Atlantic crossing

Finally crossing over to Europe - can't believe that I am sailing and working so long,I actually embarked at beginning of July LAST YEAR and than somehow continued on another ship,than another and instead of working typical 6 months it turned into 12 - no wonder I feel exhausted,after all it is 7 days a week work with no breaks except if one gets sick.

I enjoyed Europe very much - Baltic or the Med it is the same beauty of cities,interesting streets,architecture,shops,food,variety of culture and one easily gets lost in sheer abundance of everything. South Africa unfortunately is very limited in this,or should I say it was my ports that were uninteresting (see previous post) so now I'm really looking forward to arrival in Europe,the moment I step outside in Tenerife this is already Spain and exciting.

So how does it work on a crossing? For the start,we do have passengers and these are people who have chosen slow sailing over quick plane flight. Why would anybody do this is not easy to explain,because I myself would certainly prefer just to get over with it fast,but these (mostly elderly) passengers are not in a hurry and apparently satisfied with sitting around,playing cards,reading their books and looking around the shops (without really buying anything because as I said,they are not in a hurry).

It gave me chance to count all the inventories and dust everything around and than some more. But unfortunately it also means I had to go through 6 agonizingly slow days of sailing,when the shops had to be opened non-stop "just in case" if anybody decide to shop,which of course never happens. So I stood there for 6 days,from morning to night (with a little break in afternoon) counting,dusting,counting,dusting,looking through the window at the sea that changed color from depressing grey into beautiful deep blue (we finally crossed over into Atlantic ocean) and checked the calendar to see how much longer this can last. Four more days until Canary Islands,which is already part of Spain,thanks God.

Today the very first land - Dakar,Senegal - but it is such dirty and depressing place that I decided not to even bother to go out. I saw it last year and was appalled with everything,never mind Dakar. I have no interest in exotic african (or any,come to think) place with flies and beggars everywhere. Instead of going out and suffering people on the streets pulling my sleeves and following me everywhere,I will rest on the ship,have a coffee,read my book and give a break to my tired legs,after all I am standing for 14-16 hours daily so for a change I can just lie down and listen some classical music.

Than again,two more "sea days" and finally Tenerife,can't wait. Just the change of scenery will be enough to cheer me up and bring some excitement.