day 17

sendiri. that is hello in indonesian.
i am learning a few phrases from my cabin steward, putu.

did i tell you that americans are a minority on the boat? i forget what i've written versus what i've chatted on the phone about.
anyway, the entertainment department is comprised mainly of people from english speaking countries. the officers are italian. and everything else is a big mix.

am off the boat in the cayman islands for the first time. lots of tourist shops and pricey places immediately. just beyond that i went for a walk along the opposite running roads with hit-and-miss sidewalks.
most notable here for me is the flora. cannas, hibiscus, and a plethora of other plants i have never seen before. i stop and touch their wafer thin petals, saturated with color. otherwise, the vegetation is not my style - too dry.

a couple of days ago in miami i bought a bunch of sunblock, finally. have been very careful about the sun because i wasn't able to apply it everywhere, so i waited until i bought spray block. i got some and applied it yesterday and laid out.
and got a sun burn. turns out i was not as successful with my application as i had thought.
so i got burned in a literal and figurative way.

the pianist, victor, tells me that christmas and new years on the boat are way better than going home. he also says that vacation time from the boat (when you are between contracts) is more like work to him and that being on the boat is actually his vacation. he's the first person who has been here a few contracts that i've heard say this.
i like to think it will be this way for me, at least for awhile. i'm sure, like many people, that if i return for multiple contracts that some of the luster will wear off.
but so far so good. just keeps getting richer - in a spiritual... and financial way.

let me know if any of you wanna skype chat and we'll set up a date. i can do this on days that i am in port (sunday, tues, wed, thurs, fri) usually before 3pm est. well, at the moment i know of good places on sunday, tues, and fri. haven't actually been to internet cafes on wed and thurs yet. and actually tues and fri are better than sunday.

heh.

love and humidity,
jamie