People

Top picture: Mindy and Nilo, then candid camera shots of 'family' members at a coffee plantation visit: Stephanie, Joe and a very serious Tammy. Lastly George, Donna (a student) and me having lunch in Antigua taken by Marquesa.

In the previous blog: Views of Antigua under the Agua volcano, the Fuego volcano erupting which happened as we were on our way to Antigua; view from our room at the Hostal San Nicolas into the beautiful courtyard and mother and child at a textile school we went to near Antigua. Probably in the wrong order as I can't see the blog!

La Antigua Guatemala or Under the Volcanoes

Images of Guatemala - flowers

Beauganvillia, tropical lilac, don't know and of course red hibiscus....gorgeous!

What a lovely, colourful, friendly and unexpected country this is....volcanoes all around, one actually erupting as we watch! More later.

Arrival in Puerto Quetzal

This is the morning of monday 28th April (6.45 am) and we are sailing slowly into Puerto Quetzal. I can see a small tanker through the dense mist/fog outside. This usually means that the sea temperature is higher than the air around it....I have a feeling it is going to be a hot day ashore. We dock at 8 am in a commercial berth we're told; all the cruise terminals having been taken. This means we shall be a half mile or so from the port gate but we think there may be a shuttle. George is leading our tour to a coffee plantation this afternoon and buses often come right up to the gangway.

We were told last night to avoid non SAS buses as 69 bus drivers have been killed in hijackings so far this year! Hmmm. The SAS tours have a security officer aboard as we had in our drive to and from Marrakesh in Morrocco.

Guatemala is now testing for swine 'flu but no cases have been reported as yet. As Mexico is right next door I imagine it will just be a matter of time and the WHO has raised the 'alert' towards a pandemic to 4. However outside Mexico the cases seem to have been mild, which is reassuring. There is great anxiety I think amongst our students although some attempts were made to alleviate that by the Dean in last night's pre-port. We have a Diplomatic pre-port this morning which I always find fascinating.....seeing who the US sends out into the world to represent tham.

I can now see 2 man canoes,more tankers and a long stone pier. The sun is trying to struggle through and we have a tug boat called HERCULES gliding along beside us. The excitement always of entering the harbour in a new country! But i in my nightdress have to remain invisible ...peeking around the curtains!

There is one of those obnoxiously large cruise ships anchored at one of the terminals; these ships look like ugly floating apartment blocks. There seems, to my eyes anyway, no grace or anything that speaks of the sea in their design...they are quite simply people movers.

We are now moving into position next to a large, laoded, honest looking freighter, named Seoul Tower and another called the Pacific Hawk....I love ship names! Pacific Hawk is painted tan ad royal blue, quite striking....however as their crew can see right into our cabin I am just going to draw the curtains!

There are busy vans and lorries/tucks beetling back and forth and George, who has hogged the bathroom for the last hour, has finally emerged and will in a minute say 'Ready for breakfast?'
as he bustles round the cabin......it being patently obvious that I am not!

More later.....

Pre Guatemala

Alot is going on in the outside world...the world we are shortly to re-enter. Swine 'flu. Health Emergency declared in the USA, 'flu reaches Canada and then on top of all this the dire warnings about travel in Guatemala. As someone remarked tonight 'lets just bunker in Puerto Quetzal and then start off round the world again!' (bunker, meaning to take on fuel). We all have such mixed feelings about 're-entry' and these news flashes are adding to the confusion and reluctance to start living a 'normal' life on terra firma.



On the plus side though, we have just been in the Union listening to our cultural pre-port given by one of the students who has legged it through Central America, loving it. He showed us slides of the country and it looks stunning. Theresa is climbing a volcano (bully for her say I!), students are going surfing and travelling to Mayan sites and like us to coffee plantations and La Antigua (the old capitol) to stay overnight. We shall all be as cautious as possible (I sincerely hope) and should be back on board by 6 pm Friday 30th ready for the last lap of the voyage.

In La Antigua George and I are staying in a 4 bedroomed hotel/guesthouse called Hostal San Nicolas. I found it on the Guatemala Tourist info web site and it looks lovely. Also read a rave review so looking forward to it. We have booked a private shuttle back to the ship on the 30th but are keeping our fingers crossed that we find a secure and good deal for transport going to Antigua from Puerto Quetzal. All this uncertainty adds to the sense of adventure....!

George heard one of the lounge stewards (from Ghana) translating a huge wall plaque hanging above one of the staircases and written in Greek script for one of the students who could be heard squeaking "You read Greek?!" What a lesson... learned right here on the ship....not ever to assume anything about anyone. Certainly not to stereotype....

We have on board the most amazing staff in the dining rooms, cabins and lounges. I watch them doing their jobs courteously and very efficiently day after day after day. They work long hours with few breaks and take an enormous pride in their work. I have 4 favourites; Linda, Joseph, Alan and Mardy.

