Volacnoes - 27 October

It’s been an absolutely gorgeous day today so everyone has been outside taking advantage of the weather. The pool area was packed and the outside tables in the dining area were scooped up as quickly as possible at meal time. I managed to get a table outside at breakfast and dinner and enjoyed the time since that is usually the only occasion when I do get outside. I have the bad habit of forgetting to even look through the windows to see if anything interesting is going on.

However, today everyone was rushing outside in the afternoon when we sailed by Al-Tair. It is a small Yemen island with a volcano on it that erupted at the beginning of October and was still showing some activity. It was really interesting to see the smoke/steam rising from the crater. Some of the students, who have much better eyesight than me, were able to see lava too. I took a picture of it to share with you even though you need supernatural eyesight to be able to see the details of the volcano in this photo. Just use your imagination.

This evening, Eileen and I returned to the faculty lounge for Potato Chip Happy Hour only to discover that they had run out of potato chips. The despair! We consoled ourselves with goldfish crackers which were a pathetic substitute. I tell you, life is getting to be a hardship here!

In the evening, I went to the union where the ship’s doctor was giving a presentation on all the dreadful medical questions you wish you had the answers to. I don’t know what possessed me to attend other than the fact that she has a wonderfully warped sense of humor. I learned way more about social diseases and such than I really ever wanted to know. I should have stayed in my room and watched one of the depressing foreign films that they are always showing on the ship's channels. Jeesh - I need my potato chips!