We are clearly in the Gulf of Suez and creeping along as we must transit the Suez Canal in a convoy. There isn’t enough room in many areas of the Canal for a two way passage so ships go to the Bitter Lakes and wait until the transit ships from the other direction pass on. There are two convoys from the South and only one from the North; I don’t know why.
We saw some oil rigs out in the water at several points, some huge container ships very close by, and someone claimed to have seen some dolphins though I couldn’t see them (that doesn’t mean much as folks who know my vision will understand). The weather has been hot and humid but the sun hasn’t been searing. The mountains in the distance loom as giants lying on their sides watching us sail by.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow afternoon Frankie will have the customary International White Elephant Auction. This is done at the end of the cruise so folks can get rid of those purchases that now seem incredible. The money can be kept by the person or donated to a charity of the person’s choice. This is always hilarious because you cannot imagine what people have picked up. There is a wall hanging from Phuket that we’ve seen several times that was originally purchased for $24. And there’s a red manual penis vacuum pump (I’m not making this up) which draws a lot of interest but no bids—at least none anyone is owning up to!

On to Suez Canal

2010-05-08T23:42:00.001-07:00

Petra, Jordan

The tap on the door woke and room service was delivered with a smile. As I looked out the balcony doors, you could still see lights on the shore in the distance. We gobbled down our breakfast, got ready, and went down to the Cabaret Lounge a few minutes early. Since we were on bus number 8, it tells you a lot about the enthusiasm of the other passengers for tours. Since we all leave and travel in caravan, there was little incentive to rush except to get one’s preferred seats.
Our Guide
Soli (Sol-ee) is one of those ageless young Arabic men. He’s not married and happy that way. He was born in and lives in the little town of Petra, and has degrees in tourism and archeology. He was fun. Just before the front of the Treasury appears as you emerge from the groove in the high walls, he tricked us into turning opposite the site (we hadn’t seen it yet---long story—and didn’t suspect it was right around the next curve), closing our eyes, and then eventually, pulling up the theme music from Raiders of the Lost Ark and having us open our eyes to see the front of the Treasury peeking out at us. His English was good compared to many of the guides we’ve had along the way, and he learned it all from tourists. His pronunciations are sometimes British, sometimes American. And he uses slang expressions in many dialects and languages. We had fun with him. He sometimes takes two full tours into Petra for a total of about 15 miles a day. He’s a skinny little guy.
Their eyes
I have been struck by the piercing eyes of the peoples in these countries. They are a rich, golden brown, with very white sclera and with the dark lashes, it’s quite mesmerizing. Think of Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia. And speaking of that movie, Lawrence’s headquarters was in this area so you can imagine the rough life. And we even saw the train tracks as we travelled both ways today.
Going out and returning
We traveled by caravan through an ever changing topography. The mountains are craggy and sharp peaked in most places, and then others they are rounded at the tops. There is basalt and granite for the most part, but limestone prevails nearer to Petra. It was over a two hour drive and toward the approach to Petra, we began to steeply climb the mountain range. Along the way, there were some adjustments to the air conditioning which either froze most folks out, or was nonexistent. Ed thinks the driver didn’t know how to work the controls.
Along the way, we saw Bedouin encampments with their vehicles parked outside. Sheep were seen periodically, often right at the side of the road and you could always find the shepherd nearby if you looked long enough. We saw camels here and there and there were signs to watch for camels crossing the road; I gather they can be wild in some of these areas.
We saw men and women in various versions of native dress, but Western attire was common particularly for the men and the young women. Overall, however, the landscape seems pretty barren of human life. One wonders how they survive. Tourism is the main industry. Aqaba has some minerals to export and there’s potential oil reserves underground, but other than a patch of green here and there were someone had eked out a patch of wheat or barley, and a few scattered very spindly looking trees, there’s nothing out there. I believe they essentially get their water from Saudi Arabia and Syria.
The Bedouin tents are made out of skins and tapestries created from the hair of animals. They look pretty sturdy and I assume they must be cool inside. The flooring is all carpets.
Petra
Spectacular. Amazing. Stupendous. Remarkable. Eye popping. Well you could go on and on. It is a five mile walk to see the small part of this whole complex that we saw. You walk down to the Treasury, the most well known of the structures, so that means you must walk UP to get back out. There are horses and donkeys nearby that you can use for a tip of about $5 USD (what an interesting way to say it rather than the fee is $5 USD). The little horse traps (carriages) hold two normal sized people very snugly for a spine jarring trek down, or up, to the Treasury. The cost is $35 USD one way if I heard accurately. There are only 10 available and while they said they wanted to save them for disabled, clearly lots of folks weren’t what we’d call physically disabled.
The weather was mild for this area but it was still hot and we still sweated our share. We each had carried a bottle of water from our room and had consumed it on the way down. Many folks were upset that there was no water given to us on the bus; this is almost always the case in these hot climates. On our bus, our guide found 14 bottles but we were 34 passengers. At the Treasury Ed got another bottle and a Diet Coke (a little puny, skinny can that looked like they had slapped a diet Coke label onto a miniature Red Bull can). Later at lunch, he and I split a 1.5 liter bottle of water plus more. I went to the restroom before the trip back (remember: never miss an opportunity to go to the restroom on these tours) and when I tried, there was only a drop or two there. When I was back in the cabin, maybe half a cup. Clearly we were dehydrated by the heat.
4000 visitors a DAY visit Petra so you can imagine the crowds at this point. Our 10 busses were but a small part of the fleet in the parking lot there. There are several souvenir shops but nothing extravagant and the aggressiveness of the vendors is tolerable.
The land is a combination of similarities to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion all rolled into one. But it’s not any of these places. The geological formations could sometimes be mistaken for each other but Petra’s surroundings are not those of SW USA. The heights of the walls around you as you enter are impressive. These walls also have carvings into the walls which have been eroded away by the flash floods through this wadi through the years, but they are still recognizable with the help of a skilled guide. One area had a camel caravan carved into the sides of the walls. This was a stopping point on caravans and so that it was very appropriate for the times. I’m amazed folks could find all this but clearly the locals never “lost” it.
As we drove away, you could look back on the mountains behind us and see where Petra is hiding amid all these colorful rock formations. When shown what to look for, you could identify where you had just left at least in a conceptual fashion.
A decent visit to the area around Petra requires a minimum of three days to do it justice. We only had a few hours but that’s better than nothing.
Recommend going to Petra?
Without exception I would highly recommend everyone go see this incredible place while you can. By that I mean not only that it will still be open to visitors, but also that you’ll have the physical stamina to do it. I am so glad we went, but I wouldn’t do it again. The heat is something I cannot deal with comfortably and it absolutely drains both of us.
Lunch
Near the visitor’s center for Petra, there is a Movenpick hotel. Locally it’s called the “move and pick” and there is a shop near the front gate of Petra titled: Pick and Move. Those of you who know this chain know how nice it is. Probably 5 star. We had to go through a scanner before entering and lunch was buffet style. It had a mix of offerings with basic Middle Eastern dishes. The hummus was so good. There was a chicken dish that was great: the chicken wasn’t special but the sauce and veggies with it were scrumptious. There was a strawberry and cherry dessert that was indescribable. And I’ve told you about the bottles of water they made available to us.
But there was another side: If you ordered anything not included in the voucher we were given, it could cost you dearly. Our guide had cautioned us to ask the price before ordering. A man at the end of the table ordered a beer: Amstel is all they had and a small can at that. I asked how much the hotel was charging and the wife said she had no idea but it wouldn’t be cheap. The waiter delivered the beer and later another, older man came along to tell the man that the beer would be “seven and a half US dollars”. When Ed joined me, I passed this along as he had requested one too. In the interim, the older man came back to collect for the beer and it was now $8 USD. No explanation. At the movie tonite, we heard that some folks ordered three beers and it cost them $27 USD. Highway robbery is alive and well.
Welcome home!
When we came back to the pier at 6 pm, we were welcomed (all of us, not just Ed and I) by the Commendatore and the Maitre D’. We were given cold wash cloths to wipe down with and a cup of lemonade. Very good PR!
Dinner and a movie
Because I didn’t want to change out of my grungy clothes from today, I told Ed I didn’t want to go to the Dining Room for supper. We were late anyway for our usual time. So I checked out the back deck of the ship at the Panorama Buffet and it was still too hot for my still too warm body, so we sat inside and watched the sun go down over the mountains behind Eliat (which is easily seen directly across the Gulf of Aqaba). In it’s own way, it was pretty and very interesting. No rainbow of colors, but pretty nonetheless.
Up in the Air:
Well this was a strange movie. It had some amusing moments but the whole idea is pretty unsavory. One fellow said as we were leaving the Lounge: I can’t believe I didn’t walk out of this crap. It wasn’t as bad as Sunshine Cleaning but it isn’t worth the effort to film it. Just a heads up.
Athens
We all got a letter in our mailboxes today telling us that Athens is still on. The State Department hasn’t issued any extraordinary precautions about it. So, none of the other exciting ports we had contemplated. Sigh.
Eeeek! Only a week left!
And it will be busy. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and the Sunday brunch they do so well. We have to appear at 9 am for a health check as Ed wanted to do the Chef’s deluxe dinner….again. So that is tomorrow night. Nothing like two tempting meals to bust a good intentioned diet.
Then I’ve got an idea for an entry into the photo contest but I need access to Adobe Photoshop and that’s a stretch. We’ll see if I can get access somewhere to play with it.
We transit the Suez Canal on Monday and that is the luncheon the Captain is giving for those of us on board for whom this is our second (or more) world cruise. Can’t miss that one! And I think it’s also the Egyptian themed night The 12th is Athens and the 13th is our last formal night. We also need to decide on our photographs before then as well. The 14th is Sorrento and then waaayyyy too early on the 15th, we are off to fly home from Rome.

Eye feasts everywhere

2010-05-08T23:41:00.003-07:00

Sharm El Sheik, Egypt

Boy was it bright this morning! I woke up to hear Ed’s quiet snoring. I was good; I stayed in bed long after it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. When Ed did rouse, I asked him to decide whether he was going to the gym. If not, then I wanted to get out early (while it’s cool and you have more time). He made a remark about walking in the afternoon when we got back to the ship but I knew when he said it that it wouldn’t happen. Still, he did get ready while I went to do the internet stuff. When I got back, we eventually left.
The pier here is huge. The weather was clearly warm and the sun is blistering but the breezes are also brisk so it was livable. We had to carry our passport and be ready to show the page with the Egyptian visa along with our cruise card to move around. So we memorized the page ID so we could find it easily among the multitude of pages in our passports.
There were three tours today but none rang a bell with us. Too much money for something that isn’t unique to this place. Glass bottom boats have lost their luster for us.
We walked the several blocks to the gate of the pier (I can’t really think of it as a port despite the size of the pier) where there was a van with several other folks waiting to go. It is Friday and the shops and such close at noon in this Muslim country. It was $3 per person, one way. The van probably should have held no more than nine. Forget that in these countries: I lost count of how many people they crammed in there before they would finally agree to leave. Need I remind you that nothing like this is air conditioned around here. That would cost you a double fee likely for the short trip. Think of those trucks in India and the Middle East where people are hanging off of everything on the vehicle and you wonder how the driver can see the road to navigate! Among the other passengers on this van was a native Egyptian and he reminded everyone, including the driver and his buddy, that we’d all be happy to pay him AFTER we were dropped off. It’s possible they sometimes get ripped off too, but the more likely scenario is that the passengers get dumped very quickly or blackmailed (only this if you’re lucky) into paying lots more.
Alas, we were dropped off at the Old Market. I enjoyed this area but Ed (these are his words) was “uncomfortable” so we walked to another, more modern area. Eventually, we found our way across the roads to the beaches on the other side. It is one long bay with cabanas, thatched umbrellas and such dotted with people of all sizes, shapes, ages, nationalities, and colors of skin. And some of these folks should NOT wear skimpy bathing suits. Most offensive were the men in speedos that wouldn’t fit their 7 y/o grandsons; their butt crack showing above the back and I don’t have to describe the looks of the front. Jeesh.
There were lots of families with little kids running around playing in the sand and the water. One little girl, perhaps 3-4 y/o, was buck naked and dark skinned all over in an even color. I thought it was cute except the thought of pedophiles also entered my mind.
I began to tell Ed that we needed to find a place for lunch. Neither of us had had much fluid and he needs to eat regularly. It’s also self defense on my part. Finally, he agreed to go back to the ship since we couldn’t identify a place to eat that appealed to him. Speaking only for myself, I’m adventurous in these places but I’m careful about food sources. The upscale resorts would have been OK with me but these were not that reliable. So we found an old Egyptian guy who needed to find a younger one to translate so we were sure about the amount we were going to pay. The price started out too high. Eventually it came down to $5 but I think this was a mistake on the driver’s part as Arabic and English were, by this time, flying between 5 of us. We told him we’d pay him $6 for the two of us and that’s what we did. It wasn’t a long drive but we had no idea how far it was. His cab was comparatively new, certainly MUCH more recent than the morning’s van! And when he put his seat belt on, something we rarely see anywhere on this trip, I felt much better. We both put ours on as well and they had all the requisite parts, also a major find on this trip!
Ed is watching the TV as I write and mumbling about the fact that we STILL do not have CNN!
Istanbul perhaps?
We had lunch on the ship and there was conversation with others about Athens and the fact that we likely will not be going there given the unrest there. So someone said they’d heard a rumor (where does all this speculation originate?) that we’d instead go to Istanbul. I’d be delighted if we did. It isn’t easy for the cruise line to make such a thing happen. There’s the issue of pier space, visas, and those are just the beginning. But I’d be tickled pink if that turned out. OR I’d recommend another visit to Ephesus. Hee Hee
Afternoon Movie Matinee: Sunshine Cleaning
A lady at our luncheon table had seen this movie and recommended it so both Ed and I decided to go. I cannot imagine what she saw in this movie except the actors all of whom I liked. I would have left after a few minutes but felt I owed it to Ed to remain. When it was over, Ed volunteered that he almost left too. Now you KNOW it’s a bad movie for Ed to feel like leaving!
I’m knocking out all these books I’ve been reading so I’m on my last 100 pages of the memoir by Madeline Albright, secretary of State under Clinton. I could live with a lot of the fill in the narrative but I’m loving the behind the scenes analysis of the various countries, cultures, politics, strategic interests and such.
I was on the balcony as the ship left the pier. I’m amazed at how smoothly, silently, and swiftly these ships leave ports. The Egyptian policeman who sat under the tent at the bottom of the gangway blasting Arabic music and sitting in a broken down chair, sat in the middle of this huge pier for a long time and then began dragging that bedraggled chair across the pier to some destination I couldn’t identify. There was nothing there but concrete bunkers—all open air—and two huge tanks with god knows what in them.
As the ship was backing into the main area, there were at least 20 smaller vessels who played chicken with it. This amazed me. Some tooted their horns as if to be smiling at this large ship. We are going south for a ways as the sun is shining on the aft starboard side from the west and it’s nearing sunset. We should start going north pretty soon to Aqaba and Petra tomorrow.
Tonite’s Entertainment
Kyle Esplin is a Jerry Lee Lewis type of piano player and boy did I love this show. We saw him 2 yrs ago on the world cruise. He is only 28 at this point and has played for 3 of The Killer’s birthday bashes. He was a real hit with the audience. He’s Scottish and self taught. Wow.

