My first voyage, Princendam, Circle of the Sun, 2006

[Grumpy1]

I'm just getting caught up on your thread, Susie, after being gone for three weeks. I've really been enjoying your posts... until this last one. We'll be thinking about you and hope that all goes well with your treatments. You're a strong person and I know that you will find a way to keep squeezing lemonade out of life's lemons. Let us know how things are going when you are able.

[wynkys]

Susie,

You have a long hard road to face but if you tackle it with the same spirit you have displayed in your postings, you will conquer it I'm sure.

 

Wayne

[Cruising Jake]

I am so impressed with your optimism and hopeful spirit. I would hope that I could do as well. I applaud your outlook on life and wish you the best in your brief hospital stay with your girlfriend. Maybe she can sing while you play.

[susiesails]

I am keeping a positive attitude. I have requested that the insurance company grandfather in this drug for me until I can switch plans in November. When I asked if they have oked this drug in the past for people with ms, the answer I received was usually. There is no way we can afford this drug without it, not at 1700 dollars a month.

My daughter misty is not speaking to me, as she is going thru memories of my last major illness when I had ostiomylitis in my foot. Please pray for her. She is in a lot of distress over this.

I enter the hospital on Sunday morning and have asked the side effects of this IV solumedral. it is increases appetite, high blood sugar, increases white blood cells, and insomnia. Geez, when I was on the ship and taking oral prednisone I was eating two lunches appetizers, entree's, salads, desserts, etc. I ate 2 whole meals every lunch! I don't want to gain this weight back again, but I have no control over this. The hospital I will be at is

University Hospital of Columbia, MO.

one hospital drive

Columbia, Mo 65212

phone 5738824141

send out those cards now!!!!!! Hahahaha

ok, as you can see I still have my sense of humor.

The drug company that will supply my drugs has the slogan, "live your life, not your MS". I plan on doin that. There is no way I will ever be bed ridden again, been there, didn't like it, won't do it again.

My gf Jeanne has gotten up a bunch of people that play music with us coming to her home tomorrow for all of them to serenade me into the hospital. It should be a good bash, ribs and all. mrssusie

[Betsy's Mom]

Address is great but what name to use? Your attitude is wonderful, fight that insurance company for your drug coverage! Keep up the good spirits and enjoy the music!

Prayers,

B.

[susiesails]

Ok I really was kidding, but if you want to send one, send it to susie Fuji

that is not my entire name but I will alert the hospital mail room to look for me. I will be on 6W. susie sails

[susiesails]

Well they are going to let me out of the hospital today. I Have had my 6 treatments and have dealt with all the associated trauma AND SIDE EFFECTS THAT COMES WITH SUCH A BAD DRUB.

I DO HAVE TO SAY IT HAS Been EVEN FUN!!!!!!!!! can YOU imagine WITH MY NORMAL CONTROLS AND INHABITATIONS REMOVED from my psyche as a results of the high does of meds AND I can SAY ANYTHING I WANT TO ANYONE ABOUT ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!

I AM GLAD THEY gave ME ATIVAN 3 MG AS A SINGLE DOSE THAT MADE THE SYMPTOMS GO WAY AND SO I STOPPED TELLING THE DOCS WHAT THEY WERE going to DO WHEN, WITH ME SHOUTING AT THEM AND POINTING MY FINGER AT THEM to BOOT. But DO YOU KNOW WHAT FOLKS, IT WAS GREAT FUN BEING THE B..CH OF THE HOSPITAL. I CERTAINLY ENJOYED HAVING A DIFFERENT PERSONALITY. I did not take off the roof of the hospital as I had threatened to do so many times

NOW HOWEVER I AM BACK TO MY SWEET, IF SLEEPY SELF. I WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS AGAIN IN THE FUTURE ONLY IF THE DRUGS ARE ON BOARD TOO.

MY EYES ARE PRETTY BLURRY SO I am using the large type.

MY BLOOD SUGARS HAVE BEEN RUNNING FROM 93 WHEN I GOT HERE TO UP TO 259 TO 139. they WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL AFTER I RETURN HOME. I HAVE BEEN ON INSULIN EVERY BLOOD CHECK SINCE THEY STARTED THE PREDNISONE 500 MG A DOSE FOR 6 DOSES.

my blood pressures have been normal AT the start up, to 177 as a result of the drugs. This too will go down later.

I WILL START THE REBIF AFTER THE 18H OF JULY SO I PLAN ON GOING ON MY ANNUAL CANOE TRIP THE WEEKEND BEFORE.

I AM A STRONG PERSON, I WILL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT THIS AND I WILL NOT LET THIS DISEASE WIN. SUSIE

[susiesails]

Hello everyone, how are you today. I am much better since I got out of the hospital both because I am out of the hospital and the medicine is working! I was able to go on Saturday like gangbusters and had a great day. My mind doesn't blank out on me like it has been doing and you can see I can actually type and make sense.

Today I am having a slow day but that is ok because I can sit and process photo's for mom's scrapbooks we are starting.

I am no longer screaming at the doctor ( it was the high doses of prednisone that made me do that) or swearing at my pastor, (I actually said the F word to him, I can't believe it), but I am in good spirits and learning more about ms than I actually want to know but that is ok too.

I can see that my illness from the past is going to be a help to me as I had to solve all kinds of problems with mobility back then and will be able to use these skills again.

The good news is that I had the milder form of ms. I will not be bed ridden. I have been getting all my questions answered and will still have a life with this disease.

