Friday, February 27, 2004
My Caribbean Cruise, Part II
Written during the cruise:
"Being here on this ship with elegantly dressed people, elegant dining rooms, and sumptuous meals, I am somehow reminded of 'Titanic'. Next thing you'll know, I'll fall head over heels for some artist (oops, already did that) and then the whole frickin' ship will go down with a flourish at the end of the trip. God, even the rear of the ship reminds me of the end of the movie when the old lady leans over the railing and flings a million-dollar necklace into the sea. Smart. Real smart.
On the other hand, the crew/staff members have been very friendly. I mean, I guess that's what they're trained and paid to do. But I feel so bad for them. They work their butts off to wait on the passengers hand and foot and they put up with a lot of crap, especially from us. I swear that my relatives are the fussiest, pickiest, most indecisive people I know. And what with my grandparents, who unfortunately are getting on in years, must be taken care of like children. The crew and staff members have been very patient with us and on top of that, they have been so nice to us. I guess in order to work on a cruise ship, you need to be a friendly and outgoing person by nature. I don't think I could ever work as a crew member of a cruise ship. But then again, I didn't think I'd ever be able to be a teacher and I ended up teaching English for a year."
My grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary fell on the 17th of February. My aunt S had the restaurant staff make a huge cake with "Happy 60th Anniversary" written on it in Spanish. We sang to them (the birthday song was the closest we could come up with for their anniversary) and everyone in the restaurant applauded them. The people sitting at the next table came up to my grandparents and congratulated them. Throughout the whole cruise, my grandparents seemed in a daze as we dragged them from place to place and unfortunately, my grandfather seemed almost indifferent to it all sometimes...but at that moment, when we were celebrating their anniversary...they seemed truly happy...it made the trouble that my aunts had taken to bring them on the cruise worth it.
One thing I had to get used to was the constant back and forth rocking of the ship. While I didn't throw up, I felt dizzy and just slightly nauseous. For several days after the cruise was over, it felt like the ground below me was rocking back and forth.
One more thing...there was so much food! And it was absolutely delicious. It was rather hard to stick to my resolution that I had made in Japan to watch what I eat, but I think for the most part I did a pretty good job of eating healthy...even though towards the end I was slipping!
Barbados
The first island we went to was Barbados. Its population is around 290,000...which is about half the population of Hachioji! Before, the only thing I had known about Barbados was that Alexander Hamilton grew up there. It was colonized by the British but gained its independence in the mid 1960s and is now populated mostly by the descendants of the slaves that worked in the sugar cane plantations. When we got there, we got on a taxi and took a tour of the island. The taxi driver was very friendly, and above all very patient with us. When he would try to explain things, some of us would be talking loudly, unaware that he was saying something. And then of course my aunt S had to translate the taxi driver's explanations to my aunt R and my grandparents. Barbados seemed like an economically stable country, but you could still see some areas that seemed rather poor. The taxi driver dropped us off in downtown Bridgetown, where we looked around some shops for a while and had lunch at a waterfront restaurant. Afterwards, my mother, my aunt R, and I took a taxi back to ship. Unfortunately, my mother only had a 100 dollar bill to pay for the taxi. My aunt assured my mom that the taxi driver would be able to give her back change, but when my mom gave him the 100 dollar bill, the taxi driver gave her a dirty look and said something like, "How do you expect me to give you change for that?" I imagined that maybe he was resentful that someone could so casually wave a 100 dollar bill in his face while he has to work very hard just to receive a handful of money...Anyway, that was the parting impression I received on leaving the island.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia, in my opinion, had the lushest vegetation of any of the islands we went to. Unfortunately, it was also one of the poorest. Again, we took a tour of the island by taxi. It was exasperating because the taxi driver would take us to souvenir stands where we were heckled to buy things by the people running the stands. It was very sad though, considering that this is how they make their living, but the souvenirs were of cheap quality and overpriced. I noticed that all the stands sold pretty much the same thing and it was obvious that these trinkets were not locally made. He took us to a fishing village near picture-perfect Marigot Bay. While the greenery and blue water surrounding the village were gorgeous, the village itself seemed rather impoverished...and it made me sad looking at some of the people there, who just sat there, staring out into space. When the taxi driver dropped us off downtown, we found a market that pretty much sold the same cheap trinkets. I don't know...there was a certain kind of bad vibe in St. Lucia. I don't know if it was just me, but one could sense a resentment in the struggling locals towards the well-to-do tourists.
