Greetings from the fog bound Symphony, somewhere off the coast of Devil's Island, January 19. 2009~~~

This is our second sea day in a row and the weather has been dreary with rain, fog, high winds and some rough seas. We're really looking forward to the Caribbean to see some sunshine! We have another sea day tomorrow, then Barbados. But the problem with Barbados is that it is a
holiday and all the shops, etc will be closed.

The day before yesterday we were in Fortaleza, Brazil. It was our last stop in Brazil and in South America. It definitely was better than Salvador, but not by much. It has beautiful beaches within the city, but they are too polluted for swimming. However, within 90 minutes of the city are magnificent dunes with gorgeous beaches. We did manage to find a few gifts at the Mercado Centrale or Central Market. The crafts are mostly baskets, lacework and leather work. The city has some beautiful high rise buildings and some charming red-roofed older buildings, but the contrasts between attractive buildings and shanties are dramatic. There were gated apartment buildings, with guards, right next to shanty towns or poor storefront businesses. The poverty, most prominently in the Brazillian cities has been sobering. Evidently, the availability of crack cocaine is contributing to the poverty, homelessness and abandoned children on the streets. It's a tragedy of major proportions! On the other hand, Brazil is a vast country with many, many different natural resources. If the cities were cleaned up, if people were fed, housed and educated, it could become a strategic world power. One of our guest speakers, Jay Wolf, explained why South America has remained poor despite it's natural
wealth. Evidently, it is almost impossible for the working man to improve his lot. There are no mortgages in Argentina, you must bring all cash to purchase a property or business. I don't know if that is true in other countries. Also, the red tape is unending and a permit to build a house, open
a business, etc can take years. It takes years to get the necessary licenses and much money. The average working man can't afford to miss work for all the days that are required to deal with the agencies in order to get licenses or permits, and they don't have the cash. Therefore, most business and services are under the table and are not part of the economy, and therefore, not taxed. The contrasts between what we have seen and the luxuriousness of Crystal Symphony are thought provoking.

This has been a much less exciting segment than the first two and the weather hasn't helped. But we still are having a great time. We've met fun people, some of which we hope to keep in touch with when they leave the ship. There are only 6 other people continuing on for the next cruise on
1/25. I don't know how many people will be on board, yet. We are continuing to sit with the ship's doctor, Cornel Engelbrecht from South Africa, and really enjoy his company. He's warm, funny and social. We are sorry that our table mates are leaving the ship in Miami. We will miss Barry
and Penny, Henry and Marilyn, Mary and Georgina! We're also going to miss Natalie and Rod, who have become dear friends. Natalie is my partner in crime in Art Class and out. Speaking of Art Class, Kristina Nugent and her dear husband, Larry, have provided such a creative, supportive and fun class. I don't know what I will do every sea day at 3pm. Hopefully there will be another Art at Sea instructor for the next two segments. But Kristina will be a very hard act to follow! She has made all of us feel successful and was so skilled at breaking down each step in watercolours, silk painting and pastels, that we all achieved far beyond what we thought we could. Kudos to Kristina and Larry!

Yesterday was Team Trivia and we lost badly. Today was the same. Our team consists of Frank and Sally from England, Natalie and David and I. Shameful performance!!!! At least we are doing well in the library trivia! Judith, you would be proud of me!

 Last night we had dinner in Silk Road with Crystal Symphony's Japanese Activity Hostess, Urara, and her charming husband, Taka. It was a lovely evening and the food was outstanding! It was a chance to use my Japanese table manners from the course that Urara taught. We started our
meal with a selection of sashimi, beautifully presented, tuna, fatty tuna, yellow tail, conch, salmon, mackerel and scallop. Next was an equally beautiful presentation of assorted sushi. The entrees were (and I know I am spelling this wrong, and no spellcheck on Notepad) sukiyaki and
steamed halibut. Dessert was sesame ice cream and tapioca soup with green tea ice cream. Instead of Saki, we tried Shachu (again the spelling) a Japanese spirit. Gene, the wine steward, didn't want to serve it to us since we were not Japanese and it is potent stuff. But we did fine with it. It has been so rough recently that it is hard to tell who has had too much to drink, except they might be walking straight!

Friday night we are having dinner at Silk Road again, this time with Rabbi Morry Hirschman and his wife Gerry. We attended Rap with the Rabbi yesterday morning and Luxe was filled to capacity. He has such a good sense of humor that he attacks quite a crowd at these sessions and at
Friday night services, which we, SURPRISE!, attended!
All for now!
Love and Caio!
Ricki