vacation days - December something - Barbados I think

Tuesday
We are headed to Dominica - Do-mi-nee-ka, NOT the Dominican Republic. Dominica is a lush rainforest piled on top of a small volcano. I am fighting with the wireless connection onboard and losing, losing. Bloody, but unbowed, I will continue until I can get a message out to you, my dear friends.

Yesterday in St. Thomas was what cruises are all about. We hit the mall right off the dock and finished up almost all of our Christmas shopping,(still need a cardigan for mom) then had lunch on board, and caught a taxi for Magen’s Bay on the other side of the island - Away from the crowds and the shops and the bargains and the madness (three big cruiseliners docked at the same time, dumpin a total of about nine thousand tourists into the jewelry and liquor stores of the downtown area.)

The bay was white sand and shady trees and warm turquoise water. Ok, there was also a restaurant / bar with a bikini’ed waitress who wandered up and down the beach delivering rum punch to the happy sunbathers. DH and I just spread our towels on the sand and headed for the surf like salmon on the way upstream to spawn. Oh bliss! Oh joy! Eightyfive degree water, salty, clear and buoyant. Soft white sand sloping gently down to deep water. Blue sky and the man I love better than life itself. I floated on my back like a large white cork and rejoiced that I have lived long enough to know such pleasure. And I kissed him several times. We wound up standing about shoulder deep, and rising and falling with the swells. With my handy female flotation layer (subcutaneous fat), all I had to do was was keep a little air in my lungs. DH, having that dense masculine muscle tissue had to do a little work to keep his head above water, so eventually he tired, and we headed back toward shore. Which is when we saw Donald.

I have been collecting photos for AWW, but the watching is frequently obscured by saggy shorts and baggy t-shirts. But Donald – Donald was camera fodder. I snatched mine up and asked if he minded if I took his photo. He posed quite happily, and his wife complimented me for having the cohones and the courtesy to ask. Then I explained about AWW and asked if I could get a dorsal view. “You want to put a picture of my ass on the internet?” he asked. “That’s right. Do you mind?” I asked. He leaned over and murmured, “Don’t look now, but the thought turns me on.” I didn’t look, just jumped behind him and snapped the picture.

And then he wouldn’t leave me alone. I introduced him to my husband, but Donald was not dissuaded. He wanted to know more about AWW and was I really going to post his ass on the internet and on and on, so I said, “If you will give me your e-mail address, I’ll send my blog address to you.” When he staggered off to find paper and pen, DH looked at me and said, “What’s the mating call of the common blonde?” I laughed and replied, “I’m so DRUNK! I’m so DRUNK!” DH grinned and said, “Donald looks awfully blonde to me.”
And did you notice, even though he could scarely keep his feet out there in the ocean, he never spilled a drop of his rum punch?”

{So Donald, if you really do look up AWW, then check back and read more of the blog, I see you as an amiable, importunate, but harmless party boy. }

Then a squall blew over. Most of the people ran and huddled under the trees, Donald included. DH and I enjoyed the freshwater shower till it got too chilly. Then we went into the ocean to warm up. To anyone who is used to the North Pacific, the notion of the ocean being warmer than the air is totally counter intuitive! We were having such a good time that we found it hugely entertaining.

Time to return to the ship. Stop at the little deli and pick up pate’ and crackers, then invite Idad, Ymom, Ababe and Gdude into our cabin for snackies. They brought fruit. We feasted till it was time to change for dinner.

I wore one of the new outfits I bought in San Juan. Strangers came up to me and complimented me. WOW!

Our assigned table was in the rear of the ship. Fabulous view. Unfortunately, it was kind of rough, and there was a LOT of movement. I ran to the ship shop and got seabands for everyone, but it was too late. I was the only one who wasn’t queasy by the end of the evening.

So much for Monday.

Tuesday, later - Finally asked the guy in charge of the ship’s internet why I can’t get on line. He reported that the ship-wide-wi-fi had gone down in the night and wouldn’t be up and running till Wednesday at least. I haven’t been blogging, but IT’S NOT MY FAULT!