St. Marteen
St. Marteen was one of my favorite islands on the cruise. St. Marteen is very unique in that half of it is governed by the Netherlands (hence St. Marteen) and the other half is governed by France (here, the island is known as St. Martin). It is a very beautiful and quaint island. That day, I went on a snorkeling trip organized by the cruise. A bunch of us were taken by boat to a place called Shipwreck Cove. I expected to see the shipwreck of some old Spanish galleon, but there were just shipwrecks of boats that sunk during several strong hurricanes in the 1990s. Still, snorkeling was a very exciting experience for me. I took pictures with an underwater disposeable camera that I paid $25 dollars for (ow!), so I hope the pictures come out well. Afterwards, when everybody got back on the boat, we cruised around the island for a bit. The boat crew served rum punch and played cheesy Caribbean music. There was nobody on the boat that I knew...but somehow I didn't mind being by myself. I enjoyed just sitting there, relaxing and looking out over the turquoise blue water and the lush green island. I thought of K and imagined him with me. Unfortunately, that rum punch hit me pretty hard. If this had happened back in Japan, I would have been able to act wild and crazy and afterwards I would have gone home and passed out. But here, I would eventually have to face my relatives. So after we got back to the dock, I basically stumbled back into the ship and did my best to sober myself up (basically going around the ship to 'walk it off') before meeting up with my relatives that evening.
Tortola
Tortola is an island that makes up part of the British Virgin Islands. It was not a very populated or developed island. While there were roads...I don't remember seeing any traffic lights! And of course, there weren't any big shops. My relatives declared it a dump, but in my opinion, it was nice to see an island that was still close to its natural state. Ironically enough, it was there where I sent a few of my friends some emails. While my relatives spent time in the island's only jewelry store, I walked around a bit, bought some souvenirs, and headed back to the boat.
St. Thomas
If Tortola wasn't developed, then St. Thomas was the opposite. After all, it makes up part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is here that I was supposed to go scuba diving with my cousin RC on a scube trip organized by the cruise, but the trip was cancelled due to strong currents caused by brisk winds. Whatever. It is here where I experienced my first pangs of reverse culture shock as I waited forever in line at the (U.S.) post office. I can only sum up St. Thomas as the US in the Caribbean, with its cleanliness, its usual array of convenience stores and restaurants, and its cheap prices. It's a shopper's paradise and it was there where my cousins finally bought the fancy watches they had talked about buy all week long. There seemed to be warning signs everywhere. While St. Thomas seemed rather commercialized, it still had some good points. The crafts seemed to be authentic and local, unlike the cheap trinkets in St. Lucia that were probably mass produced in Taiwan or somewhere like that. I even ran across a store that sold crafts made by a cooperative in the island (or so the sign said). And I must say, it was a very pretty island.
Written during the cruise:
"Being here on this ship with elegantly dressed people, elegant dining rooms, and sumptuous meals, I am somehow reminded of 'Titanic'. Next thing you'll know, I'll fall head over heels for some artist (oops, already did that) and then the whole frickin' ship will go down with a flourish at the end of the trip. God, even the rear of the ship reminds me of the end of the movie when the old lady leans over the railing and flings a million-dollar necklace into the sea. Smart. Real smart.
On the other hand, the crew/staff members have been very friendly. I mean, I guess that's what they're trained and paid to do. But I feel so bad for them. They work their butts off to wait on the passengers hand and foot and they put up with a lot of crap, especially from us. I swear that my relatives are the fussiest, pickiest, most indecisive people I know. And what with my grandparents, who unfortunately are getting on in years, must be taken care of like children. The crew and staff members have been very patient with us and on top of that, they have been so nice to us. I guess in order to work on a cruise ship, you need to be a friendly and outgoing person by nature. I don't think I could ever work as a crew member of a cruise ship. But then again, I didn't think I'd ever be able to be a teacher and I ended up teaching English for a year."
My grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary fell on the 17th of February. My aunt S had the restaurant staff make a huge cake with "Happy 60th Anniversary" written on it in Spanish. We sang to them (the birthday song was the closest we could come up with for their anniversary) and everyone in the restaurant applauded them. The people sitting at the next table came up to my grandparents and congratulated them. Throughout the whole cruise, my grandparents seemed in a daze as we dragged them from place to place and unfortunately, my grandfather seemed almost indifferent to it all sometimes...but at that moment, when we were celebrating their anniversary...they seemed truly happy...it made the trouble that my aunts had taken to bring them on the cruise worth it.
One thing I had to get used to was the constant back and forth rocking of the ship. While I didn't throw up, I felt dizzy and just slightly nauseous. For several days after the cruise was over, it felt like the ground below me was rocking back and forth.
One more thing...there was so much food! And it was absolutely delicious. It was rather hard to stick to my resolution that I had made in Japan to watch what I eat, but I think for the most part I did a pretty good job of eating healthy...even though towards the end I was slipping!
Barbados
The first island we went to was Barbados. Its population is around 290,000...which is about half the population of Hachioji! Before, the only thing I had known about Barbados was that Alexander Hamilton grew up there. It was colonized by the British but gained its independence in the mid 1960s and is now populated mostly by the descendants of the slaves that worked in the sugar cane plantations. When we got there, we got on a taxi and took a tour of the island. The taxi driver was very friendly, and above all very patient with us. When he would try to explain things, some of us would be talking loudly, unaware that he was saying something. And then of course my aunt S had to translate the taxi driver's explanations to my aunt R and my grandparents. Barbados seemed like an economically stable country, but you could still see some areas that seemed rather poor. The taxi driver dropped us off in downtown Bridgetown, where we looked around some shops for a while and had lunch at a waterfront restaurant. Afterwards, my mother, my aunt R, and I took a taxi back to ship. Unfortunately, my mother only had a 100 dollar bill to pay for the taxi. My aunt assured my mom that the taxi driver would be able to give her back change, but when my mom gave him the 100 dollar bill, the taxi driver gave her a dirty look and said something like, "How do you expect me to give you change for that?" I imagined that maybe he was resentful that someone could so casually wave a 100 dollar bill in his face while he has to work very hard just to receive a handful of money...Anyway, that was the parting impression I received on leaving the island.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia, in my opinion, had the lushest vegetation of any of the islands we went to. Unfortunately, it was also one of the poorest. Again, we took a tour of the island by taxi. It was exasperating because the taxi driver would take us to souvenir stands where we were heckled to buy things by the people running the stands. It was very sad though, considering that this is how they make their living, but the souvenirs were of cheap quality and overpriced. I noticed that all the stands sold pretty much the same thing and it was obvious that these trinkets were not locally made. He took us to a fishing village near picture-perfect Marigot Bay. While the greenery and blue water surrounding the village were gorgeous, the village itself seemed rather impoverished...and it made me sad looking at some of the people there, who just sat there, staring out into space. When the taxi driver dropped us off downtown, we found a market that pretty much sold the same cheap trinkets. I don't know...there was a certain kind of bad vibe in St. Lucia. I don't know if it was just me, but one could sense a resentment in the struggling locals towards the well-to-do tourists.
