Wednesday, 19 December 2012

 STORM!!!!! The ship rocked and rolled all through the night and things crashed all around me.  A cup flew across the room, the box of tissues followed and then there was a tremendous crash in the stateroom above me sometime in the middle of the night.  It sounded like a tray of dishes.  A few minutes ago, the partition separating my balcony from the stateroom next door broke open – clang, bang.  According to the Captain, we had a force 11 storm with winds of 65 knots!

Right now, the wind is blowing at 51 knots, we are still rocking and rolling – 5 bars on the scale and heavy, heavy rain.  The decks and balconies are closed and locked.  The wind is force 10!!

I have had hay fever for the past 2 days.  My nose is raw and my throat scratchy.  My nose runs fairly constantly and it’s uncomfortable and embarrassing but not much more than that.  Years ago when I was in France in late April, the usual time for hay fever, I got some medicine at a pharmacy, without a prescription – Phenergan.  When I got back to Germany, my pharmacist said that it was prescribed for psychosis.  Perhaps if hay fever attacks last too long, you automatically become psychotic.  Anyway, I am desperate enough to take a pill and perhaps fall asleep in the Queen’s Room.

This evening marks the beginning of the Captain’s Cocktail Parties time – it’s really a “Sauffest” – German for all you can drink, in this case, for free.  I order a rum-less, mint-less mojito (read: lime soda), which I hold in a jaunty, I’m-really-grown-up manner and blend right in.   Fortunately, I have already seen and spoken to several passengers I met during this part of the trip last year, and, am looking forward to two more, people from my table last Christmas.

OK, time for the pill and as much Spanish homework as I can get done before the morning trivia quiz.

Morning trivia quiz is over – he asked questions which I knew so I got 18 out of 20.  It’s called “Team Trivia” and you can have teams of up to 6.  I played on a team once and it was so unpleasant that I now play on the Team of Me.  It works very well – I am never disappointed when I do not know the answer.