Nov 16-22

Odds and Ends

Of course many travelers have much more experience than me, but for those who share my 'foreign' language limitations, I am wondering if you have experienced what I will call a 'don't speak the language fatigue'. Cartagena is our eleventh port, and Spanish follows French, German, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Russian as 'local tongues' (besides English dialects, in London and Dublin). We arrive in a port, and perhaps have a street map provided by the port authority, and some recalled 'this and thats' from members of the crew or teaching staff from previous visits, but no master plan, and no 'designated facilitator'. So we, as individuals, strike out to find internet sites, bus schedules, bus and train stations, supermarkets, major
tourist spots, etc, and cope as best we can with a smile, hand gestures, and good intentions. It is not without its stressful moments.

On a related theme, I enjoy reading newspapers. While I generally don't buy the ones with 'today's sunshine girl', or UFO abduction stories - I just look at the pictures - it is limiting, to have no English language papers, magazines, or books on offer. Sure, I visit the globeandmail.com, but it is not the same thing. (Now it is true, with this port being on the Mediterranean, there are a few British papers popping up on the stands for the tourist trade.)

The Cartagenan public works department was out in full force this morning. One crew were affixing the Christmas angels, shepherds and so on to the street light poles, while another group was cutting the grass and tending the flower beds in the boulevard across from the marina.

The Spanish are much like Canadians. People of all ages were lining up to pay the 'head tax on the stupid' - that is, to buy lottery tickets, of all shapes and sizes. That pretty accurately describes the sales force as well - I saw a midget doing a brisk business on the high street aided by his sales pitch exhortations rendered in a whiney auctioneer type stream of, well, Spanish. And there was a heavy weight husband and wife team - I'd say 250 pounds each - set up on a competing street corner. I didn't actually see a marriage license, but there is something about the body language of some couples that tells you they are hitched.

Cartagena to Palermo, November 16-22

Fair weather and little wind has characterized our first day or two out. As I write this note, Alger, Algeria is over the horizon on starboard, Menorca on port, with Sardinia straight ahead and 100 miles distant. Adam, the first mate, gives us briefings at Colours each morning on our speed, wind conditions and other pertinent facts. This morning he offered the reassurance that there have been only eight cases of documented piracy in these waters over the past ten years! Hum.

This evening (Sunday) we had a thanksgiving dinner. It had been scheduled to be exactly half-way between the Canadian and American dates, but that would have put it in the middle of our stomach flu period, so tonight was the night. We teachers set table, served, and did all the clean up. Jan cooked the dinner and it was excellent, including a pineapple pieces fondue (in lieu of pumpkin pie.) I'd finish the day with a shower, but we are under sail now on a port tack and the way we are heeled over the shower water would go where it mustn't. It is a tough tack to shave on as well, but convenient for sleeping as it holds me in my bunk. The wind is steadily increasing so I expect a fairly rough ride by morning!

Morning (November 19th) has arrived, and we have every square inch of sail the Concordia possesses pressed into duty. The wind is moderate and is forecast to 'back' to south-east as the morning progresses. This is an inconvenient wind direction for our present destination, so we will be making excellent speed but having to 'zigzag' to get there. I have been meeting with my watch group (I am their 'watch dog', remember) to make plans for a Palermo outing. A story in the latest Time magazine mentions Palermo prominently as a central city in the mafia hierarchy. Perhaps we could take a tour of some of their reputed businesses -protection, money laundering, drugs, prostitution, etc.

During the night I felt a change in heading, and the ship went into what I have been known to call 'bracelet day' mode - that is, carnival ride after carnival ride, all for the same price! This morning is sunny, with high seas. The wind is into our teeth so we are motoring. All the sails are down. I don?t know the wind speed but it is such that it is blowing the tops off the waves. I wore my 'foulies' to Colours as spray is coming across the deck. The wind is forecast to pick up throughout the day. Sardinia is a smudge on the port-side horizon. My tummy is just fine but I expect to see some 'green' faces in my classes today!

We will arrive in Palermo in a couple of hours (morning of November 22nd). Thankfully the seas have abated from their grand performance stature of the last couple of days. Yesterday was one of my least comfortable days of the entire journey. At one point waves were breaking on the deck and proceeding right over the mess, so that my early morning class there required the 'windows' to be tightly closed to protect books and papers on the tables. My usually reliable stomach had had enough of this churning by mid-morning and did the honourable thing. A nap through lunch (food was not a realistic option) stabilized things and by supper time bread and soup were welcome.

We watched The Godfather in the mess to get in the mood.