Well we have begun the 6 day run towards San Diego, and all seems to be going OK. It was a mostly sunny day with temps in the low 80's. It did cloud up in the late afternoon, but so far, no rain. For that we are glad.
We had a little surprise on our veranda early this morning. Opening the drapes, we spotted a bird that had taken refuge on our deck. It appears to be a bridled tern, and possibly injured. We could not see anything visibly wrong with it, but obviously that is not a normal behavior. It did not seem to have any fear of us , although we did not go outside to check it. Sometimes, these birds are attracted to the lights that are on during the night. Usually they fly into a window by accident, so we don't know if that was the case today. On our way to breakfast, we informed our room steward that we had an unexpected visitor. He promised to check it out. When we returned an hour later, the bird was gone.
Working on photos and reports, we spent most of the morning in the room. There was another 10am brunch in the dining room, which we never attend. In a way, that gives the early morning waiters a chance to sleep in a little later, we assume. That meal lasts until 12:30pm, and there is no regular lunch served in the dining room. It's like a 2 for 1. Of course, there is always the Lido breakfast and lunch.
Our biggest project of the day was washing our shoes. After a day of walking the roads and the detour with the construction, our tennis shoes were noticeably soiled. Using the bathtub worked quite well, although it may take a day or so for them to dry. Putting them outside helped when the sun hit our deck. Otherwise, with the high humidity, they take forever to dry. Good thing we remembered to bring spare shoes.
Before we are out of the tropics, it is a good time to mention the practice of tattoos. The word "tattoo" comes from the Tahitian word tautau or tattow, the actual sound made by the tapping of their ancient tools. It is believed that the reason for these permanent markings of the skin was indicate hierarchy or one's rank within a society. It could indicate sexual maturity, family lines, and one's interests. Tahitian tattoos are based on the four elements of Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire. They are meant to give each and everyone their own identity.
When the Europeans brought Christianity to the South Pacific, tattoos were frowned upon. They were banned and considered a desecration of the body. After years of suppression tattoos have returned as cultural symbols of Polynesia. These days, you see them everywhere in every country.
The main tool used was a comb of sharp needles carved from a bone, shark teeth, or seashell. The second tool was a wooden stick to tap over the comb, puncturing the skin thus inserting the pigment or ink. This would take two sets of hands, since the skin had to be stretched for the artist to tap in the ink. Must have been painful, but both men and some women did it. Mostly the men.
In Samoa, the tattoos were geometric patterns representing people, animals, seagulls and centipedes. Typically the Samoan warrior would have tattoos that began at the waist, then extended to just below the knee. In Tonga, the patterns were geometric patterns of triangles and bands of solid black. Once again they went from the waist to the knees. In some cultures such as New Zealand, the Maoris will tattoo their faces to appear fierce to their enemies. It works. Will there be tattoos in our future? No way Jose…..
We sent some time at the aft pool enjoying the nice weather. While there, a good friend joined us and we chatted for a while. Then Captain Paul came on the speakers for his daily report. He mentioned that the sea swells were between one and two meters, and there was a current preventing us from achieving the speed of 18 plus knots for the moment. We were doing around 17 knots, and would eventually need to make up the lost time in the following days. None of us wishes to be arriving late to San Diego with all of the flights and travel plans set now.
Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill, which we did enjoy more since we had skipped lunch today. It was a bit of a surprise to see the restaurant full of customers this evening. Anton came out to greet us in the hall, asking permission to delay our seating for a few minutes. It seems that someone had accidently given our table away, not that our name is on it, but he knows we like the window tables. This time we were seated in the booth next to the window tables. Not a big deal, we were happy to be seated. The service was a little slower than usual, but we did get our usual salads and bacon starters. Both of us ordered the lamb chops with a side of fully loaded baked potatoes. Very good as always, we split an almost Baked Alaska for dessert.
We also had a time change of ½ hour forward tonight. Now we only have one more hour to go to be on home time. Everyone received the notice about the process of going home concerning luggage tags and times to debark. More details will arrive in a few days from now. There was an invitation to a mariner's brunch on Saturday as well. And tonight, Joice the assistant hotel manager, found us at dinner and said we were invited to a special event tomorrow for the seven President's Club members. She said another invite had been sent, but we did not find it by 9:30pm. We will have to hunt her down and ask the details tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
