Day 504 - Curaçao

Humming right along with my sprouts, I planted the wheatgrass, peas & sunflowers. The other sprouts continue to be rinsed & some will be ready by tomorrow night! I don’t have the proper trays & I couldn’t get stockings to cover the trays with, so I’ll attempt to use the spray bottle again this time around. Hopefully I won’t get any mold & will get a nice even growth. I sprouted more seeds than previously, although I did spread them out over 1.5 trays apiece. Here’s hoping!

Jaco & I went out in Curaçao today. He had never been ashore there, so I was happy to show him around, although we only had 1.5 hours. He had always looked out from the ship & didn’t think there was much to see. Truthfully, in town, unless you’re shopping or going for a meal, there isn’t a whole lot to see. Out of town, there are plenty of beaches & great diving! Sadly, we didn’t have time for that! We walked past the new hotel that has gone up since I was here in 2007. There are plenty of typical ship shops – Diamonds International, Columbian Emeralds, etc, etc. We then walked into the Old Fort, with more shops & little cafés – it has a nice ambience to it.

Exiting the Fort, we came to the swing bridge, but it was closed to let ships pass by. We waited for quite some time & finally took the ferry across – about the time the bridge swung open. We visited with one of the locals, took a quick stroll down the main pedestrian street & a few souvenir photos before it was time to head back to the ship! Jaco had a hankering for ice cream, so after we’d walked across the swing bridge we stopped for ice cream in the Fort.

We made it back with 3 minutes to spare! Here’s hoping we can get off a little sooner in Grand Turk! We were both commenting on how hot it was & how nice it would have been to be in the water today!

I went up to the gym (day 2!) & decided to do yoga out on deck. Bad decision. I used to do yoga outside all the time when I was on the Sun Princess. This is a sister ship, so the layout is pretty much identical. Well, something must have changed. I was in the exact same spot as I used to be & it was disgusting. There were bits of carpet, hairs, dust, dirt, passenger receipts & paper towels whirling around in a wind tunnel in the exact spot where I’d chosen to do my workout. Gross. I blew the bits off my laptop about 6 times when I finally decided it might just wreck my laptop, so I went inside. I had to compete with the loud dance music playing in the gym, but I managed to fumble my way through the remainder of my workout. I’m pretty out of shape. My poor arms were buckling & shaking like crazy on a few of the poses. My balance is also a little lacking. It will be a few weeks before I can handle crow pose – that’s for sure!

This evening, I had the pleasure of dining with Larisa in the pizzeria. I met Larisa when I sailed with Jaco on the Star Princess in South America. She is a Photographer from England & has a passion for travel. So much so that she only spent 9 days at home on her last break! That’s impressive! She’s making plans to travel to Costa Rica, Barbados & Thailand for this holiday coming up. We had a wonderful visit – in fact, we were talking so much that I didn’t even realize we were the last two left in the restaurant! Whoops! I haven’t laughed that much in a long time!

She recently took up running, so I took the pleasure of introducing her to Lululemon. When we came back to the cabin, I showed her half my wardrobe. I think I’ve piqued her interest! She’s also an avid diver & was my buddy last cruise in Dominica. She’s leaving at the end of this cruise & I’m going to miss her terribly. I’ve really enjoyed seeing her again! But that’s the beauty of ships. It’s never goodbye. Only goodbye for now. You always bump into each other again somewhere down the path.

Jaco was already in bed by the time we came back to the cabin, so we didn’t visit for too long. I’ll see her again before the end of the cruise…

But for now, it’s bed time. Tomorrow is a sea day & Jaco has asked me to join him for the Captain’s Circle Luncheon. I’ll fill you in shortly!

xxxxMaria

 Swing Bridge

Day 113 - Montserrat Erupts & I Clean the Kitchen

I woke up at 0645 to bright lights & silence. Mom was up & at it & had every light in the house on. She was no where to be seen. She was at the other end of the house in her bathroom. I stumbled into the kitchen half awake & proceeded to start turning off lights until I made it back to my bedroom in darkness. Last week I told her to remember to turn out her office light when she leaves, in order to save power. I'm not sure. Maybe this is some sort of reverse psychology on living green.