Now in Sharm Al Sheik

2010-05-06T23:23:00.003-07:00

Safaga, Egypt

Ed got up around 8 and later went to the gym. Over 300 passengers went on tour to the Valley of the Kings, Luxor and Karnak. A few others went snorkeling and swimming nearby. Ed and I have been to the Nile area twice before and decided against going this time. It is a long drive, 3.5 hours each way, and the expense is not minor though certainly worth it if you’ve not been there before. So we decided to just stay in Safaga.
During the morning we asked around concerning what there was to do in Safaga. The concensus was: nothing. Further, the ship/port/pier is not close to the town itself so it requires a taxi ride both ways. There is a mall apparently, but why would we care?
So we stayed on the ship. We had lunch in the Panorama Buffet and sat on the back of the ship and enjoyed the brisk breezes and temperate (at least for this part of the world) weather. It was glorious. The contrast between the dark blue of the water and the creamy color of the sands is almost amusing. There is a large ship berthed next to us but instead of being alongside the pier, it has it’s backside straight up to the pier. It is apparent that you can drive onto it this way.
The port clearly transships grains as there is a huge grain elevator in view and these long conveyers to bring it to a transport. Other than the construction going on everywhere, there is nothing else in this port area. The ship has several Egyptian police near the side. I met some Egyptian officials on the ship as I was going down the stairs at one point today. In many if not most of these ports, the “officials” come onboard to eat here as the meals are very good. In India it was a huge joke as we estimated there were over 20 here mostly to eat.
Games
I love to play board games so I talked Ed into going to the game room with me. We played a round of Scrabble and he beat me sooooo bad that I didn’t even smell his smoke I was so far behind. Then we tried Junior Trivial Pursuit as we had played it once before with lots of howls. This version on the ship was waaayyy too simple. I started first and I got all of the answers right very quickly, so we abandoned the game room. As we left, there were two old guys in there playing chess. I would have been a great painting.
We read and watched TV until it was time to go to dinner. It was open seating since there are so few people on the ship (comparatively) so we sat at a window on the port side and watched dolphins of all sizes cavorting in the harbor area. It was fun to watch. The surface of the water was very flat and then the wind came up and rippled it in places where it turned very dark in contrast to the very light blue of the surface.
I finished reading the interviews with Gerald Ford and I really enjoyed reading his candor about the various people and events before and after his unexpected Presidency. He always struck me as a decent fellow and the interviews seemed to bear this out even considering that it was bound to be a puff piece.
Ed had me try his Kindle today and it has it’s plusses but the minuses are still considerable for me at this point. It wasn’t converted frankly.
We spent some time on the patio and the weather really wasn’t bad. The sun however, is blasting and will burn you very quickly. As dusk came, we could hear the iman singing the call to prayers from a minaret nearby. Earlier in the day, the Egyptian taxi drivers had their radios blasting Arabic music. I hope they didn’t think that was a draw for customers because the impact reminded me of the Manuel Noreiga school of harassment where you blast an area with hated music to get folks to surrender.
Pireaus, Greece
There’s some question about whether we’ll make this port, which is the one for Athens, because of all the unrest there. It’s a week yet before we’re there. It wouldn’t break my heart to miss it. I was disappointed in Athens as was Ed. I’m glad we got to see the Acropolis, Olympic stadium and the archeological museum, but other than picking up another Greek fisherman’s cap for Ed, there’s not much there that interests us.
Egyptian folklorico show
This was something Princess arranged for those of us who remained on the ship. Thus the audience wasn’t as robust as it otherwise would have been. But the ethnic dances were terrific, the belly dancer was outstanding, and the whirling dervish was a special treat for us. We’ve seen whirling dervishes before but this guy had lights on his costume toward the end and they turned off the lights. Now that was spectacular. And I still can’t get over the endurance of these guys who seem to twirl non stop for interminable periods of time.
As the dancers were leaving the ship, the overland busses were returning. We stopped counting at 11 since some were peeling off as others arrived. But what struck me was the length of the line of passengers waiting to board the ship. It seemed to fill the whole pier. We left a little late because of the tardiness of the busses but given the distances and the number of people, they weren’t that late and the ship can make up 30 min. or so easily.

Alternate blog site

2010-05-05T23:45:00.001-07:00

Just in case I can't use this one at some point:

bfaherty.spaces.live.com

Thanks!

Well go figure

2010-05-05T23:33:00.001-07:00

We are in the port of Safaga Egypt at the moment and will go out later as I'm hoping for a camel ride at a minimum. If we're fortunate, we'll find a souk.

In the meantime, I had no problem at all getting onto the blog site this time. Perhaps they were doing repairs yesterday? It also occurred to me that I'm using up a lot of space with this blog. In any event, I'll post yesterday's blog and also create a new site just in cast. I'll hopefully put that new address into this site as well when it's established.

Cinco de Mayo

The sun was BRIGHT as it came through the drapes this morning. Still we didn’t get up until after 8 am. I got ready and left to do internet stuff in the Cabaret Lounge and Ed came in sometime during the demonstration.
Spectacular Culinary Demonstration
Commendatore did his usual phenomenal job of making the preparation of quiche, Tequila shrimp with rice, and other side dishes look deceptively easy. I do learn a lot of new tidbits about foods and equipment but I doubt I can retain it long enough to put any of it into practice.
Trivia
Since this was done by another passenger, the man who spoke on King Tut the other day, we were ambivalent about showing up. We decided we owed it to our team to show up. There were the core 4 of us. We thought this time, it might be different with a passenger doing the trivia but after about half the questions, it began to get deep. And when the answers were read, this became an opportunity to wax on and on about various thing Egyptian. By the time the answers come along, we all just want to know the answers and get on to lunch. In the afternoon, there were 5 of us. In each instance, our team scored one point below that of the winning team.
Cinco de Mayo Luncheon Buffet
Everything was delicious. I’m just sorry I couldn’t afford the calories to try every thing. We sat on the back of the ship outside where the weather was so pleasant. I just hope it lasts through our next ports! We were joined by the Aussie couple who teach the Bridge classes. We enjoy their company and spent time talking about the financial crisis all over the world and the housing “bubble” in the US.
Computer—audit
Ed joined two other folks to take this class which I audited. I used some videos on our computer to do the various tasks since it is done in Windows MovieMaker. I was actually able to remember more about how to do this than I expected.
At 2 pm Estelle Harris who played George’s mother on Seinfeld was speaking again. We aren’t that crazy about these kinds of programs but I was really put off by her use of foul language repeatedly (never matter that she was quoting others) even when JJ indicated he didn’t want that on tape. She is in her 80s and while I know she thinks it’s cute, it was very unattractive and off putting.
So Ed sat on the patio and watched the ocean float by. His neck is bothering him but he did say he forgot to take his arthritis medication this morning. I kept reading the interviews with President Ford.
Princess Grapevine
There were a few new wines today but the speaker drones on and on and we simply want the core information and to try out the wines and get out on time. At a little after 4 p, I left to meet our trivia team and Ed followed a little bit later. This is the last wine tasting of the cruise.
Two Stories, two histories: a profile of Egypt in contrast to it’s neighbor Israel
We were at the wine tasting when this was given so we watched it on the TV between 5 and 6. This was kind’ve a stretch in terms of the theme but I could see her point though I thought it was simplistic and really doesn’t comprehensively explain all the problems in the region from an anthropological perspective.
Dinner
We had made arrangements to meet Chuck at Sabatini’s for supper so we could visit. He was also on the 2008 cruise and lives in LA. We know many of the same public figures and he’s just a very nice fellow and a good conversationalist. Our discussions range widely including discussions of folks we know in common, some of the ship’s gossip, and talk about our waning years and how we plan to situate ourselves so we are intellectually stimulated but not a burden to our family. We opened up the restaurant and when we left at 10:30 pm, there were only 2 people left there and they had arrived much later compared to us. Besides the air conditioning had gotten to Chuck and he was pretty congested and needed to go out on deck to see if that helped his lungs.
Yippee! We get another hour back tonite. We always look forward to that.

ooops

2010-05-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

For some reason I'm being blocked from this site and I'm not sure why so this may be the last blog fromthis site. I have an idea for another site so folks may need to share information.
Happy Birthday, Ed!

Yep, the old man has a 68th birthday today. He got up after 7 and went to the gym. What a great way to begin today! (Never mind about me and exercise, please). I made my usual trek to the library to do the computer related stuff.
Port Talk: Aqaba
This was really interesting since we had seen the bio on Queen Noor the other night and Aqaba was their favorite place to relax. I also did not realize that it is directly across from Eliat: one can practically throw a stone from one across the water to the other. The tours that are offered are snorkeling, swimming, SCUBA, of course. And one to the Wadi Rum: you go a long ways in a bus and then switch to 4x4s for a trek through the desert including visits to bedouin tents. (Some folks laughed that they probably leave their apartments in Aqaba each morning to go to the tents to receive visitors and then return to town in the evening.)
The one we’ve been excited about the whole cruise is to go to Petra. This is an old city cut into limestone mountains. It is a very long bus ride there and then you walk 3-5 miles to see the better things to see there. My concern is the heat but some folks say the weather is predicted to be high 70s to mid 80s. This sounds too good to be true but I hope it is the case as I don’t mind the walking but I absolutely dread the heat! And I’m glad we’re doing it while we’re “younger” because I don’t plan to do this again this way.
Trivia
We didn’t win this morning but we didn’t shame ourselves either. But this afternoon, we tied for first place with another team and the staff member didn’t have a tie breaker question so she just gave us all tokens. This was a good start to what followed—see later in this entry.
Lunch
They had a French buffet today so Ed and I went there and tried out odds and ends. I love the Brie cheese though Lord help me, I don’t need the calories. Ed went to do some stuff on the computer while I went to audit another computer class. But before the class started, I managed to take some monkey photos Ed had taken on Elephanta Island near Mombai and seat the monkeys around Ed on the couch as if they were actually in the cabin. I need to do a lot of clean up work for it to be a good job but I was so excited to be able to do that even crudely. Even Ed was impressed and the computer instructor who is about the same age as my oldest daughter, was smiling broadly.
In the Land of the Pharaohs: The Egyptian Quest for Immortality
This is the lady I’ve described before with the soporific voice but terrific content. This time her husband, who is a professional journalist, did a good part of the presentation and talked about Alexander the Great. He declared himself a Pharaoh of Egypt when he conquered it. He really was astonishing since he conquered all those lands before he died at the age of 32! He apparently had a serious drinking problem along the way though.
Egyptian travel slides 1968-1989
This was an impromptu slide show by a man who was born in Egypt, went to Berkeley, taught at the University of Cairo and has many other credentials. It was fun to hear his version of his native country and see it through relatively older slides.
Celebrating Ed’s 68th b’day
When we left the cabin this morning, there were three balloons of different colors with Happy Birthday attached to our “mail box”. So now everyone who knows your cabin, knows you’re celebration.
We took a bottle of Port I had purchased in Ensenada (yes, there ,and terrific!), dark chocolate, and dates so that we could celebrate with our trivia team and two spouses after we played trivia. We had such a good time just having fun and celebrating in this funny way. I had washed up all the little appertif glasses we get each time we go to a wine tasting, Ed had purchased the dark chocolate at two different ports, and the dates were from Muscat. We put everything on a tray, laid out the cocktail napkins from our room and just had fun toasting and visiting.
Supper
All present and we had Sunil, the junior waiter, served the remainder of the port to our table mates while we passed around more of the dark chocolate. Again more toasts and fun. But that wasn’t all: Princess always brings a special cake and birthday card to the table and the wait staff sings Happy Birthday so that was a nice touch as well.
Earlier in the day we had found the formal photographs from the other night including the two Carlos took of me with my Middle Eastern headdress on. I thought it was pretty dorky but they are kind’ve cute and we’ll see if they make the final cut when we decide on our final set of photos. We have been having the photogs save our favorites as we’ve gone along.
The ocean view today
Gorgeous. Lovely. Blue, nice seas, smooth ride. A few ships in the distance here and there. Not one mention of pirates. Yippee!
The Pacific Princess Crew Karaoke Pop Superstar Spectacular!
This was many crew members from various departments: Purser, Maitre’D, computer instructor, hair stylist, quartermaster, waiter, stewards, cook. All of them were fantastic entertainers. All but two were Filipinos and on all of our cruises, they are the majority of those who are in the crew shows. They entertain families from an early age. There was only one woman in the show. We were supposed to vote on a winner but the audience simply didn’t want to decide so we toasted all of them as winners. I tell you the talent and the potential is amazing. And I was glad to see that the Lounge was filled and the audience was wild in their support.
One of the photographers (I love them all and they are the age of my g’kids!) was there to take some fantastic photos of the performers. Really outstanding photos. We were teasing him (this one is from Brazil) that half of his photos are of the sole woman in the show. It turns out, they are an “item.” I had to laugh at my naivete. And Ed took two photos of Carlos and I together and Carlos had me nose to nose for one of them. He is so adorable. And JC, the other one, is also so much fun.
Thought for today
From a blog written by a cousin of Trudy who is travelling in SE Asia, now with a group of students from Evergreen University where he teaches:
In 1963 Thich Quang Duc got in his car, drove to Saigon, and lit himself on fire. How does one do that? Were his actions positive or negative?

