At 10 AM I attended Joseph Condrill’s Port Enrichment Lecture on Iceland. He has a usual presentation style, but I learned something anyhow. For instance Greenland is really ice and Iceland is really green. Since we are snowmobiling in Iceland that might be a concern. Also that it is the least populated country in Europe – I didn’t actually associate it with Europe.
When Nick’s French friend visited us she laughed at our history because they have so much more of it. I understand why. Iceland was founded by Celtic Monks in 648 BC, their Parliament (the oldest in the world) was created in the 10th century; Christianity arrived peacefully in the year 1000. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was a part of Norway or Denmark. It has been visited by small pox, the black plague and volcanic eruptions.
Keeping in mind this is information from a third party who is not an Iceland native - they have a multiparty system where the parties all work together, amazing if true. They have had female prime ministers. Their literacy rate is at 99.5 percent probably because education is free. They have government health care and rank 11th in health expenditures with the highest percentage of doctors/nurses to population. Life expectancy is 81.4, 4th highest in the world. 2 flags fly over Iceland, Denmark and Iceland although Iceland is officially independent.
Their names are Joanna, Katrina’s daughter, Ingor Omar’s son and listed by first name in the phone book. It explains all the Johnsons and Andersons we have in the states.
He had a picture of two polar bears on an iceberg. They arrived from Greenland in June of 2008 and were returned. They have Glacier Forests, Glacier Fjords, Glacier lagoons, which sounds suspiciously similar to snow so maybe we find somewhere to snowmobile.
The Captain announced that with two hurricanes in the Atlantic and a troubling low front between Iceland and Newfoundland (our next port) they were keeping a close watch on sea conditions and would take evasive action if necessary. Though meant to be reassuring it was a little anxiety provoking.
The crew member who was hospitalized when the ship hit the cable is doing well, although still hospitalized. I was reassured that the missing mast would be fixed in Iceland.
At 11 I tried to find the seminar that promised I could look 10 years younger instantly presented by Dr. Tankosic. Instead I found crafters finishing up their projects – there is a lot of that on this ship – and waited 15 minutes for the Dr. As I left noticed a rather dejected looking man putting up his screen and projector in room next door with maybe 3 people looking at the sea, not him. Poor guy. I will have to boost his attendance on the next sea day.
At 1 I checked in on The Adventures of TinTin at the cinema. There was standing room only. Unbelievable. It’s a CARTOON movie, but everybody else was apparently as willing as me to watch it. I hear tell there are less than 10 kids on board and they were nowhere to be seen. Checked again at 4 and found it packed again.
At 4:30 Professor J. Stooke did his best to explain ‘The Birth of British Astronomy’. I don’t know that it is a subject with wide appeal, but I was there in my formal dress listening to theories about the moon being a reflection or shadow of the earth and the possibility that Stonehenge was created to worship the moon, or maybe an astrological guide to stars or a way of predicting eclipses. If you are interested I his website/email is below (hopefully)
Email: pjstooke@uwo.ca http://publish.uwo.ca/~pjstooke/
There is plenty to do actually if I liked to gamble, knit, do crosswords, buy art, get punctured (acupuncture), have my feet analyzed, play bridge, table tennis or family Nintendo WII, remedy my bad hair, learn to salsa, play trivia, embarrass myself at karaoke, see what a self-lead Sabbath is etc. . Maybe I should broaden my horizons. If I was bold (or stupid) enough I could try Open Rock Climbing, but chances are I would be blown overboard. That almost happened on the way to the Dr.’s presentation.
Sea days are perfect days for formal days. We actually got dressed for the event. At dinner the staff sang O Sole Mio to twirling napkins. Afterwards we scurried off to see if we could catch a glimpse of first time Arctic-line- crossers get their noses painted blue – we had already been initiated on a former cruise so we disqualified ourselves. I was disappointed it turned out to be only a dot. I was looking forward to seeing the whole nose blue on a formally dressed couple. They did put an ice cube down their back and made them wait in 30 degree C weather for the privilege. I guess that’s good enough.
I managed to stay awake (barely) through the song/dance show presented by the ship’s dancers and singers. Then collapsed.
What is it about a lazy day at sea that makes me lazier?
Scheduled activities occurred without us - a variety of music – guitar favorites by Jovencio Rosario in the Odyssey, night club dancing in the Vortex, Michael Jackson tribute, live paradise lotto draw etc., but unbelievably we were too tired to participate, maybe because we knew the next day we’d be snowmobiling over a glacier in Iceland. Who signed up for that??? I DID. Who brought winter clothes??? NOT ME.
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