Dan and Jaye's cruising blog: Kumatage (reflections on the water)

Sometimes its not the big differences that get you when you travel - you are on some level expecting things to be unlike they are at home, like the language. But the little changes can really take you unawares. Something as humble as our morning oatmeal really should be the familiar comfort food. The first clue should have been that the package is plastic rather than the cardboard I’m used to. The Spanish-language directions on the back instructed us to cook it in milk rather than water as we commonly do in the US, and add plenty of sugar. The result was a smooth-textured creamy soup, thinner than we’re used to. Oddest of all was the instruction not to strain the oatmeal before serving. Hmm. (We switched back to making it our familiar US way next morning.)

When I told one of my friends that we were going to spend two months in Aruba, that he asked me how we’d keep busy. Perhaps he had visions of us lazing in the sun on the beach reading trashy novels. Or as another friend who gave up cruising said, “Well, partly, I went back to work because, really, how many games of golf or tennis can you play on different beaches before even playing gets old?” Us? I can still hear my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Cohen, many of whose apt proverbs … “Only boring people get bored.” So after a few days of beach sand, and a day or two of pure logistics like unpacking our suitcases, buying groceries, changing money, we started looking for ways to make our own fun. We’d already visited most of the typical tourist sights, and weren’t interested in shopping for diamonds or going to the casino. But: I learned to melt glass (in a half-day workshop that had me utterly addicted, except glass and sailboats really don’t mix very well) We did a ...

(this is a placeholder; the photos and half-written post for this were lost when my computer crashed)

(this is a placeholder; the photos and half-written post for this were lost when my computer crashed)

I just love the colors Exploring a cargo ship sunk in WWII Lionfish - okay, I know they're an invasive species, but its hard to hate anything so interesting-looking Coral growth on that boat Me at about 50 ft below sea level - there ain't no gravity here! all photos by our wonderful dive instructor Manon