3:23pm Dec. 1, 05 Thurs.

Or not. It's four days later, our last day before we head home. Today is also a day at sea. That means no forced six am alarms, no reason to get up early and nothing to do. We slept in, packed our bags, attempted to tie up loose ends. This entry will also be an attempt to tie up loose ends. I'm going to toss out unrelated observations in a free form sorta way just so they get down in the record and not lost in my lousy memory. Here goes:

San Juan: As we are driving to the boat, one of the first things I see is a dead goat on the median of the freeway. Weird. Also, the freeway lanes narrow to the point where two cars cannot physically drive side by side. It's three marked lanes each dirrection, but is effectively two lanes in many places. This lead to alot of sudden breaking and swearing on the drivers part. Oh boy!

Trucks: All the trucks we saw on all the islands were four door vehicles. All of them. Not just access cabs w/suicide doors, but full on four door vehicles. I saw one F150 with two doors. That was it. And the majority of vehicles are "off" brand vehicles. Lots and lots of Mitsubishi, Daewoo, Hyundai and some interesting European brands I didn't recognize. Also, Mitsubishi has trucks. Who knew? (Afternote: Well, right after we got back, I saw ads on tv for their trucks, so I guess I know...)

We got to the boat from the airport for fifty cents more than the cruise line would have charged us. Quicker too. So that worked out well.

People: Our big to-do's at diner were with the same people every night. One couple, we went to a show or two with and talked with most nights. The other couples were polite but didn't really converse with us. Of course we were the youngest couple at the table. But I'm not completely sure that was the reason we were left out. Maybe. Now, the first night at diner we met a couple, Andre and Betti, who were from Jamaica. A nice, real couple. Not alot of pretensiousness or phoniness. Just geniunely nice people. They switched to a later diner time after the first night, so we didn't see them for meals, but we kept running into them all over. We spent our days on St. Lucia and Curacao with them. On St. Lucia we split the cost of a cab tour with them and saw the entire island. ThPiton mountains, the Soufreire mineral baths and sulphur springs. We sampled june plums'golden apples which quite literally pierced my throat with a barb that was extremely painful till I dislodged it. I drank a red stripe for the first time as a toast to Andres' homeland. We talked, went sightseeing and had a fantastic time. On Curacao we walked the island making huge circles in the main town area. We shopped till we were sick of stores, ate chinese food for the first time on the trip, haggled over prices with everyone and marveled at the Dutch influenced architecture. Everything was brightly painted, due to a past mayors proclimation. The story is that he was tired of being blinded by reflected sun off of the tall, all white buildings that prevalied in the area. To reduce glare he ordered that all buildings should be painted a color other than white. Now, that this Mayor also owned the largest paint company on the island is, I'm sure, purely coincedental. Anyway, we finshed up Curacao by drinking a bottle of rum punch on the promenade by the dock. This let us make the boat with a whole fifteen minutes to spare. All in all the time we spent with Andre and Betti was among the best spent time of the entire trip. If they could come to Oregon or we could go to Jamaica I think we'd all enjoy it. (Afternote: We saw them once more on this day and made plans to meet that evening. We never did see them. We didn't know their deck or room number and no one else we knew knew them. Despite a couple of full ship walkthroughs, we never ran across them. The next day as we left, we looked for them but couldn't find them. Not saying goodbye and exchanging info was the saddest thing that happened this trip.)

The islands we walked on and toured:

St. Marteen: Sort of grungy in a back alley sort of way. Everyone hits you up for a buck and you feel like you might be robbed at any moment. One of our diner table mates actually was robbed there. Also the only island I was offered pot on.

St. Kitts: Also very dingy. The island truely felt like someones home though and not like a tourist complex. The most "real" and "ordinary" of the islands we were on. Everything was run down and washed out colors abounded. We went to an Anglican church (Afternote: St. George's. Built originally in 1710 on top of a French catholic church that the English had destroyed in 1706. The present church was built in 1869, after previous itenerations had been destroyed by both God and mans hand. Cool.) where we looked at gravestones dating back to the early 1700's from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. We walked the twenty or so blocks in each direction and went back to the ship. No shopping and we'd seen what there was to see.