I have been dumping my responsibilities with the different charities I work with, so I can concentrate on getting healthy again.

I have a new goal everyday which is to do something each day that makes me feel happy. Some days that may be just cleaning my house or heading for the river to wade if need be but the river is a daily part of my life if I am not out playing music.

I went and played music on Saturday night and wow, I did just wonderfully. I was able to play fast and on beat most of the time and just sat out a few songs, when I couldn't catch the beat.

I gained 19 pounds from the meds in 3 days but have lost all but 4 of those pounds so far.

The meds are in the process of being grandfathered in by my insurance company and I may have to pay up to 25% of the $1700 a month until November but we will figure it out somehow.

One bad side effect of the prednisone is that my neck and back is again hurting me terribly but I am scheduled for a mylogram on Monday next week. Then we go back home and leave the house again on Tuesday to go back up to Columbia on Tuesday to see the neurologist and learn more about ms and me. Then they ill set me up with a visiting nurse to teach me how to give my own shots 3 X a week.

My mom and uncle Ronny are wonderfully supportive and this illness will not get the better of me. Susiesails

[Grumpy1]

Thanks for the update, Susie. It sounds like you are well on your way to getting your life under control again. Hang in there and stay with your regimen of doing something that makes you happy every day. That sounds like the best therapy plan.

 

I know that being on high dose Prednisone makes you want to eat everything in sight. It's a good thing you are no longer on the ship... can you imagine what the results of Prednisone and an unlimited supply of food would be?:eek:

[GottoCruise]

Dear Susie ,

 

I just finished reading this entire thread and wanted to thank you for sharing your life's experience.

 

You have a writer's gift.

 

 

I will think of you whenever I start to get 'grumpy' or complain about unimportant things..........

 

You have made me thankful today for my life's blessings.

 

May G-d Bless you, and keep you, and give you strength to continue with your wonderful way of looking at daily life.

 

A new friend from Cruise Critic........Renee (aka GotToCruise)

[susiesails]

I am so happy because I actually cooked a meal yesterday. 2 of them in fact. I have not been able to cook, seemingly because I don't know how to cook any more.

So for supper we had my famous beans and rice and I made bacon twice yesterday on the stove and didn't burn anything and was also able to keep my mind on my tasks. For someone who used to call herself a cook, this is a major success for me.

I made bacon and tomato sandwiches for lunch. Yippee skippee! susiesails

[alsas]

The spirit you are showing is going to make you a hero from my perspective. With all of us praying for you and some time you will be back on board soon. Happy sailing and happy days Alsas

[hmorrow]

Susie,

I have so much enjoyed your travelouge of your recent cruise, especially since we'll be cruising on the Prinsendam in Dec. Have you ever considered a career in writing? I too, love your style. But not only your writing style. The way you handle life, with such style!

 

I'm sure, one day at a time, you can conquer anything. Helaine

[susiesails]

My mom sent me a gift and I am going to get the new computer program to help me with my typing errors. I tell my fingers where to go and they just don't want to do it sometimes, so each post I make takes me so long to accomplish and correct.

So I am ordering the program "dragon", that will allow me to speak into the computer and it will type for me. This way I will not lose my ability to make posts once I get the hang of it. Oh man, another thing to learn how to use. I will do it, I will do it, I will do it.

I have made a decision to not go on my canoe trip once again this year. It is going to be in the high 90's with the heat index over 100 this weekend. Yikes!

People with MS do not handle the heat very well, it is more dangerous to us than ice or snow. So I will take a pass on this year as I did last year when I needed to have a hysterectomy. Oh well, there will be other canoe trips. I am just too pooped to get all my camping stuff out and drive yet another 3 hours to get there. All this driving is stlll hurting my neck and back, hence the mylogram on Monday.

So it is off to music I go tonight and tomorrow. I have a new song worked up and some old songs to delight everyone with tonight. The new song is When they ring those golden bells for you and me.

I think I need to say, I am certainly no hero. I have been trying to take in all your comments and compliments and well, I am just no hero. I cry just as hard as other people do who are given this horrible diagnosis and am so muddled much of the time.

I learned in the early 90's when you have trouble doing things, just keep putting on foot in front of the other and keep going. A pleasant attitude is for fun for everyone. Laughing is better than crying although I am trying to get some tears out as I know I will feel better after I am done. I actually give myself permission to cry and to do the things I need to do. It all attitude and that I am good at, keeping a positive attitude.

Yes I can make lemonade from lemons but I still can hate lemonade.

Some one mentioned that she would be thankful for all her blessings, Hey I am nothing but thankful (most of the time). I live in such a beautiful place and I make myself take advantage of it, (it is not hard). I have a great life and a wonderful hubby. I have a great Lord that is interested in me, just as I am.

How can I explain how wonderful it is to see the tiniest crawdad trying to make it to grow up to be a big one in the river, and all the wildlife I see everyday. I saw the mom deer and her twin fawns again yesterday, they are growing up fast!

At 5 pm everyday, I am either in my river with my dogs and my girlfriend or getting ready to go out to play music. After all even a bad day on the river is still better than a good day at work.

I had such a great day yesterday. I decided I needed a new look, something easier to take care of, so I went out and got myself a new look yesterday. I told the hairdresser, (the most expensive one! cost $10) I want to look perky! I got a great cut and look petty good after I got my bush trimmed! ( my hair had not been cut since I was on the ship and I told mom that my hair looked like a bush.)

Then I ran around and visited a woman from my church who has had ms for 13 years. She was in the wheelchair just 2 years after diagnosis. I shared many thing I had learned with her and she shared with me. It's nice to talk to someone who has been there, where I am now.

