Day 178 - St. Lucia

So I seem to have this sleep issue when I’m on the ship. I just can’t wake up. I know, I know, I sleep late when I’m at home. On the ship, it’s even worse! Granted, I was pretty tired from the flights & all the running around of the previous week, but I could not drag my butt out of bed until noon. I guess my body was telling me it needed some rest. (I listened for once!)

I was not allowed to take Valentina off today, but I wanted to collect a bit of grass to put in her potty box, as she still hadn’t used it. I took a little ziplock baggie with me & ventured off to a desolate corner of the terminal area & took my collection. While I was there, I noticed those neat little plants that don’t like to be touched. They close their leaves up whenever you touch them. It’s pretty neat to see a plant move so quickly!

It was overcast & rainy, but still hot & humid. Oh how I love the humidity! I peeked in one of the shops I had found bargains in 4 years ago, but no luck. I was actually wearing the shirt I bought there 4 years ago & I wanted to find another one like it. I always get compliments on it & sure enough, I had 3 compliments on it by the time I boarded the ship again!

There were a few security girls that I recognized from previous ships – it’s always nice to see some familiar faces! I also ran into Eddie. Who’s Eddie? Eddie is a Bartender I met on ships 2 years ago when I visited Jaco for the first time. They were both working on the Dawn Princess. I had brought along a juicer & plugged it in at the bar to make my grape juice. As we were on Red Level for Norovirus, I had to eat my food upstairs in the buffet area, without Jaco. I sat at the bar & visited with Eddie. We got to know each other quite well & lo & behold, I was on the Star, again visiting Jaco, when it was doing the South America/Antarctica run. Eddie lives close to Buenos Aires & jumped at the chance to show us around his beautiful city. We frequented his friend’s sushi restaurant, downtown history & of course, La Boca, the Tango district.

Of course, I was delighted to hear that Eddie would be onboard the Sea Princess & it didn’t take me long to find him! He immediately began to make plans for the coming weeks. He had just purchased his first digital SLR camera, so he was pretty pumped to head out & do some photo shoots. He talked about all the best beaches, dinners & so on & so forth. He was very excited to hear about Valentina. I must say, his Italian accent is much better than mine! We enjoyed dinner at the Pizzeria tonight - the three or four of us will be busy these next few weeks!!

Anyhow, I brought the grass back onboard & no luck. We were approaching 48 hours with no #2. Jaco, being the Doc that he is, figured a little lactulose would do the trick. We googled the right dosage for dogs. Nope. A little doggy enema? Nope. Finally at 0100 in the morning, after being ‘sick as a dog’, I had put her in her kennel, when the bedroom filled with a certain foul aroma. Hey, at least we got a little business done. Her poor little tummy was so bloated, until then! This potty box could be a challenge! She is so used to going potty outside & thinks she’ll get in trouble for going inside. I’m sure if she hears me say, ‘Go pee pee’ one more time she’ll bite my arm off! And FYI, the grass didn’t do a darn thing. She just ate it!

I’m finally going to bed… What a day!

Love & hugs & happy bladders,

Maria, Jaco, & Valentina

xoxoxoxooxxxoooxoxox

View from the terminal area

Oh the memories!

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

Smuggling some 'grass' onboard!

Cloudy day in paradise!

Island life!

Eddie, Jaco & I at the Pizzeria!