Linda looks after our cabin and us. It is she who is responsible for making sure in an emergency that we are called out of our cabins, she closing the door behind us. (She has an inflatable dinghy which she says is the quickest safest place to get to (and into) before the life boats are lowered to the ocean...we remain unconvinced but none of us would dare say so to Linda!) She came into the cabin with hands full of cough lozenges when I was ill a few days ago and gave me a huge hug saying crossly "George didn't tell me you were ill!"...he was in trouble I knew and she spoke to him about not keeping her informed. She is a martinet at our boat drills....our section was on deck yesterday 15 minutes before anyone else on the ship! We all think we have the best lifeboat... B6. Beth and George have an ongoing 'discussion' about who is the least use on it...the librarian or the linguist! Needless to say the other potential occupants within earshot all put in their 2 cents worth! I'm not sure who is winning...

Linda comes from Guyana and is a single mum. She is the only breadwinner in her family and has to look after 3 children and her mother financially. The children stay with their father for whom she has little respect or time. If anything ever happened to one of her children she says fiercely "Sorry will not be enough!" I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Her job is her life in the meantime. She works a very long day and spends her free time mainly relaxing in her cabin and sleeping. She is going home after this trip until December when she'll be back. However she says she will have to find a job in between to tide her over so will only give herself 6 weeks off. She is a truly remarkable woman for whom I have developed enormous respect and affection.

I'll tell you more about the men on my list tomorrow. Their story will inevitably be shorter as we haven't got to know them as well but they are all three delightful characters full of talent and humour.

Till then.......

Something of value

Do you remember the book of that name about Mau Mau Kenya which was written by Robert Ruark in the 1950s I think? I have never forgotten it because I read it not long before going out to Nairobi to nurse.....not an encouraging story to read just before departure! Anyway that's not what I wanted to talk about although I have borrowed Mr Ruark's title.

Years ago the BBC did a programme about what gives an object value....particularly a desirable consumer food. What is it that makes French truffles or Caviar expensive and sought after? It is their rarity. The BBC decided to see what would happen if kippers were to become very scarce...would the public be prepared to pay exorbitant prices for them. As I remember it in their dramatised version of just such a situation the mobs clamoured for kippers and were almost into swapping them for homes, wives and children. Well that was a stretch of course but I should let you know that I am descending into that kind of behavior, only just short of swopping George, to get my hands on a banana.

Bananas on this ship are as gold! They appear only rarely in the dining room and I inevitably arrive too late to grab one. Students with their keen young eyesight spot them first and carry them off in bunches for family and friends....sometimes 10-12 at a time! By the time we slower, aged, doddery folk arrive on the scene there isn't one to be seen. Instead there will be a bowl of those tasteless apple/pear combination fruits which I eat just to avoid rickets and for no other reason.... A second best to bananas is the tangerine/orange. There although sans potassium one feels an easy to access load of Vitamin C.

I don't think there is a danger of arriving home with bow legs but if anyone feels like welcoming me with a gift....let it be a banana....please!

Sea Days

We have had a few days at sea since Hawaii and have three more to go before Guatemala. I am revelling in these precious days because there are so few left. We go to sleep listening to the sounds of the sea rushing past the ship and awaken to it; it seems to provide a context for our lives and I feel that we shall be rudderless for a week or two when we return to life on land. As someone said at breakfast 'Who am I going to have these great conversations with at breakfast? There will only be.....' and mentioned her partner's name!

Students are more intense; final exams coming up and a few free days to revise and review. They all seem to be feeling tired and stressed but most say that part of that is the thought of leaving the ship and returning home. They have made such close friends, living in small crowded cabins on the lower decks. I have visited them when working on projects but as often as possible suggest we work in our cabin which I think they like: more air, more light, more space...and much quieter with fewer interruptions!

Just had a lovely evening starting, as it usually does, in the faculty lounge at 5 pm for drinks and chat and then tonight ending up with friends in the 5th deck dining room which sells wine with dinner......one Canadian/American, two South Africans, one Italian and us Canadian/Brits....that's the people not the wines! Tonight's red was Californian...

We were discussing amongst other things the dire warnings we have been receiving about travel in Guatemala. Buses are dangerous places: 11 MSU students were hijacked on theirs a month agao and had valuables taken away at gun point; other tourist buses have been stopped and there are drive by shootings from pillion passengers on motor bikes so the government has banned the passengers. A German travel company has just stopped all 2009/2010 tours to Guatemala because of these activities so we were basically wondering whether to get off the ship at all. George and I have booked a room in a guest house in Antigua which is quite beautiful we hear but as yet have no idea how we shall get there. On the first day we're doing an SAS trip up to a coffee plantation in "reliable" transport?!