There is a story in the bible: when the Jews escaped Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 years, they came upon the land of Moab. The King of Moab feared them, and ordered is priest to go to the Jewsâ€™ camp and curse them. The priest went to their camp, but instead of cursing them, he blessed them.

My rabbi explains the important lesson here: at every moment, you have the choice â€“ to curse or to bless. Every event is a blessing, even the painful ones, for they are often the most important lessons.

I heard a story about the Dalai Lama, the God-King of Tibet, who fled the Chinese to India in 1959, and has been a refugee ever since. Depending on your sources, one to four million Tibetans have died due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama, believed by the Tibetans to be the reincarnation of Chenrezi, the God of compassion, was asked about the Chinese government. And he said that this had been one of his most important lessons, for it is easy to feel compassion for those similar to you or for those that you love, but to feel compassion for the Chinese government has been a challenge for him.

Sometimes you feel anger, jealousy, pain, or frustration
All those feelings are inside of us
No one is doing anything to you, or making you feel a certain way
No one else is responsible for your feelings
Each one of us is responsible for our own thoughts and feelings
Things happen. You have no control over that. But you do have control over how you respond.
Maybe the only power we ever really have is how we respond.”
Reminds me of Viktor Frankle’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”, the second half.

Happy Birthday, Neal

2010-05-03T21:56:00.003-07:00

In Gulf of Aden

Each of us woke up several times before and after dawn but we kept still and tried to get more sleep. Eventually Ed got up a little before 9 and I followed him. We wanted the morning show for the details about the Crew’s upcoming show which will be great fun. They did an advertising type video where they went to the work site or cabins of the participants to interview them. One poor fellow works at night and there was a “night worker” sign on his cabin door. He has the upper bunk and still had his cafeteria hat on. I was glad to see they have curtains around their bunks so they have some privacy. Of course all of this was arranged in advance but it is still cute and we are all interested in how they actually live in those rabbit warrens downstairs.
Computer audit: nobody showed up to take the class though there was another woman there to audit it along with me so I went to the lecture.
Port talk: Sharm El Sheik
This is a new place for us and the only way I know anything about it is because of the terrorist bombing there a while ago. Just think of the selling points: visit all the places where terrorists have set off bombs! This place appears to be mostly a snorkel and SCUBA site but they do have a few restaurants and it looks like, souks. The trip we’d like to take, to see Mt. Catherine, is too far away and too long to do on this brief port stop. Darn.
Trivia
We didn’t think we’d done well at all but we wound up in a tie breaker with another team. Since we both got the correct answer to the tie breaker question, the staff simply gave all 12 of us a ticket. In the afternoon, we came in second. Well, that is if you only count the 3 teams that tied as #1. Ha!
Lunch
Nothing scintillating at the luncheon table, at least nothing I can recall.
Repacking
Since we’re going to celebrate Ed’s 68th b’day tomorrow by treating our trivia team pals to port wine and dark chocolate, I needed to get out all those appertif glasses we’ve been getting at the wine tastings and wash them for tomorrow. Ed had wanted to pack at least one suitcase during these sea days anyway, so he packed the harder sided luggage and it weighed at 55 lbs. Since he can get up to 70 lbs on overseas, he still has some leeway for 15 more pounds.
Tutankhamun, Ancient Egypt’s boy king
This was a pleasant lecture by a professor of archeology from the University of New Orleans. Some of it we knew of course, and it was fun to see many of the photos of what Carter found when he first opened the tomb, but the lineages and names of those pharaohs eludes me. He debunked some of the stories the guides may tell you and added a little juicy historical gossip to the pot. He had the latest findings of the study of the body of the boy king to bring us up to date. The Egyptians are skittish about DNA testing I gather or there would be more ooohhs and aaaahhhs to report.
Dinner
JoAnn will be using one of the trekker sticks when they go to Luxor so we are still adjusting the height and such. Some days her ankle is better than others.
Tonite’s entertainment: Comedy Magician
We are all getting weary of this kind of entertainment so this guy has his job cut out for him. This was a guy we had seen before I think on the first leg of this cruise. They must have had a problem getting entertainers for this leg as they’ve been improvising in some creative ways. He was still enjoyable but so much of the show was predictable as the tricks are pretty standard.
Upcoming events
Riz, the librarian, was looking for a headpiece similar to the one I wore last evening so I lent her one of mine.
Ed’s 68th birthday
Is tomorrow and I can’t believe I’m married to such an OLD man. I’m sure there will be several fun things that we can arrange to make it a special event. I already have the tray with the chocolate and port ready for our post-trivia celebration tomorrow.
Convoys and such
First an update on the reaction to the banner on the side of the ship warning folks to stay 50 meters away from the ship. I haven’t actually been able to see the lettering since it is large and faces out from the ship. Folks are musing about whether or not the Somalis can read English. And why is it only on one side of the ship. I find all this hilarious.
We are travelling in a large convoy of ships. The coast of Somalia is 20 miles to our port side; Yemen is 60 miles to our port side when we first begin the transit into Bab El Mandeb Strait. The Captain came on to explain that the little boats (with oars ostensibly) we see around the ship (at some distance but still close enough to see the occupants) are merely fishing boats. Some folks are saying: Yeah, sure. Yesterday, we had helicopters around the ship for a while. Today we are followed by a warship which I can’t see because of my eyes but which folks tell me is out there. Many of us view this as a great adventure. I howl every time someone says: “now tell me, you know for sure these Somalis read English?” Others clearly are nervous including, I sometimes suspect, some of the staff.
In Memoriam
I have received news that my children’s father passed away last Friday after a long battle with two kinds of cancer. In those final weeks, the kids were able to see the good in their Dad through the eyes of his wife and her children. Nancy did yoeman’s work bringing his affairs into some semblance of order, and Lisa followed up by getting the proper papers signed and notarized. Pat, Sylvia and even Teddy, drove to Santa Fe to spend several days with Fred while he could still appreciate their presence and serve as a comfort to the family.
I am so proud of my children and their love and initiative in such trying times. Each made significant sacrifices to provide comfort, their talents, and support to their Dad and his family.
And may Alfredo Roberto Montoya finally rest in peace after all these years of suffering.

In the Gulf of Aden

2010-05-02T22:45:00.001-07:00

May 2 2010

I woke up before dawn as did Ed but we both worked on going back to sleep. Eventually I heard him getting ready for the gym and after he left, I think I was asleep because I remember some vivid dreams. Eventually I got out and got rolling after 8 am. On the ship’s morning show, JJ showed where someone had ripped out certain pages from one of the travel books. Further, they had highlighted many sections. This was a brand new book on a port in Egypt we won’t be visiting this trip so I presume it was from last year’s cruise. These particular books must be checked out for a day at a time. I wonder if that is why. I had told you before about those pages out of the book on Einstein.
Library
Same fellow, same chair, snoozing away for the whole time I was in the library. From there I went to the computer class area to audit a class but the instructor wasn’t there and while another lady came to take the class, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen since none of the computers had been set up. So I left after a few minutes and went to the lecture. At 11 when I came back, that lady and the instructor were working on a class and so the next class also went and I could audit that.
Port talk: Safaga
Unless you go to Luxor, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings, which is a 11.5 hour tour which we’ve done twice before, there’s not much to do but stay on the ship. If you snorkel or skin dive, you can go to a beach nearby. And the Holiday Inn for $15 USD will let you use their beach and pool. But the speaker did mention one place that might have camel rides, so I may check into that. It is such a weird experience.
Sunday Brunch
Each sea day that falls on a Sunday means that they outdo themselves on a lavish buffet with everything imaginable. I found a great tomato and feta cheese salad and lots of veggies, plus some shrimp cocktail so I was happy.
Then we went back to the cabin to read. Ed took the computer to do some research. At 2 pm I headed up to audit a class again but there weren’t any students so I came back to read some more. I have three books going now. The latest is interviews with Gerald Ford which could not be published until after his death. Then there’s the Madeline Albright book, which is interesting but not compelling reading, and a novel that was on the NY Times bestseller list. The latter two are large print. The first I must read only in the daytime as it’s print is too small otherwise.
Quest for cloves and ivory: the story of Oman and Tanzania
The content is interesting but she has such a soporific speaking style. I looked down the row of folks next to me during her lecture and everyone was asleep. Honest. And her husband (I presume) gets up to introduce her each time. This is a little too much. For the most part, our guest speakers simply get up there and give a brief introduction about themselves and move on. And she could tell the story in half the time.
Trivia
My team didn’t win this morning and we certainly weren’t any threat this afternoon. Some very tough questions this afternoon. The team with the Brits on it won; there were a large number of British oriented questions. That’s fair as most of them are more USA oriented in focus.
Hor d’oevres: we had ordered “tuxedo strawberries” as a part of our Elite package on formal nights. The white chocolate one looked like a tuxedo front very cute and of course they were delicious.
Formal night
We got gussied up. I wore one of the glittery headpieces with coins around the edge as it matched my red dress and JoAnn and I had agreed to wear them tonite. It turns out another lady wore a silver one. Ed and I went to have our photos taken before I donned the head piece and then of course the photographer wanted a few shots after I had it on. Oh Lordy. I can hardly wait to see those!
Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party
There are only 12 people on board who are not members because this is their first cruise so you can imagine. The drinks are not the reason you go to these events. You drop your invitation into a bucket and later, the Captain draws three of them for a bottle of (cheap) champagne.
Dinner
Rhia and Dave had won a bottle of champagne at the party, the second time they’ve won, so we shared it at supper for dessert. Tom came in a tuxedo with an Arab kifeah (think Arafat’s top) and JoAnn wore her head covering with the bangles of coins which we had agreed in advance to do. JoAnn is in a cast now for some peculiar problem that hasn’t actually gotten a label yet but the MD put her in a soft walking cast. She decorated it by swathing it in a silver shawl. It is a riot! And while she was mumbling about having to wear that cast, she wore it last night and said she felt so much better today. She even offered to give Nikolas a kiss in thanks but he said it would interfere with their professional relationship. Ha. We are such a small community on the ship that this is funny to us.
Dancers and show
Tonite was “Words and Music”, and as always, the kids did it up right. I have been taking the binoculars and they help me a lot in being able to see them. Especially, I like being able to check out the costumes. My contacts were bothering me so I wore my spectacles and it’s a little more challenging to see things this way but better than going without anything!
The headpiece with the matching glitter dress were a great hit. I was told I had to wear the headpiece for Egyptian nite which will come after Safaga. I’ll see about wearing that with my Arabian belly dance costume. Of course I’ll probably be wearing a totally black outfit underneath it all as I don’t have a body suit with me.
When we got back to the room, I had Ed unzip the back of the dress. The dress fits comfortably but not tight when it’s zipped up, so I was troubled when I couldn’t get it over my hips. Of course, you automatically think of how loose I’ve been with my eating lately and then a mild panic when I consider what I’d do if I can’t get out of the dress. Then I discovered he hadn’t unzipped it all the way. Thank you, Lord.
Local color
We saw a huge oil tanker parallel to us today and at dinner they said it was shooting off it’s water cannons as an exercise I guess since it was only us in the vicinity that anyone knew. Some folks are obviously anxious about the coming transit but most of us are pretty blasé about it. One more piece of excitement to anticipate.

