I Feel Like a Contestant on "Survivor"

(Chris writes) Greetings everyone...it has been awhile since I shared some thoughts with you on our journey thus far, and what this grasshopper has learned. I will try to keep the list succinct and it goes like this:

1. Always expect the worse and be thankful for what turns out to be "not half bad."


2. Anytime you gather a very large (i.e., 722) group of people together and most of them are above the age of 60(sorry Dad); there are bound to be a few (e.g., 50%) very rude, obnoxious, and impatient folks.


3. It is easier to just learn to ignore the 50% very rude, obnoxious, and impatient folks and focus on getting to know the remaining 50% that are wonderful people with lots of great stories , wisdom, and kindness to share with you.


4. Food is really an important part of our life and tastes especially good when you have spent 8 days eating some really crappy stuff!


5. It must be really hard for those people on "Survivor" to put up with each other for a chance to win a measly million bucks; and I personally would give them a raise in a heartbeat.


6. Angie is just possibly one of the funniest and funnest people that I have ever had the privilege to call "my friend!"

We have spent the last two days in Manaus, Brazil which is a city of 2 million people. Manaus used to be the No. 1 rubber producer in the world until somebody swiped a bunch of plants, and smuggled them to Indonesia. This pretty much knocked Brazil off the "Rubber King" throne, and they are now in the process of becoming a huge free trade manufacturing zone for every major player in the motorcyle, cell phone, computer chip, etc. in the world.

The highlight of our first full day on the Amazon in Manaus was we got to go to a really neat restaurant that serves all types of barbecued meats, and they just bring in to your table on skewers. They slice you off as much of whatever it is such as filet mignon, venison (I think that is what is was), chicken hearts, lamb, pork, etc., and you pickup your slice with a nifty pair of tongs. Then....they just keep bringing you meat until you flip up this stop sign on your table which can mean a) you are done, or b) you are just taking a little rest to unfasten the first button on your pants! The food was wonderful and we really, really, really appreciated the fantastic food, and service. The food on the ship as the "lady snake kisser" (more about snake kissing below) so aptly stated today "SUCKS!" Enough said....

Today we took a very long and slow boat upstream on the Rio Negro which is a black freshwater river that eventually meets up with, but does not mix with the Amazon.

The photo posted here is one we took while on today's excursion, and as you can see we finally got our Ms. Rosie a sister. Blaine is holding the newest addition to our family and we decided to name her Ms. Slowsie as she is a baby girl!

There were also a few anacondas, spider monkeys, and not one but two different types of Camins which the native children just pulled up with their "pets" in boats beside us, and handed over to anyone that wanted to kiss an anaconda. Hey....no kidding one lady who it turns out runs a snake rescue service actually gave the guy a big ole smacker. I would have jumped overboard except the river just happens to be infested with piranha!

We leave at 10 PM tonight to begin our exit from the Amazon and will spend the day tomorrow sailing or whatever you call being on the ship all day while it is moving. Next stop is Santiem, Brazil, which is on the Amazon, then it takes two full days to exit the river, and then another full sea day to reach Trinidad. Hope all of you had a very happy holiday and are managing to maintain your sense of humor and sanity during the "Great Blizzard of 008!"