March 2 - Patterns

We’re in our second sea day before we reach Recife, Brazil tomorrow.  I, and many of my fellow passengers, have fallen into a pattern, much of which centers around eating and drinking.  I get up around 9 AM and go up to the Colonnade for a light breakfast and a cappuccino.  If there’s a lecture that sounds interesting I go there.  Yesterday there was one about the pet trade in South America and that sounded like it would be depressing so I missed it.  On the whole the lectures have been good and I generally make at least one a day.  Next comes trivia after the captain’s noon report. Then it’s time to eat again, and my friends and I go to the Patio Grill near the pool and have a salad made by the wonderful Samuel.  There are lots of veggies and nuts to choose from and he mixes each salad individually. The waiters come around with drinks of the day; today there were two, first strawberry daiquiris then caipirinhas which are the national drink of Brazil.

In the afternoon there are other lectures from which to choose along with art classes, an ice cream social (more food), bridge for the bridge players, line dancing class, or the ever-popular nap. At 4 PM there’s afternoon tea (we haven’t eaten for at least an hour) followed by either another lecture or pre-dinner show.  Then you can guess what comes next – more food.  And so it goes on. I’ve learned about colonization, ocean currents, the history of Brazil, migration of birds and a variety of other things which are interesting and probably guaranteed to never come up in trivia.  Somehow, the days seem to fly by and before I know it a week has passed and then another. It’s very easy to get used to this.

Today as we ate our salads we saw for the first time on this cruise flying fish zipping along just above the surface of the water.  That must mean the water is getting warmer as we head north. Aside from those, we’ve seen quite a few birds trailing us looking for tasty things we’ve churned up in our wake. 

The show tonight was a change from the usual.  We had a classical pianist who performed a concert of Chopin and Rachmaninoff pieces and was superb. As I looked around the audience seemed to be awake and listening which sometimes isn’t the case.  A few nights ago we had a very energetic trio of British soul and Motown singers who did back flips in addition to singing and there was a couple in the front row snoozing away.  I couldn’t figure out how they did that because regardless of whether you liked their music, the performers were so energized right in front of them it seemed impossible to sleep. 

Okay, I’ve rambled enough.  Tomorrow I haven’t booked a tour. I’ve been to Recife before.  Instead a friend and I are going shopping.  Somewhere along the Amazon we’re going to have a Carnivale celebration where we can dress up. My wardrobe doesn’t include any feathered boas or glitzy masks  so I’m going to see if I can find some. Até mais tarde.

Oh, we had a lovely sunset yesterday and here are a couple of pictures of it.