January 28, 2005
Whirlwind Visit
One might think, given that I am only home for four days (leaving, now, in 5 hours) that my parents might take pity on me and let me lie like a sloth on the couch, catching up on all the back issues of the New Yorker. But no. Wednesday was the inevitable circuit weights class with Dad, which left me feeling roughly like I'd been beaten with a large stick. Though Dad assures me if I only weren't so lazy in my normal life, it wouldn't hurt so much. Not to be left out, the next day Mom was waiting for her turn . I pled exhaustion and pain, but was assured that a run was "just the thing" for my sore muslces. And to be fair, it was a really lovely run.
So now I'm almost all packed, just anticipating the next oh, 20 hours of travel that lie ahead. I have a stack of good books, and am trying very hard to make my Mp3 player speak to my computer before we leave. They seem to be on the outs with each other today.
January 25, 2005
Home Again
After some 20 hours of travel, I am once again back in the lovely Northwest. I have to say, I waited all day for the sun to rise, and it never really seemed to happen. Not that I don't appreciate the misty grey skies and jewel green of the moss, but it's not exactly the shades of turquoise and sunlight that my eye has become accustomed to. On the other hand, my Mom is spoiling me rotten, because I'm only home for 4 days, and there's been no time for my encroaching laundry to work on her nerves yet. Incidentally, I'm pretty certain my Mom makes the best blueberry pie in the entire world.
January 23, 2005
Going Home
I think I'm going to make it a habit to always stay in a really nice hotel for a couple days when I finish my contract. They couldn't get me a flight out on my leaving date, so Princess has put me up in the Meridien for a couple days. I had rather assumed they would pay for one night, being as I'm flying out this evening, and I was sort of grumpy thinking about what I would do with my luggage after I had to check out, and how I'd have to go do my handover and then I'd have no place to be until 11pm when my flight leaves. But no, someone in the office is really thoughtful, and booked me in for two nights, so I have the whole glorious day to enjoy the sandy bottom pool, the voucher paid meals, the endless ocean view and the lush gardens of the Meridien. Except that I have to go back to the ship to do my handover. I always seem to be the one crew member that stays on after everyone else has left and we've all said our goodbyes, and then I show up again the next day and everyone says "Are you still here?" - it sort of takes the sentimentality out of the whole thing. However, a nice blue rum drink by the pool will likely take the sting out.
January 19, 2005
Rangiroa
Once again, I'm short on words and long on pictures. Here are some of the best from Rangiroa today. 4 more days in French Polynesia.....
January 16, 2005
Crossword Puzzle Club
I really have fallen off the blog wagon recently, and it's not that I don't have lots to write about, it's just that I've been so busy with the neverending social whirl. First there was Papeete and two whole nights out (which requires a blog entry all its own), and all the intervening ports, plus an amazing day in Nuku Hiva (but I have to get the pictures transferred to the computer before I can approach that properly), but on top of that, my online time is eaten away by crossword puzzle club in the evenings. In fact crossword puzzle club (at 6 pmish in the Crew Bar) and its inevitable stack of assorted junk food and good company is increasingly taking over workout time (also at 6 pmish on the track). But I ask you, at the end of a long day - where would you go?
January 08, 2005
Crew Bar Movie Night
So last night's crew bar movie was Dirty Dancing - a great favorite from my teenage years (and apparently I'm not alone, judging by the number of us who sat through both showings), but it's funny to revisit a movie after so many years. It's an odd mixture of nostalgia and moderate cynicism. But the really striking thing about that movie, is how similar it is to life on a cruise ship. You have all the silly activities to keep people busy, the big divide between staff and guests... it was really interesting.
Anyway, we're back in Raiatea today, and we've had nothing but sea days since we left Huahine. Rain and fog, rain and fog - in fact it was almost chilly here the last two days (I use the term loosely, I was still wearing short sleeves, but I thought about wanting a sweater). We didn't make Rarotonga, which made me sad, because I was really looking forward to eating real scrambled eggs and bacon again. One more cruise left, and then I'm off to New Zealand. Yay for new pictures.
January 03, 2005
Two More
I'm coming up on my last 20 days in French Polynesia. It's a bit strange, it's very easy to take being here for granted, it seems like I'll always be back here, but really, it's not very likely. I have further been moved to an inside cabin, which is sort of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I sleep like a baby without the bizarre ambient light filtering in through my curtains 24 hours a day (there was a big electric light just outside my window). On the other hand, the day becomes sort of timeless in a room without windows. I can lie in my cabin for hours and never sense that the day is passing me by. It's very restful, but a little bizarre. Anyway, I'm hoping it will push me to go out and see more since it is a little tomblike, despite the addition of pictures.
January 01, 2005
Happy New Year!
First of all, for all those of you who are wondering about the tsunami - it didn't affect us here at all, though I am supposed to be in Thailand later this year, so I'll report back about that in March.
New Year's Eve (day) saw me hiking up the hill in Raiatea again, in an absolute downpour. And since I know all of you are tired of seeing pictures of glorious blue water, here's a little piglet who was running wild on the trail. Well, actually, there were about 30 piglets, but this one was the cutest. And much more appealing than the 10 baleful and smelly cows we had to push out of the way, or the horses lying all over the trail.
New Year's eve itself is somewhat lost in a haze of champagne. We started with a very nice dinner ashore (never a bad start to an evening) and ended visiting all the various parties on the ship. All in all, a good start to the new year.