Saturday

2010-05-01T21:54:00.003-07:00

May 1 2010

I heard Ed scratching around and asked him to let me sleep. So I heard him snoring quietly later. I have no idea what time that was but it was well before dawn. I woke up and tried to sleep some more with no luck so now it was my turn to lay there and contemplate the ceiling so he could sleep. Eventually the jitters got to me and I started my shower routine. I heard the TV so I knew he was awake. I got ready and went to the library for the daily quizzes and then took the computer to the Cabaret Lounge where I did the internet stuff. Ed came in about ¾ of the way through the culinary show.
Spectacular Culinary Demonstration
Well I don’t know about the spectacular part, but the Commendatore made different sauces from scratch including mayonnaise. He made it all look so easy of course. But there were lots of “Princess cruises culinary secrets” along the way. He’s funny to watch anyway.
Trivia
We did OK but we didn’t win the prize in the morning. In the afternoon there was just the usual core four of us and WE WON! We’ve about decided that we win more often when there are just the four of us than when we have a full team. And of course we could kick ourselves for those questions where we’ve had the question before and still put down the wrong answer.
Lunch
We met with a couple who had some legal questions that Ed was interested in answering. There were dolphins cavorting in the distance through a part of lunch.
There were lots of things going on this afternoon but nothing that compelled either of us to attend. One was a woman who was George’s mother on Seinfeld and she was waxing about her experiences; we watched some of it on the TV later.
Otherwise I continued to read my large print novel about an Episcopal priest in a small town. The light during the afternoon is perfect and I lay on the couch and read which is the perfect combination for me to see well. Ed devoted well over an hour to his periodic religious ceremony: filling his prescription containers with pills and supplements. At one point, the entire bed was strewn with bottles of various kinds.
Supper
All present. JoAnn has a plastic walking air cast on her ankle which she turned a few days ago. It is swollen and hasn’t gotten better so she finally relented and went to see Nikolas who reminds her to keep it elevated each time he runs into her. She’s worried about how it will look with her formal attire tomorrow. I told her she ought to be milking it for the sympathy vote and wear it with pride.
Tom was saying that there is a huge banner off of the Promenade Deck now warning any other vessels to remain at least 50 meters away from the ship. The focused noise they will direct toward any boats that approach too close are covered in blue plastic and there are security folks around the ship at various places. We are travelling at about 18 knots which is about what the ship usually does more or less.
It was supposed to be in the 80s outside today but every time I went by a door that was open, the air was like from a very humid blast furnace. So I never went out.
Tonite’s entertainment
The casino lounge pianist was scheduled. This is the guy who also does the choir and who is very good. But Ed was “resting his eyes” (how is it that I can hear his “breathing” from across the room then?) and so we wound up eventually watching a biography of Queen Noor. This was very timely since we are going to Aqaba which is a part of Jordon. What an adventure her life has been.

Old Muscat Sultanate of Oman

2010-04-30T22:21:00.001-07:00

Mina Qaboos (Mee-nah Kah-boos) Oman

I woke up and there was a lot of light coming through the drapes and I wasn’t sure what time it was. I wanted to sleep more but it wasn’t working. So I crept up and peeked through the crack in the drapes and it was the Moon! And it was reflected on the ocean and all I could think of was: “Arabian nights”. It’s pathetic to try to sleep and not be able to do so. I heard a pilot(?) boat in the distance and figured it was about 5 am. Eventually it was clear that we had some sunlight, so I again peeked through and I could see the moon through a mist so thick you couldn’t tell where the horizon was. But it was beyond the beginning of dawn. Ed woke up and I whispered asking if he was awake. When he answered, I flung the drapes open so I could read the clock: 5:50 am! So I slapped the curtains shut again and tried for a little more rest.
Next thing you know, there’s a tap on the door. Room service was 5 minutes early. God Bless those little guys because the order form indicates 6:30 – 7am as the earliest they can deliver. Right on time, the phone rang with our wake up call at 6:15 am. I had my cereal quickly and hopped in the shower. Predictably, Ed had MSNBC blaring (except now he, mercifully, puts it on mute during the commercials) with Keith Olberman.
The Captain came on the PA about 7:10 am to say that he was turning the ship around in the harbor since the pilot wasn’t ready to come on board, so who knows what I heard earlier. This trip between Dubai and Oman has been very slow and the sea has been very calm.
Today’s tour: mystical Muscat—Grand Mosque and Bait Al Zubair (Bait means house; Beit in Isreal)
We were a little delayed in berthing since the pilot wasn’t available until late to board the ship. Apparently, berthing fees here are pretty steep; this information comes from someone with a sailboat so I assume some degree of credibility for this tidbit. We berthed a little after 8 am and left promptly at 4:45 pm.
Our bus had only 39 folks on it and it probably held 50 and the airconditioning was marvelous. We were provided with as much water as we wished and it’s a good idea to drink at least a bottle for every few hours here.
Weather: well let’s get this part out of the way. I have a photograph demonstrating 43 degrees Celsius (I’ll save you the trouble: 110 degrees Fahrenheit) but another passenger said she has a photo showing 47 degrees (117⁰ F). So take your pick. It was hot but all of us agreed this was sooooo much better than Male, Maldives with it’s lower temperature but higher humidity! The sun is a broiler here as it was in Dubai. It takes no time to get your Vitamin D dose.
Our guide was a young man from some African country where French was his first language. He spoke of everything Omani in “we” phrases and sang the praises of how wonderful this country is with great fervor. It is hard not to appreciate the cleanliness, peace, lack of crime, etc. in many of these countries. But they are definitely not democracies and very unforgiving if you violate their dictates. We were again cautioned about keeping shoulders, arms, legs, and knees covered (both men and women) and in the mosques, which were closed anyway because today was Friday, women must cover their heads. No public showing of affection between same or different sexes, no smoking in public. I saw all of those violated, sometimes by the young folks who work on the ship and this bothered me for obvious reasons, and in some instances by folks whose skin color indicated they might be Arab. So figure it out for yourself.
Architecture
This is all low buildings of no more than perhaps four stories, all in distinctive Omani architecture. It is so white you need sunshades to look out the window. The whiteness of the buildings exceeds even those post cards of Grecian island villages.
Aromas
Again the wonderful spices everywhere but here they specialize in frankincense and myrrh. Many folks both one or both in either rock or oil form.
Grand Mosque
This was a photo stop only because it is Friday. Everything was behind walls or fences but Ed said they opened up a little area for a few folks to go in and get some photos. This was still outside the prayer area but inside the interior grounds. The outside is expansive and with many flowers, trees and lots of grass. They use grey water here for all their plants and desalination is the source of all the other water. It still amazes me to see lots of grass in patches and sprinklers running in mid day. The poor flowers are fried in this sun though they still manage to look pretty good overall and the gardeners must be wizards. As in all the mosques, there is a side entrance for the women.
Clothing
About 50/50 native and Western for the men. All the local women are in black dresses to the ground, many obviously too long for these short people. All local ladies wore black head coverings but the facial covers varied from none at all, to the peeking eyes only. The men wear the all white (and these are always squint-your-eyes white and to the floor; I believe they are called something like a “dashdish” in these parts) but the head coverings vary from the full Arab style to a flat round, brimless, embroidered skull cap. A small minority of the men wear ecru or khaki colored “dresses” instead of the more common white. The children ran the range from mini-adult to Western kid style.
Many stores had the native Omani woman’s clothing which is absolutely stunning and lavishly embroidered and beaded. It also looked heavy and hot. I suspect IF they wear this these days, that’s what’s under those black robes. Many of the “stores”, actually mostly stalls in souks, had every manner of dress including the Arab belly dance costume in various designs so who knows what they wear underneath. One shipmate remarked that the facial make up of the women is perfect and fully done up. I hadn’t noticed it that much but then I was looking at the older women. 
Muttrah Souk
You can find almost anything in this covered, native souk replete with stalls and a warren of passageways and mysterious alleyways. The path is paved with patterns of light colored tiles. While it’s not airconditioned overall (many of the stalls are with clear plastic sheeting keeping the cold air inside for the comfort of the buyers) it is cooler than outside as the lighting is subdued except in the stalls themselves.
Omani daggers-really impressive and wicked looking- and silver jewelry, clothing of various types with what seemed an inordinate number of children’s shops, spice shops where the vendors were hawking saffron and frankincense but where one could see the promise of many other spices inside, doors where you wondered how they secured these thousands of impossibly heavy necklaces and other trinkets around the sides of the walls: you name it, you could probably find it here as long as it wasn’t veggies, fruits or meat (that’s another souk). Bargaining is expected and steep here though it’s always hard to tell if you’ve really gotten a good bargain. I content myself that it’s certainly a good bargain compared to what I’d pay in LA but then we still have to get it home too!
Bait al Zubair
This is a private museum featuring exhibits chronicaling Oman’s heritage. I was especially interested in the displays of clothing on manikins in this cool, clean, marble structure. Well the latter’s rather redundant: almost all the buildings that aren’t pre-oil are made of marble. The jewelry was mostly silver and vast examples were shown. The little containers with the long stick on a chain used to store and then apply kohl around the eyes (both men and women) were of special interest. And they were all of silver. The little gift shop here had a nice, modest array of picture books and a few pieces of clothing. No bargains here but good quality post cards in books of 32 for about $15 USD.
Sultan’s Palace
Well he has several and I’m sure this one rivals all the others for it’s size and uniqueness. They have closed off the driveway which is several blocks long, to the tall wrought iron fence with the disks, probably real gold, that symbolize the sultan. This palace is rather modern in design with lots of marble of course. We saw folks of all nationalities visiting here including many women in saris.
Muslim marriages
Almost totally arranged in these countries though many will now allow the child to reject a match. The men are allowed 4 wives but most only have one. There’s the matter of the dowry the man pays to the bride’s family starting at $35K USD and going higher. Then the first wife must approve the taking of a second wife and there must be an acceptable reason. Then he must treat each wife equally: you get something for one, all must receive one. Kind’ve a steep maintenance cost. Then if you have three for example, you sleep two nights each week with each wife and on the seventh night “you rest” as he said.
Forts
There are two, one on each side of the Sultan’s Palace. These are from the Portuguese 16th century occupation and are perfectly situated to “guard” the harbor. Muscat was a part of the spice trade and thus an important port for the colonizing nations and in this area, Portugal colonized many of these areas.
Lunch
We got back to the ship about 12:30 pm and went to lunch in the dining room where we visited with a lady we had met for lunch before. She’s so charming, kind, smart, and pleasant. She lives in Vancouver BC and does a lot of volunteer work for the Canadian Cancer Society. She had breast cancer around the same time I did and she had a complete reconstruction. She knew immediately that I had lymphedema. She’s travelling with another lady but I don’t know the relationship but she is so caring to this much older woman. Her husband isn’t with her on this trip but clearly it’s a very loving relationship not based on much she said but just on the way she talks about him and their life.
Cruise Terminal
The port area is enormous: think LA Harbor with all it’s cranes and containers piled 4 and 5 deep. If you want to get a taxi, you must take a shuttle to the gate. But within about a 2 block space from the ship is a ship’s terminal. It’s stark and inside is all marble (of course) and on the second story (as everything else appears to be empty) is a duty free shop. Your local 7-11 has more to offer but some folks were buying wine. I find that amusing actually. I suspect they will then sneak it onto the ship and drink it in their cabins because if they see you bring alcohol onto the ship, they take it to return it to you at the end of the cruise. Someone said that wine could pass. I wouldn’t know as it isn’t that important to Ed nor myself.
Reading
We kept the cabin drapes pulled a little and read most of the afternoon. I’m amazed to see Ed reading the novel of our fellow passenger. I think the last time I saw him read a book cover to cover was on a long flight from Norway many years ago when he read a Tom Clancy novel. This is a chick story. Oh well, even I admit the author is cute.
Fun in the dining room
Last night, five guys came to supper dressed as Sheiks. Their wives were dressed in a quasi-Arab way but you wouldn’t have known it except for looking hard. But the guys were a hit! You don’t see men doing this very often and then usually as a result of the prodding of their wives. Tonite one fellow came dressed Arab style and folks were taking photos of him all along the way. It was a hoot. So JoAnn and I both bought the little jangling head coverings with the coins on the tendrils and we’ve agreed to wear them to dinner on the next formal night. Then we can take them off after we’ve had our fun.
This was a free wheeling discussion and there was more give and take than usual. Rhia came in a black caftan with rhinestones all around the neck and cuffs with a little tassle on the end. She had her sunglasses on and with her platinum blond hair, it was a real Hollywood look. We talked about Yuma Arizona of all places, MRIs, CT scans, sonograms etc.
Our waiter, Max, told of going into the city via taxi with some other folks who work on the ship. They went to an area and “all we saw were Filipinos.” It was funny to hear him describe all of this (he’s Filipino) and tell us about all his countrymen who work in many of these countries, and I would add, send so much money back home that the Phillipine economy is lost without it.
Diane Cousins
Wales First Lady of Comedy and Song. This is a woman of my age or probably older, rather plump to be understating it, and with a really robust personality. She’s still a handsome woman but I’ll bet she was a beauty in her hey day. Her comedy is everyday and very funny when Americans can understand her through her accent which is certainly present but not so thick that you want to leave the room. She had a form skimming dress on that Ed felt was not a good one for her. I don’t disagree with that but I will say that she had a great foundation under it because despite her matronly figure, she looked poised and nothing under the dress jiggled. Anyway, I enjoyed her.
Five days at Sea
Yeah! I love sea days though it must be a challenge for the staff. Most folks do like sea days but many aren’t sure about a five day stretch even though that’s what it was between LA and Hawaii. The entertainment staff sure has their work cut out for them at such times but they seem to put out a good selection of things to do both active and passive.
Safaga is our next port and Ed and I still haven’t decided what we’ll do. We’ve seen the Valley of the Kings, Luxor and Karnak twice before and while we’d love to see them again, it is a very long bus ride each way and it’s not a cheap tour for obvious reasons. So we may just explore Safaga. That’s not such a bad way to enjoy ourselves as we don’t mind doing exploring on our own sometimes.