We lose another hour's sleep tonight as we put the clocks forward, so we may well be grouchy at breakfast. We are back in our cabin, George correcting mounds of papers while I bash away at this computer....then to bed with a book, lovely!

More Hawaii

Beth's 'smoothie' van

Hawaiians enjoying shrimp at the shack

Shall I or shall I not? George pondering.

Two days in Hawaii

It was strange and wonderful to be in Hawaii. Strange because everyone spoke English, we didn't need to change and calculate each time we spent money, not all the American teenagers and young people were Semester at Sea students! Wonderful because although it is part of the United States Hawaii is quite different; exotic, exciting, colourful, tropical, Polynesian, Japanese, and American...all rolled into one.



It also has such diverse scenery; skyscrapers and Waikiki beach where everyone who wants to be visible shows up in a wide variety of skimpy, skimpier and skimpiest bathing suits and eccentric clothing. Then there are the Eastern and North shores with swaying palms, lagoons and beautiful uncluttered stretches of beach, low rise apartment buildings and gorgeous seaside homes and condos with weather beaten cottages crouching in between which have obviously been there since the year dot. The beaches have backdrops of woods and jungle and of course there are the mountains which are so volcanic, looking as if they had just been regurgitated up from the bowels of the earth, all craggy pointed peaks and rippling creases running down their sides and with the most amazing views when you find your way up to scenic points by car.



We rented a car and took off almost as soon as we were cleared to leave the ship. Beth our librarian spent the day with us. After picking up the car we drove up to one of the viewing places which george remembered from our previous visit.....16 years ago! (We were in the process of buying our cottage near Bancroft while we were in Hawaii.) We ooh-ed and aah-ed and snapped pictures and then we drove up the East coast, past lots of beaches until we found a lovely sea side park to sit and read and eat some of our picnic snacks. It was so restful, the weather so gorgeous and we were off the ship! Freedom!



I love the Hawaiian names. We drove past Kanoehe Bay, Walahole, Kualoa, Kaaawa, (yes 3 a's!), Kahana Bay,Punaluu, Hauula beach, Malaekahana State park where we stopped and George went swimming in the sea. We went to a shrimp shack (fresh shrimps cooked in all sorts of ways with rice) near the Kahuku sugar mill (for Karpal's benefit) and absolutely delighted in the food and the local atmosphere. Beth who is strict vegetrian had a wonderful fruit smoothie followed by a bowl of garlic rice. The food was scrumptious. We returned the same route but turnd off to drive round Diamond Head park into Kaikiki.



We finally checked into our hotel which turned out to be not the one I had thought but was right in the middle of the Waikiki main drag. I had thought we would be nearer the beach but actually it workd out well; we were able to wander around the crowded streets looking in shop windows and for the perfect restaurant in which to have our first non shipboard sit-down meal for some time.... believe it or not we went Japanese! We found a perfect little, very Japanese place in which we were the only westerners (always a good sign) and had another chopsticks meal. Somoene had remarked earlier 'Hey we don't have to use chopsticks any more!'....and where do we choose....?!



We took Beth to the ship later, easy because the Explorer was berthed at Pier 10, Aloha Towers right in the middle of Honolulu. Our room in the Sheraton was lovely; all white, very light, airy and tropical. We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow-s. Although we had all felt that we were still walking on a rocking ship during the day, we slept soundly because of the very stable floor beneath us!



George and I decided to spend the next day in Waikiki. For me it started with a loong bath. I lay there and thought 'No overhead speaker telling us to get up (immigration the previous morning had been at 6 am and they woke us up with music??!), no schedule to follow, no play to worry about, no ANYTHING we don't feel like doing'. It's amazing how it gets to you after 3 months but fortunately one doesn't realise it until one is away from the ship.

So we made coffee and ate cookies and skipped breakfast. Then George wandered down to the beach, I did last minute shopping (we try to pick up cabin groceries) and then we met up and had lunch in a place we had frequented before right on the beach. Again....what shall we do without views of the ocean? We never tire of it.

We returned the car late afternoon and took a really grand 'taxi' (which was actually a leather seated limousine ordered for us by Enterprise car rental people) back to Aloha Tower. We found it hard to go straight on board so sat having a drink in a restaurant bar with, I have to say, the best looking bunch of waiters that I have ever seen in one place! George (of course) told one of them I had said this and he laughed and said 'the owner is gay and likes to be surrounded by good looking young men'!

We made it back on board by about 5.30 pm, the deadline was 6pm. I love our cabin/home so coming back wasn't all bad. We saw old friends and compared Hawaiian notes. At 8.30 pm it was back to the grind with four fellow drama students to work on our project....making a movie set in apartheid Johannesburg loosely based on Othello.