Then I ran around and visited more friends and dumped the one responsibility I still had which was to provide music for a outdoor church service in September. I also tried to resign form my post of vice president of the volunteer fire department here. It was not accepted but she knows I can't be the one to plan things, just be a body to do things other people set up.

Then I spent the rest of the day, until 5 pm sending photo's to snapfish from the cruise. I had many, many hours of pleasure as I again traveled the path of the mighty Princendam on our world cruise. I hope to have something for you to look at soon. I have to go to my friends who has high speed internet to get them to upload. I only connect at 38 Kbps and the photo's do not want to upload at that slow rate.

So it seems I will now become the face of MS for many of you. It's not a job I would have chosen for myself, but since I have been given the task, I would say I am up to it. What do you think? susiesails

[susiesails]

I purchases 2 CD's from the ship that has their photo's on it of the cruise. Am I allowed to post them on a website? I would love to have an answer to this.

I asked on the ship if I could print them and post them and they told me yes, but i am just checking. I don't want to infringe on any of their rights as photographers. susiesails

[susiesails]

I have been madly working on getting photos developed and labeled in albums for your viewing pleasure. Any photo that has a small pink square in it was taken by the ship not me. I also have posted some photo's taken by rosemary. She had many more megapixils than I did on my dad's old camera.

So ta ta, here is the link that will take you to smapfish. I have opened up a dummy mailbox at hot mail. If you want to send me a note you can do it here at this address. My passsword is the last thing I write on every page.

 

 

On a personal note, I tried to write today but my heart is not in it. My medication has been denied twice by my insurance company. I am awaiting calls from everyone to try to get me the medication, Rebif, from the drug company.

I wondered why grumpy told me a long time ago that I wouldn't have many more days on the river or something like that. Well, it has come true. I can no longer go to my beloved river every evening with my dogs and friend. The heat is turning my skelleton to jelly and makes me feel ill all the next day. It makes my symptons much worse. I will try swimming at 6:30 am when it is cooler (grin), but it won't be the same I am thinking.

www.snapfish.com

Log in with this email address mrssusie@hotmail.com

Enjoy, susiesails

[susiesails]

Darn and double darn, I just made a long post and lost it. OH well

 

Finally, I have some more things for you. I have been madly working on getting photo's developed and captioned. If you see a photo with a pink square in it, it was taken by the photographers on the ship. Some of these photo's were taken by Rosmary as she had many more megapixils than I did on my dad's old camera. I entered all the photo's in albums in snapfish. My password is the last thing I put on these pages. Thank you, Rosemary.

 

On a personal note, I tried writing today but my heart was just not into it. I was denied my medication Rebif by my insurance company, twice. There is no way we can afford $1700 a month until November. I have calls into everyone about getting the medication from the drug company.

Many posts back, grumpy said to go enjoy the river, as I wouldnt have many more days on it. It puzzled me but today it came true. I can no longer go out in the heat. It turns my skeleton to jelly and increases my symptoms. I feel bad the whole next day when I go out. No more swimming for me and my dogs everyday with my girlfriend, boo hoo. I will try swimming at 6:30 am (Grin) but I am thinking it won't be the same.

 

To find my photo's go to www.snapfish.com

Enter this email address, mrssusie@hotmail.com This is a dummy mailbox I opened to show you my photo's. If any of you want to send me mail, send it here. I already gave you my passowrk, susiesails

[SDHALFAN]

Hi Susie,

 

I hope that you are having a good day today. Your photos are wonderful and brought back a lot of happy memories of our cruise from San Diego to Rio on the Ryndam back in 2001. It was nice also to see my old friend Andi (in the "gangster" suit) again. We met him on the Prinsendam in 2002 (Sydney to Auckland), and then again on the Amsterdam Panama Canal cruise in 2003.

 

Thanks so much for sharing your memories of the cruise of a lifetime - what a lot of this wonderful world you have seen.

 

Feel better soon, okay.

 

Valerie:)

[Cruising Jake]

Susie, thank you so much for the lovely pictures. I have lived this adventure through you.

[susiesails]

Well, I have tried every avenue I could find to get me my medications for the MS. I have been denied at every turn.

1. Medication Part D: they say since I HAVE NOT TRIED the 3 meds they do pay for, they will not give me my rebif. They are all the older drugs for MS which have many more side effects and are not the drug indicated for a newly diagnosed patient, my doc prefers I go on rebif as it will better control my disease in the long run.

2. I then went to the drug company to get assistance. They told me by federal law as of 12/31/05, anyone who is a Medicare or Medicaid, is forever barred from receiving medications, any medication from any drug company forever. (or until they change the laws.) I am sure this is part of the plan to get everyone to go on Medicare part D. The rep I was speaking with, suggested I go off of all parts of Medicare, then they could give me my meds free.

Now how stupid is that????????? I wouldn't have any insurance if I did that.

3. I next went to our county health organizations for people that can't afford medications. They told me since I have Medicare, I am barred from using any of their services, as they are only for people who do not have insurance.

4. I called my pastor after that and shared with him the above things, he was blown away, (as I was yesterday). He told me when he gets back from a mission trip to Colorado, he will see what he can do to get me my meds.

 

I have started the free month of meds I was given in the doc's office from the drug company. I have given my own shots twice now and I have to say, giving yourself your own shot is not so bad. I am so glad I was getting 6-8 shots a day when I was in the hospital. The shot goes just under the skin in the fat, and I have plenty of that still.