Muscat here we come

2010-04-30T22:20:00.003-07:00

April 29 2010

The temperature for today and tomorrow is predicted to exceed 100 degrees F. You can bet we’ll be inside!
We are sailing SW so while the sunrise is very bright, it isn’t as bad as we would expect. I went up to the library to finish my internet stuff before the piracy drill. Ed was cleaning up as I left. As I left, I saw that the little sign we put out on our door to signal the cabin steward, had been put out saying that the cabin was ready to be cleaned up. Good thing I got out early enough to see it and change it. Of course, by now poor Edison knows the cabin probably won’t be ready for him until after 9 am on sea days.
In the library each time I come up, there is a man who is sitting asleep in the same chair each time. Also, on the tours, many of the men, usually travelling alone, will be fast asleep in their seat as we move from place to place. Seems a shame to come all this way and miss most things!
Piracy drill
I’m amazed that folks do not follow directions. I could hear the cabin steward knocking on doors and often having to do it several times before they could determine that the occupants were there. We were supposed to have our cabin doors open at that time as we were being counted off. Eventually, the names of two passengers were called over the loud speaker and asked to call in. We spoke with one woman who was in the medical clinic waiting to be seen when the MD came out and, gruffly she said, shooed them all off to their cabins because of this mandatory drill. She was upset and I kept my mouth shut, but Daauuuh! What if it had been real?
I was disappointed however, because I was waiting to see how it felt to be on a ship that was rapidly zig sagging. We are travelling very slowly but our next port is pretty close to Dubai so that doesn’t seem to be related.
We read in the cabin until it was time for me to go to audit my computer class. Since another person showed up to take the class, I was able to audit. Ed went to trivia and when I saw him, he immediately asked me who St. Agatha was as a patron saint. Nursing but we also sometimes claim Camillus. While I’m on the subject of trivia: this afternoon it was done by a fellow passenger, a woman who, while she has a lovely speaking voice, is not particularly well liked by many. And you know how we feel about trivia being done by other passengers. This was awful. We all swore an oath that we’d refuse to show up if passengers do the trivia. And just to wrap up this part, I was also able to audit the afternoon computer class. I’m at the point where I need help remembering which tool is the best for what purpose. I’m hoping a book at home will help me when I start practicing there with Adobe Photoshop Elements.
Lunch
Again Ed and I had our wires crossed but he eventually did find me at the Panorama Buffet since I had a short time for lunch. We were joined by our dining room table mates with whom we such a fun conversation last evening. They are cribbage “students” so they had to leave early.
Spectacular culinary demonstration
The Commandatore joined the ship again in Dubai and so he wowed us with two main dishes involving pasta and a demonstration of how to make tiramisu. It all looks so easy but it takes hours to prepare the ingredients in all the little containers so he just pops things into the pot or pan.
More precious than gold: a short history of the spice trade
This is a new speaker on board. She’s very attractive, probably in her late 40s or 50s, with a PhD in anthropology. I assume it was her husband who read an overly long introduction for her. Her graphics were clever and the content was interesting. But she has a rather monotonous delivery voice and it sounded like this was a very well written book from which she was reading. Since she’s published several books, perhaps this was one. If so it’s narrative is very interesting and well written but overly ponderous when it’s read. Still I’ll attend her next lecture and be aware that you have to listen carefully for the pearls.
Dinner
All present. Much less tension though the conversation is still somewhat strained to me. I try to think in advance of questions to ask the others that I think would be of interest to them and are designed to draw them out about their activities. You always learn something. And after the tension of the trivia session this afternoon, I told Ed I’d share a bottle of wine with him. Don’t misunderstand, each of us had a single glass of wine and we’ll finish the bottle over the next few weeks. Just so you don’t think Trivia has turned us to the bottle.
Tonite’s entertainment
This was a mentalist and while I don’t have a clue as to how they do “it”, but he was very good. He used about 20 people of all stripes from the audience and would admit when something wasn’t working (he usually had two folks during these skits so he was exonerated when he nailed the thoughts of the remaining person.

Happy Birthday Lana!

2010-04-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

Dubai

Room service arrived right on time. Since we got an extra hour back last night (Yeah!) we were both awake. The ship docked around the same time. Originally we were scheduled to leave at 5 pm. For reasons we aren’t told, it was changed at some point to 11 pm. They did refuel here but that was finished by 2 pm.
Maps
There is an interesting thing I’ve noticed about the maps we are getting about this area of the world. We have come from the Arabian Sea past the Gulf of Oman and the straits of Hormuz and into the Arabian Gulf—not the Persian Gulf. I have never heard or seen it listed as “Arabian” Gulf. All of the resources I brought with me use the label “Persian” Gulf. Hmmm
Piracy drill
We’ve received a notice about a piracy drill to be held tomorrow. Basically we will be asked to go back to our staterooms by the closed interior passageways only, pull the drapes shut, stay away from the windows and sit by the door after propping our cabin doors open so we can hear instructions from our cabin stewards. Use handrails as you walk to be prepared for sudden unexpected movements by the ship since it will be zig zagging. The ship will also travel in a convoy and in case of any incident, helicopters will appear within 20 minutes on both sides of the ship.
CNN
We still don’t “get” it. “CNN live” was blaring in the cruise terminal but our cabin TV still shows the same tired message about not being available because of the satellite on the ship. Go figure!
No internet
We have no internet access in many ports and this is one of them. You can pay for internet access in the terminal and I understand it’s quite reasonable. Since we have been in port from 7 am to 11 pm tonite, it simply means we have no access.
New ship’s terminal
Two years ago there was a rather ordinary, ten year old terminal for cruise ships here. In the intervening two years, that one was razed and an entirely new building was erected in modified Middle Eastern style. I had great expectations for this new terminal but I was really disappointed. I like the old one better even if it was (only) slightly smaller. There are two ships in port today: ours of course and the QE2 which generates such warm memories for the people who have sailed on her.
Weather
While it was awfully hot here today, well over 90 and as high as 100, it wasn’t as wearing as the heat and humidity we’ve had in other ports. For one thing, it’s drier here and there are breezes. Also, many of our stops involved going into air conditioned buildings. My tour did walk a few blocks where there were rows of local shops but it wasn’t bad.
Smells
I simply can’t describe the wonderful aromas you experience in these Middle East markets. And the bags piled high with products of various colors and shapes. It is a wonderful memory I love to experience anew in Middle Eastern cities.
Ed’s tour
He went to the world’s tallest building which just recently opened. It has 200 + levels and it’s about half a mile high. It is called Burg Kalifi. It’s free to walk the stairs to the observation deck—or so the rumor goes-- or it costs $30-40 USD to ride the elevator in less than 2 min. to the observation deck at level 120. They also went to the indoor ski slope, and two different huge malls with expensive shops. We’re talking very upscale, Rodeo Drive shops.
Lunch
I went to the dining room but tried to phone for Ed twice. The DR closes at 1:30 and I had only 5 min. before it closed. So I ate a rice dish and then went up to the Panorama Buffet where I found him; we had missed each other by a few minutes in the room. So I shared fruit with him for dessert.
Movies
There was a movie in the Cabaret Lounge at 2 pm: Knowing. Then this evening another: Serious Moonlight. And then on the TV from 8 pm onward: State of Play. There are always Leonard Maltin and some TNT movies. I passed on all of them but Ed went down to the Cabaret Lounge for Serious Moonlight. He’ll watch any movie but I suspect he’ll really enjoy this one since Meg Ryan is in it.
My tour
Our guide was Issam whom I can only describe as a mischievous Arab genie. We had such fun with him. He could sell any toothpaste his smile was so sparkling. He is Yemeni and lived for 7 yrs in Germany so he is also fluent in that language. (While in one of the souks, I saw a tall man dressed in Arab attire speaking perfect Spanish and he took some folks around; it seemed so odd) Our driver was Santos from India; I never got a chance to ask him if he was from Goa as these folks are Christian, usually Catholic, and the name “Santos” is hardly Hindu.
We went to one of the adjacent emirates, Sharjriah which is hailed as the “Pearl of the Gulf.” It is less pretentious than Dubai but still shows the impact of all the building and development. Most people live in Sharjriah and commute to Dubia, right across the bridge, as housing costs in Dubai are about 3 x more costly. There are 4 (?) million people in the United Arab Emirates (there are seven emirates: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjriah are the only ones I’ve ever heard of). Think of the UAE as = US and each of these emirates = state. 87% of the people in UAE are UAE residents but not citizens and will almost no chance of ever becoming a citizen. The government(s) have gradually tightened their restrictions over the years to prevent being overwhelmed by outsiders. One thing Issam said that perked me up is that very soon, compulsory health insurance will be required for everyone. The laborers will be the most grateful for that I’m sure.
There was a question about the women’s clothing and I thought he answered it in a thoughtful way. He did finish by saying that in the 13th and 14th centuries, European women were also covered and now they are not. He predicted that one day, Muslim women would not be covered. Indeed there are many here who were not draped head to foot in black though you saw all versions of that. The funniest to me was a woman totally covered except for her glasses sticking out. Ed said he saw two head to toe black clad women in a shop selling bikinis. What a photo that would have been!
Mosques
We saw many gorgeous mosques but none so breathtaking as those we saw in Brunei and Malaysia. These are, we are told, quite elegant inside and the photos suggest that too.
Souks
After we went by the old city of Sharjriah, we were taken to the old souk. I wasn’t looking forward to walking dusty, hot streets. It turns out they’ve closed it in and it’s air conditioned. So we had 30 minutes to wander around here and see all the gorgeous stuff. I did eventually purchase two items and couldn’t tell if I overpaid (you have to bargain and that is not my strength and Ed was elsewhere) but clearly I paid less than I would have in LA so I’m not looking back. I probably should be carrying a pocket calculator as many people do but I’ve been working it out the old fashioned way: on paper. When Ed’s around, he does it in his head quicker than I can line up the idea in my mind.
After the old souk, we eventually found our way to a modern, huge mall but it’s their local souk. There were scads of shops selling gold and silver jewelry mostly. Let me tell you, the Arabs here know about BLING! No red hatter could match them ever. Some of the solid gold (22 K usually) necklaces are as big as a nun’s wimple. They must weigh you down and that’s before the rings, bracelets, anklets, and whatever else they can think of.
There were many rug merchants and I had a sense that most were expats. In fact, many of the shoppers were clearly not from the UAE: lots of gorgeous saris (that’s redundant in my experience: they are all gorgeous), western teen wear, Pakistanis, and Indians of all stripes.
In the old souk, I picked up something you can wear around your hips. It has two strings to tie it in the front. So I was trying to show Ed how to wear it and it keeps falling to my ankles. Clearly either it’s WAY too big, or I’m not doing it right (or these women have humungous hips because mine are not small by any stretch of the imagination!). So I’ll worry about it when I get to LA.
Walking the streets
During our walk of several blocks, we saw stores selling all kinds of electric appliances. The “vessels” (we’d just call them pots) range from a simple saucepan to something big enough to bathe a family! Makes you wonder how they’re used. Several stores selling only candy; another with various nuts. Some folks bought some nuts and I heard they were confiscated before they could reboard the ship. I was hoping we’d be given a few dates to nibble along the way but no such luck. This is the place in the world to get delicious dates in several varieties.
Ed’s neck
We know that Ed has severe arthritis in his neck and he’s having increasing problems with it lately. He shouldn’t be laying with pillows under his head or bending over doing his Sudoku but it’s hard to remember and there’s a quality of life issue. But he’s got numbness in 3 of his fingers though the motor function is intact. And then of course, there’s the discomfort so he started on his arthritis medication yesterday but it might take much longer to get on top of it this way assuming it makes a difference at all. And then there’s the issue of the stomach irritation. He’s already had problems with that for years for various reasons including the other meds he’s taking and the diabetes. So I can only hope things improve for him as this isn’t fun.
Afternoon tea/dinner
Since we were here, I suggested we go down to tea. There was only one other couple there and so we visited with them while we enjoyed the goodies. I actually went for the scones and jam. Mmmmmm
Ed watched TV and worked on his Sudoku while I kept reading the book written by our table mate. Then he wanted to go to dinner on the early side, even though we were still full of scones from tea, because he wanted to go to the movie in the Cabaret Lounge tonite. It is open seating tonite because we are in port late, but Ed suggested we go to our assigned table anyway and one couple was there. We had a great time discussing the sights around this area, and later moved onto funny movies to see. This led to a discussion of dysfunctional family members and sad story childhoods, since the movies we were discussing were based on such situations. Lots of laughs and I think this is the most fun we had at table on this leg of the cruise. Quite a nice treat.
I had downloaded the photos, recharged the batteries, formatted the memory cards, and selected a few photos to piddle with and put aside to upload tomorrow. Ed met some of the crew staff at a few of the locations on his tour so I downloaded those photos to a thumb drive and sent it on to those kids here on the ship so they could have the photos.
And now I’ll get back to finishing this novel….

