Sunday still, and now 3:20 pm. We've been aboard for one week and six days. The temperature is slowly dropping as we return. Wednesday it was 26c. Thursday was 25c. Friday 24c. Saturday 21c. Today it is 21c on deck. The ship changes
about 2 degrees of position every day. Now we're at 27 degrees 54.4 N, 128 46.2
W. Tomorrow we will stop for six hours in the evening at Ensenada, Mexico.
The word "cruising" comes from the Dutch word "kruisen,"which means "to cross."
While the pirates were searching for Spanish treasure ships to plunder for
their stolen gold they would sail in a zigzag pattern moving through the shipping lanes. Obviously this form of sailing wasn't done on schedule.
Many years later, yacht owners borrowed the word and applied it to any carefree
pleasure voyage.
The Cruise Log reads: from San Diego to Hilo was 2183 Nautical Miles and our average speed was 19.6 Knots. (1 Nautical Mile = 1.15 Statute miles = 1.85 Kilometers.) Honolulu to Nawiliwili was 94 NM at 15.7 Knots. Nawiliwili to Lahaina is
240NM at 15.5 Knots. Lahaina-Kona is 102 NM at 13.8 Knots. Kona to Ensenada is2403 NM at 18.7 Knots and Ensenade to San Diego is 51 NM at 11.3 Knots. This is a total mileage of 5268 NM.
The ship plies back and forth, back and forth, with an almost new set of passengers each time. It's almost like a bus following a schedule, but the sea is muchmore temperamental than the land. There are some people who live on cruise ships. Sometimes they have a small apartment somewhere in their country where they
stay for awhile to keep medical coverage and pensions in effect. Some people move from ship to ship through the year. This is much more pleasant and interesting than living in a seniors' home, and the difference in cost isn't too much. There are a doctor and nurse aboard if needed. I never even imagined such an arrangement!
Now as I watch there's a tea dance happening on the main floor of the theatre.
The theatre has very glamorous decor with deep blue curtain with sparkles like stars and many slim white columns around the edges. There seems to be black marble in some of the upper areas. The seats are upholstered in a rich shade of red.
I'm sitting in the upper balcony looking down, enjoying the music,
and musing about the seminars given this afternoon, and about the meeting which
offered an opportunity to "Ask the Rabbi." Each was interesting. We attended all the seminars. Maybe I'll tell you something about them in another series.
You may know that a rabbi is a very erudite Jewish teacher. They often have congregations. They do marry. A Rabbi, a retired Roman Catholic priest (Norman, mentioned earlier,) and a minister, were all aboard for this cruise. They are paid and have their cruise costs covered by the cruise line. They conduct services for people of their beliefs. The Jews had a special holy day observance during the cruise. Ben dressed and attended it while I was still too sick to do much
. He was welcomed and enjoyed meeting people.
I probably wouldn't have gone to "Ask the Rabbi" without Ben. He's more of an extrovert than I am. :-) This rabbi wore a traditional brimmed black hat and suit and had dark ear ringlets on each side of his face and a long dark and luxiourious beard. He was interesting and outgoing. His wife was dressed very plainlyand had a sweet face. There are various branches of Judaism, and this one must
be quite traditional. You can see that the ship caters for various needs. For
instance there would need to be completely separate dishes for meat and milk andkosher cooking for Jewish guests. The Moslem and Christian crew have their owndietary beliefs. For instance observant Moslems don't eat pork, nor do they drink or cook with alcohol. There are vegetarians aboard, and diabetics. Who knowshow many kinds of meals need to be prepared? I understand that the Indonesian
crew and the Filipino crew each have their own dining areas.
I asked the rabbi a question about Adam and Eve. There was a very pleasant and easy going give and take of questions and answers and discussion going on. Basically, he replied to me that they are prototypes. He noted that there were other people living at that time, but they weren't important to the story. He also
said that their story is about ten chapters out of place. It should be further
along in the Bible. He said the first five books of the Bible could stand alone.
Of course, as they constitute the Torah. At the 6th book the story of Adam andEve would begin, if I understood him correctly. He said the Bible teaches thatwe are all cousins, because all of us in this world are descendants of one of the three sons of Noah. So we are all one family. There it is again. A way to believe that! :-) I think the story of Adam and Eve is symbolic of the time when humans came to realize they are more than animal, but I didn't raise the point
.
They also discussed life after death. They believe in a life before this one, (but not in the sense of the womb-world,) as well as in a life after this one. They believe the soul is not given to its body until a full forty days have passedafter conception. They also believe that in the beginning times, each person was born with a twin of the opposite sex. In that time brothers and sisters often
married each other. It wasn't until The Ten Commandments of Moses that marriagebetween siblings was forbidden.
Now the dance band below is playing "Bye, Bye, Blackbird," a very well known andloved old song. Occasionally the band stops playing so we can hear the peoplesinging along. Two couples spontaneously went onstage to dance near the band.
They are very good dancers! They'd have to be. Right? ;->
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