Friday, Jan. 25. At Sea

Another busy day at sea with the usual trivia, bridge lectures, bridge games, food, etc.

This was our transportation a day or two ago in Bora Bora. The seats were plastic “bucket” type seats screwed onto wooden sticks. We didn’t realize how lucky we were to have ½” cotton cushions on the seats until we had a similar bus in Samoa with wooden bench seats. However, the bus in Samoa was decorated with palm fronds and flowers. As we boarded in Samoa we were all given a lei of native flowers, pods and greenery.

We skipped the nightly show --Alan went to the movies and I worked (somewhat unsuccessfully) on the blog

Saturday, Jan. 26 Samoa

The heavy showers off and an all day could not dampen the spirits of an interesting day.

We had purchased a Holland America tour before we left home and since the tours go whatever the weather we boarded a typical south sea island bus for a tour of the island.
Unfortunately, our guide gave a very sparse commentary and what little he mentioned could not be heard but most of the people on the bus. Our first stop was the local market place, a large area of stalls selling everything from fruits, vegetables and clothing to the island residents to cocoanut shell jewelry and other souvenirs. After dashing through very heavy rain from the bus to the market are I managed to be under the edge of a tarp as it reached it’s breaking point and sent gallons of water pouring over me. It gave new meaning to the expression “soaked to the skin.”

Our next stop was the island home of Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson, author of some of my favorite poems from his Child’s Garden of Verses, spent the last four years of his life on Samoa, moving there because he suffered from TB. How such a wet, humid climate was supposed to be beneficial is beyond me. He died at his home on the island, (not from TB but from an aneurism) Vailima, (now a museum) and is buried on a mountain top overlooking his house and grounds.

At Vailima we were treated to a cocoanut with a straw for drinking the milk and a folkloric ceremony. After the show we had to cross a water logged lawn to re-board our busses and guess who sank into mud up to her ankles? Upon returning to the ship we attended a performance by members of the island protestant church. The energetic performers ranged in age from about 5 to the early 20s. Of course, with all the grandparents in the audience, the younger children stole the show. The people of Samoa were very friendly and almost everyone the bus passed had a wave.. The parents of many of the children were in the audience after having had a tour of the ship. Without exception they were cordial and warm.

We capped off the evening with the movie Boynton Beach Bereavement Club--finally a movie appropriate to the age of the passengers.

Sunday, Jan. 27.

We crossed the International Date Line and lost Saturday. The notice placed in our cabin said “turn the clocks ahead 24 hours.” Figure that one out!

Monday, Jan. 28.

A day at sea. Pearls are the big thing today with a talk on them in the morning and the ship decorated in white, pink, grey and black balloons to represent pearls.

A few facts about pearls should you head this way.

In this area pearls come from two locations: the Tahitian islands and Australia. The quality of the pearls depends on water temperature, purity of the water and the amount of plankton in the water. Black pearls are unique to the Tahitian islands and vary in degree of color and well as size. In both Australia and Tahiti pearls are “farmed”, a process that takes from 2 to 6 years. When buying pearls look for the following:
Luster, Size (from 8mm to 18mm), Shape (round is the most popular but there are also drop, button, circled, baroque, and semi-baroque (the most valuable), Skin (all pearls except cultivated with have dimples and pimples), Color (the most valuable color is gold. A strand of gold pearls recently sold for $85,000. 2 to 2.5 million oysters were needed to find the pearls to make up the strand.

To tell a real from fake pearl rub the pearl against your teeth. Real ones will grate on your teeth.
Keep pearls away from gemstones. Avoid contact with acidic products, polish with a soft cloth, restring with silk thread when restringing is necessary, when getting dressed put on last and take off first. More than you wanted to know but I sat through the lecture and had to show something for it since we probably won’t be buying pearls.

(I tried to put a picture in this but to no avail. You'll have to pretend there is a picture of a rickity bus.