In any case, I saved power until the late morning when I finally got up. My neck has been kinked the past two mornings. I'm not sure why, perhaps Valentina has me doing tricks in the middle of the night. :o)


I managed to clean the kitchen & sort out some paperwork. I called the bank to try & organize a few things, but the lady on the phone got nosy about my trip to Mexico & 20 minutes later, she learned her lesson to never ask personal questions if she's on a limited time schedule! :o) We had a few good laughs, although she didn't help my finances any!


I called a few friends today & had a wonderful chat with my friend Joanne. She is doing really well on her program & I am so happy for her! She is spending this coming Christmas in Dubai with her daughter, who recently married & now lives there. I told her Jaco wanted to spend Christmas in SA, so perhaps on my flight over I could stop in Dubai for a few days & see her! How fun would that be! Joanne has this incredible talent of making me laugh gut-wrenchingly hard. I don't know how she does it, but every time we chat, it happens. 


Today was shot no. 6. Yes, I missed a day. Yesterday was late all around & I'm paying for it today. My throat is tickling & my nose is running. Let's hope I nip it in the bud! In any case, that leaves me with only 5 shots to go! Yay!


Oh, yesterday I forgot to mention, along with my email from Jaco with the CV, I also received an email from my friend Ami. Ami was my roommate when I worked on the Coral Princess. When we met, it was a total Forrest Gump scene when I boarded the bus to go to the ship. All the seats were taken until I got to Ami. I asked if the seat next to her was taken & we were inseparable from that moment on! Ami & I used to go to the gym on a regular basis & one day I was running on the treadmill next to her & when my 20 minute stint was up, I said I was finished. She asked how far I went & I said 1.5 mi (or so).  She said, 'WHAT? You're going to quit now? But you're so close!'
'So close to what?'
'5K!'
'No, I'm only 1.5.'
'No, Silly! 3.12 is 5K!'
'Really?' I asked in disbelief.
'Yeah!'
'Oh!'


So I popped the treadmill back on & did my first ever 5K run! I was so proud! I felt such a sense of accomplishment! Ami was the first (& only) person to ever get me running. Why did I tell you all this? Well... This is the email she sent me. I'm still a puddle when I read it...

Hi cutie,

I'm running in a 10k in May in support of cancer research and I was wondering if you would be okay with me putting 4 Jill C on my shirt because I would like to run in honor of you and your fight. I'm so proud of you and how strong and brave you are and that you have stuck to your guns in regards to your treatment. Even if your name is not on my shirt I'll still be thinking of you while I'm running and using you as inspiration to get me to the finish line. Let me know what you think and let me know how you are doing. 

X

Ami

Needless to say, I've never had anyone do anything like this for me before. I feel absolutely floored. I don't stop to think of myself as doing anything out of the ordinary. I guess I feel like everyone out there who has the same thing as I do would be doing all the same things as I am! The research, the questioning, contacting survivors & trying all sorts of crazy things to make life work! I am speechless, but as far from emotionless as I have ever been! Wow. Thank you Ami - you have no idea how much this means to me!


I also heard from Jaco. Twice. I had checked his flight departure time when I got up & thought I'd already missed him. But then he called about 2 hours later. Apparently the volcano on Montserrat was erupting & the visibility was affecting flights out of Barbados. His flight got canceled. He was now on a flight at 2100 this evening. Then he calls me at 2200. That flight got canceled & he's now stuck at the airport until tomorrow morning! Poor fella! He hardly slept the night before, he won't sleep tonight & he can't sleep on a plane & he has a good 24-30 hr journey home! Worst of all, because his flights were canceled, instead of flying business class, where he could try to sleep, he's been bumped to economy! I think he needs a good luck travel charm!


Speaking of travel... I'm such a nerd! I put the new 'Who's Online?' thing on the blog & I'm so excited! I've had people all over the States, Canada, England, Norway (!), & Africa check out the blog! Yes, I know, it doesn't take much to amuse me! Thanks for giving it a read!


Alright, I'm sure there is more news I am forgetting, but I'm pooped & need to get some shuteye. Have a wonderful weekend & feel free to update me on the Olympics... I don't have TV out here & I would love to know the scoop! (Not the bad news though - I already heard that!) Go Canada Go! 


Love & Gold Medal Hugs,
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox


No pictures from today, so here's a few from SA last April. Enjoy!

Henko, Jaco's Nephew, in his new Flames jersey!

What a handsome man! I'm so lucky!

Our B&B on a citrus grove near Addo, South Africa

Grenadilla blossom