People

January 10, 2008 en route to Manta, Ecuador

OK…I know you are all wondering about the people on this trip. Of all the places and events that I discussed on my last trip, without question, the most often heard comment was “MORE about the crazy people on board.”

Well there is good news and bad news. The good news AND the bad news is that there doesn’t seem to be as many crazy ones here this year as there was last year…at least, so far!

Well, that’s not completely true. There is “big lips”…a 60ish? 70ish? Recently divorced brunette with short cropped curly hair who has the biggest reddest lips I have ever seen. Collagen? (Sp???) You think! And those lips aren’t the only thing she has had done either….we all heard all about it yesterday on the tender back to the boat….a new divorce, newer and bigger boobs, a tuck here a tuck there…she is traveling alone and on the prowl….for a younger man…she has already spotted one of the very young Dutch crew members. Tonight, a formal night, she was posing for the on-board photographer like there was no tomorrow. I can’t wait to see those pics on the board.

Then there is the “Big Hat Wig” Lady. Her name is some double initial thing like CC or DD or GG or something like that. She wears the funniest and cheapest wig I have ever seen and if that isn’t enough she plops some god awful canvas type hat (many that are bedecked with those silly travel pins and people seem to like to collect)…a new one each day… on top of that terrible wig. She wears this wig and hat all day every day wherever she is. With her loud and broad accent, deep with too many years of smoking and strong whiskey, I assume she hails from Texas. I overheard her as she exclaimed with rather exaggerated gestures to a large group of mostly uninterested people that she had already had a “knock-down-drag-out-pissin’ contest” with two of her table mates…people that she had decided didn’t deserve to be sittin’ with her anyway.

Then there is the other “Hat Lady” I just spotted her today and look forward to what I know is going to be a colorful lady! She apparently is at the end of my corridor, for as I was coming out of my room at 8 o’clock this morning this vision of black and gold passed before me. I had to look twice. It was 8 in the morning and she was sashaying to the atrium with this long-flowing black chiffon like dress…handkerchief hem and sequins…wearing gold slippers AND a tight-fitting fully sequined (quarter sized sequins!) cloche or tam atop the brightest and frizziest red hair I have ever seen. I mean I just stood there and looked at her and thought they are never going to believe this back home. I can’t wait to see her tomorrow….because I can just tell that she is going to be a character!

But, as always for all the characters, there are the great people too. My friends, I call the “Canadians” are great….we share a table at dinner and many good laughs, meals, and adventures at other times. Beautiful Marguerite travels with Rudy, while Isabelle and George are together. (We celebrated George’s birthday tonight with champagne in their room before our formal dinner complete with birthday cake and ice cream). I am so lucky to have met these fine people last year and to be able to travel with them again this year. (Marguerite and Rudy are on the left of the picture I have posted and I am standing behind George with Isabelle at his side).

Bernice is another new friend I am cultivating. She hails from somewhere in Florida and is seated at our table at night. This being her 69th cruise, she has traveled the world and knows a lot about a lot of places….and is a delightful dinner companion that I look forward to getting to know better.

I have also met Lane…a seemingly great guy from Calgary Alberta. Lane is an accountant who works for a while and travels for a while. He seems like a delightful man…we seem to have chosen the same excursions and have enjoyed seeing these great spots so far.

I am a member of a great trivia team…we call ourselves “Team One”…So far we have won two or three of the four or five games we have played thanks, in great part, to Bob and Kay who seem to know most everything, and Chuck and Sue who know the rest. Pete and I just fill in occasional gaps and take home the prizes.

So, I know it sounds like camp for adults…and in some ways it is…but it is fun. I will do my best to keep all posted on the antics of the people on board. No doubt, the crazies will appear….stay tuned!