Days at Sea

For those of you that wanted me to write fewer words and for Bob to post more pictures, here is a more concise synopsis of our sea days.  The person who made this request shall remain nameless (hint:  our son who is the youngest and runs the fastest :)  Here ya go:

The water changes colors as we sail south and we love watching the flying.  We've heard lots of great lectures by important and interesting people.  The food continues to be delicious.  Entertainment is fun.  When we crossed the equator we had a big party.
OK, now you can skip the rest of the narrative and scroll down to the pictures :)

Now, for those of you who wanted a more complete narrative, here's the details of how we spent the last few days at sea:

We're on our way to American Samoa.  I am absolutely in awe of this vast Pacific Ocean.  It is taking us a full week to sail from Hawaii to Samoa.  As we sail for days and days without seeing anything except water, I realize what a small speck we are in this world.  Make me appreciate the incredible nature of our beautiful planet and our almighty God who created it.  When we are in our room I am usually sitting on our balcony, reading and enjoying the water and waves created by our ship as we sail along.  Just when I think the water can't get any more beautiful, it does! When we left the cool waters in Los Angeles the water was gray and not at all clear.  As we got closer to Hawaii the water was a deeper blue.  Now, as we sail south towards Samoa, the water is turning a lighter, very clear shade of turquoise. l We see lots of flying fish.  At first I thought they might be birds, but birds wouldn't be this far from shore.  These fish are small with long tails and they fly above the water for periods of up to 45 seconds.  Then, the dip into the water and swim again!!! A few days ago we watched many, many of them flying around at once.  What an incredible sight!!! Had I not seen it I would find it hard to believe.

We have had some great experiences onboard.  We've heard lectures from an expert on his history and cultures of the Hawaiian Islands.  He is a professor at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  Lately, we've had the pleasure of listening to lectures by Ambassador Edward Peck, who is an expert in current affairs.  He has served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, was Deputy Director of President Reagan's Task Force on Terrorism, and was an Embassy Officer in Sweden, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt.  He was the Ambassador to Iraq and Mauritania.  He is an entertaining and informative speaker and we have really enjoyed listening to his talks.  Our destination specialist gives lectures about each country just before we visit so we have an idea of its history, geography, culture and major sites.  It's great to know something about the places before we visit them.

Some of the international chefs have given us demonstrations of their various specialties.  So far, Bob and I have attended only the one of truffles, but it was quite and fun and DELICIOUS session :)

The entertainment onboard has been outstanding.  We have heard concerts by classical pianist Hyperion Knight (yes, that's really his name.  His parents were hippies who lived in San Francisco). His concerts are really interesting because he breaks down each classical piece before he plays it and explains what is happening, so that when we're listening we are able to understand it better.  Really an entertaining artist.  We've also been treated to a couple of concerts by Declan Zapala, a guitarist who is known for his fusion of guitar and percussion.  Really exciting to watch him play.  He has an example of his music online if you're interested.  Very unique approach.  Finally, our guest artists also
include Francisco Yglesia, who plays the Paraguayan harp.  Yes, I know.  When I first heard harpist I wondered how we were going to sit through an hour of solo harp playing.  However this guy is remarkable.  He belonged to a famous group called called Los Paraguavos. They recorded songs such as Guantanamera.  The most entertaining song was Milk Train, in which he made his harp sound like a train.  I didn't think he could do it but he was quite remarkable and it really did sounds like a train rolling along on the tracks.

When we crossed the equator a few days ago there was a ceremony onboard with King Nepture as the star! You see, we have to get permission from King Neptune (otherwise known as our Cruise Director, Fernando) to pass over the equator.  Those of us who are crossing for the first time are Pollywogs and those who have crossed before are termed Shellbacks.  Some of the Pollywogs were selected for initiation which included being tricked into kissing a huge, slimy fish, having raw eggs cracked over their heads, and having a whipped cream pie smashed in their faces.  Previously, some passengers have been thrown in the pool.  Luckily, Bob and I escaped without having to endure the initiation.  Now, all of us are considered Shellbacks and we have permission from King Neptune to continue our journey.  Yay!!!!

I'll write again after we visit Samoa.