MONDAY, FEB 1ST--AT SEA

It's a sunny morning and very smooth sailing last night and this morning. That's a pleasant change! I will try to add some pictures today of our tour to an orchid farm on Fiji yesterday. It was a sunny day there but VERY hot so air conditioned bus felt good. There are 322 islands that comprise Fiji. Only 106 of them are inhabited. 40% of the people are Fijians, 40 % are from India, and the rest are from other countries. The Indians were brought to Fiji to work on the sugar cane plantations because they were cheap laborers, but they never left. The area we drove through on our tour was very poor and reminded me of an "upgraded" Haiti. The people are only paid 3 Fijian dollars an hour ($2.25 US dollars). They are a family oriented and happy people though. Last night we had dinner with Don & Caroline Babcock, who are in the suite next to ours. Interestingly, Caroline was in the very first American Airlines flight attendant class in the "stewardess college" just south of the DFW airport, now called the Learning Center. We enjoyed her flying stories especially the one on how she was fired. The neatest part of this cruise is meeting, talking, and getting to know our fellow passengers. We got to the show late but did not like it so left early. It was guy playing violin and his wife playing cello and they also sang. Ok, for today!! Rebecca is enjoying some coffee from room service as I do this post. I want to go up on deck and walk a mile or two next. At 10am we will go to enrichment lecture on Australian and New Zealand army. At 11am Andy Heath, the financial lecturer will talk on "Navigating the Retirement Savings Obstacle Course". Haven't decided about the afternoon yet. Hope you are having a nice Sunday. It's Monday already here!