The Panama Canal is not far.

20. 

31/03/2009

 

Pigorilla Power!

 

The ecstasy of having sleep try and overwhelm me at 10pm in the evening was like being offered a sip of water after a long day of staggering through a dessert full of sun with a hang-over.....I grabbed it with both hands and barely had time to turn off the light as I lapsed into blissful tranquillity. You can imagine my disappointment when a few hours later, I woke up, knowing that I’d had enough sleep to not sleep again, but not enough to get through the rest of the day with no more. Not one to be outdone by the pathetic whims of a sleeping pattern (or more apt, the lack of one), I went to my ensuite and removed my latest treat from Acapulco.....some natural sleeping tablets.....I asked the lady for some unnatural ones, but she only shook her head at me disapprovingly knowing full well that I’d probably been taking some of the natural crop that they use to keep themselves awake. When I met Jessica for a drink at the square in the old town, covered in trees with dangling monkey ropes, all lush and green, she had been approached by a guy who, with a well practised finger, put it up to block his one nostril and made a gentle sniffing sound with the other and respectfully asked, “Something for the nose?”

 In any event, you can tell a town better by its sleeping pills than the quality of coke and all I can say is that I’ve had poor quality ephedrine that makes me drowsier than Acapulco’s natural sleeping pills. I’ve read several chapters of my book, tried to sleep again twice, replied to mail, and it is now 04h25 in the morning with not so much as a blink of the eye-lids to offer any optimism of a little rest on the horizon.

 The moon has been reflecting a pale glow through my port hole off a still silken sea. Only the hum of the engines and the twirling reflections of the water off the ceiling of my cabin give any indication that we are moving through a deep fathomless ocean.

 A strong  ice cold Horlicks with a dash of protein powder has numbed the craving for a big slab of chocolate or a cigarette;  which I have eluded for a couple of days based on pure remorse at having bought these useless nicotine patches.

 My favourite customer, Mrs Edge, came for her first private lesson yesterday. She insisted on showing me her pictures which were not bad at all.....for a blind person. She thought that was a little cruel and gave me a little nudge with her shoulder and a grin. As can be expected the lesson went well only because of her unbelievable way of accepting what is, and achieving what one wants by circumnavigating around what cannot be moved. She waxed lyrical about the propeller brigade still trying to squeeze money out of P&O and stirring themselves into a feeding frenzy of discontent, while all around them, the holiday they paid for and were receiving was disappearing in front of their very eyes, while a lady with the most useless eyes you ever did see, was marvelling at the sun reflecting off the water.

All in all, seven people came to my Photo Basics Class and my Computers for the Terrified Class and coupled with 90minutes of private lesson; it was an acceptable day financially and will hopefully be eclipsed by today’s financial report which should be slightly better. If this keeps up, I have no doubt that I will not be fired and may be able to tip my cabin steward slightly better than the ten pounds that I have given him for the month. He should receive a pound a day, but since that is about 10% of what I am earning and he gets a salary as well, I have decided to reduce his tips by 60% rather than fire him altogether. He’s very sweet, but totally useless, apart from changing bedding and towels, which he excels at.

 The Panama Canal is not far off and I have taken the day off tomorrow so that I can appreciate it, followed by a couple of days in the Caribbean to recuperate before the long slog back to Southampton where we will receive a whole new bunch of passengers and with them a new lease on life.