St. Marteen
St. Marteen was one of my favorite islands on the cruise. St. Marteen is very unique in that half of it is governed by the Netherlands (hence St. Marteen) and the other half is governed by France (here, the island is known as St. Martin). It is a very beautiful and quaint island. That day, I went on a snorkeling trip organized by the cruise. A bunch of us were taken by boat to a place called Shipwreck Cove. I expected to see the shipwreck of some old Spanish galleon, but there were just shipwrecks of boats that sunk during several strong hurricanes in the 1990s. Still, snorkeling was a very exciting experience for me. I took pictures with an underwater disposeable camera that I paid $25 dollars for (ow!), so I hope the pictures come out well. Afterwards, when everybody got back on the boat, we cruised around the island for a bit. The boat crew served rum punch and played cheesy Caribbean music. There was nobody on the boat that I knew...but somehow I didn't mind being by myself. I enjoyed just sitting there, relaxing and looking out over the turquoise blue water and the lush green island. I thought of K and imagined him with me. Unfortunately, that rum punch hit me pretty hard. If this had happened back in Japan, I would have been able to act wild and crazy and afterwards I would have gone home and passed out. But here, I would eventually have to face my relatives. So after we got back to the dock, I basically stumbled back into the ship and did my best to sober myself up (basically going around the ship to 'walk it off') before meeting up with my relatives that evening.
Tortola
Tortola is an island that makes up part of the British Virgin Islands. It was not a very populated or developed island. While there were roads...I don't remember seeing any traffic lights! And of course, there weren't any big shops. My relatives declared it a dump, but in my opinion, it was nice to see an island that was still close to its natural state. Ironically enough, it was there where I sent a few of my friends some emails. While my relatives spent time in the island's only jewelry store, I walked around a bit, bought some souvenirs, and headed back to the boat.
St. Thomas
If Tortola wasn't developed, then St. Thomas was the opposite. After all, it makes up part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is here that I was supposed to go scuba diving with my cousin RC on a scube trip organized by the cruise, but the trip was cancelled due to strong currents caused by brisk winds. Whatever. It is here where I experienced my first pangs of reverse culture shock as I waited forever in line at the (U.S.) post office. I can only sum up St. Thomas as the US in the Caribbean, with its cleanliness, its usual array of convenience stores and restaurants, and its cheap prices. It's a shopper's paradise and it was there where my cousins finally bought the fancy watches they had talked about buy all week long. There seemed to be warning signs everywhere. While St. Thomas seemed rather commercialized, it still had some good points. The crafts seemed to be authentic and local, unlike the cheap trinkets in St. Lucia that were probably mass produced in Taiwan or somewhere like that. I even ran across a store that sold crafts made by a cooperative in the island (or so the sign said). And I must say, it was a very pretty island.
My Caribbean Cruise, Part I
When I was younger, I had dreamed of going on a cruise. I used to take cruise brochures from travel agencies and pore over the pictures of people dancing and laughing in glittery clothes, imagining every detail of the cruise that I would hopefully someday take. So ironically enough, when my mother strongly suggested that I leave Japan two weeks earlier than planned and join her on a cruise to celebrate my grandparent's 60th anniversary, I put up some resistance. I had long ago left behind daydreams of cruises. My life was different now. K had come into my life and I was happy with the way things were. But my mother put the classic guilt trip on me, arguing that my grandparents aren't going to last around much longer, implying that I had no choice in the matter. In the end I relented. After all, I was going to have to leave Japan at the beginning of March, whether I liked it or not, and face the pain of leaving K behind. Two weeks, in reality, wasn't going to make a difference. And those childhood dreams began to wake up again...it was a rare chance to go on a cruise with most expenses paid...I mean, who wouldn't want to go? So I set to getting ready to leave Japan...not that it was easy....I was, and still am sad about leaving Japan, and especially leaving K. I spent thousands of yen on shipping books back home, I found myself in a very tight financial situation when I transferred most of my money back to the US, and had to regrettably throw perfectly useable things away. And the day I left....K accompanied me to the airport. When I had to pass through to the ticketing counter without K, I burst into tears, but I composed myself. Then, I had an opportunity to spend a few more minutes with K when my luggage was chosen to be inspected. Basically, my luggage was put on a table and opened, the contents exposed for all to see. Let me tell you, I wanted to die as the inspector, who was probably in his early 60s, sifted through all my underwear. I turned towards K, who was standing on the other side of the gate, and laughed nervously. Thank God I didn't have a vibrator in my suitcase! And since I was not allowed to touch anything during the inspection, I had to watch as two inspectors struggled to close one of my suitcases, just as I had done that morning. I believe now...but maybe it's just me being whimsical...that the inspectors chose to inspect my luggage on purpose so I could spend a few extra moments with K...but during the inspection, I kept wishing they hadn't...I had never experienced lumps in my throat like I did during that inspection.
