Getting Oriented - Tuesday, Day 2 on the ship

That first evening at the Sail Away party, I finally settled in my mind
that taking this trip was for sure the right thing to do, even with
George's condition, when he called Father Basil on the cell phone
obviously excited about being on our way to Sitka and St. Michael's
Cathedral. His furrowed brow disappeared, his symptoms lessened, and he and the kids were so
into the boat thing, that I finally relaxed about it. Knowing they are
having a good time doing healthy things is what makes me happy.

Sleeping on the ship is really nice as the rocking motion, even with
high waves and sea-sickness, is very relaxing. Having a fully stocked
all you can eat breakfast buffet waiting for you until 11:30 is pretty
nice too, not that we ate quite that late. This was the first day
of the Dormition Fast, but the rules are relaxed if you are traveling,
so we went ahead and ate meat, but George stuck mainly with fish for
his heart.

The first day the activities included a fruit carving demonstration and
a talk by the ship's Naturalist, Dean Something, who gave interesting lectures on flora, fauna, mostly US centered history, and other things Alaskan almost every day. He was the only crew member
who was a US citizen that I can think of right now. The Captain was Italian, our servers
in the Venetian Room were Romanian and Bulgarian, the Cruise Director
was South African, and there were others from Canada, Germany, Mexico,
Australia, the Philippines, etc.

The kids, except Jordan who was too
old, were excited about the different young people's activities even though they
would be split into three different age categories. Jared, Ben and Jeremy with
the teen group called Remix, Rachel with the Shock Waves, and Rebecca with the
Pelicans. Rachel had already surprised me by being willing to separate
from us into her age group. This new tendency was
foreshadowed when she went to Orthodox Camp by herself this year
- but she already knew a lot of those kids.

























Rebecca was barely curious
about what the Pelicans were about, and as usual, didn't want me to
leave her there alone. When I promised to help her color her very own
T-shirt, she was willing to at least go into the room. After the shirt
was finished, she was ready for me to leave! They all loved their
separate activities and attended them every afternoon at least, and
when they weren't there, they were asking when they could go back. My
feelings were not hurt - much. My babies are growing up!