Almost as soon as we left Hawaii we ran into stormy weather and it has only just calmed down. Nobody slept well last night; we were heaving, pitching and rolling and there was a loud gale blowing outside. Thank goodness I don't ever seem to get sea sick but poor George has been feeling decidedly squeamish. We are hoping for a better night.

I am off now to meet in one of the student cabins to do more work on our project. It has amazed me how little they all know about Apartheid in South Africa although they almost without exception name Cape Town and South Africa as their favourite place to visit and return to. Ah well....they're young..............

Images of Hawaii

Honolulu

This was a wharf in Honolulu Hawaii at 6.15 am this morning. (Note the crescent moon.) We also had singers on the quay (miked!) and hula dancers! At 6.30 am we faced immigration and customs, then showered and had breakfast...I'm exhausted already! We have rented a car and will be staying one night at the Sheraton, Waikiki. It's where George had his conference a few years ago when we first visited Hawaii bur now the tourist situation is dire here(financial crunch etc) so we have discovered we can afford it!
On again tomorrow night @ 6 pm. Aloha!

View from our balcony at 615 am, Friday, 17th April

This morning's dawn...Friday, 17th April. These shots are to remind me when I get home by the way. You may be wondering why the emphasis on sea views!

48 hours to Hawaii.

Two days to Hawaii USA!!

Evening of the 16th April:

I can't believe we are very nearly back in the good old USA, it doesn't seem nearly 4 months ago that we left Miami, January 15th....glad we still have Guatamala and the Panama Canal after that, then back for good on the 6th May to Fort Lauderdale.

Tonight we had a line rehearsal for our last performance tomorrow night. I lost my cool I'm afraid because the 'in' thing seems to be to lie on the floor, stretched out, with your face down and it was well nigh impossible to hear cues that were spoken in a muffled voice very, very fast into the floor. They were not chastised or asked to at the very least lift their heads so that we could hear them. I finally lost it and said 'I can't hear a bloody thing!'

Our director them 'suggested' they keep their heads up but it didn't really make much difference. I had to tell myself that these kids (and they truly are that) have little or no theatre experience and absolutely no idea of theatre discipline. But they can learn lines so that they can spout them fast and furious with not whole heck of alot of feeling. They are also little-girl sweet and Because, they say, I have this foreign accent they remember my lines which is useful! So does Emmett who learned his lines as a 'ghost'in about two or three days...fluently. His grandfather Alex told me that Emmett has a photographic mind and can recite back lines after reading them through once...amazing and sooo enviable.

Ah theatah! theatah! I had to watch the movie High School Musical for my Shakespeare class....apparently it's based on Romeo and Juliet....well it's pretty awful (Disney) and I think it's a bit of a stretch to claim that. The other students say it's targeting 10 year olds and they mostly despise the movie. I did watch Patrick Stewart's King of Texas and thought he was great in it (bsed on Lear) but the students were complaining about his American accent which I thought was superb.....but truly what do I know? They live there........

My next class project with 4 students is to do a short version of a Shakespeare play in the culture of one of the countries we have visited. We have decided on Othello in South Africa during the apartheid era. Just when I thought I could relax after our final performance!

The talent show in the Union tonight was pretty good... more about it tomorrow.

Our everchanging view and early sea travels

The first image was what I saw when I opened my eyes at 6 am this morning. The others, which in no way do it justice, are of last night's rainbow.

This ship was built for speed and we suspected that at night Captain Kingston ordered the stabilisers to be pulled in because we seem to roll as we swish along at speed and getting up during the night can be a sort drunken stagger if you're half asleep. So I collared him and asked and he confirmed our suspicions.

We had an interesting converation in which I discovered that he had spent his early years at sea working for the BI shipping line (British India) on which I had travelled as a child and adult on our way 'home' (UK) from India and many years later from Kenya. (I have counted up my sea voyages and they are nine or ten; India to the UK, UK to Zanzibar, Zanzibar to Bombay, Bombay to Cape Town, Cape Town to UK, Mombasa to UK, Lagos to UK , UK to Lagos, UK to Accra and Accra to UK.) And then, apart from cruises which don't count, there is this last voyage, nearly 4 months long from Miami, round the world to Fort Lauderdale. It explains why I feel so much at home on a ship. Of course sometimes we travelled by air to the various countries in which John and I lived and worked but our preference was always a sea voyage and with nearly three months home leave we had the time.

Two memorable voyages we took when I was a child were during the war (WW2). We sailed from Zanzibar to Bombay and Bombay to Cape Town at a time when there were submarines in the Indian ocean. The second crossing was made in convoy with other ships on the SS Britannic, which was also, at that time, partially a troop ship. I remember that as one of the only children on board I was spoiled with sweets and gifts and lots of attention. In retrospect I suspect these men were missing their own children or simply the normalcy of being part of a family. The gifts came particularly when I was 'out of action' with malaria.