Anywayz, the trip back to the US was rather uneventful, unlike last year, thank God! When I arrived at Washington Dulles, my mother was there waiting for me...miraculously on time! We spent the night in a really nice hotel near the airport, where I packed for the cruise and the next morning, we left the car parked at the hotel and took a shuttle to the airport...all according to plan. Except that the lines for the security check were ridiculous! And also, my mother forgot the cash that she was going to use for the trip under one of the car seats! The lines were so long that while I waited in line, my mom actually took a taxi to the hotel so she could get the money.
But in spite of such minor snags, like sitting near a crying baby on the plane (well, it only cried for a little bit), we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we would embark on the cruise ship the next day. We took a taxi to a hotel where we met the rest of my relatives. Later that evening, we all went to a really posh restaurant and then we went back to the hotel and hung out in the hotel's casino. Though it was late in the evening, the streets were full of life. People could be seen everywhere and car speakers were pulsating with tropical Latin music. I thought of a Japanese village in Gifu Prefecture, called Hida Takayama, where the streets were empty by 9pm. As we walked in the streets that evening, I could see couples walking hand in hand. The girls wore elegant dresses in vibrant colors. Many of them were wearing red. I was then reminded that it was Valentine's Day...I thought of K and strangely enough, I wasn't sad. Instead, I imagined him there with me, walking in the warm evening weather of San Juan, and I thought of how nice it would be.
The next day, we headed to the cruise ship, which is called the Dawn Princess. We boarded the Dawn Princess and left our luggage in our rooms. Then, we got off the ship and took a tour of old San Juan. We got to see the old fort, or El Morro. I was very impressed with the fort and with Old San Juan, whose architecture is in the old, traditional Spanish-influenced style. It reminded me of the traditional towns in Mexico, like Cuernavaca, and the historic part of Mexico City. I must admit that I had been under the impression that Puerto Rico was a poor and dirty place...I didn't know that it was such a beautiful place, full of history and culture! After having endured the bleakness of winter and its cold weather for over three months, it was so nice to see the lush green vegetation and to feel the very warm weather of San Juan. Now I see why they call Puerto Rico La Isla Verde (the Green Island) and now I see why many of my mother's Puerto Rican friends miss their home so much!
That evening, we got back on the ship and at 11pm, the ship began its 7-day trip. It was nice standing out on the deck, looking out at the glittering lights of the city as the ship sailed out. What impressed me was El Morro, which stood in complete darkness, in contrast with the rest of the city. It was the last thing the ship passed by before it sailed into the night.
When I was younger, I had dreamed of going on a cruise. I used to take cruise brochures from travel agencies and pore over the pictures of people dancing and laughing in glittery clothes, imagining every detail of the cruise that I would hopefully someday take. So ironically enough, when my mother strongly suggested that I leave Japan two weeks earlier than planned and join her on a cruise to celebrate my grandparent's 60th anniversary, I put up some resistance. I had long ago left behind daydreams of cruises. My life was different now. K had come into my life and I was happy with the way things were. But my mother put the classic guilt trip on me, arguing that my grandparents aren't going to last around much longer, implying that I had no choice in the matter. In the end I relented. After all, I was going to have to leave Japan at the beginning of March, whether I liked it or not, and face the pain of leaving K behind. Two weeks, in reality, wasn't going to make a difference. And those childhood dreams began to wake up again...it was a rare chance to go on a cruise with most expenses paid...I mean, who wouldn't want to go? So I set to getting ready to leave Japan...not that it was easy....I was, and still am sad about leaving Japan, and especially leaving K. I spent thousands of yen on shipping books back home, I found myself in a very tight financial situation when I transferred most of my money back to the US, and had to regrettably throw perfectly useable things away. And the day I left....K accompanied me to the airport. When I had to pass through to the ticketing counter without K, I burst into tears, but I composed myself. Then, I had an opportunity to spend a few more minutes with K when my luggage was chosen to be inspected. Basically, my luggage was put on a table and opened, the contents exposed for all to see. Let me tell you, I wanted to die as the inspector, who was probably in his early 60s, sifted through all my underwear. I turned towards K, who was standing on the other side of the gate, and laughed nervously. Thank God I didn't have a vibrator in my suitcase! And since I was not allowed to touch anything during the inspection, I had to watch as two inspectors struggled to close one of my suitcases, just as I had done that morning. I believe now...but maybe it's just me being whimsical...that the inspectors chose to inspect my luggage on purpose so I could spend a few extra moments with K...but during the inspection, I kept wishing they hadn't...I had never experienced lumps in my throat like I did during that inspection.
