FEBRUARY 20, 2008 RABUAL

The sea has been so flat, the ship simply glides along. When the sun rose this morning, it was really B R I G H T ! There are seven volcanos on this little island and two are active so we were greeted with two plumes of differing sizes rising straight up into the air. There are also some rubbish fires near the beach.
The harbor lives up to its reputation for service in WWII. It is ample in size and well protected from the open sea.
The ship is here today from 8 am to 5 pm. There are two tours: one to the volcano(s) and the other for war sites. We will walk around the small village on shore for a while slathered in lots of sunscreen and with heads well covered. Because we are in port, the activities are slim and almost all confined to sedate or intellectual pursuits.
THANK YOU to Pat for the newsy email to Ed. I am impressed with his Executive Administrator style and concise writing.

FEBRUARY 19, 2008

OCEAN: It is so smooth in this area that when I awoke in the night it was almost like being in port. This afternoon, it is still that way. It’s very humid and overcast. Given the time of year and the typhoons or monsoons, we may see a lot of days like this. Nonetheless, one can’t afford to ignore sunblock and bug spray.
GUADALCANAL & RABAUL: Prof. Giles reviewed the history of the war and battles in this area and then showed us photos, often a before (during WWII) and now comparison, of the places and war materiel in the area. This would be a great place to scuba dive as there are numerous ships and planes on the ocean floor in this area, both American and Japanese. He obviously is very fond of the natives at Rabaul if one goes by the photos he shows. They all speak English and many live in places created during the war. Both sides of the conflict lived in caves to avoid bombing. A full hospital was underground in many places.
He told a story of being in this area on another Princess ship and narrating from the bridge. The Captain made some comment about the volcano(s) here and lo and behold, it blew up while the ship was there. Maybe we’ll have a little excitement while we’re there. We could add a volcanic eruption to our list of exciting events we’ve seen.
We have a good size group of WWII veterans on board and when the speaker says anything sympathetic to the Japanese who were abandoned by their government, one fellow behind us would say “tough” and other similar remarks. I had mixed feelings about this: I understand where that’s coming from, but it’s time to move on.
There are two tours tomorrow, neither of which interest us so we’ll just get off and wander around on our own.
EMAIL: I am pleased to see that Dr. Lou Rubino is doing a powerpoint presentation about Ellen’s contributions to the China exchanges at the China Banquet. I’ve asked if he will post it somewhere so that others can view it as well.
LIBRARY: It’s so quiet and peaceful here. Folks here and there reading the 1 page newspapers we have here: Australian, UK, USA. Others putting jig saw puzzles together wordlessly. In another area, WiFi is being used with folks’ laptops, and still others are doing the crossword puzzle for today. Amber, a cruise staff member from India, is present for several hours to help folks,
There is a paperback exchange for folks to choose some books; not all of them are paperback; there are a nice selection of hardcover books too. As is usually the case, there are more books each day as more contributions are made.
SUNBATHERS: We have a solid core of folks who fry everyday around the pool. Their skins look like old leather and they really look weird with white or blond hair.
TRIVIA: They’ve moved this event to 15 min. earlier which is a good idea since it now ends just before lunch. Val and Eric were there along with the couple from yesterday. I now have an ethical conflict because the wife in the latter couple writes the questions on a yellow pad she carries, but in the back she has some cheat sheets. For example, there are often questions about phobias and I think I see a list of these with their definitions. They are in teeny tiny font size.
This is pathetic in my opinion beside the ethical concern I have. I don’t want to play with her. It doesn’t really help in the long run; kind’ve like students who want an open book test: by the time they find the answer in their book, they could have successfully answered a number of questions. So maybe I’ll ambush the local padre to see what if anything I should do about this.
RABBIT FOOD: I went to the buffet and got some fruit and rabbit food for lunch. There I talked with a couple who had been on the Prinsendam 2 yrs ago (we were on it last year) and the same captain is really a special person and absolutely perfect for his job.
While I was getting these nibbles, I saw Marty Allen in line; he and his wife are doing the show tonite. We saw him on the Prinsendam last year and he’s still as funny at 85 as he ever was. His wife is 20 yrs younger and talented as well (piano and singing). I’m looking forward to it.
I also ran into my now favorite Republican and his wife. They were finishing up lunch and were going to start playing Triominos. Too bad Ed doesn’t like table games. I love them.
CHICAGO: This is the movie for today so I came back to the room where Ed was laying down watching CNN. He was agreeable to watch this again. One of the best movies we never tire of seeing.
READING: I’m back to Iberia by Michener and enjoying it as much as one can enjoy a text. I’m learning so much about Spain and it will be interesting to see what is still true when we are in Barcelona and the Gibraltar area.
DINNER: Hank has a cold and they had had lunch so they didn’t come to dinner. The seating places changed and this configuration, with couples at each end of the oval, made it much more difficult to have a conversation that included the couples at both ends simultaneously. I felt conflicted in trying to include all in a conversation but without much success. The men at both ends have hearing problems (well many of the rest of us have decrements in this area too) and that complicated it even further. One tolerates this more than the other it seems.
ENTERTAINMENT: This was Marty Allen and his wife. We saw them last year on the Prinsendam. The skit was the same but with some more up to date aspects added. Still, while I recognized it, I didn’t remember all that much of it. It was a good show and folks seem delighted with it.
Tonite was Country hoedown night but JJ said only 6 people were showing up for the 10 to midnight dancing. They do rearrange the times of the show on the nights before we have a port stop and that helps everyone.