I am only on 1/4 of the dosage for the first 2 weeks. It feels like I have a heavy flu with this dosage. I can't imagine what a full dosage will be like. I have heard that after 3 months, the symptoms will go away, probably!!!!

When the doc was handing me my box, he told me to prepare to have a very bad 6 to 8 weeks. Yikes!!!!! If this is what it feels like to have just 1/4 of the dose I don't know what a full dose will feel like. But they gave me sleeping pills and told me to give myself the shot at night before I go to bed to avoid feeling the brunt of it. I did and slept thru the night, but I have one heck of a backache right now.

I have a very cool thing to pass on too. We received a box from ups yesterday. As neither of us had anything ordered anything, we opened it. YIPPEE SKIPPEE, IT IS A COLD VEST TO WEAR WHEN I AM OUTSIDE IN THE HEAT.

So I can still go to the river in the evenings with my gf and dogs and swim and kayak and still pick my grapes. What a blessing this is for me. I was sooooo sad to think of giving up my river and associated fun. It was sent by my MS nurse from the National MS society. She said I looked so sad as they were telling me I couldn't go out in the heat any longer, that she had this sent to me, gratis!!

I have been hearing from my Lord,....Be Still and know that I am Lord. So I am content to sit back and rest in the knowledge that his plan is perfect in everyway.

My mom had agreed to pay for the meds until November when I can change insurance companies to one that will pay for the meds. I how ever do not want her spending $1700 a month on me, so I will see what the pastor can accomplish.

I questioned the nurse and doc intently on Tuesday to see what the dividing line is between relapsing remitting MS and Progressive MS.

the explanation given to me is this....relapsing remitting MS you have good days and bad days. Some days you feel like wonder woman and other days you feel like mashed potatoes. Wow can I ever relate to this description. I am superwoman today except for my backache. I was mashed potatoes yesterday, soupy ones at that.

Progressive MS is where everyday you just feel worse and lose a bit of function a little more everyday till you are in bed for good with limbs paralyzed. That is why the rebif is important for me now, to keep me from going into the progressive stage.

Well, that seems to be all the news right now. I am going to play music today. and we have invited a bunch of people to come and play music (one of them played in Nashville for the last 3 years, I am so excited) and go on a float trip on Sunday and now I can go with them. Just picture me in a kaki brown fishing vest with blue ice packs in all the 10 pockets, as I sit and paddle in my shiny red kayak!!!! happy as a lark. I tell you I am so thankful for this vest, you all know what an outdoor kind of gal I am. Have a great day, mrssusie

[susiesails]

Video 3 Montevideo

As this scene opens, the sun is rising right over Montevideo; I mean the skyscrapers of the city. It is absolutely breathtaking as I stand on my starboard balcony and get a shot of it floating over the buildings. The sun is even with the neck of the bridge so as we move closer to our slip, the neck blocks out the huge golden sun.

Now we are on one of the 8 busses that lined the dock as we arrived. I mentioned our guide was a teacher in a private Italian school. He is telling us that since 1746 the language in Uruguay is Spanish. Uruguay was formed because they needed a buffer between Argentina and Brazil.

I can hear mom persistently coughing on the bus in the background. When I catch mom’s face in the window reflections I can see how tired she looks, no worn out. We had not yet leaned the rhythms of the ship and its ports. We had not been good at regenerating to this point. I know we were both under a lot of mental strain due to the first anniversary of my dad’s death. I was having lots of memories come up and many of them were not good. I didn’t think he was the easiest man to get along with. But yet he was the closest thing I had to call dad. These were confusing and exhausting times for me and mom too. We were still trying to heal from his death.

OK, back to the video. There are so many lovely parks with huge towering palm trees flying above this very neat and clean city. There are many, many monuments in the parks and on city squares. The details of the monuments are just incredible. Ah, here comes an old fellow with a flowing white beard strumming a guitar and singing. It got my attention, let me tell you. I loved it.

There is a huge grand hotel in the middle of Montevideo that was completed in 1926. It had few patrons that used it and it was changed to “the woman’s paradise”, you could have 2 rooms in your apartment. However, there was not one kitchen in the whole building. The women were going nuts! Today it rented to artists for about $90 a month. The building needs quite a bit of work. The building is just beautiful on the outside, such details and ornamental work on it. The builder’s family did not want him to spend his fortune on this building and thought he was absolutely mad. But he went ahead with his dream and the city has a beautiful building today.

You know I was just thinking of all the things that have been accomplished in this world from people following their dreams and pushing past whatever obstacle that was in front of them. I guess that is the one thing I heard over and over on this cruise. “It was his dream; he followed his dream”, etc got so many things accomplished in this world. I will have to think of my dreams and see if I completed them.

It was so cool to hear people speaking Spanish and while I could understand some of what they were saying, it had been 10 years or more since I had studied Spanish. I was happy to hear the Spanish voices babble on about what were they were talking about.

Beef, leather and agricultural products were the beginning exports. In 1960 they started exporting rice. in 1982 a company started studing conditions of earth all over the world, they found Uruguay to the the best growing conditions and planted eucalyptus trees. Now eucalyptus trees are a major export there.

We were taken past the sculpture of last Indian family. It is a tribute to all the 80,000 people that were killed in the genocide of the Indian people who lived there. The last family of Indians was captured and was sent to France to live out their days in a zoo there. How very sad that is. Well, I don’t make the history of the different countries we visited; I just have to report it.