Anywayz, the trip back to the US was rather uneventful, unlike last year, thank God! When I arrived at Washington Dulles, my mother was there waiting for me...miraculously on time! We spent the night in a really nice hotel near the airport, where I packed for the cruise and the next morning, we left the car parked at the hotel and took a shuttle to the airport...all according to plan. Except that the lines for the security check were ridiculous! And also, my mother forgot the cash that she was going to use for the trip under one of the car seats! The lines were so long that while I waited in line, my mom actually took a taxi to the hotel so she could get the money.
But in spite of such minor snags, like sitting near a crying baby on the plane (well, it only cried for a little bit), we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we would embark on the cruise ship the next day. We took a taxi to a hotel where we met the rest of my relatives. Later that evening, we all went to a really posh restaurant and then we went back to the hotel and hung out in the hotel's casino. Though it was late in the evening, the streets were full of life. People could be seen everywhere and car speakers were pulsating with tropical Latin music. I thought of a Japanese village in Gifu Prefecture, called Hida Takayama, where the streets were empty by 9pm. As we walked in the streets that evening, I could see couples walking hand in hand. The girls wore elegant dresses in vibrant colors. Many of them were wearing red. I was then reminded that it was Valentine's Day...I thought of K and strangely enough, I wasn't sad. Instead, I imagined him there with me, walking in the warm evening weather of San Juan, and I thought of how nice it would be.
The next day, we headed to the cruise ship, which is called the Dawn Princess. We boarded the Dawn Princess and left our luggage in our rooms. Then, we got off the ship and took a tour of old San Juan. We got to see the old fort, or El Morro. I was very impressed with the fort and with Old San Juan, whose architecture is in the old, traditional Spanish-influenced style. It reminded me of the traditional towns in Mexico, like Cuernavaca, and the historic part of Mexico City. I must admit that I had been under the impression that Puerto Rico was a poor and dirty place...I didn't know that it was such a beautiful place, full of history and culture! After having endured the bleakness of winter and its cold weather for over three months, it was so nice to see the lush green vegetation and to feel the very warm weather of San Juan. Now I see why they call Puerto Rico La Isla Verde (the Green Island) and now I see why many of my mother's Puerto Rican friends miss their home so much!
That evening, we got back on the ship and at 11pm, the ship began its 7-day trip. It was nice standing out on the deck, looking out at the glittering lights of the city as the ship sailed out. What impressed me was El Morro, which stood in complete darkness, in contrast with the rest of the city. It was the last thing the ship passed by before it sailed into the night.
My Japanese teacher had warned us about it: When you go to a foreign country, you go through a honeymoon period when you think everything about that country is cool. Then comes the culture shock. You hate everything about that country. You start to miss your home country terribly and you think everything about your home country is better. And then, you start to get used to things. Things aren't great, but not horrible...they are what they are. You get used to the rhythm of life...it goes on. But then, in some cases (like mine, hence this blog), you return to your home country and experience "reverse culture shock", which is like culture shock but without the honeymoon period because you've already been there...
Well, I guess in my case there was sort of a honeymoon...in the form of a Caribbean cruise...
Well, I guess in my case there was sort of a honeymoon...in the form of a Caribbean cruise...