Antigua: We took a tour on this island. Went all the way across the island. Saw a handfull of the forty four british forts on the island. Most islands we traveled to survive on tourism and they made sure to remind you of this on this specific tour. A very pretty place, though not the prettiest or the nicest. Gourgeous water and stunning sea views.

St. Lucia: Our cab ride day with Andre and Betti. We saw all of the island. Second only to St. Kitts in terms of having a "natural" feel. Even Antigua was changing to entice tourists, but both St. Lucia and St. Kitts gave off a "take it or leave it" vibe with regards to tourism. Nothing was fancied or spruced up. You saw it as it is. Lots of scenic viewpoints and the steepest roads of any of the islands we were on. Also introduced us to the art of preventative horn use. As a safety measure on tight corners. A terrific idea. Instead of using a horn as an agressive weapon of frustration,, it was used as a tool of safety to prevent accidents. Nifty! In the running as a favorite island stop, but not as the best island.

Barbados: I loved this one! Not only because of the sea turtles and sun, but because everyone I'd met told me Brbados has the best rum-bar none! (Afternote: They do!) I asked one of the guides on our snorkel tour which was the islands best rum and he told me Mount Gay Extra Old. (Afternote: So true!) One bottle is currently in custody of the ships personel, awaiting our departure tomorrow. Ican't wait to try it! Also, the eternal home of my sunburn expereience.

Venezuala: Ok, we were on an island off of the mainland. It felt like a prison community. It was a 45 minute drive to anywhere but the dock and we didn't even want to try that on foot. Especially since we only had about three hours there total. No wonder Pat Robertson hates them. Nothing to really reccomend it. Till they build a new dock closer to "civilization" (in 2008), I'd avoid it. For all I know it's the most kick-ass island of the trip, but there wasn't enough time and too much distance to go see any of it. Sucks for them.

Curacao: Nice. Very nice. One of the Dutch "A.B.C." islands. They speak a crazy language that blends Dutch, English, Spanish, French, Klingon and Mime. One of the islanders was wearing a shirt that said "Fuck tourists". That kinda felt like their unofficial moto. Along the lines of "give us your money and get the hell-outta-here". Everything but clothing was terribly overpriced. A very cool place to at least visit. Once. Maybe more. Hmmm.

Aruba: Along with Barbados, the only islands I'd like to take an extended stay on. Very pretty. Very well spaced and laid out. Similar to Waikiki in terms of "feel", but with alot less beach access and less upward spread. There were still shacks and dives mixed in with the Gucci and Cartier shops. We found christmas gifts here, along with my first and most likely only Cuban cigar. Which I'll be sampling tonight. (Afternote: Cohibas are all they say they are. I had a nice tequilla, neat, with it. Sat on the deck at night and felt the breeze and the movement of the ship on the waves. Bliss. Especially with Cheryl next to me. Took a walk around the deck to clear our heads and then retired for the night. That's a beautiful memory to me.) Well, I need a break from writing. More as follows 'eh? (Afternote: Nope, that's all I wrote on this trip. I'll probably follow up with a recap of things here soon. I mean, it's only been a couple months since we went on the trip. I'm sure I've still got it in me to tie it up neatly. We'll see.)

2:28pm Nov. 27, 05 Sun.