After visiting the cities of Brazil, this city was very different, clean and neat, and the buildings were so magnificent. I thought this is what Europe would be like. It definitely reminded me of so many of the pictures I had seen of buildings of Europe that I had seen as I was growing up. More later from this video, susiesails

[susiesails]

Ok, Back to Montevideo, still on the Montevideo City Highlights shore excurion. The Teatro Solis was opened in 1856. It is in the Italian style and very elegant and ornate and very large. Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires along with Teatro Solis in Montevideo are the two outstanding theaters in South America. I would have liked to have the opportunity to explore some of the inside of this beautiful building or to see a performance, but when you are on a tour you go where the tour goes.

The building I spoke about earlier that was billed as “the woman’s paradise” has another building across the street from it. Since all the women were so dissatisfied by the one with no kitchens, it was built with 4 rooms and a kitchen to each apartment. These buildings are located on Independence Square.

The woman’s paradise was built to be the largest hotel in South America. Now of course there are much larger buildings but in 1928 when it was first built it must have been awe inspiring. Heck, even today it is awe inspiring. This building was sold to people who live in the county outside of the city so they didn’t have to make the return trip in one day. What smart marketing that was. I guess back then 2 rooms sounded just right for a stay overnight in the city.

When the building opened up across the street with kitchens, it was sold out almost immediately. The women were tired of having no place to cook and had decided they liked staying in the exciting city as opposed to being in the country all the time. Ahhh, I bet their husbands were cursing the men who made these apartments available to their wives as they became much more independent after they had their city apartments.

The unemployment here is 10.5 percent which is high but remember the average is still smaller than many other South American countries.

Everywhere in this city are tall royal palms, they are so beautiful as they stand guard over the parks and monuments. As we pass the monument to the last Indian family, I found out why they were exterminated. The Indians said that the land belonged to them and the democratic government at the time had plans to set up fences and to divide up the land to give to the Spaniards. The Indians opposed this and the government decided to get rid of them. Some time later, the government held a discussion as to whether to hide the fact that they exterminated all the Indians and decided not to hide it.

93 % of the Uruguayans are white and 7% are African Uruguayans; who live all together in the same area. Rarely are they given jobs in stores or in public places. There is much prejudice against them here and that was very evident when some of our passengers tried to get food in an outdoor café.

I remember the trees in this city were so many in number and they were well cared for too. It reminded me of where I used to live in Illinois. Everywhere there is cool shade from the trees.

Our tour guide was quite a joker; he had us laughing many times with his quips. He told us reverend moon didn’t own 50% of Montevideo he only owned 46%. The good reverend, (and I say that very loosely) wanted to buy the Argentine Embassy to live in. They kept saying it is not for sale. Everyday he would offer another million dollars to the Argentines. Finally, they said, “what is he, a fool”? They finally took his offer and built another palace to house the Embassy and kept the extra money he paid for other things. This is a very impressive building, the new home of reverend moon.

Then we went on to the palace. It was made with 60 different kinds of marble inside and outside and has gold ceilings in one of the receptions halls. It is now the government seat. There were armed soldiers standing at attention in many parts in the building. Many of them seemed to totally ignore us which seemed to be orders they worked under, but there were a few men like me, just curious to see the next batch of tourists coming to see this place and it’s amazing art work that was hung everywhere. I could see 2 fellows with their eyes darting here and there as we went by and I even got a smile out of one of the fellows. I was surprised how short they all were. What a graceful, very large palace this is, with its stained glass windows, inlaid floors, dramatic arches. Nothing seemed out of proportion here. If you have a chance to explore this palace, do it as it is well worth the trip.

Next we went to the stature of the covered wagons and the men and women who tamed this land. The actual wagon is so small yet they were pulled by 6 oxen. The details of these statues are again just incredible every attention is paid event to the smallest details.

The typical way to celebrate with friends is the Bbq. The women make the associated dishes but the men are in charge of the BBQ and are very proud of their skills.

Next we went to a huge park on the Rio de Plata. (River of Silver) Again the guide got our attention when he told us we were passing a topless beach, you should have seen the men craning their necks and a few women too. He did let us know it was only the men who went topless. I know I head a few groans from somewhere on the bus when he said that. Almost 1/2 of the city can be seen from this park. We got a chance to get out at this park and I spied some teens jumping rope and having a lot of fun.

Wow, I spent many fun hours jumping rope with long ropes just like this when I was a kid and headed over there. I asked permission to join in and I was allowed and missed the first entry I tried. I had not jumped rope like this in how many years, lets see, maybe 45 years so it was ok that I missed. I was finally able to get in and jump 4 times when I stepped on the rope again and let the kids have their fun by themselves. I do have to say I had a much stronger bladder when I was smaller and hoped I didn’t embarrass myself as I was walking away. Oh well. I had fun jumping! One of our table mates said, “only you Susie, only you would be jumping rope on a world cruise”. Hey remember, I wanted to see it all, taste it all and experience it all on my trip. I didn’t mind his ridicule. I must have given the camera to someone else and so today was able to watch my 4 jumps. I am grinning madly as I watched this. Ahhhh, I have many happy memories here, both of Montevideo and of jumping rope when I was a kid.

Marriot has bought one of the other grand hotels here and is currently doing a restoration on the building, inside and out. I had seen other buildings that Marriott has restored in America and they do a very nice job, no expense seems to be spared when they are restoring them. It will also be a gambling casino. Moon owns the Radisson hotel there.