I think of this voyage we're on now and the great pleasure of having children on board. There is one little girl of about two yrs old who is a real ship board child. She now walks happily with a sailor's gait and takes absolutely everything in her stride; boat drills, the huge crowded dining rooms, the swaying corridors, lining up to get passports, different countries and people..she never stops smiling. I don't think I have ever seen Elly cry! She is loved by all, students and others alike...

Later: Breakfast was a less amusing conversation this morning; Nilo, Theresa and Ted (director of The Persians) and myself. Our women-inspired (perhaps too lofty a word!) discussions have to shift focus somewhat if we are joined by a man and I always regret that. Interesting that there are things we would talk and joke about as women which are 'stifled' the moment a man joins the group...I suspect that this works both ways. (Feminism...or something..rears its ugly head!)

Something I feel inadequate to deal with and which happens frequently on board is the two way conversation at a table between four people, and it happens in larger groups. I am always tempted to quietly sneak away, however it is sometimes myself who has been engaged one way and I do feel trapped.

I have learned quite a bit about myself on this ship....my need for space and time out heading the list....then, my terrible sense of direction. ( It is really non existent..even on the ship!) If George says 'why don't you go off on your own' I panic, thinking, what if I get lost, what if I miss the ship, what if... what if...? This is definitely not the way I have felt before in my life when I would happily explore new places on my own. Perhaps advancing years play a part.

I have also enjoyed observing others. The most striking observation has been that some young people are unaware of the effect their actions have on others. It is not unusual in the dining room for instance for there to be a birthday party happening at one of the tables and there is not the slightest restraint in the excitement and noise emanating from that table; it is as though no one else was present in the room. Obviously birthday parties are fun. and should be. but the very fact that one becomes irritated and ultimately appalled at the racket is an indication of just how loud it is. Groups of students will gather on staircases, in corridors and in the narrow space where we line up for the meal buffets. They will not necessarily move, be aware of anyone attempting to pass or hear an 'excuse me'. When/if they do move aside they do so without a glance of acknowledgement, as if their position is an entitlement into which you are the intruder.

HOWEVER that said, there are students aboard this ship whom we have come to know and like enormously; they are sensitive, intelligent, mature and are, as one would expect from university students who have chosen to come on this long educational voyage, wonderful to interact with. They have great senses of humour and are unfailingly polite, good natured and un-spoiled. Many have worked very hard to be here and they have certainly reached a different level of maturity from those who Mummy and Daddy support most generously throughout the trip. I realise anew what a gift it is to give your children independence; my parents were certainly forced to give it to me and I think I passed it on to my own daughters willy nilly.....more by habit than good judgement. Fortunately I believe that our children forgive us more than we deserve!

Enough preaching...off to lunch on the deck to watch the albatrosses who are following the ship. Huge wing spans (up to 7 ft) skimming the sea-tops and swooping back and forth...lovely sight!

Another day gone by...15th April

Our first performance is over and actually went quite well....I think. Although have only chatted with a fw people who saw it and they were husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends or grandparents! Needless to say they were positive and generous.

Thank you so much to those who wished me break a leg I felt very supported and close to family and friends. You know it's a short play and my part's not huge...why do I always take theatre so seriously. Only George really understood my concern....and obviously some of you. Apparently someone cut a scene by two pages but, apart from thinking 'oh are we there already...good!' I didn't notice.... and that's bad. There are so many pages of declaiming, which I'm nor in and it might even have improved the play to cut a couple!

I have been trying to put a photo of a rainbow over the calm sea on the blog, but with no luck so far. It was a double and reflected in the sea, so almost a triple,.....absolutely beautiful. The light today has been wonderful; the sea looked like opaque glass with a pearl sky arching over it....yes one tends to wax poetical in this environment! I shall miss the sea and the sea sounds so much and views like this seen by just sitting on the balcony at any time of day. We are so lucky!

We lose an hour tonight and looking at the computer time I see that we are going to be 17 hours ahead of Ontario...it is now 24.34

Too late for the actor's nightmare I think....George isn't feeing 100%; what else but post nasal drip, which, despite the hundreds of hours of patient simulation he's done and the fact that he sometimes acts like a wannabe physician, is his diagnosis for everything! anyway he is sound asleep.....I need to be too with such a short night...

What a calm sea looks like!

The Persians...not geographically...

