a two

I was in a library today. A big library. It has a coffee shop in it. It was a 15 minute walk from where I'm living to the library, and after that walk and a couple hours of reading magazines and studying Swahili, I was pretty thirsty. I already had lots of coffee today, but I thought maybe I could get something else to drink. So I went over to the coffee shop. There in the little refrigerated part, they had Coke, Diet Coke, and what's this? It wasn't a One, but it looked like, maybe, could it be? Yes, it was a Two! I thought, when I leave Singapore, I could be going to the jungle, then I'll be in the Philippines. I haven't seen Ones or Twos since I left Texas (actually, I have a vague memory that I might have seen some Twos somewhere, but I can't think where, so I'll assume it was a dream). I doubt they have them in the jungle or Philippines. So, even though it was $3.20 (that's Singaporean dollars-$1.50 to $1 US) I bought it. It was beautiful. IBC rootbeer. What could be better? Only IBC cream soda, of course. Just wanted to share my joy...

a strange feeling

On the voyage from Cambodia to Singapore, I sat out on the deck for a while. It was my longest voyage yet, and my first voyage out of the Bay of Thailand. In the Bay, I could usually see other ships and sometimes islands on the horizon. But, in the South China Sea that day, I looked around and there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just a ship with 4 main decks slighly larger than a football field, surrounded by blue. Hardly any waves, smooth water, empty sky. It was weird. A little unnerving. The world could have come to an end, and we wouldn't know. I think it would be like that if you were floating out in space. Except, depending on how far out you were, you might be able to see the world coming to an end.

Cambodia

There's me on the voyage from Bangkok to Cambodia, with the end of the world in the background. The water was so blue! It was beautiful compared to the muddy river we'd been living in in Bangkok for a month.


Ok, don't get any crazy ideas. I don't remember the last time I was up in time for sunrise. I didn't actually see this, but the picture was so great, I thought I'd post it anyways. Our first glimpse of Cambodia.


This is Doulos in Cambodia. Isn't it tropical and exotic and beautiful? I live here, by the way.


This is me working at the info desk. The Cambodians welcomed us with floral wreaths/crowns for the ladies and scarves for the men. My uniform for work looks much prettier when I wear the scarf that goes with it, but I wasn't wearing it that day.

your mom

This story might not actually be that funny to you, but to my friends and me, it's hilarious!! I mean, when this happened, we laughed for about 7 minutes. I was laughing so hard I started crying. Now, with that build up, I'll tell the story, and it won't be nearly as funny to you, but I'll tell it anyways.
Kris (a girl from Minnesota) and I have started kind of a game. If someone uses an adjective, let's use sweet for example, then Kris says "your face is sweet" and I say "your mom's sweet." It's really catching on.
The other night, we were sailing, and the satellite was down, so there was nothing for me to do at work. Cat (my cabinmate from England, my favorite person on the ship) and Caleb (a crazy guy from Canada. Imagine my cousin DJ 20 years old and from Canada, and you've got Caleb.) were keeping me company, because I had to sit at the info desk even though there was no work. I don't remember the exact conversation, because it's not as important as the ending, which I do remember. I'll do my best to remake the conversation for you, though, using x and y, because I don't remember what they were actually talking about:
Caleb: x is like y
Cat: x and y aren't the same
Caleb: I know, that's why I said they're LIKE each other, not they ARE each other
Cat: You North Americans say like all the time, whether you mean exactly or similar. You say like as much as you breathe
Caleb: Brits don't say like, I bet you don't breathe either
Cat: Your face doesn't breathe
Caleb: Your mom doesn't breathe
I don't know why, but it was one of the funniest things I've ever heard.
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One more thing: as I was typing this, Cat called to tell me she lost The Game, which means I've just lost The Game. The object of The Game is to forget about The Game. If you remember you're playing The Game, then you're not forgetting about it, and you lose The Game. When you lose, you have to announce it to whoever's around you (which, for me right now, is my blog). If they're already playing, they also lose. If they aren't playing yet, you have to explain it, so they can be playing. You start playing again as soon as you forget about The Game.
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Rachel

moooorin stations

"Attention all deckies, please report to your moooorin stations now."

That announcement means we're fixin to leave Bangkok! (I love sailing-have I mentioned that before?) But you can't say "report to mooring stations" like you normally talk, you have to say it in a Scottish accent, roll the r and drop the g, and I think you also add an extra o or two. The officer who generally makes that announcement is from Scotland. And everyone loves to immitate him saying "moooorin stations".

The sad thing is, once again, I'm working when we leave port. (I was working when we left Sattahip, too.) Here in Bangkok, we're in a river, so I think it would be pretty awesome to see how they get us turned around to leave. I saw some pictures that someone took the other day of a big ship turning around, but I was working when that happened, too, so I didn't see it. Man, this life on a boat would be so sweet if it weren't for working. I guess that's why cruises are so popular...