December 14 - Sailing on the Amazon River

 Today was the last day on the river, and I won't miss the brown water.  It was quite windy all day so they closed off one side of Deck 5 outside, then a few hours later the other side.  I sat out there for a while and the breeze felt good.

Vacuuming the deck

This morning Ed gave a lecture on sea turtles which was interesting, as always.  There was also a lecture this afternoon by Bill Lee on Quantum Mechanics, but I knew I wouldn't understand Bill's explanations, so I passed.  We had a light lunch up by the pool outside - just a quick salad.  We heard that the Mexican buffet inside was good - if they do it again today, we might give it a try.  Otherwise, we did a lot of lazing around.  

In the late morning, the four of us had an invitation to dinner with Cruise Director Peter, so after a late trivia game (got 2 points today) we skipped the late lecture on Columbus and North America and got ready for dinner.  This time, everything went as planned.  It was a very pleasant dinner and we got to know him a bit better.  He's actually getting off in Bridgetown, our next port.  He was supposed to get off at the end of the last cruise, but they asked him to stay on to cover for another CD who had an emergency at home.  The home office has to do lots of schedule adjustments when there are surprises like that.  It's not just a case of calling someone in to cover - there are lots of logistics to consider.  Anyway, he's really looking forward to getting home in time for Christmas with his wife and son.  He worked on Princess for many years, but I don't think our paths ever crossed there. He seemed a little concerned about the lecture that Clive gave where he talked about that village (Boca de Veleria) that didn't seem quite real.  I guess he'd had some negative feedback about that.  We all generally agreed that it could have upset some people, but that we felt he was being honest.  He made it clear that he was expressing his and others' impressions, not facts, and that it was many years ago.  We felt it was beneficial to look at the village with a more critical eye and not just take everything at face value.  I don't think there's anything wrong with the residents earning a living that way; I just wish they didn't have to use the kids, but they're working with what they have.  It happens all over the world.

The clocks go back an hour tonight. The extra sleep will be welcome.