It is 11. 45 pm on Tuesday 14th and we have just finished our dress rehearsal. I can't tell you how terrified I feel about performing this play; my nerves are frayed just trying to keep up with the speed at which it is being done and understanding the American accents! It is bad enough doing Greek tragedy but rushing it so that the speech is almost garbled defeats me entirely. However I do think the fault is mine, my mind has slowed down probably. I think the student audience will possibly find it hilarious which was never the intention! When we were being directed in our curtain call tonight the chatter of the cast never ceased, the whoops and giggles almost drowned out the Director's words.....I guess we are alot more disciplined in Community theatre than I ever imagined. This whole experience has been a revelation to me; I honestly don't believe Canadian university students, interested in theatre would behave in this fashion...none that I have worked with anyway. That all said though, these are delightful 'kids' whom I like alot....perhaps the fault lies with the Director. There are two students who play messengers who are excellent, one in particular is outstanding. The director does not exert much authority, but again he is such a likeable guy. Lisbie and Dia....I need you and miss you! George has lent his voice (recorded) but otherwise has kept well away. However he is very supportive of his moaning, groaning wife!

Sorry! This must make deadly dull reading but I know so many of you will sympathise. As I said the weather is now gentle and warm and the sea calm again. We have another five days to Hawaii and I am enjoying the peace of no ports....but as you will have gathered I am looking forward to Saturday when the play will be behind us. If you read this on the 15th or 17th send me a 'Break a Leg'!

And now to sleep perchance to dream....the actor's nightmare?!

Attempt to show a rough sea 2 days ago!

Taken by me very unsteadily on Easter Sunday. There was a gale blowing and we hadn't yet secured our table and chairs. The storm finally abated after almost 48 hours!

Rough seas tonight

12th April update. 8.45 pm

We are in about the roughest seas we have had to date and the ship is bumping and yawing all over the place. If ever there was a night not to envy us this is it! As someone remarked it is like the North Atlantic in a storm...well this is a Pacific storm. We have been warned to put everything out of harm's way in our cabins and keep them clear because the forecast for over night is even worse!

The poor students have their Global Studies exam tomorrow and had hoped to get alot of studying done tonight: it might be difficult. The profs are concerned that there might be alot of sea sickness and excuse-me notes to deal with tomorrow as this weather is supposed to continue into the morning. Our rehearsal tonight was a line run sitting down!

George has already gone to bed and I am on my way, oops. we shuddered through a huge wave at that moment. Good night I know you will sleep more soundly than we will!

Th Grey Heron, Kyoto Japan

I thought you might enjoy this little snippet of video...taken by Emmett on my camera.

Coordinates: Yokohama to Honolulu

Time: 16.45

Lat: 33 degrees 36.9 N

Long; 160 degrees 24.19 E

Course: 100 degrees

Speed: 14.3 knots

Quiet days

2nd Easter Sunday, April 12th! After crossing the International Date line.

I totally forgot about Easter! Until I received an Easter Card on line from my middle daughter, Tessa, and her family. (Thank you Tess!) So to all of you who do celebrate this festival we wish a very happy Easter.

Sundays on board ship are ordinary working days with lectures, rehearsals and meetings so we tend to lose track of the rest of the world. It is common to hear someone asking 'What day of the week is this?' and there is often a discussion following as to which day it might possibly be!

Today is grey and windy and the roughest seas we have seen since before South Africa. We were so spoiled with our weather in South Africa, Mauritius, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and Japan...with hardly any exception the days have been bright and sunny. Of course there were times when the heat was overwhelming but lately the temperatures have been just right.

I painted the mask I made for the play today and that was fun. It is a mixture of black, white, grey (when they're mushed together) and teel blue highlights. I just hope I can see (without my specs) through the eye slits. As I mentioned before I am striving for anonymity!

George has been busy correcting essays and lecturing while I have lingered with friends over breakfasts, learned lines, read books and rehearsed. What a privilaged life I do lead....

Re the play of The Persians by Aeschylus this message is for Chris. The translation was done by Robert Potter and has been adapted by the director.

To misquote utterly...we shall wind our weaving way like snails to lunch.....

More pictures of Japan

About to pass under the huge suspension bridge on our way out of Yokohama harbour.

Kamata where Beth and I went shopping...between Tokyo and Yokohama

The view from the 7th deck at dusk in Yokohama

harbour. The sky scraper is supposed to be sail shaped and you see the top decks of the large ship that blocked our view!

The Japanese as you know love cameras and technology; they photograph everything.

The Japanese want to make sure you understand how to use a sit-down, not a squatter, toilet. Many are the latter through Vietnam, China and Japan....and no this is definitely not meant to be funny! They have the most sophisticated, warm seated toilets with more press-buttons than a jet plane.

More on Japan

Saturday continued.

On Thursday evening George and I had volunteered to help in welcoming some Japanese students, their English speaking professors and another group on board and showing them round the ship. (George will tell you that I volunteered him which is strictly true!) It was fun to meet the students and there were about 16 SAS students to welcome them also. I loved watching them interact without even the language to do it, somehow it worked and they took to each other like a house on fire. There were some very senior (in age) visitors who spoke excellent English and were volunteer tourist guides. (One of them gave me some stamps which I shall save for you Liam.) One of the students learning English had written down a whole lot of questions and cornered George to get answers....he of course enjoyed himself thoroughly after complaining that I had made him miss a baseball game in which the ever losing Yokohama team lost again!