As we sailed away I can see the small rise of the city, “I see a mountain” was what someone said as they sailed in during their explorations of South America, hence the name of Montevideo. We have a wonderful golden sunset and pink clouds above that as we sailed away. Chao, susiesails

[susiesails]

2/2/2006 4:35 AM

We are getting nearer to Antarctica and the satellite system goes in and out. I will

be out of touch completely from the 3rd to the 8th as we go where we can't reach

the signal. Yikes, that means no Superbowl for the guys either!!!!! Susie

 

 

Buenos Aires

 

I am sad we have left Buenos Aires, so many wonderful things happened there and

one disaster. I will start with the disaster first. I can't believe I did this

but I did. I left my journal on the last bus we were on, the same journal that I

had written all my lecture notes in and all my thoughts. I also had some email

addresses in it that I can never recover. I am hoping that it will be forwarded

to Holland America and I will get it back some day. The guide told us if we

leave anything in the bus she will sell it, that was a joke, but I am not

laughing now. I had stuck it down in between the seats, so that is how I missed

it. I am telling you, I cleaned the whole room looking for that journal. our room

is so clean, you can see wood surfaces everywhere, and it is not there. But oh well,

maybe some day.

 

Lets see, Buenos Aires, Argentina, first of all it was not as a spectacular

entrance to the port as Rio de Janeiro because of the differences in the

landscape, but it was interesting watching the captain back this huge ship into

the port. I couldn't believe he was going to back it all the way in but he

did. (There must be a nautical term for backing up a ship but I don't know it.) This was a much busier port than our other ports, with jets from the air

force flying overhead regularly and helicopters from the coast guard and so many

ships entering before us and after us. The skyline was just breath taking.

 

After the spectacular entrance to Rio, which mom missed because she was

sleeping, I woke mom up to see this ship dock when we came into port. She enjoyed it;

as with all the cruises she has taken in the past, she had never watched the ship go into the port. I hear from other passengers that the entrance to Cape Town will be as

good as Rio, so I am eagerly waiting for that. We will arrive in Puerto Madryn

tomorrow, but because of the winds we are arriving early at 5:15 am so we

don't miss docking in this port because the winds pick up later when we

expected to dock but the sun goes up at 6:23 am so it will be dark when we

arrive. Ok, we arrived at 8:30 am and didn't have a tour till 5:30 PM in Buenos Aires,

 

So I told mom I was going ashore to see the city and she opted to go with me.

(Carlos and family were not waiting for us, sigh.) It was hot and we took the

shuttle bus to the jewelry store (they provided the shuttle busses gratis) but

went in only for a few minutes. Then we hit the downtown and I couldn’t

believe how many big names were there on that street. Names like Christian Dior,

Harrods, (closed, darn) I cannot remember what else. Everywhere there were

leather shops, and jewelry stores. We stopped in MacDonalds for cafe lattes,

and then went on our way.

 

I was on a mission for a friend (Howard) on the ship to have tee shirts made for

him to give out as presents. I found the shop a policeman told me about; (I

could finally speak the language, Spanish). I went in and worked out the order

with the man who owned the shop in Spanish and he was charging me 35 pesos a

shirt. That came to $12 a shirt. I was blown away that we could have the shirts

made for that little. Howard had them made in Fort Lauderdale first but they

only put 1 E in coffee, so he wanted them made again. I told the owner that I

thought he was a master at making shirts, he was so pleased by that, but his

wife knew I was handing him a line. Hahhhaa. I explained that someone else would

be coming in to get them and he said without the card he gave me, they

wouldn't be able to pick them up. (All this was in spanish, I was so proud of myself!)

 

We then decided to walk down the street to get Don, the ex navy captain a

haircut and we found a shop for his wife, Alice, and mom to get haircuts and

washes and styles at a few doors down. Don's haircut was 4.50 American and

mom's was only 8 dollars. What a difference from the 70 dollars they want on the

ship for ladies haircuts.

 

While all this was being done, I ran to the pharmacy, which actually looked like

a perfume and make up shop, but the pharmacy was in the back of the store. I

explained in my Spanish that mom had a cough, I did not have a word for cough,

and so I just coughed into my hand. I tried to explain that she had dry lungs so

I told her that she didn't have any liquid there and showed the pharmacist my

lungs by touching myself there. Anyway, I walked out of there with a natural

cough medicine that mom has not needed to take. Her virus seems to have run its

course and she is getting better. I did not take any photos, as I was tired of

taking photos everywhere. I did get a few, but only a few.

 

Well, that is it for tonight, stay tuned for part II tomorrow for our very special lunch in Buenos Aires, sans tour. susiesails

July 27, 20006

I am glad I am finally able to write again, my post about dining with my father scared me as it just felt dead to me. I am having good days and bad. I rest on the bad days, so I get thru them. On the good days I am trying to write. It does take me much longer to get it done though but I just keep plugging away at it.

I wore my new cold vest tonight to go and play music at a friends outside. We had a lovely dinner, I brought chocolate zuchini bread. I was able to stay outside and play with my vest on without problems. Yippee skippee! susiesails

 

 

[susiesails]

We wanted to have lunch in the food court of a mall, when we walked in it and it was all American fast food chains, I was so disappointed. I asked a policeman where the food of Argentina was and he explained how to get there and off we went. We all decided that we wanted some argentine BBQ, which actually came out on little grills at our table. We got enough for 4 people and we could not eat it all. We had them wrap the remaining steak, chicken, sausage, beef kidneys, and stuffed intestines and took it to give to some of the poor people you see everywhere in these poorer countries. It weighed about 3 pounds, and that was after we had eaten all we could. Oh, the cost, $16 for 4 people with drinks.

