AND THE WINNER IS!!!!!! by Mark

First the good news.... I won two games of SORRY in a row this evening. There was no opportunity for a speech but I do owe my experience and ability to years of playing with my kids.. Thanks Lindsey and Kyle. (Or maybe it was the Tequila).

Speaking of which I am in quite a quandary concerning Tequila. I have finished off the fifth I brought. So now I must decide whether to (1) not drink the remainder of the trip (2) Buy a fifth at the next stop and probably not drink the entire thing leaving the remainder on the ship or (3) buy a fifth at the next stop and drink all of it in the remaining 9 days thereby not wasting any. Keeping in mind that it took me 12 days to finish off what I brought. What do you think?

And now the bad news.... The cola market in the southern Caribbean and Brazil is entirely wrapped up by Coca Cola. There has not been a Pepsi to be had in Brazil. Luckily I have found Pepsi at a couple of the bars on the ship. The other day we were at the forward bar and I ordered a Pepsi. The waiter came back with Angie's drink and a Coca Cola. I informed him that I did not want a Coke and that there was Pepsi on board. Several minutes later he returned saying that there was no Pepsi and wanted to know if I desired another soft drink. I told him that I did not want something else and to void the charge on the little white card with my picture. While he was doing this I went aft to another bar and bought a Pepsi. Upon returning to the forward bar I had barely sat down and the waiter set a can of Pepsi on the table. Evidently in their training they do not learn how to void a charge so he must have raided the Captain's stash in my absence. The other bad news is that the regions Hershey bars are not quite up to the quality of the stateside version. The texture is sorta chalky instead of milky. Maybe they use milk from the local fresh water Dolphins!!!!

The trip up the Amazon has been very interesting and educational. Some of the shipboard enrichment sessions were just fantastic. More than I can say for the food. I now understand why Kyle was so glad to get out of the dorms and away from cafeteria food. We have recently switched from the buffet to the main dinner lounge with waiters. Although it is the same food it's presentation is better and having it served to you somehow makes it taste better too. Chris has nicknamed me "Snackman" because I hardly ever pass up the dessert or the afternoon and late evening snack time normally consisting of cookies and cake. The coffee on board is not the best and recently I found out that it is made from some kind of coffee gel (sorta premade coffee with most of the water removed) that you put in a machine and mixes with hot water.


It seems that George Burns is alive, well, and on this ship. There is a guy who frequents the forward dance bar late in the evening who looks like George Burns when he was in the movie "God", he even has the round glasses. "God" sits at the bar drinking Budweiser and normally some of the young gals get him on the dance floor. Since the ship is moving and he is a bit unstable he usually does a pole dance around one of the columns with several hotties grinding against him. So far he has outlasted the four of us and he is still at the bar when we call it a night. The most amazing part of this story is that "God" happens to be a young 94.


Since this is an educational voyage I have learned one thing.... when you have people in their seventies that are wealthy and have a Masters or Doctorate you end up with some very self centered and rude people. It seems that they cannot grasp the concept that in a narrow hallway and you should apply the same rules of the road that are used on a highway. One can be walking down the hall of the right hand side and two of them will come at you walking abreast discusssing some issue and walk right at you expecting you to move and let them pass. They also seem to gather in the middle of a walkway in groups while talking and block the entire pathway rather than step five feet into a foyer or sitting area. I may not be the brightest bulb onboard but I do have more manners than many of them.