Day 520 - At Sea

Jaco & I both had a little lie-in this morning. Jaco didn’t have clinic until 1000 & of course, I, too, had to work. On my tan. 

Jaco & I had a little visit over the lunch hour & he went back to do some office work & I headed up on deck. I was intent on finishing my book today. I had 50 some pages left & I did 15-minute rotations as I laid in the hot sun. I managed to finish it up in 1 hour & 15 minutes. Wow. I’m a little pink now. I’m not sure how swell the wetsuit will fit tomorrow!

As for the book, I finally finished Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s The Caged Virgin. It’s a compelling read about women, Islam & how women are treated within the religion. It is fascinating, to say the least. I am amazed at how the women are suppressed – no opportunity to educate themselves & advance & CHOOSE their future. Of course, I’m sure there are ‘westernized’ Muslim women who have taken advantage of the opportunities available to them, however, the vast majority of women in Muslim countries do NOT have these opportunities. Topics like genital mutilation, rape, incest, abuse, illiteracy, honour killings, etc., etc., were discussed. It is an atrocity. So many of these women have arranged marriages, are subjected to abuse because they brought ‘dishonour’ to the family name & the Koran deems it appropriate to the men of the family to restore honour to the family name in whatever method they see fit – abuse. It is disgusting. Any religion that says it’s okay to harm another human being, regardless of their beliefs or religion has plenty of problems. I did not know what genital mutilation was until I read this book. I am 31 years old. How many others out there are unaware of this? Sick. The book is a mere 177 pages. Educate yourself. Please.

Jaco & I watched a few BBC Life episodes in HD. They were incredible! The details & the cinematography are absolutely astounding! We both became tired & as I have a dive tomorrow, I’m off to join Jaco for some well-deserved slumber…

Lekker slaap,

xxxxMaria

 Just READ IT!!!

 I love the blues in the wake

Making the most of every day!

Day 517 - At Sea

Hmpf. Tonight I’m a little bit grumpy. The day didn’t start off that way. In fact, it started off kind of bizarre. I woke up at 0705 to the sound of Rihanna coming from the other room. Whoops. Forgot to double check my iPod before I went to bed. The only days Jaco gets to sleep in are sea days. Sorry hun. I turned it off & went back to bed.

I then proceeded to have really strange dreams. In fact, they were so strange, I thought, ‘This is ridiculous, I might as well wake up!’ So I did. I tended to my sprouts & crackers, made a shake & then some wheatgrass juice.

Jaco came in from his morning clinic & we watched a little bit of You Again on tv until it cut off half way through. He then returned to the clinic & I went up on deck to catch a little sun & read. I’m in the middle of The Caged Virgin by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about the secrecy behind Islam – with particular regard to women. Yikes.

I read for an hour or so & then headed to the Shorex desk to ‘do my shift’ – ha ha. They haven’t had any folding for me to do the past two days, so I’ve just sat & listened & gabbed with the guys. They are an entertaining bunch!

Tonight was Jaco’s wave at the Captain’s speech, so I dolled up & went out to take a photo of Jaco looking dashing & dapper. We visited with a few of the crew after it was over & not long after, Jaco was ready to get out of his suit & myself out of my heels.

I was going to make spring rolls tonight, but didn’t want to make them too early & have them sit out while we were at the wave. When we returned, I quickly started to get them ready. I knew Jaco would be hungry (as he eats NOTHING all day), so I didn’t want him to eat nut bars, apples & oranges – I thought some change would do him good. I’m learning the hard way that ‘change’ & ‘man’ do not go in the same sentence. Ever.

After we shredded cabbage, carrots, cucumber, mint, basil & cilantro, washed lettuce & I made a dipping sauce, I put it all out for him to enjoy & he ate one little roll. Are you kidding me? This coming from the guy who can gorge himself on 6-8 oranges a night! I was highly offended. He barely ate any of the fettuccini alfredo from last night & he still hasn’t drank one protein shake, even though we’ve had it for 4 days now! As if this wasn’t enough to discourage me from making healthy food for the both of us, the blue-green algae I thawed the other day & measured off the week’s worth of doses… it leaked ALL over the bottom of the fridge! I hauled it frozen all the way to the ship, I finally start taking the expensive stuff, only to have it wasted on the bottom of the fridge! ARGH x 100!!! Clearly today was not my day.

On a good note – I’m going on tour tomorrow. I’ll be seeing the salt flats in Bonaire. I spoke with Cesar, my friend from the shops, & he says it’s a great tour with many photo ops. Yay.

xxxxMaria

 Captain Martin Stenzel

 Introducing the Senior Officers

 What a handsome Man!

 :o)

What an introduction! Spot the Champagne Waterfall?