Hurricane Cherie

I survived a hurricane yesterday.  Well, not a hurricane exactly, but the captain did say there were “hurricane force winds”.  The waves were up to 40 feet high.  Our ship was rocking and rolling like an Elvis impersonator.  My hubby, Rob, popped a gravol and felt fine.  I took one too but still felt green around the gills.  Staying horizontal was my only relief, so I stayed in bed all day and watched National Geographic.  It wasn’t much fun.  But thankfully, we are in much calmer waters today, and I have suffered no lasting effects from my ordeal.  Except for feeling instantly nauseous whenever I hear the words “National Geographic”.

Cathedrals

We are on the ship.  It’s called the Veendam, but I can’t seem to remember that.  I keep calling it the Vandeem.  Maybe because it feels like swearing to say it properly.

We are having a nice time.  The ship is nice.  The food is nice.  The people are nice.  They even have a library on board.  Very nice.  But so far, my favorite thing about the cruise has nothing to do with the ship.  My favorite thing has been the two cathedrals we have visited, one in Buenos Aires and one in Montevideo.  Beautiful.  And the best thing about visiting cathedrals is that sometimes there is stuff happening in the church as you look around.  Today in the cathedral at Montevideo, there was a priest “working” one of the confessionals.  The place was full of tourists but there were a few people lined up at the confessional anyway.  That just seemed cool to me.  Real live church happening while the masses looked on.  (No pun intended.)  Makes me wish evangelicals had tourists.  We could do our thing while people walked around our sanctuaries taking pictures.  They wouldn’t, of course.  Take pictures, I mean.  Or wander around.  Or even want to come in.  But I can’t help wishing they would.  Whether you agree with the theology of the Catholics or not, you’ve got to admit, they’ve got stuff in their churches worth seeing.  They’ve connected God with beauty and art which is pretty appropriate, I think.

The Dollar Sign?

The grapes here have seeds in them.  How uncivilized!  Other than that, Buenos Aeres seems like a nice place.  The hotel rooms are surprisingly similar to hotel rooms everywhere.  Even facebook is the same. 

However, there are tell-tale signs that I have left my hobbit hole far behind.  For one thing, there’s the price tags.  I always assumed that the dollar sign - $ - meant just that, the “dollar” sign.  Apparently not.  Here the dollar sign means pesos.  I knew they used pesos in Argentina, but shouldn’t they have a sign for it?  Maybe a small p inside a circle or something?  Do the Japanese use the dollar sign for yen?  What about the Libyans?  Do they use the dollar sign for dinars?  If so, this upsets everything I believed about the dollar sign.  I assumed it was the universal symbol for the word “dollar”.  Now I have to accept that it means nothing more than “unit of currency”. 

My world-view is shattered.  See what comes of leaving the Shire?!

It's Weird The Things You Think About

It’s weird the things you think about when you’re about to leave the comfort and familiarity of your normal life to go on an expensive and gluttonous South American cruise.  Things like ... Jesus never went anywhere.  I hadn’t thought of that before.  Well, ok, he went to Egypt once when he was a kid, but that was about it.  Otherwise, he just stayed home.  Sometimes, he walked to the next town.  He went to Jerusalem once in a while, but he never traveled far.  He never saw the world.  Funny.  For someone stuck in a corner, he sure transformed the planet.

Suitcase Full

I’m feeling more optimistic about our trip now.  Mostly because I went to Walmart on a Family Day and lived to tell about it.  If I can survive that, I can survive anything.

The other reason I feel better is that my suitcase is full of books.  Ten to be exact.  Ten books for nineteen days.  Hopefully that will be enough.  I took them out from the library on Saturday, and they’re due to be returned the day after I get back so I better not forget.  And I better not leave any of them in South America or I’ll have to take out a second mortgage to pay the late fees.

Books are really important to me.  I gotta have my stories.  Maybe reading stories about other people takes my mind off my own story for a little while.  Ever notice how hard it is to escape yourself?  A person is pretty much stuck in their own skin.  It’s kind of scary when you think about it.  Nothing but an endless horizon of me, me, me for forty five years.  Yikes!  No wonder I have a suitcase full of books.  I’ve got to stay sane somehow.

No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Dwarves at the Door

In two days, I am leaving on vacation.  I am going on a South American cruise.

I hope I survive.

My hubby and I will be flying for twelve days (or something like that) to get there.  There will be a four hour time change on the other end.  We may not have internet access on the ship.  There will be lots of food and gambling.  Liquor.  Shopping.  Penguins.  All my favorite things.

I'm trying to look on the bright side.  I really am.  But I feel a little like Bilbo with a bunch of dwarves at the door.  I hate adventures.

Pray for me.