Yesterday we spent near Mount Fuji, in fact we went up as far as one can by bus or car, the 5th station at 2,500 metres.

We left Yokohama at 7 am and travelled by bus. It took us nearly two hours through easy traffic and then into the higher ground the roads were quiet as we neared the mountain. The trees changed from deciduous to a mixture of pine and other evergreens and deciduous as we climbed. There were birch trees and of course the cherry trees laden with pink and white blossom. To cap all of this we had yet another perfect day. The temperature was about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky clear and blue. We could see the snow capped peak of the volcano called Mt Fuji (pronounced Huji) from miles away and people who spent the day in Tokyo could see it too....a distance of about about 50 miles. It was a magical day as we ascended in a cable car facing the mountain, walked around in the bright sunshine and clean mountain air and sailed on one of the five lakes nearby. There were so many ways to appreciate the beauty around us and when we finally climbed on to our bus (called Sea poodle!) we were satiated and sleepy. I think the students slept both ways! I keep thinking what an incredible experience this whole trip is for each of them....and for us.

We sailed out of Yokohama after a trying customs procedure (we had face to face interviews on arrival and departure and we were also finger printed when we first stepped ashore). George had discovered by chance that we would require our passports to board the ship....the purser happened to mention it to him so we both had ours. No one else knew and there was a great rush to fetch them off the ship and return to the huge customs hall. As they did that the Field office staff brought all the passports down to Customs in drawer fulls! George and I avoided that chaos thank goodness. Definitely an omission by the Assistant Dean's office to let passengers know what was to happen. Have I mentioned before that the Japanese are meticulous about security? However, always extremely pleasant and polite.

We are happily back at sea today and the students are quietly and intensely studying for their exams. We both so much enjoy this life on the ocean blue and were saying how much we are going to miss the constant sound of the sea. We have started to cross the Pacific and the film showing on our TV is all about Pacific tsunamis! After all the talk we heard about Japanese, and especially the Kobe, earthquakes they now feel we should be educated in Tsunamis. I have an earthquake phobia and have experienced one or two tremors, in BC and Hamilton, and did not want those thoughts to detract from my enjoyment of Japan but it was as though someone was determined to remind me....and now this?!

We perform The Persians on Wednesday and Friday of next week and we have had no rehearsal for days. It is also well nigh impossible to get the Union to rehearse in. I dread to think what this is going to be like and I am extremely nervous. As you can imagine there is a huge difference between rehearsing in a small classroom and performing in a spacious, sloping and quite possibly rocking room as the Union often is. Also we were not able to get the costumes we wanted so I suspect we shall be in long T shirts or sheets! Ah well this time next week it will all be over...

It is nearly five pm and time to repair to the Faculty lounge for drinks....another thing we are going to miss! The drinks we can easily get at home but we now require constant, entertaining and stimulating company each and every day at five....any volunteers?!

Off to put on my face.......

Japan (Continued) Yokohama and Mt. Fuji

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji again, Emmet and me.

Saturday, 11th April

We left Yokohama and Japan last night and it is great to be connected to our email again; it was turned off in Yokohama.

We had had two wonderful days in this last city and were sad to leave, especially as we now have nine straight days at sea without sight of land until Hawaii! Japan has both enchanted and infuriated us. It's efficiency, physical beauty and the sweetness and helpfulness of the people is never in question. However it is regimented, obedient to a million religious and government rules and meticulously but laboriously slow in transactions of any kind (especially banking) and, in comparison to other places we have visited, very expensive.

On Thursday Beth, (the University of Virginia and ship librarian, a most delightful woman and great companion) and I went into Kamata on the subway to do some shopping for handicrafts she needed. The shuttle to the station was 'not available' we were told by the smiling tourist information officer at the port so we walked rapidly through the town following a map until we found it. We had thought there was only one train for quite a long period and it was at 10 am so we were practically sprinting as the station came into sight (mentally anyway!), only to discover that we would be travelling by subway and there was one every five minutes or so. The town we needed was between Tokyo and Yokohama and only five stations away. We found it and the shop she had been told about and Beth was in seventh heaven. As we entered and saw the myriad of possibilities for her creativity her eyes lit up and she wandered around entranced and also confused as to what her ultimate decisions should be. There were silks and wools and fabrics of brilliant and subtle colours and designs; there were pieces of material with typically Japanese motifs cut into small squares for quilts and hangings and larger squares for whatever you choose. Although as most of you appreciate I am not at all creative in these particular ways. I was fascinated by these little pieces of fabric and actually bought two (!) which I just like feeling and looking at but have no idea what to do with! Beth was very constrained in her purchases because I think she was totally overwhelmed by the number of options open to her.

