Saturady, 23rd June 2012 9:50 AM:
Alright, the first night is over and after initially battling hunger,
cold, headache, and general discomfort (basically everything except seasickness), I ended up sleeping reasonably well.
I woke up pretty sweaty and extremely hungry. Since I’ve been
on board, I’ve been hungry all the time, even more so than at home.
I was also an hour late, as it turned out, because my cell phone, which I used as an alarm clock, apparently was already in the next time zone.
After a brief involuntary contrast shower (the water comes out warm for about half a minute, then a little lukewarm, then cold, and then warm again), I went down to the mess hall, where only the captain and the chief engineer were still sitting. They had probably worked through the night and were now off duty. Of course, the boys were all gone, only the used plates and breadcrumbs were left on the table. The head waiter (I really should ask for his name again) said that it was no problem, there was still plenty of everything left. So I digged in: baguette with apricot jam, baguette with strawberry jam, baguette with even more strawberry jam, accompanied by real French Russian Chinese tea, which, according to the description on the tea bag, was something like chai. In any case with very nice cloth tea bags, and it was actually delicious, although I felt that something was missing. Maybe cream and cinnamon….???
After breakfast, I read for a while in the sheltered passenger corner by the pool. I found a really exciting book in the lounge: “Finsteres Glück” (Dark Happiness) by Lukas Hartmann. And once again, I realized that reading a paper book and reading on a laptop are completely different experiences. And I can’t imagine that
reading on an e-reader is much closer to the paper version than reading on a laptop.
In any case, I find reading a book relaxing, whereas when I read on a computer, after a while I just feel stressed and my eyes start to hurt. What will I do when I’ve finished the book ????
Otherwise, there are only a few Bergdoktor novels in the lounge or my books on my laptop…Help!!!
Of course, I had to stress myself out even a bit more because I was still not “really” on the bridge, not yet in the gym, and I hadn’t reported to the chief engineer yet that I wanted to see the engine room (even though I read in the passenger brochure that it’s actually scheduled for the middle of the week) and that everything here is totally boring and pointless, etc.
Typical me (or German???)!!
But then I thought about how I’ve only been away from Switzerland for half a week and it feels much longer, as if it had been a completely different life. I no longer think about work or my
apartment, but am simply here. And that’s worth much more
than getting to know the whole ship after just one day on board.
So I get myself back on track and am just happy to be here, with the sun shining outside and me not being seasick 🙂
Besides, today is the first day that my back feels noticeably better.
Yesterday, I already had the feeling that this gentle rocking movement of the boat (since setting off) is exactly what the chiropractor meant when he said that my spine should be moved gently and regularly without strain so that everything is well supplied with blood and the swelling goes down more quickly.
Yesterday, I was already a little worried because the pain was still so present—not all the time, but with certain movements, e.g., when turning in bed from my back to my stomach or vice versa.
It’s a shame that you can’t see inside to check whether
everything is progressing normally or whether I should take any
measures (painkillers, ointment, exercises…).
The captain told me yesterday that if anything happens, I should let him know, as he has his ways of getting drugs and such (that was just a joke, of course).
We also talked about what Michaela and I discussed at our last Skype meeting: What happens if an emergency actually occurs in the middle of the Atlantic?
The captain said that if land was nearby, they could call for a helicopter, otherwise they would be instructed via satellite phone what to do. And he said I shouldn’t tempt fate, as he wasn’t a great specialist in medical matters – we really laughed a lot while we waited for the pilot.
He also told me that I would probably lose the sea view from my cabin in Montoir, as we would be fully loaded there, and that the chef would also change there: The new guy is supposed to be someone who cooks more haute cuisine. I’m curious to see if I’ll still like the food 😉
The main thing is that the portions don’t get any smaller, but the captain promised me that wouldn’t happen. He said that if the portions are too small for sailors, they start to mutiny, so it’s unlikely to happen. If necessary, I’ll just eat the leftovers from my table neighbor, who always leaves half of his food anyway 😉
Some photos of Saint Nazaire, our next stop:
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