Dubai tomorrow

2010-04-26T21:36:00.001-07:00

April 26 2010

Ed was out of bed before I was and he went to the gym while I watched some animal planet shows trying to build up my energy. I went to the library and dropped off some books.
Computer audits
I was about to give up on a new student showing up for “Beyond Photoshop Basics” but a lady rushed in and so I was able to audit this class once more. I learn or master something better each time so I’m not sorry about the time. There wasn’t much of interest going on this morning anyway. This afternoon, Chuck (one of our trivia team) and I came to audit another of the computer classes we had taken but again no newbie showed up, so it wasn’t possible to audit.
Trivia
Since no one showed up for the 11 am class, there was no opportunity to audit so I whizzed over and joined my trivia group. We were no threat to the winners. Some of the answers were clearly wrong but folks are getting mildly better about not becoming ballistic when the person calling trivia has an incorrect answer. This afternoon there were only 5 of us and we started off on a roll with all of the first 10 correct. We could hear the folks grading our answer sheet cluck clucking about how well we were doing. However, it ain’t over til the fat lady sings and in the end we were no threat to the winners.
Lunch
We joined some folks we’ve lunched with before, the lady with her 90+ y/o, sharp as a tack, father. Another couple was farther down the table and so it was a loose series of discussions. One woman has macular degeneration and so I listened as that was discussed. They’ve been travelling pretty steady since she was first diagnosed. She has some vision but it’s compromised increasingly and I can certainly identify with that. Her husband is hard of hearing so there were chuckles about them. The other lady plans trips for her sorority and so we discussed trips she’s taken and those planned for the future.
Taj trip feedback
We’ve been hearing various versions of this trip but the stories include the fact that Princess is refunding $200 USD because of problems. Specifically, the India air plane they were to use had problems and so they sat for 2 hrs in the airport lobby until there was a proper plane. The temperature was in the 90s and the humidity was high as well. They had an hour at the Taj itself. There was supposed to be a stop at the Red Fort which was downgraded to a photo stop. It turns out only one bus truly did stop for photos there. So all in all, we are glad we decided not to go.
Bucket list
This was a lecture with the port talker and he covered 50 must see places in the world. This was part of what we were discussing at lunch speculating on what would be in each person’s top 50. We have seen all but 16 on his list and one of those, Petra, is on our schedule for this trip.
Show us what you bought
At one point today, while I was doing other things, I was in the Casino Lounge and there was this program going on. It’s astonishing what, and how much, many of these folks have purchased. And these aren’t folks for whom this is their first world cruise. I’m wide eyed at some of the things that folks believe they got at a good bargain. But if they’re happy… I can still see the smile on the face of the vendors who sold them the items. Some of these folks, mostly women, spend all of their time in port shopping. My Lord, how much can one buy? Well actually we all know the answer to that.
Dinner
All present tonite. One lady had purchased a 7 strand ruby necklace in the terminal shop and she was showing it off tonite. I’m glad she likes it and that’s enough said. The book written by the other lady was passed to me this evening and so I’ve started it. You can tell it’s her “voice” as I read. The font isn’t super large, but in good light, it’s OK for my reading. My “cheaters” seem to be working pretty well for me and I think my contacts are in the correct eyes now and that whatever was going on has stabilized for the time being. I’ll be curious to see what my tests show when I return.
David Copperfield
This is an older British (Scottish but without a heavy brogue) man who is “not the illusionist but the “unusualist” the original all around entertainer from across the pond.” We had a lot of belly laughs with this guy who involved folks all over the audience. He poked fun by doing some of the magic tricks we’ve all grown super tired of by making them unexpected and hilarious. He also did several songs in crazy ways and he has a good voice. It’s impossible to describe adequately his show, but the time passed very quickly. We sat next to our luncheon tablemates and the father had on a bright red blazer that was impossible to miss. He looks so adorable. She is also very sweet and fun to talk with.
Technology Hurrahs
Ed has often been able to speak with various family members via VOIP (Voice over internet protocol) using his iPhone. (I’m afraid to turn mine on given the $300 charges the Marine carrier tried to charge me in Dec. because I couldn’t figure out how to use the iPhone without incurring those charges!) I can’t understand, given his enthusiasm for that, why he won’t let me put Skype on here (the computer does have a built in camera) so we can use that. I have seen some people using it on board though not many. And despite the fact that the ship won’t support these technologies, it doesn’t mean you can’t successfully use them all other things being equal.
So at least we don’t feel totally and completely shut off from the world while we are, as the Captain frequently says, “in the middle of nowhere.”

Sunday night

2010-04-25T08:12:00.001-07:00

April 25, 2010

It took Ed a while to stir around. He’s been having some neck pain and as we all often do, he’s waited too long to go back on the medication he has brought with him. I got ready and finally went to the Cabaret Lounge to use the hot spot there and be in place for the speaker.
Port Talk: Dubai
I was interested in this because I haven’t yet decided on what tour I want to take. I was almost stunned the find that Dubai (of ALL places!) now has a hop-on hop-off bus route! I went to the library to get a book on Dubai to help me out but I think the place has changed so much (or it’s simply not a good book) and there wasn’t much in there.
Clearly a lot has changed in Dubai since we were there two years ago and the recession isn’t the only story. The ship’s terminal that we were in 2 yrs ago, which was then 10y/o, had become too small for the 130+ ships coming in there so they tore it down! And built a completely new, large, elegant one that opened in February. So I can’t wait to see it.
The economic situation is also of great interest and is not yet resolved by a long shot. Ed is taking the tour to see the building that is by FAR the tallest in the world; there are other stops on the tour but that’s his real goal.
Trivia
We won handily this morning but were pathetic this afternoon. The team who graded this afternoon’s sheet said we were “over thinking.” They were too kind. Still we have lots of laughs.
Lunch
Today was the Sunday brunch and while it wasn’t horribly crowded when we got there around noon, still one has to be careful of the sharp elbows. You’d think these folks weren’t going to get enough to eat! During the visits to the various stations, I found that our junior waiter, a lovely young woman who’s husband is a full waiter in the dining room, has now been promoted to a full waiter. We are all rooting for her. So that means we have a new junior waiter, a nice young man who got on in Mombai and is Indian. He’s lucky to have Max, our waiter, as his mentor.
There was almost nothing that interested us this afternoon so Ed did some stuff on the computer and then slept while I finished one of the stories in the last large print Reader’s Digest Select Editions I brought alone and leave in the library for others. There are some large print books in the library but I’ve told you the selections are strange sometimes.
I then spent some time looking over the 1000+ photos that Ed and I took related to Mombai. I learn the Picasa software a little more each time so we’ll see how I do. Ed got some very cute photos of monkeys. I picked out some that I hope will give you some sense of what it is like there.
Sounds and smells
One of the things I love about places like Mombai is the fragrances everywhere. No sewer smell anywhere we went. Lots of floral odors in various places, and incense near the temples and neighborhood/street shrines. And the smells in the marketplaces where they sell spices, fruits and vegetables are just marvelous. I feel like a dog sometimes who’s being led around by the nose.
And the sounds are dominated by the honking of horns. Driving here is a game of chicken and they could not survive without their horns of various tunes. And the soft voices; no yelling heard anywhere. The laughter of children is so cute as it is everywhere in the world.
Dinner
We saw one couple in the hallway and they told us they weren’t going to the dining room as they weren’t doing great. Nothing extreme, just a tad down. The other couple showed up and it’s interesting to hear what’s important to others. I’ve finally identified that there is a great discomfort with formal education and all that implies on the part of the wife. She, at least per her conversation and I have no reason to doubt this, is very accomplished in her own right. She has no need to be defensive (and thus aggressive) about her background compared to others. There were a few more nervous gestures and gasping breathing as she spoke tonite, but not as much as when the table is full. I’ve gotten to where I keep my eyes on her husband and try to hear what he is saying even when she starts talking as if he wasn’t saying a thing. He doesn’t speak that often for obvious reasons. So it’s everyone she does that to. Sad really. It is a test of my character to find ways to be kind and pleasant through this all.
Tonite’s entertainment
It’s a juggler. You know how excited I am about jugglers so I’m going to upload photos and perhaps even this blog before I go back to the room to read before going to sleep.
There is a “Taste of India” deck party tonite and that includes a buffet at 10:30 pm but Lord do we need more food even if it is exotic and related to the part of the world where we are at this time? There will be an Indian costume parade. Those are fun to see but I can’t see killing myself to find something Indian and buying it just to have it to wear for this event. Still folks enjoy that as a focus and I love seeing how beautifully it all is when they are dressed up. There was a fellow passenger today who was giving lessons on how to fit a sari. I hope none fall to the floor unexpectedly tonite.