Mom was tired at that point, and it was pretty hot, so we headed back to the ship. The city was so beautiful, with so many parks and huge buildings and traffic everywhere. I do not know what it must be like on working days, as many of the Argentineans are on vacation at the mountains or shore during this time.

Ok, as soon as we got back to the ship we jumped in the shower to cool off and got ready for our dinner and Tango show. We expected to eat at around 6 PM as we do on the ship, but we went to the tango show first, then a restaurant later. Both mom and I were starving before we got a chance to eat!

These people often work until 9 PM, then go out to eat on Fridays and Saturdays. They often do not get home till after 8 am. Yikes!

We enjoyed our tango show and went to dinner at an upscale part of town to enjoy argentine steaks. Everywhere we go the wine flows, but I have been leaving it alone lately. Mom and I sat with Stuart, who was the gent I told you was dying when he came on board and was jauntily swinging his cane a while back. He has been living in Paris, France for the last 6 years and has damaged lungs from an experimental drug his doc gave him in the past. He shared with us he almost drowned when he was swimming in the Amazon with me. He was sitting in front of us on the boat that day and I watched his wife take care of him so lovingly on that tour. He is an amazing man; mom and I really enjoyed spending the evening

with him. His wife was back on the ship, as she was not feeling well.

 

As we were getting back on the bus, Howard came up to it and got me off. I had done the tee shirt mission for him and he wanted to know the details. (Howard was also the gentleman who the waiter didn't want to serve because he was black in Montevideo.) He tried to take me to dinner with his friend, Stephen, but we had just eaten all that steak. I just had fresh squeezed orange juice and we walked around the pier and then took a taxi back to the ship. It was a very pleasant evening. Stuart got mom back to the room safely. He is such a gentleman.

 

We had to hurry up and sleep as we were heading out at 8 am for our tour to LaEstancia or the ranch. Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I post about one of my 2 favorite tours in all of South America. susiesails

[susiesails]

We had to hurry up and sleep after our tango show and supper as we were heading out at 8 am for our shore excursion to La Estancia or The Ranch. We drove south out of Buenos Aires and it is such a huge city, 12 million people live there. We drove for 3 hours through the Pampas, which I have always thought, was full of pampas grass. Not so, it is all corn and soybeans now grown for export. I had imagined the Gauchos riding out of this tall grass on their horses with the huge white plumes waving in the breeze, but it was only in my imagination. Modern day Argentina looks like Wisconsin or California, according to some of the people on the bus. Everywhere there are fields of corn and soybeans or cows and a few sheep. The houses are different though. They are made of hand made brick and are small and low if they are old. There is lots of shade around as people have planted trees to block out the hot sun around the houses.

Now the part I am going to tell you about has been my best adventure so far. I have tried to think why this was the best part and I think it is because we were out of the city and everyone at the ranch was warm, genuine, and friendly, but with a bit of reserve until I started speaking Spanish with them. (Thank you Carlos for teaching me so much Spanish) I was able to joke with them and explain the people from the ship to them and well, it was just all so wonderful to be not just another face on a tour. I was a real person there.

 

We arrived at the ranch and the sign at the locked gate was La Fortuna or The Fortune. I wondered why El Padron (the owner) called it that. The only answers I could come up with were that he spent his fortune buying the place or he expected to make his fortune with it. Who knows the real reason?

 

We drove our 4 busses of people up the cool, shady sycamore-lined avenue for a long way and we passed a real palace that is being remodeled to rent out in the future. The building was gorgeous. They are replacing the marble floors now so we could not even go in. They told us the building was completely empty while it is being restored. Everywhere there were Gauchos on horseback, some carrying flags to welcome us with the colors of the ranch and some escorting us to the correct place at the

back of the trees. We all got out of the bus; the ride had been long, 3 hours. We were all ready to be out of that bus.

 

There were huge tables set up with beverages and the staff was passing out homemade Empanadas of meat or corn. Empanadas are like the national dish of Argentina. They are little pies or turnover like creations with different fillings, with an extremely flaky crust. They were hot and flaky, so much so that you had to lean over to bite them or wear the flakes on your shirt. The beverages were wine, red and white, and Pepsi! The Pepsi was a huge hit as we had only been served Coke since we had left America. They also had ice and plenty of it, we asked if it was safe to eat the ice and we were told, "yes, we could." (Usually if the ice or water is not safe to drink, they announce it before we leave the ship over the loud speakers so everyone aboard can hear it.)

 

The Gauchos came out in force, maybe 20 of them riding their beautiful horses with sheepskin saddles in their old fashioned Goucho clothes. On one side under the graciously spaced trees were many saddled horses tied to the rope line and they started bring out the horses for us to ride.

 

They also had 4 old restored cars like the model T and there was a touring car and an old truck, all for the guests to go for a ride in. There were also 4 carriages of different varieties, for the other guests to go for a ride in.

They told us we could do whatever we wanted, as many times as we wanted until we heard the bells ring and then we should head for the tables set up in a huge open pavillion, where there were banquet tables set up and a stage for the show later.

