Papeete, Tahiti
We are in Papeete, but Carter and I have yet to get off. He is still working in clinic, or schmoozing with the passengers, so I will wait. This morning started out with a torrential downpour. I couldn’t believe so much rain could come down so quickly. At first I thought there was a hose outside our cabin washing the windows. Then it quickly cleared and the decks dried. From the view from the deck, as I awaited my RAFT drill, this place looks quite a bit like Hawaii. There are paved streets, ambulance sirens and sidewalks. I heard that a cup of coffee costs $13.00, so I think we will do our eating and drinking on the ship.
Every person on this ship has a story – and they are so interesting. Carter met a woman who escaped from East Berlin and is infused with the love of life. She knows what it is like not to be able to do what she wants. Another woman escaped from Poland in WWII and ended up walking all the way to Uzbekistan. She is wonderful – but very down to earth. She has started to come to Tai Chi with me each morning, but is always whispering to me that she just can’t accept all this stuff about the love of the universe and giving her love back. I think she is convinced of the benefits of the balance training and stretching and she agrees that she will continue to come to class.
The gym story became interesting as we had a time change every other day for 8 days. People were totally confused on when they were supposed to sleep and when to get up. I just try to live the time zone I am in, but Carter wasn’t convinced. One day he got to the gym at 4:30 am and there was a man who had been there for 2 hours already. They were both smirking because they got the ellipticals before that young couple. As Carter was leaving that day, one of the other regulars was going to confront this couple. Then to make the story more complex, Carter hasn’t been to the gym early for the last 3 days, so we don’t know what happened. I just noticed that neither of the young couple is in the gym at 7am any more. Maybe they decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. I’ll keep you posted. The lady with the sequined purse has yet to return.
Last night we were invited into a Verandah suite for before-dinner drinks and chatting. There was one of the speakers there – he was a good friend of Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews, as well as having dated Lucille Ball’s daughter. He had some fun stories to tell. The hostess decided that it was too hot in the cabin, so she opened the door. I’ve got news for her, that didn’t cool anything off. It was SO humid and hot that I watched Carter turn into a virtual fountain of sweat. Because it was evening, he had to dress in his long-sleeved, thick uniform which is tight around the collar, and I watched first his hair become damp and then he began to drip. By the time we left, he was a mess. As we were walking to our cabin, the steward took one look at Carter and asked, “Is it raining on the deck?” I couldn’t stop laughing. He did look as though he has just come in from a storm.
We continue to watch the poor passengers who are so confused. One woman was eating with a “friend” when both of them got up to go get something else to eat. The confused one returned, couldn’t remember which table she was sitting at, didn’t see her friend (who knows if she even remembered who she was eating with), and went to sit by herself. The friend returned to her same table, but has such difficulty seeing that she couldn’t find her friend anywhere. They both were eating alone 3 tables apart, with their backs to each other. So sad. But at least they found the dining room.
We have been invited to the Pinnacle 3 times in the next 2 weeks for a fancy dinner. The number of calories for each dinner is something I don’t want to think about. So I am becoming a vegetarian for most of the time in between. So far my weight is going down, so I don’t want to mess it up. Carter says there are two scales in the gym. One of them says he has gained nothing, the other says around 12 pounds. He is leaning toward the second as being correct…..Less ice cream, more veggies for him as well. He likes the desserts, I don’t. Lucky for me. .
posted by Hills @ 10:23 PM
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