On to Dubai in 3 days

2010-04-24T21:39:00.003-07:00

Mombai

The ship was docked by 7 am. We had room service and watched the ship snuggle up to the pier and the various officials gather to begin the process of clearing the ship and all the passengers and crew. They sent 10 immigration officers on board this time. As I was nearing the officer, another fellow was checking our paperwork to be sure everything was in order to expedite the time. He saw that I had a 10 yr. Indian visa (something very new this year and only a few dollars more) and this BIG smile came over his face. You can envision it: dark skin, gleaming white teeth. He says with glee:”2019!”
Ed and I went on different tours. Last time we were here, he wasn’t feeling well and so I went to Elephanta Island. Fr. Sean had recommended it and it is definitely a “must see.” So that’s where he went and he wasn’t disappointed.
Shrines and temples tour
The tour was to gather in the ship terminal and with my eyes it’s very hard for me to see where things are these days. I finally latched onto another couple who were also signed up for this tour and after some fits and starts, we were finally accurately routed to the appropriate bus. It turns out we bypassed getting the stickers we wear when on tour. Since there were only twenty of us, the guide said it wasn’t going to be a problem. The two front seats were reserved for handicapped and so everyone else had bypassed them and chosen seats farther back. This included some folks with some problems. The obnoxious couple about whom I’ve written before, marched onto bus—the woman is always the worst and always ahead of him—sneered at the sign, put it aside behind the seat and sat down. That’s where they stayed the whole day. One fellow passed them, looked and said: I don’t see any handicap! They’re oblivious of course. It’s not very nice but I told that fellow later that I felt like coming onto the bus early, sitting in the seat and when she objected (as she surely will since this is her pattern), I’d show her my arm with my compression sleeves and say:”but I have a REAL handicap!” Of course I didn’t do it but I was surely tempted! I’m stewing about it and considering going to the tour office onboard and complaining. A woman had turned her ankle and the Queen did not budge and the lady went back further in the bus. One could make the argument that she managed to ambulate to the temples so why did she need a seat in the front of the bus? For me, it’s a matter of courtesy and respect for others.
As we see examples of such behavior which takes advantage of our concern for those with handicaps, I often think that those who are taking advantage should experience a substantial handicap themselves and then experience others treating them as if it didn’t matter.
Ok. Enough of that crap.
I took the shrines and temples tour and was not disappointed either. I had not seen any of the shrines before. And one of the major advantages, is that we went into areas we otherwise would not explore. In most instances, we had to leave the bus and walk through neighborhoods to reach these temples.
Our port talker had explained that tipping is usually for the tour guide and perhaps the driver. But there is also a fellow who hopes to be a driver one day who must prove his dedication for EIGHT years by being what’s called a “conductor”. He suggested we also give him a modest tip. This guy puts the extra step down, shoos away beggars annoying us, helps us down with his hand and such. But there were two other women also on the bus. I never quite figured out what their role(s) were and wondered about the etiquette of tipping them. In the end, I didn’t since I didn’t have the proper money along with me.
Public Buildings
The architecture is among the most interesting in the world. It includes old British colonial, Gothic, much less modern but still there especially among the new high rises. There is tremendous pollution here so the buildings show the gray discoloration and black streaking over many decades.
In recent years, the public buildings have acquired Indian names but no one uses them because they are so long. So the train terminal, seen in the movie “slum dog millionaire”, is still called Victoria. We passed many lovely beaches; I couldn’t recreate any of their names. Indians don’t sunbathe or swim on the beaches. They stroll and play with their kids there.
Taj Hotel and Gate of India
I’m making comparisons with our trip two years ago where there was much construction at the Gate of India. All of that is finished and the area is gorgeous. This is the huge Hindu and Muslim symbol of Mumbai. There are less beggars and they are better managed than in the past. The areas around the ship’s pier and this area have also been cleaned up considerably over the years.
The Taj Hotel is still gorgeous but going into it is a very different experience. There is only one door man dressed in that gorgeous uniform and it looks like he’s largely ceremonial. There used to be several there and they were actually door men with a few porters. There are still a few porters in ordinary wear, but there are a large contingent of men who are in and out of law enforcement uniforms. You must go through a scanner to go into the lobby. And the middle of that gorgeous, huge lobby, is blocked off with a wall. I found in conversation later that it is there to camouflage the repairs being done after the terrorist attack. The guest rooms involved are still under repair as well. The terrorists attacked old symbolic sites in Mombai including some favorite tourist restaurants such as the Leopold.
The remaining terrorist who was not killed is awaiting the verdict after a very long protracted trial. Pakistan has denied that any of their citizens were involved though the guide said that they knew exactly which village the dead men came from. Their bodies have been in a morgue for the past year waiting for Pakistan to claim them, which it won’t do because that would mean admitting it was their citizens who carried out the violence. So the Indians buried them in an unknown site where they couldn’t be found.
Terrorists
You can see the impact of this everywhere. There was always a police presence in Mombai but it is “in your face” now. I described the Taj Hotel and the Gate of India (they are across the street from each other) have a very visible presence. But you see them everywhere with their assault rifles at hand. Shopping areas also show this as do temples.
Beggars
This is a sore spot for many travelers of course. They can be quite aggressive and swarm you quickly. One fellow was passing out candy to the kids and the police and others were very pointed that he stop it. We only see the surface of course. The port speaker told us that women will rent babies by the hour because they can get more money that way. And the kids are kept in awful looking states as they can get more money that way too. And of course, they’ve all learned to look pathetic. But the most disturbing part is that they don’t get to keep that money; it’s like a pimp system.
The guide, as they have done in many countries, talked about the kind of work these women could be doing such as housework which doesn’t require much training. Many prefer to beg; that’s probably true more often than we’d like to admit but we simply don’t know much about all the details. I have learned over the years not to give directly to beggars but instead to give to groups who help them with food, lodging and education. They keep doing it because it works and thus I really have problems with people who insist on doing that. If they’re selling something, I find that less offensive though the way some of the tourists bargain them down is often shameful and in many instances, after this time when the person doesn’t have the opportunity to sell to someone else, the bargainer will walk away without buying anything.
Haji Ali Dagah
This is a place on an island in the middle of the bay which is reached by a bridge of some kind. It is a beautiful white structure and those who can’t go to Mecca, go here instead. There’s more the story but that’s the gist of it all.
Dabba Walas
This is an amazing system unique in all the world and is found only in Mombai. Basically, a woman anywhere in the Mombai area, and Mombai has 14 million people, prepares lunches for her kids at school, her husband at work, etc. About 11:15 in the morning she has it in a bag outside her door and the Dabba Wala, a man with a bicycle equipped with about 40 hooks to hold these bags, picks up the bags from the housewives or maids. He then takes them to a terminus where they are then transported via train usually to their destination. At the schools, they arrive about 15 minutes before the kids break for lunch and then the kids come to get their lunch. In each instance, the dabba walla waits for the bags to be returned to him and they are then returned to the housewife before 3 pm. They get paid a modest flat fee to do this and can still work another job around it. The accuracy rate exceeds 99.9%. They give lectures at management schools in Universities. I’d love to hear one of those lectures. The logistics must be amazing.
Dhobe Wat
This is also a uniquely Mombai service. It is an enormous outdoor laundry. Dirty laundry is picked up, processed here – no washers (except human), no dryers, no mangles—and delivered pristine clean to the owners within two days I think. How do they do it?
Lunch
We had this at a place on one of the beaches called Sand and Surf. It wasn’t very impressive but the food, a buffet, was terrific. It didn’t take us long to finish and so we didn’t stay as long as they had originally planned—mercifully.
ISKON temple
This is the Hare Kirshna temple and it is a bright white newer temple. There are three large windows inside an open structure and when the drapes open over these idol niches, people fling themselves onto the floor and much more. And there are a lot of people here. The music, disappointingly, was coming from a boom box. I saw only one of the traditionally attired Hare Krishnas we see in the US: shaved head with a small braided top knot, draped robes, barefoot…and he was a few blocks from the temple as we walked through the neighborhood.
Mumba Devi temple
We saw two other temples and I can’t recall which one this is. But one was a Southern Hindu temple that was very close, and dark, and with many nooks and crannies. There were many icons with worshipers at each one. There were also signs everywhere warning you in large English printing, to beware of pickpockets and such.
The other temple involved taking a “lift” or climbing a lot of stairs which was what I did. We went through some fascinating hovel neighborhoods to get here though and that was a real experience. At the top of the stairs, as you always do when going into these temples, you take off your shoes. But in this temple, the floors are often wet. This is because at the center of this temple is a lingam, a phallic symbol. They are more sanguine about genital symbols in many parts of Asia. People bring milk (the symbolism was not lost on me) and water to pour over this.
Shoes at temples
You must take off your shoes and so most people wear some kind of slip on. It is an ordeal to remove our tennis shoes, which most of us wear for stability and convenience. There are rarely seats or any other place to sit to take off, or as important, put your shoes back on. In many places, there are people who “look after” your shoes (because shoes have been known to be stolen from these places) and they of course expect a tip for this service. When you are on tour, all such tips are taken care of and it simplifies things considerably. The guide also prevents you from making any gaffs in speech or behavior too. I used to carry “temple socks”, those airline slippers you’re given on long flights, but it is still as much trouble to take them on and off, carry them, etc. In most places, the floor are pristine but in many of these older temples, the pigeon poop must be dodged between the shoe storage place and the inside of the temple.
Shopping
This was for 30 minutes and we were told we could only go into three shops in a row because of a concern about terrorists. The guide said there was an advisory out and each store had a guard who also spent time running the beggars away. But many folks believe it was so that the guide would get her kickback. Backshish (bribery and kickbacks) are so common in many parts of the world; You come to assume it’s going on even if you are not directly approached. Some folks went across the street (itself a suicidal mission given the traffic!) to buy, of all things, alcohol. One guy is collecting it in many ports to take home wherever that is. The baggage costs will surely off set his savings…for alcohol???
The stores had beautiful jewelry, clothing, rugs, and a few more expensive souvenirs. I looked at some clothing which was admittedly gorgeous and appeared to be well made, but $3-600 USD is way over priced! Most others agreed. One couple bought a chess set of some kind for no small price and I had the same questions about size and weight in getting it home. In most instances, all of these things are available in the US though admittedly, the cost might be much higher. But that might be offset by hassle factor and baggage costs, never mind customs fees as many folks are clearly going over those limits. Although the clerks are gentle and soft spoken, they still haunt you and so I didn’t stay long. The driver didn’t have the a/c on; we suspected it was to ensure that we stayed in the shops longer.
Stores in ship’s terminal
There are many lovely things here but few good bargains. And I’m never quite sure of the quality so unless it had really been a great deal, I wasn’t interested. And so I bought nothing. I keep telling myself, I could probably find the same stuff in LA, again perhaps at the same price.
Dinner
This was open seating and Ed and I opted against going out after dark in Mombai to have dinner somewhere unknown. We sat near the window to see the harbor and so this meant that we didn’t have our usual wait staff. Max saw us anyway and suddenly the plate of lemons appeared (I make lemonade) and Ed’s wine.
We decided to forego dessert to go to the early Folklorico Show on board. Later, we went up to the buffet and were busted. Max was laughing as he saw us getting dessert up there; the dining room was slow so he went to the buffet. These guys know all our secrets.
Folklorico Show
This was the same troupe we’ve seen before but the dances were new to me. And the costumes! So gorgeous. I’ll never be able to figure out how they can move around as well as they do in those clothes which are wrapped and tucked. Mine would be on the floor after the first twist. And as Hazel and I remarked, one of the dancers had to be 6 mos along though with all the drapery you had to look closely. Very clever. And speaking of which, that’s the only pregnant woman I’ve seen in India. Most of those with whom I spoke, have only two kids.

Mombai tomorrow

2010-04-23T09:30:00.003-07:00

Mombai tomorrow

I heard Ed moving around. It sounded like someone unwrapping candy in a theatre. Finally I gave up trying to get more sleep and he left for the gym. I watched a program on capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica for a while and then got myself ready. I went to the library and found that I couldn’t get an internet connection. I presume the ship’s position, going north, is a problem for the satellite connection. These north south trajectories on this ship block the signal from the satellite a lot. So I decided I’d try again later. I am so dependent on the internet at home but on a ship in the middle of nowhere, it becomes our life line as does the TV signals we can get.
And speaking of TV signals, we don’t get CNN again. We do, however, have MSNBC so Ed is happy and of course the ubiquitous FOX news is always present. BBC is available more regularly now as well. The ship also has many channels with sitcom reruns, reruns of the lectures on board, movies of several kinds and other miscellany. As it is at home, the thing you want to watch at that time is often not available.
And regarding the library, I forgot to tell you that the travel books are locked up and must be checked out. All the other books are on the honor system. I suppose that’s to be expected.
Sugar creations
Eventually I took the computer and went to the Casino Lounge where there was a demonstration about how they make these incredible sugar creations. Today it was two glorious swans. The chef used a hair dryer from the cab in and a squeeze bulb on a rubber tube from the medical center on board. I’m not making this stuff up. These are not to eat so why not. It takes 3 hrs to make these often so you just know it’s not something we’re going to be doing at home.!
Trivia
We won big time! The other teams were giving us hazzahs. There were six of us. The team dynamics are the fun part though. And we always lament that we don’t get a perfect score. This morning’s trivia was a tough one too. This afternoon there were only 4 of us and we thought we were pretty awful until we graded another team’s answer sheet. The winning team blew us all out of the water so it didn’t matter in the end.
Lunch
We sat with an older woman and her 90+ dapper looking father (her husband didn’t want to go on this cruise, so she took her Dad!). The on board priest also sat with us and we had a ball. He runs a food bank in Ft. Lauderdale that serves 4,200 people a month who are HIV+. Most are elderly. He has no illusions about how all of this comes about and he is very resourceful in getting funding and keeping it going.
He is a Franciscan friar who is originally from Canada and lived in the No Calif Bay Area for many years where he taught high school. He has such a wry way of describing events and his life has been filled with lots of fun. He’s had his share of sorrow as well. We finally heard the full story of his trek to join this ship and it’s too long to recount here but it would have tested the body and soul of someone a third his age. He laughed about having to fight the urge to rejoin some vocabulary he thought he had put away years ago. He will celebrate 50 yrs of priesthood later this year. He has 8 siblings still living and so many nieces and nephews that he’s lost count. A thoroughly delightful luncheon experience as the lady and her father were charming as well.
US Foreign Policy: In an age of globalization, can we adapt?
This is a very talented speaker. She is a straight talker. From what I can see, her facts are flawless. Questions are fielded without shirking and with solid perspectives. She separates actions into politically instigated versus others. Her knowledge of the cultures and motivations of the folks in the middle east is extraordinary. She has been a consultant with many new media and travelled with Peter Jennings in particular. She has met with almost every leader in the middle east.
Princess Grapevine
We sat with a fellow from San Francisco who loves “Two Buck Chuck” and a lady from Venezuela. There were a few new wines. I still don’t like reds but I’ve come to “appreciate” Martin and Rossi Asti Spumonti and of course there’s always the little souvenir glasses we get at the end. And the cheeses are always fresh and delicious so it’s never a loss.
I was going to go to the practice lab for the computer but spending this time enjoying these events with Ed, things we don’t ordinarily do, is one of the fun parts of cruising like this.
Dinner
Only the second couple were at the table tonite and I think Ed is right that the two women usually feed off of each other and not in comfortable ways. I tried to focus on asking them questions about things I knew interested them. He is an architect, so I asked questions about what he thought of the architecture in various places. And for her, what places she most enjoyed in the world. That kind of thing. It was a much more pleasant meal than I would have predicted. Fewer nervous mannerisms and gasping talking actions. Ed thinks she has a need to be “accepted”; I’m not sure what the dynamic is but it was a much calmer experience and not unpleasant in the way meals have been before.
Rikki Jay, comedian
This guy is so hyper and so funny. He reminds me of Robin Williams when he’s off his meds. He is very funny though and not just verbally. He can imitate how someone would behave and you are transfixed as if you were watching it in real time.
Here’s one of his verbal jokes I can recall (and it was Ed’s favorite)—answer at end of blog:
What’s hospice?
Today’s weather
It started off bright and sunny but quickly deteriorated to dreary, hot and muggy. It is gray and the ocean while amazing, isn’t as striking as I think of it ordinarily. I hope the little fishies are having a good time underwater.
Mumbai time
For reasons that are a blank to me, Mombai is on a half hour change instead of the usual one hour. The ship has not had us change our time as it would simply mean returning to our pre-Mombai time. So we are using ship’s time while in port. That means ignoring the clocks and paying attention to your own. Not hard but for some it’s very confusing.
Answer: About four liters.