So today, Tuesday, we took a river tubing trip. Squeeeee! Stunning scenery! They filmed Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3 in Dominica. When they are rowing up a river to see Calypso, That’s the river we came down in innertubes. Grand fun! Nice little category 2 rapids at the worst, with lots of long, serene stretches to coast along and enjoy the awesome scenery. Warm air, crystal clear tepid water, happy little birdies, busy freshwater crabs waving at us from the shore , and then the river drops another 3 feet or squeezes through a narrow place, and our anxiously hovering guides were right there, making sure that we got through the splashy parts completely unscathed. I squealed with glee and kicked my feet and had to be told several times not to try to paddle myself about. My inner six year old had the best time in the world!

Now, I am sitting on the balcony, watching passengers coming and going, and listening to the various bands who have set up for the entertainment of the tourists. On one side we have “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” on the steel drum, and on the other side, we have an all tomtom group of drummers chanting, “We wish you a merry Christmas,” over and over and over, quite tunelessly, in something like 7/12 rhythm.

Dominica is quite poor. Their primary source of income is bananas which they ship to the UK. Secondary source is tourism which is slow to come, and equally slow to develop. Aand I dunno why that should be, because it is a beautiful, beautiful place! It rains 364 days a year, they say, but I think they’re understating the case. It has rained four times since I’ve been sitting here. And right now I can see a big fat rainbow crawling like a landbound nudebranch up the hillside.

DH is still under the weather, and I am loving just sitting here and watching the world, so a quiet afternoon seems to be in the cards for us. Tonight, our first formal dinner. Tomorrow, Barbados.

Vacation day – Wednesday I think – This might be Barbados, yeah, I think it is.

Another rough night. This time I went to the ship store and bought drugs for DH . Bonine is supposed to be like Dramamine only less drowsy-making. If he were any drowsier, he would be comatose and hooked up to input and output tubes. He is sleeping like he has been shot and stuffed. We didn’t have anything scheduled for Barbados, and the weather looks pretty rainy, so I think this is a great time to spend a lazy day on the ship.

DH and I always go to the shore excursion talks, and this time, DH won a free facial and I won a free beach trip. Well, I wasn’t too keen on going to an open bar beach bash, so I gave away my beach trip, and he gave the facial to me. I took it today and feel ever so pampered. I’m not about to spend $126 for the moisturizing mask, $66 for the toner, $83 for the cream cleanser, and $79 for one ounce of the eye-lift gel, so I probably will never look this expensive again. The eye-lift gel feels rather as if I have plastic rings painted around my eyes. I can blink, but I feel it clear up to my eyebrows and down to my cheekbones. Weird what we do for beauty.

Formal night was such fun! I love seeing what people wear. There are a number of black ladies on board who wore gorgeous ethnic dresses. One was black and gold, with a standing shoulder cuff of gold and black cutwork that was just stunning. And me on the far side of the room and no way to get to them to ask for photos. But I did get one of an Hispanic princess.

Gdude wore the suit his dad had worn when he married Ymom. It’s a beautiful grey suit, and Idad could just about get the jacket on, but buttons would be out of the question. It fit his son perfectly, and he looked pretty hot in it.

I am so enjoying traveling with this family. We knocked at their stateroom door to see if they ready, and Idad opened the door to us. Ymom was just finishing lacing Ababe into her dress, and it was such a sweet, feminine, mother-daughter moment to witness. Wish I had gotten full-length photos, because they looked so beautiful. Ababe was wearing a strapless dress, purple with a black lace overdress and fitted like a dream. She has creamy skin, lovely shoulders and a bust of such beauty that in Japan, people used to come up to her, touch her breasts and ask if they were real. She had purple beads and one little purple flower braided into her hair and she was just exquisite. Ymom wore a black dress cut with a v to the waist in back. The neckline was trimmed with white chiffon which also formed a fishtail train. She has naturally curly dark hair which she wore loose in a midnight cloud over her shoulders. Flawless back, slender figure, and a cast on the right foot from knee to toe. And even with that, she was turning heads.

I wore lavender chiffon with a handkerchief hem and a floaty, flyaway coat. I kept my back straight and thought elegant thoughts and managed to feel rather pretty myself.

Blogger will not post my photos. Crap!