we were due to arrive in Mauritius tomorrow morning at 0800. For those of you following this travelogue closely, you may remember that we left Cape Town late due to high winds & slow refueling. And we’ve been in very rocky seas since due to cyclonic activity in the area. There is a cyclone in Madagascar at the moment and we are heading past. Today, cups & plates were sliding all over the tables. During the noontime announcement they told us we had slowed down a bit because of the rough seas and we wouldn’t make it into Mauritius until 1600 tomorrow. And then it usually takes about 2-3 hours to clear the ship, so basically we'd lose all of tomorrow. Literally, I thought I might burst into tears at the announcement. We don’t have weekends on the ship. There are A class days & B class days everyday at sea & then port days when we’re off. It’s like working crazily all the way until Friday and then they tell you, oops, Saturday is not coming this week. I sooo need to get off the ship. Many people are saying this has been an easier stretch for them than Salvador to Cape Town. But, I wasn’t feeling like this prior to Cape Town. Right now, I’m just totally exhausted. And I need my 3 days off! Sherri & I decided to staff the library between us tomorrow. If we asked our workstudy students to work, we were afraid they might mutiny. But it does seem the library should be open and we imagine at least a few students might use the unexpected time to get a little work done. So, we planned to be open 0900-1500. But now, they’re saying we might arrive around noon, so we’ll be open until whenever we arrive.
At logistical pre-port tonight, the little kids on the ship impersonated the adults who usually do the pre-port -- the doctor, the deans, the field office lady. The kids were very funny, dressed up accordingly, and did a great job of nailing all the personalities. They ended with a song that had one of the 5-years olds yelling at the top of his lungs to the chorus of a question, "we have luscious beaches, we have coconuts, we have mango trees, what else do we need?" and he would yell at the top of his lungs: SOBRIETY! I hope it made it an impact because there were some pretty serious alcohol-related incidents in Cape Town.
I had a trip planned for tomorrow, but it's been canceled. I guess I'll see what time we get off & wander some around Port Louis. I might be grateful for some unplanned time in the end anyway ...
