Ode to Dry Land

Have you ever had the desire to kiss the ground? I have on three different ocassions. First, when I returned from Belize, Central America after having spent a week there. When we arrived in Miami International Airport I literally wanted to kiss the ground. The second time was at the end of a Transatlantic cruise from Europe to the US. When we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas after six days at sea, again, the ground was looking mighty good. And most recently, four days ago at the end of another Transatlantic journey. On Tuesday, October 27, we left Tenerife, Canary Islands and set off to the Caribbean. I knew we were going on a cruise, but I had no idea exactly where we were going, and surprisingly, had done no research as to the ports we’d be visiting.

Much to my surprise, we were headed to several Caribbean Islands with our final port being Barbados. First of all, I did not pack the right clothes. I’ve done about four transatlantic cruises and usually the weather is iffy, and often cold and rainy. However, the route from Tenerife landed us in the most amazing, sunny weather. I didn’t even have a bathing suit. The challenging part of this journey has been the five sea days in a row right at the beginning of the voyage. Once I hit the shops and bought some beach wear, I found my self sitting up on deck, working on my tan, and adopting the persona of a slug. I read, I slept, and I ate to the point of chronic boredom.

Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to take another day of lounging around the pool, we arrived in St. Lucia, and again, I had the distinct sensation of wanting to kiss the ground. I lived in Florida for almost 8 years so I’m used to the hot weather, but nothing could have prepared me for the heat I experienced in St. Lucia. It was so hot that it was a little scary. I found myself muttering away to myself in disbelief as the sweat was pouring out of places I didn’t know I had places. During our walk I noticed a guy standing on a corner muttering to himself and I was wondering if this was a common effect of the heat, especially since I was muttering away to myself. Maybe after several days of being exposed to that level of heat, you simply go crazy. I seemed to be well on my way. We found our way to a bar and had a cold drink and enjoyed an afternoon of Karaoke with some locals.

Our next port was St. Martin and was another extremely hot day. On this day, instead of muttering to myself, I was simply drained of any energy I was supposed to have. I could barely move, and was a bit irritable (just ask Neal, poor thing)! We still managed to spend several hours wondering around and made a few stops at bars along the way. I think I might have suffered a little heat stroke, ‘cause once we got back to the cabin, I took a shower and was out cold until Neal woke me for dinner, and then after dinner, I went right back to bed and stayed there ‘til morning.

Yesterday, we were in St. Thomas, and since it’s a US port, we had the wonderful pleasure of going through US Immigration before anyone could leave the ship. I waited in line for over an hour. Once I showed my passport to the Immigration officer, she said that I was the only American passenger on the ship. Amazing. I’m on a P&O ship, the Ventura, and it’s a British cruise line. Neal said I was probably the only American on board, but I didn’t believe him until the Immigration officer confirmed it!

Today we’re in Antigua and Neal’s doing laundry and I’m blogging. We do plan to have a little look around the town for a couple hours. I’m on a mission to find some black hair products, ‘cause I know once I get back to the UK that will be a challenge.

Wish me luck!

Glo.