Pain! Agony! My first true sunburn! Oh, I always tan. Never before have I had to worry about burning. But yesterday the Barbados sun destroyed my back, shoulders and illusions! I am lobstered and every rush of air across my skin is like being flayed alive. A shower feels as if I am holding my own arm on a lit burner. I have no relief, aloe is good for only a few moments and even then it itches to high heaven. Yes, I know, pain is weakness leaving the body. Well my skin was some cowardly, wimpy skin ok?! And the aloe! Holy crap, it was priced at ten bucks a bottle! What a racket! In Hawaii it was all over waikiki for two bucks a bottle. (Afternote: and we all know if it's gonna cost you money anywhere in the world, it's gonna be in Hawaii...) The ship is out to bleed you dry! I've spent a good part of today scratching my back, as it's the part most likely to itch. This is an experiecnce I would have been happy to have skipped. What benefit I could gain from this is lost on me, but as there is nothing to be done for it, I'll quit my complaining here and now. Today is a sea day, no land in sight from any corner of the ship. We slept in all morning since we had no docking noises to wake us. After very painful showers and aloe sessions we dressed and headed to lunch. I tell myself each day that I'll eat healthierbut I've yet to stick to that. Fried breaded pork chops, beef stroganoff, garlic mashed potatoes, pot roast and ciabatta bread cannot be balanced by the salad I paired them with. Sorry, I'm taking a break to draw a fake tattoo design on my ankle. Be back in a bit or at least sometime today.

11:29am Nov.26, 05 Sat.

11:29am Nov.26, 05 Sat.





Allright, now this is my idea of a vacation. We are currently aboard a boat in the Carribean sea, off the coast of Barbados. It's free booze hour, so after they ran out of rum punch I grabbed the beer I'm currently drinking. A nice Barbados lager (Banks) suprisingly similar to Session from FullSail (Afternote: most likely similar because I so rarely drink this style of beer and because Session was the last lager I'd had prior to this tasting of Banks...). This is the most relaxing day of the trip so far, we were up at 6:30 as usual, with the ship as it docks. Our cabin is at the front of the boat, level four, on the left side (I still haven't mastered "port" and "starboard"). Whenever we dock we are woken up to the sound of winches and pulleys and engines. It sounds as if we've fallen asleep next to heavy equipment and are in the way. The days we dock at ten instead of seen are great! In any case today we were up at seven, ready for the coffee and pasteries that room service was bringing. Due to a fortuetious turn of fate room service came two minutes after our "alarm" went off. We grabbed juice, coffee, sugar and our bags, then headed off to the dock. After standing in line for ten minutes we made shore. We wandered roughly in the direction of town since there were no signs or indicators as to where our tour would start from. Oh yes, a tour. Most days so far we have hoofed it by ourselves, but today was a special day. Not to take anything away from the rest of our adventures, but today had sea turtles in it! And rum punch, but I digress. Cheryl had said before we left that one thing she wanted to do on our vacation was snorkel. Neither one of us had snorkeled before, so it seemed like a good plan.But today, unlike every other snorkel trip during our cruise, went out to see sea turtles. And that got my webbed toes tingling. So we boarded a bus this morning at 8 am which tool us to the boat we are currently on. I can't tell types of boats from adam, but this one has pontoon thingies and sails. A decent sized ship, with seperate restrooms for each gender. THe first stop was the turtles! Yeah! We got a brief safety bit from our captain, on how to inflate our lifevests and how to breathe properly through the snorkel. Now in Cheryls' case it was an easy thing. She took right to it and snorkeled like a pro. I on the other hand had a harder time of it. I could do it. I did do it. But I've spent so long breathing through my nose that it was almost imposible not to attempt to do so, snorkel or no snorkel. Between musical instruments, relaxation techniques and overall better airflow, breathing through my nose is second nature. I don't think about it, I just do it. So to not breathe through my nose took a mental command and effort. A focus that is hard to keep when you're looking down at three sea turtles less than a foot away from you. All my thoughts are on the sea turtles, not breathing properly. After a few solid attempts I decided I'd have a better time with the snorkel and mask off. I could still see into the water. I could still swim. I could still pet the sea turtles. I could even see them when they surfaced, unlike everyone else. But mostly I could breathe easily and without effort. I enjoyed myself. And that's what it was all about. After the turtles we sailed to some shipwrecks. Cheryl snorkeled again but this time I just swam. I think we both enjoyed ourselves best the way we each did it. For me swiming in the Carribean sea was more calming and fun than anyhting else. When we finshed at the shipwrecks we sailed into shore, about 50 yards off. And that's where we are now, drinking and loving the sun!