Day 2 – Sunday, August 9
I woke up again in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep… maybe 6 hours total. I noticed lying in bed that every so often the entire room would shudder for a few moments. I later learned that this is perfectly normal and the result of waves hitting the ship at a 90 degree angle to our path.
So… I was there as the breakfast area opened at 6:00 for my cappuccino. At 7:00, the staff starts preparing some of the made-to-order items. I think I’ve lost some weight since coming on board so I decided a few extra calories wouldn’t hurt. The French toast was outstanding.
Today I made the 8:00 stretching session in the fitness center but skipped out on the ab workout and went back for another cappuccino (decaf this time) and some eggs. I sat next to a wonderful couple from Canada I had met a couple days ago. Mike and Bianca are French Canadians and have the most charming accents. Mike was looking at an app on his phone that charts the location of our ship. Cool! I quickly downloaded it.
Bianca mentioned an absolutely brilliant idea to me that may lead to something life changing for me. That’s all I’m saying on that right now.
After a long phone call with a friend, I was off to play pickleball only to arrive as most were leaving. Ali, a very funny and charming lass from Ireland stuck around to bat it around with me for a bit. We then lunched together. She’s great, though I can barely understand anything she says due to her lovely Irish brogue.
At 4:00 p.m. there was a meet and greet happy hour where I once again met more interesting, friendly people. One of the highlights for me was trying to converse with Helga and Brigitte from Germany in their native tongue. They were so kind in that that made a special effort to speak slowly and use common words so that I could understand them.
The group moved to the dining room where we continued to have great conversation about all their travels. These people are so accomplished, so worldly (the Canadian has been to over 140 countries), so interesting, and just so nice. And they can’t stop talking about how the best part of being here is the community they have developed.
In spite of all the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Odyssey, I can really see myself here for the long haul at some point in the future.
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