 

I went for the horses after having a sip of wine and passing it to mom and a few empanadas. (Really, I only had a few!) I assisted mom up into a carriage then got in line for the horses. I was grinning like a fool when I got up in the saddle and told the gaucho I had many years in a saddle, a slight exaggeration, and then asked if we could go fast. Now I could not even get that horse to walk much less canter, so I asked for another one. We turned to go back to the group and then the horse was very willing to walk quickly, if not run. After changing horses and getting a new Gaucho, we took off per my request. We cantered around all the way around the place. Wow, my body has not been abused like that in a long time. I do not remember going up and down in the saddle hurting that much, hahahhhaha. Anyway, I had a great time and didn't fall off. We were actually going quite fast but not flat out running like I used to do with my brother Bill. I was very good on a horse at one time, but my brother Bill was absolutely magnificent.

 

I had taught him to ride after having riding lessons in high school and we used to go to rent horses and run across the farmer’s fields. Wow, that was a special time with him when we used to go riding. I loved those times and treasure those memories. Like I said, I was good, but he was magnificent. He actually seemed to become one with the horse. It did not matter what the horse did, he stayed on and we did some pretty crazy things back then. That was when you could ride without a guide, so it was just he and I and the horses running breakneck across the corn fields.

 

Anyway, I had a lovely time riding and then went to find mom. I searched the place for her, and couldn’t find her. I got sidetracked a few times talking to people and wandering around taking pictures, but still couldn’t find her. I looked everywhere. I asked everyone, they all said they had seen her and had told her I was looking for her, but no mom. Finally I saw another carriage come in and what do you know, here is mom getting out of the carriage. I ran up to her, as I had gotten pretty worried. I helped her put her feet on the right steps and when she turned to look at me she was grinning hugely. She told me, "That was my third ride!" Go mom! She enjoyed her carriage rides as much as I did my horse ride.

 

We wandered over to the shelter where they had the tables set up and most everyone was there sitting in the shade. There were still some people wandering around taking photos and playing with the well taken care of dogs. It was so nice to touch an animal again. So many people had been missing their pets. The dogs were a big hit.

 

They announced that it was time for the horse races. Those of us that wanted to go and stand in the sun, it was 100 degrees that day, went and lined up on the other side of a white fence to watch the event.

 

All of a sudden, we heard pounding and I stuck my head over the fence and here came 2 Gauchos racing their horses. Wow, such speed and the noise of the hoofs pounding the ground was incredible. They had huge grins on their faces as they flashed by. Each was carrying a small-carved pointed stick. The goal was to put this stick into a small ring attached to a leather strap far overhead. The rings were attacked to a piece of leather hanging from a tall metal frame. If they pulled the ring off and were able to hold it without dropping it, they won the race. It was very exciting to watch. I saw them ride over to the line of people and there was a lot of laughing going on but I could not see what was happening.

Then I got the idea there was some kissing going on. Hmmmmmm

 

The Gauchos ran their horses so many times. We were told they did it twice as long as usual. I had asked one of the Gauchos, "Da me un beso agui" while pointing to my cheek when he was riding by with his ring and he came over and planted one on my cheek. Everyone laughed. Then the guide told me later I was not doing it right as the lady is supposed to kiss the man. Oh, well! I later saw a ring that had been dropped and ran out to pick it up as I did not want the horse injured and here came the rider that had captured the ring to get it and he jumped off his horse and gave me another kiss on my cheek. Everyone loved it, as I have become a favorite to many of the people here. They applauded, cheered and whistled. I didn't mind it either. I gave the ring to another woman as I did not need two, and she said, "but I have not been kissed". I laughed and told her to pucker up. She refused. Hahahhaha Then the bells rang and we headed

back into the shelter to eat around 2 PM.

 

Oh man, what a feast they had prepared for us. They had been cooking 4 sides of beef over open coals, or rather on the side of the coals and let the wind carry the heat to the beef, and racks of chickens split open and flattened over coals, and chorizo, or home made sausages. We also had homemade potato salad, tomato and onion salad, salad with oil and vinegar salad dressing and more wine and ice and Pepsi. I saw the dessert spoon at each setting and wondered what we would be having for dessert. I swear they had 50 people taking care of us that day. It was so wonderful. The food just kept coming and coming. There was probably

enough food to feed twice the number of people we had there. I am not kidding. The dessert was frozen ice cream with chocolate drizzled over it and frozen in individual waxed paper so it was really cold. Now after they had brought out the ice cream, some of the Gauchos bought out some of the cooked rib bones of the beef and they were posing for pictures with those who wanted to. I saw my horse riding Gaucho pose at the table and he had his leg sticking out and I saw an opportunity for a good photo and sat on his leg and boy, his face flamed into a red color. I did not realize it until I looked back at him when my friends Paul and Dianna mentioned it. Anyone that knows me well knows I am all talk and no action. I had asked one of my friends earlier if she was going to ride a horse and her reply made me burst out laughing. She said, "Hell no, I do not want to ride a horse, I want to ride the cowboy!" I laughed so hard I was crying!!!!!!

After the meal, they had a show of singing and dancing tango the country way. It is much different than the tango of Buenos Aires. We really enjoyed the show and the singing with a guitar and drum.

 

After a 3-hour bus ride back we were exhausted, as were many other folks. Being in the heat really hurt many of the older women, mom included. After showering, we went to the lido restaurant for supper and mom was feeling so bad, I could see she had gotten a touch of heat exhaustion. I had bought Gatorade on the way home and made her drink it. She really did not want dinner but I asked her to eat the lamb she had on her plate as I thought she could use the salt and the protein. I put her to bed and went to bed myself.

 

So that was our adventure in Buenos Aires, all in all the best shore excurion we had been on so far and a very good time. I heard on CNN that they had rain the day we left. They had had so much rain that 12 people died from the flooding. Yikes.

I think I reported the flooding in Rio, but it was here. Susiesails