Friday at sea

2010-04-22T22:32:00.001-07:00

April 22 2010

The sun was very bright as the ship is going north and the sun rises on starboard side now. Ed was up creeping around for a long while and eventually went to the gym. I headed to the library.
Library
The one on this ship is quite nice with perhaps well over a thousand volumes not counting those donated by passengers, some hardcover, as the cruise progresses. There is an area where folks put jig saw puzzles together. Another table where the daily quiz and Sudoku challenge are put out for folks to pick up. A large world globe is in the center but it is almost as old as the one Columbus used; well maybe the one Magellan created. There are windows on three sides that look out; one onto the jogging track and in the distance, the pool.
As I was typing, I kept hearing his very quiet clicking sound and I wanted to see where it was coming from as it had become annoying. Turns out it’s a man who’s asleep in a chair. It is not uncommon, no matter what time of the day, to see folks snoozing away in the chairs which are pretty comfortable actually; some even have foot stools.
Ed went to the gym this morning—at least that’s what it looked like. I enter this information in here as Nancy is keeping track. Also, we have sat with a couple from New Orleans and an older man who now lives in Slidell but has the NO accent and attitude.
Port Talk: Mumbai (Bombay)
We’ve been here twice before and haven’t even scratched the surface of this fascinating city. We recognized many of the places discussed and heard about some we have yet to visit. We will be taking different tours. Ed was ill last trip and thus did not see Elephanta Island which is really a must see. I will be doing the tour of the shrines and temples so lots of taking off and putting on of shoes.
Trivia
We didn’t win this morning but we did OK. We were terrible this afternoon but we had plenty of company!
Lunch
It is still interesting to meet and talk with people from various places who are on this cruise. And it is still amazing to us that we meet people we do not recall having seen around the ship before. We all have this experience so it’s not just us.
I read while Ed did some Sudoku and then we went to the lecture.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Myth and Reality
This speaker, Judith Kipper, is such an interesting person to hear. She does not use notes but has some powerpoint slides, perhaps 2-3 for each talk. She knows all the major players and understand the culture and politics very well. The questions are fielded in a straightforward and honest manner. Disagreements are fine but you’d need to be much more knowledgeable than she is to hold your ground. I learned a lot about this kingdom from her perspective.
Computer practice lab was for an hour and I tried again to do a composite photo from some we had taken. Thank goodness it is just for learning as I go so far and then can’t figure out the missing step and have to keep going until I get past that part. Trying to do precision work on a bouncing ship doesn’t help either. I’ll need to look at books when I get back and practice, practice, practice.
Plastic surgery post operative
This was offered during the same time as the practice lab. Some folks brought it up but they also had not gone to hear the fellow passenger who has had 8 surgeries at a cost of $45K and 16 hours in the OR. I’ll keep asking, as will others, about this story. But I’m surprised I haven’t been able to identify someone who’s had that much work done. Wonder if it was worth it psychologically and otherwise.
Dinner
Just Ed and I and one other couple. This was an easier discussion time and I actually enjoyed it. There was much more give and take and no so much grabbing of “air time”. Ed observed the dynamics are different particularly between the two women. As we left the dining room, two of the dancers were dressed up in Chinese attire and photos were being taken. I have no idea why that theme or tonite. This is the first time they’ve done this on this cruise or perhaps even on this ship! Tonite is 50s and 60s night but I don’t think they’ll see Ed and I or many others either. The staff will probably have a good time by themselves.
Kaitlyn Carr
This is the Scottish singer who is really cute and of course has a cute accent. She sang songs by many folks: Rogers and Hammerstein, Bette Midler, Josh Grogan, Andrew Lloyd Weber. She’s perky and upbeat and of course very young compared to the rest of us and did I say, very pretty.
Recurring themes as we travel
Immigration: Every country is struggling with an immigration problem of one form or another. And citizens struggle also with how strict to be and what criteria to use to exclude some and not others. The issue of educated versus unskilled, while not always being mentioned explicitly, is certainly a part of the fabric of any conversation. As an example, the elite (think upper middle class and above) in many of these countries have all their education paid for by their governments. The prime example is Saudi Arabia. But almost all of these countries also have a substantial problem with poverty (yes, even in Saudi Arabia!) and importation of a large ex-pat community to perform jobs that their population is unwilling or unskilled enough to do.
But when one thinks of terrorists, the focus is often on those who are uneducated. But consider those who are the most visible among the terrorists: all are highly educated and many have been physicians (I am reminded here of Che Guevara yet once more…but back to the Middle East and today’s terrorists). The poor are recruited to be single suicide bombers and the grunts on the front lines.
Demographics: Most of these countries are top heavy with young people. Think of a pyramid where you have 40-60 percent under 20 or 25 y/o. Read that again as it’s important. Then think of those countries who are developed or developing and what their population pyramid would look like. China already is dealing with elderly people and who will care for them; Japan as well. In the US I think our birthrate is fast approaching a point where we won’t be achieving a replacement rate. I’m not advocating changing the birth rates in developed nations, but we do need to recognize the significance and implications for future geopolitical events. These young people need jobs. They need elders to move aside so they can be employed. In several of the countries we’ve just seen, the retirement age for those in salaried jobs is 55. It is 60 in China. Many of our age group view this with glee as Ed and I obviously have, but it becries the need for the input of wisdom which is acquired with age.
I will add some gender implications here as well. In Saudi Arabia, they are building huge universities solely for women. More women than men are becoming college graduates there. The latter is true many places in the world including the US. In some countries such as India, women are being empowered to earn their own income via small entrepreneurial endeavors such as cell phones for long distance calls and making of local products. They funnel that money back into their families and children; they do not gamble or drink it away. Thus the overall health of the family is improved in such situations. And we cannot ignore the impact of birth control where a woman can devote her energies to maintaining a proper home and nurturing children who will be stronger adults. I do have concerns about the lack of male role models for both boys and girls however and we do need to find a way to address this fact even in the US.
Poverty: running through all of this is the theme of poverty. Education pays off for the whole society because along with education comes health, stability, and success. Research has repeatedly shown that in those nations where the range between the high income and the low income is narrow, the overall health and stability of the population is impressive. We need to be alert to this in the US for a wide range as you see in many countries, foments rebellion and insurgencies.
End of observations and professorial lecture for today.

Off to Mombai

2010-04-21T21:18:00.003-07:00

Male (mah-lay) Maldives

Beautiful sail-in and a fun tender ride to the sea wall which surrounds this small atoll. Lots of various ships at anchor including another cruise ship, probably Italian. Once ashore, we grouped for the walking tour in a small park. Our guide was “Sud” one of the 150,000 inhabitants of this island; the whole Maldives has 300,000 plus the tourists for the many resorts here. Someone said that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had honeymooned here. They have the money as this isn’t an inexpensive place; everything is imported.
It was in the 90s and the humidity was just short of a downpour; the sweat from your hair dripped onto you as if you’d just emerged from a pool. It is exhausting and breezes and shade are cherished. Drinking lots of water is a must and the shower and change of clothes back on the ship is welcomed.
We saw the mosques from the outside and much of the inside of the very elegant and modern new mosque. There are gold domes and minarets as we’ve come to expect and we know without being told to remove our shoes before mounting the stairs. I’m also surprised that some folks still don’t “get” the dress code: knees and shoulders covered. Many men in shorts were provided swathes of material to wrap around their waist to provide modesty. I think all the women complied; we were allowed to wear slacks as many of the local ladies do though most of the women do wear the full head scarf here. Everyone is Muslim they say.
While you do see a few vehicles and bicycles, you are mostly overwhelmed with the numbers of mostly modern scooters. And beware they don’t run over you while crossing the streets. There are stone streets and the land is mostly fine sand from the coral. The greenery is lush as the tropics provides. We saw fruit bats resting in some trees. They call them “flying squirrels” in Asia. But I don’t recall seeing anything live that could be labeled a pet: dog, cat, etc. there were a few scattered birds but I couldn’t get close enough to describe them and none were interesting enough to photograph. The flowers are lovely and I recognized our friend we call “ham and eggs” (for reasons I’ve never understood).
We walked by the old and new Presidential Palace, Supreme Court and some other official type buildings. Just looked in, no going inside. The Natural Museum had some old furniture and cannons but the ladies who “guarded” things were the most interesting. All in colorful full length clothing with the head dresses and so tiny you can’t help but stare at them. We look like giants next to them. This and the souvenir shop (on a second floor up steep stairs: how do they expect customers to find it?) were the only air conditioned places we were in. Folks kept wanting to peel off and do other things or return to the ship but Sud kept insisting we had to stay with him. He didn’t provide much narrative but we are no longer surprised by the varying quality of the guides we get.
There was no question that we were going right back to the ship when this was over. We stripped, showered, and went to lunch in the dining room where we were joined by a couple from Idylwild, Ca (who are moving to Oregon) and a British couple who were very “jolly”. Both couples came on in Singapore.
Afternoon movie
This was “Vantage Point” with Dennis Quaid. I was looking forward to it since I enjoy him but the directing wasn’t very good imho. I left after maybe 30 minutes. It depends on a lot of special effects and shooting and bombs. Apparently the director was trying some melding of Groundhog Day and Roshomon, and it didn’t work very well. The setting was Salamanca, Spain and I wanted to see that as much as any thing else but given the way it was filmed I only saw the square…over and …over and….over again. Ed did stayed for the whole film which is predictable.
Vicissitudes of foreign diets?
For several days now I’ve been having some lower abdominal pain but nothing terrible and nothing else seemed to be changing. Except for the bratwurst I described in earlier blogs, he and I have eaten the same things, so I was very puzzled. Last night it got so bad I felt like my guts were on fire. I got up in the night and took an ibuprofen but I had warned Ed that if it stayed this bad, I was going to see Nikolas at 8 am when the clinic opened. And I was feeling bad enough I was considering going down in my housecoat since I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to manage the shower and dressing. I woke up with a still tender tummy but nothing like the earlier evening and so I went without a problem. But this evening I spoke with another lady who’s been experiencing similar symptoms though not to the same degree. So who knows? I just consider myself lucky. Between my tummy and my vision challenges (mixing up my contacts and not being able to determine by my vision if they are on correctly; wondering if I’m creating lesions on my cornea since they feel like I have sand under them lately) I was considering throwing myself a pity party and getting over it all. Ha.
Dinner
Given all the above and other things I’ve shared before, I just didn’t have the will to endure the table tonite so I sent Ed on by himself to the dining room and I went up to the Panorama Buffet where I joined Lysle and Ellie from our first table assignment. We sat on the back outside and watched the sunset. Pretty quickly it began a rainstorm which we thoroughly enjoyed. We discussed various films and previous passengers who would fit right into your local mental hospital.
Ed endured some stories at the table about previous lives and drunken brawls in the Antilles by one person at the table. It sounds like he’s a little more aware of the Chatty Cathy quality of the ladies.
Dressing for dinner
Mike has written puzzled about the big deal some folks have about dressing for dinner. There are dress standards for the dining room, and to a lesser extent for the Panorama Buffet. We are given a schedule with “smart casual”, “dressy casual” and “formal” descriptions of dress. The complaint is that folks are coming to the dining room for supper (lunch is pretty open) in tank tops, shorts and flip flops. Some folks seem to wear a combination of clothing that varies little all the time. Something slightly above beach wear. The discussion and complaints speculate that the dress codes aren’t being ‘enforced” since no one wants to anger a passenger and lose a customer. I know they do bend over backwards to please folks who clearly think their specialness entitled them to extraordinary attention, because in the end, it is all about attention.
The Panorama buffet crowd has been offended by (you won’t believe this happens but it’s true) folks coming in their housecoats to eat, and eating in their bathing suits at the tables. If you want to eat in your bathing suits, there are areas around the pool for that.
So anyway, it’s an interesting cultural mix to hear the stories. Equally as interesting (and sometimes mildly shocking) is the insensitivity of some folks—and hypersensitivity of others. And then of course there are always those who are calling the other kettle black.
Magician/Comedian
Well you know by now how I feel about these folks so I passed. There is much discussion about how many times can we see the rope trick done by another entertainer. In truth, it is very difficult to please everyone; they do their best. And many folks do genuinely enjoy the magicians, like Ed who tries to figure out how they do it. ;-) However, he decided not to go this evening so it was just he and I alone quietly. Very nice. I did my hand laundry and he did his Sudoku. Then we turned the lights out early. Very peaceful and domestic on the high seas.

Wow! It's sooooo hot and muggy

2010-04-21T01:47:00.003-07:00

4 20 2010

The ocean was gorgeous when we opened the curtains and Ed went off to the gym. There wasn’t much going on this morning so I went to the library for my usual internet stuff and then read for a while. I was lucky to find another new large print book but I don’t know if it’ll be worth the time to read. I saw several other books of interest but the small print is a definite problem; I wouldn’t be able to read them for any period of time.
Computer classes
I audited the computer class on layers and selections and then I took the one on composite photos in the afternoon. I couldn’t talk Ed into attending the latter though I know it is a bell and whistle he’d enjoy.
Trivia
Because of the computer classes, I wasn’t in trivia in the morning where there were 5 on the team and they didn’t win. This afternoon there were the core four of us and WE WON! Not only that, but we won by 2 points higher than the nearest competitor. We were getting punch drunk laughing at our versions of the answers to some of the questions.
Lunch
Ed and I ran down for a quick lunch as this was in between the computer classes. The two profs from Univ. of Miami were at the adjacent table and we had fun discussing other passengers, tours and trivia where they are also part of a team.
The Middle East and South Asia: An Arc of Crisis
This speaker has lived and worked in the Middle East for decades and while she has a peculiar speaking style and waves the microphone in front of her mouth instead of holding it where you can hear her well, she is clearly very knowledgeable. She also has the same perspectives we hold about much of what’s going on. I expected some negative oriented questions but they didn’t come. She will speak again day after tomorrow.
Dinner
I swear if I start to say something and another person at the table, and here I include all of them, starts talking over me, I am going to scream! One person was talking about someone (it was Norman Cousins but they didn’t know the name nor much else accurate about the story) who had cured themselves of cancer by watching funny movies. I knew Norman Cousins at UCLA and it was a rheumatological condition. But you’d be proud of me: I stayed mum. I came close to suggesting they read “Anatomy of an Illness”, Cousin’s book, but I doubt they would. The “authoress” at our table spends time each evening trashing other successful authors such as Nicholas Sparks. I look forward to reading her one novel which she has with her and is published by a company I’ve never heard of. Do I sound catty? Of course I do. I’d be supportive under other circumstances but this conversation that focuses on so much negative is wearing me down.
Liars All Gameshow
This was hilarious. Peculiar words were put up and then the four panelists had to describe the word and in the end we had to guess who was telling the truth. Two examples are crapulence and farture. The panelists where the cruise director, the magician-comedian, the singer, and the comedian. What a riot and it wasn’t easy to determine who was telling the truth.