So the cruise is coming to an end. I know Liz has been
keeping everyone updated on our cruisin’ status but I thought I should have the
opportunity to put in my two cents!
This is the longest Liz and I have spent together in nearly
4 years, between living in France and Florida, Liz and I have maintained our
“best friend” status through emails, texting, and lengthy phone calls. So this
was a good test of not only our friendship but Liz’s ultimate survival skills.
Ultimately, we have succeeded and our friendship, strong before is probably
even better. I think we may need to start a yearly cruising ritual. That is not
to say that we did not get on each other’s nerves, which indeed we did, but it
all was rather trivial so if you are looking for a vacationing companion, I
give Liz my an “A.” And she will tell you that I am rather critical of my
travel companions.
As I know Liz has mentioned, I gave lectures on this cruise.
Destination lectures on the four places we traveled all based in history. The
lectures went very well, Liz was my second in command and came in to save me
numerous time, like when I forgot the first page of my lecture notes in the
room she ran back upstairs and got them for me. Big save! My worst fears about
being a lecturer was that I would have someone who wanted to talk to me all the
time about history. A lecture stalker. This did not happen, which was great, I
think it is largely because I was so much younger than my audience that they
kind of realized that this was a vacation for me too, but I did get great
questions and reviews so it was a major plus.
The destinations were great, we did not have enough time in
Puerto Rico, which was unfortunate because there was so much to see. Liz got to
meet a friend of my from Tallahassee, DJ, who as Liz mentioned is a neurotic
freak (right Donna?). I warned her about him as best I could but in reality you
just have to meet him. Granted I know he is strange but we are still really
good friends, he is like a cyst that keeps growing on you and eventually no
matter how many times you try to remove it, it just stays there. Don’t get me
wrong, he knows all of this too, one of those people who is totally aware that
he is an oddball.
Haiti was interesting, difficult for me because the Haiti we
saw was not the Haiti I know. As a French historian, I know Haiti is a place
fraught with turmoil, disease, political corruption, and poverty. The Haiti we
saw was owned by Royal Caribbean and a beautiful resort, or as Liz called it
Faiti. We went to the artisan market where we tried to barter with “local”
Royal Caribbean approved artisans. I realized midway through that it was going
to be necessary to speak in French to get the best deal and if I could through
in some Creole that would be good. So we got some sweet deals and I got some
good descriptions of the things we bought that they could not explain in
English. Woohoo French language skills!
So as Liz mentioned, I insisted we switched dinner tables to
have better companions. Indeed we found them. I like to think we made our “new”
table awesome. The young hip kids, that get everyone going. There are two
couples from Montreal and another couple from Indianapolis. We shut down the dining
room every evening. The original couple we met from Montreal is awesome, and
the husband, Adrian makes me laugh hysterically with his light French Canadian
accent and his desire to eat Filet Mignon and French fries every evening. The
other couple from Montreal are the definition of douchebags, he knows
everything and she doesn’t have an opinion about anything. The last couple is
sweet and friendly. The husband is hilarious and was rip roaring drunk last
night. Overall, major plus to switching tables.
Alright, my guest performance is complete. This was a great
trip with Liz, and she will be sure to fill you in on everything else. We get
back to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow, where her grandparents will pick us up, I love
her grandparents and if we indeed survive the drive back to Leisureville, we
will be meeting up with my parents who are leaving for a cruise Monday out of
Ft. Lauderdale. I am totally stoked to see them. Lastly, we will be driving
back to Jacksonville tomorrow and staying overnight there until Liz flies out
on Monday morning. I must say that we did not need any of her lame road trip
games, we had the awesome conversations covered and entertained ourselves with
some Livin’ la vida Loca!
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