We have just left Brunei and what an interesting country. Of course, Carter and I can remember when the Sultan of Brunei was the richest man in the world, before Bill Gates came along. This country is so small and right in the middle of a rather 3rd world island, Borneo. The harbor is full of oil rigs. You would never know Brunei is in the middle of a malarious island. I guess that is what a little money will do. This was once a British protectorate, becoming independent only 24 years ago.
When we arrived, it was in a tropical rain squall. Had this been Seattle, we would have been under water. But they had an amazing underground system to take care of huge volumes of water. Some of the sidewalks were a little precarious because they had neglected to cover the culverts with grates, so you had to always keep your eyes open and pointed down. We couldn’t get off until early afternoon, but then we hopped on a bus that took 45 minutes, but gave us a good look at the countryside and dropped us in at a huge shopping complex. The women we were with were enthralled, but Carter and I took off to look around. Many of the women wore head scarves, but many did not. Every woman had her shoulders, knees and midriff covered. Even photos of the wives of the Sultan showed variety in wearing the headscarf.
We found the parade grounds still decorated from their independence day celebration that had occurred yesterday and while there we met the most friendly Brunei native who wanted to welcome us to his country and encourage us to see their national museum. He and his daughter directed us to the museum and as we were walking there, he passed us in his van and shouted encouragement out the window. He was quite a character.
The museum required that we all take off our shoes upon entry, as well as check everything. No photos were allowed which annoyed Carter…..I used the restroom, which was an experience. They were washing the floors with soapy, chlorox water, so there were flip-flops provided. That necessitated removal of my socks, which were fused to my feet with sweat. Then the toilet was one of those 2 foot prints and a hole. I had not worn my Capri pants – mistake!
The most impressive part of the museum for me was the fabric that the replicas of security guards all wore. They were either black or red with gold thread making the design. They also had the chariot that is used to transport the sultan and his wives – huge and also red and gold. Every living woman in the museum wore a head scarf, but they all made us feel quite welcome. The last time I was in Egypt, the women in head scarves weren’t too friendly…..Makes you think about being an American in a Muslim world. As we walked back to the bus stop there was the call to worship from the minaret. I had forgotten how loud that could be. In each store in the shopping mall, and in the central areas, there are red arrows painted on the ceiling, pointing to Mecca.
Once back to the ship, Carter was very busy with multiple accidents. I think the fact that everyone had to remove his/her shoes and walk on marble floors was a little unsettling for many of the passengers. Also we are getting just far enough into the cruise for passengers to have reached the end of their tethers. They were in just-barely-ok shape at the beginning and are now losing their edge. Thank goodness, Carter was trained as an internist to begin with. He is drawing on those skills more than he ever imagined.
February 26, 2008
Manila
We arrived in Manila early this morning and Carter was off the ship before 7:30am. He has meetings all morning, then back to the ship and more meetings here. He has been trying to encourage me to get off and go on the shuttle bus to yet another mall. I know Alemitu or Lisa would enjoy seeing one of the biggest malls in Asia, but that isn’t my things. I have spent much of the morning observing. There were bands and dancers on the pier for most the day, as well as the crew with their families. It is so heartwarming to see these men and women who take care of us being taken care of by their families. One of the cooks who I have never seen before had his family and proudly introduced his beautiful 9 year old daughter to me. She is just learning English and was sweetly shy, but proud of her father and SO happy to be with him. He seemed happy beyond belief.
There were crew who had never seen their newest babies and others who were reconnecting with their families after 6 months, knowing they have another 6 months without seeing them. The 2 other doctors had their mothers here and those women were amazing with their generosity. When they left, they had enough food for 10 of us, all wrapped in banana leaves, amazingly delicious. We even ate/drank something that we had eaten 30 years ago in a moment of dire thirst. We both became so ill afterwards, having bought it from a street vendor who was used to washing his dishes – ever. This time it was safe and tasted fantastic. It was a drink/dessert made from fresh grated coconut, coconut milk and green jello. Sounds awful, but it was great. We also had a dessert that was a bright purple, a little gelatinous, made from yams. Then Gracielle’s mother brought all sorts of dried mango, as well as little cookies. It is going to be trial not to gain weight…..
Carter’s meetings with the Filipino doctors was a great success. He was impressed by the organization that the land-based doctors had prepared, so all went well.
February 27, 2008
At Sea
Today we had to take the temperatures of very one on board. This is a Hong Kong requirement and it had to be performed no sooner than 24 hours before we landed in Hong Kong. This meant that the ship took the huge auditorium and had 3 stations with a temperature taker and a temperature recorder. The passengers filed in and their temperatures were taken with a little gun that is held about 2 inches from their neck. Of course, the temperatures were all in Celsius, so everyone was questioning what the translation was. Amazingly, it was rather quick. There were the usual complaints that it was too early (8-9am) and some people wore wide brimmed hats, scarves and were truly incognito. I guess the ladies were having trouble without their make-up.
Then 2 hours later we had to do all the crew. The crew all have numbers and the older an employee, the lower his number. Some of the numbers are 5-6 digits and most of you know that I am a little dyslexic. This was a challenge. After about 10 crew members, Debbie, the crew doc kindly suggested that we switch places. I was definitely stressed and she was stressed just watching me try to find these numbers. Sometimes she would give me the temperature before I got the number, so then we had to start all over again. Amazingly, she knew some of the numbers by heart, so once we changed places, it was lickity-split.
One of the dining room stewards came in and his temperature was bordering on hypothermic. I thought the machine was running out of batteries, so I tried again. Still got the same reading….Then I asked where he had just been, and he announced that he had been assigned to work in the freezer….Soon after, there were about 10 of the men who came in with sub-normal temperatures, but we already had that figured out.
February 28, 2008
Hong Kong
Yesterday and last night were difficult because we had 12-18 ft seas. I think anything over 10 is nasty. Carter and I finally went to bed at 8:30pm, just so we were vertical and couldn’t fall down. We didn’t sleep much, but both knew that something had changed around 1am. At last we didn’t feel as though we were standing on our heads one minute
Labels: Personal
posted by Hills @ 3:57 PM
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