Almost an hour and a half after entering the store I found a little step ladder and sat down gratefully....there wasn't a chair in sight. Beth kept saying in her sweet Southern accent 'I just can't make up my mind but I'll only be a minute' I enjoyed seeing her so happy but my feet felt hot and uncomfortable and it was a relief to park myself somewhere. I did receive a few suspicious looks. It is probably against the etiquette rules in Japan to sit on a step ladder in public just as Beth had informed me it is not done to blow your nose....well! I had allergies to something and both eyes and nose were streaming at times so combine that with the step ladder and I was in trouble.

We eventually left the shop and made our way out into the streets to look for a Japanese lunch. We found a little food bar and sat on stools eating soup and noodles with chopsticks; you can perhaps imagine the hilarity! Later, while strolling through one of the malls, we found ourselves back in the subway station so decided this was a sign that we should start going back to Yokohama. We were feeling by this time so confident moving from city to city without peering at maps....such a dead giveaway that you're struggling tourists. We boarded the next 'blue' train(we knew that was the colour of 'our' line) to come into the station and prayed we were going in the right direction....we were but didn't know for certain until we saw a station name that we remembered from going the other way!

I have decided that you can travel absolutely anywhere in the world with confidence if you have a compatible companion....or George. My sense of direction is very helpful....always go in the opposite direction to the one I suggest, you can't fail. However as I'm the only person who really has to experiment with my own compass it's just as well I have learned to ask the way and ask again if necessary to reach my destination. Not having a 'bump of location' is one of the great unrecognised disabilities of the world. ( I have a global perspective these days you notice!)

I am blethering (to use a good Scots word) so will shower no and go to breakfst.

I think the photos of Mount Fuji speak for themselves and I have taken a few of the Japanese I saw doing their own thing. Emmet, who doesn't have a camera of his own, loves borrowing mine and taking photos of George and me (in front of some thing or other to prove we were there....he says) so I thought he should be included.

More later.......

Images of Kyoto

These photos are some of our visual treats yesterday, except of course for the one of Nilo, Theresa and myself (we were visual treats for the Japanese?!). The three young women may be Geishas in training, we were not sure. We did see Geishas but they were very surrounded by other photographers and a treat for the tourists so I only managed a distant shot of them. The little girl was so intrigued by George and me eating our picnic lunch her mum couldn't get her to look away. ( She was good enough to eat Frances!) The bird stalking in the water and catching fish was a Grey Heron.

A day in Kyoto

I love Japan! The people are wonderful; helpful, kind, humorous and sweet. After only two days in Kobe and Kyoto that is our verdict....and that's not the Royal pleural it is the majority view on board the Explorer.

We have had our second glorious day in Japan, this time spent in Kyoto.....of the Kyoto Accord which hasn't been mentioned once by the citizens of the one nation which refuses to sign it! We have not been aware of any pollution since we arrived. Of course that doesn't mean there isn't any, but in any comparison to Chennai, Saigon or Shanghai, Kobe and Kyoto win hands down.

We had a wonderful little guide today (I'm even small for a Japanese woman she said), her name was Rumi. She worked so hard to make sure we saw everything beautiful there was to see in Kyoto: palaces, temples and gardens and the breathtaking display of cherry blossom everywhere. We seemed to walk for miles and miles but until the very end of the day when we took off to a little tea house where George had a beer and our young friend 14 year old Emmet and I (from Montreal, on board with his grandparents, very bright indeed and seems to enjoy us for some reason) shared a delicious dish of what looked like golden, transparent noodles in vinegar and mustard (and no we don't know what it's called!)because we were all feeling exhausted. You could choose to sit on the floor at low tables but we decided we might never get up again so sat on normal height chairs. Emmet and I caused great amusement as you can imagine using our chopsticks on our very slippery fare. However we earned the thumbs up sign as we slurped the last remnants of our bowls from three young women at the next table!

Words can't adequately describe the delicacy and beauty of the rocks, cherry blossom, the green pine trees (all like larger Bonsais) and the water which surround the Budhist and Shinto temples we saw today..... The Shogun's palace was beautifully designed outside and in, with smooth wooden and tile floors, rice paper paned windows and rich dark wooden walls. The rooms were large airy and sparsely furnished and decorated with beautiful murals of nature....again the three elements rocks, water and greenery with additional birds and animals. The roofs are in the pagoda style which we associate with Japan, often intricately carved under the wooden eaves and on the curlicuews edging the roof. The temples are similar in design but always with the smell of smoke and incense inside, colourful paper lanterns and prayer flags outside...the smooth floors here were much appreciated as we had to take our shoes off at times.

But surrounding everything, as I mentioned before, the exquisite gardens. Here (they will come out above) I hope are some photos.