Images of Dominica

Rainforest View Fun at Champagne Beach

The Nice Family plus 1 in Nassau, Dominica Typical Street in Nassau, Dominica

Images of Dominica

Sign for Restroom - 1 US dollar=2.7 E.Carib. Downtown Nassau , Dominica

William at the Caribbean

Up the Amazon

We are on our way up the Amazon river, presently 500 miles upstream from the mouth. We have another 500 miles to go to our destination - the city of Manaus. As we travel up this river for three days I have noticed a few things. First and foremost this is a big, wide river. It is still 5 miles wide where we presently are. As you look around you see jungle to the edge of the river, with the occasional huts and make-shift buildings about. I watched a few locals fishing with a hand-line as we passed by. All the locals wave at us on their way by. Another observation has to do with the amazing amount of insects which have made their way on board. There are some crazy looking bugs, butterflies, grasshopper type insects, and all kinds of flies- fruit, vegetable, everything. William is amazed at all these insects, so it's fun to go for a walk and look for different type of bugs. So to sum it up the Amazon is absolutely huge, humid, warm, and the color of chocalate milk. I am going to get some pictures of Dominica and the Amazon soon. Hope all is well, later..

On The High Seas

The last two days we have been cruising through the Atlantic Ocean to enter the mouth of the Amazon river. January 18th saw us in high seas with wind gusts up to 60 mph. Needless to say most of the ship was sick and the entire day felt like a disneyland ride, like the whirlybird. Today is much calmer, but I must say that you can definately feel all the chop and swells of the ocean. While in transit we are getting on a pretty regular schedule. I try to workout in the morning with the elliptical and other routines. I have hereby suspended all running while on the ship. I have learned that to run on a treadmill while being tossed around by the ocean is not possible. The only way it can be done is by holding on with both hands, but this hardly feels like running. I was able to get in a 5 mile run in Dominica. This was interesting for a few reasons, first the cars drive on opposite sides of the road, and secondly the roads are very narrow. It rained during the run, but at 80 degrees it felt great. Back to our regular shipboard routine- I go to work at 7:30 and meet Jennifer and the kids for breakfast around 8:15. Jen teaches the kids and I work in the AV booth until 11:15. At this time I go help out with the kids school and Jen takes a break to work out and have lunch. I take the kids to lunch and hang out with them until 1pm. At this time the kids go back to their schooling with Jen while I go back to work. We all meet up in our room at around 4:30pm and relax before dinner. After dinner I have a lot of work to do as we do the production of speakers, DVD's, etc. These presentations keep me busy off and on from 7pm until 9pm. I have work study students getting trained however, so I won't have to be at all of these events in the near future. We are finding ourselves real busy on the ship, and this us look forward to getting to ports. I have a new appreciation for the size of the Atlantic Ocean and its power in general, and we still have to cross it later this month. That will end this post. Take Care,

Greetings from just outside Dominica. We just finished up another day at sea and the Nice family is adjusting well to the sailors life. Little Loco (William) was vomit free today which is a step in the right direction. His eruption of two nights ago took 4 housekeeping workers a half hour to clean up. Switching gears, we are going to port in Dominica tonight and be have two days to explore the island. I have been working long days in the AV department and have been learning a lot from the Ships AV Officers - Ludwig and Igor. We are all excited to dock and explore the island, and this also means a break from the work schedule. I have ran only 5 miles in the last 7 days, and am losing my running edge. My new goal on this trip is not to gain too much weight, as I am certain that running is next to impossible on this ship. Take Care and run a mile for me.

Well, we have started our Journey on Semester at Sea, and I have ran a total of 3 miles in the last five days. I am compensating by taking in a miniscule amount of calories, which is easy to do when you look at the buffet selection on the ship. The trip started with a flight to Nassau Bahamas. We spent three days in Nassau on the Ship going through orientation. I am the Audio/Visual Coordinator and when I got to my assigned area I realized I will have a lot to learn. They have a pretty advanced AV room with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos. I am in charge of helping the professors set up for their classes, and also organizing the many requests people have for presentations in the big "Union." My two co-workers are Ludwig from the Phillipines and Igor from the Ukraine. They are both amazingly smart with AV stuff, so my job is being that critical link between the professors and presenters and their expertise. I have already streamlined some services and am getting very good at figuring things out, and looking really busy. While at Bahamas we were able to go to the Atlantis, which is a 150 acre resort, and simply jaw-dropping. The Bahamas to me is similar to Mexico. Lots of taxis and lots of poverty. The people are very low key, and funny. They don't seem to take worry too much. The beach we went to was beautiful, with white sand and warm water. Coral is found all along the shore. As we sailed away from the Bahamas we all were quickly aware of the ocean. The ship is large, but about 1/3rd the size of the big cruise ships. You definately can feel the motion of the ocean, and being in the Bermuda Triangle the waves and swells are consistently large. Little loco (William) has thrown up three times today, and presently I have just finished cleaning up #3. We hope all adjust in the near future and get our "sea legs." I am having a good time and learning a lot. I learned today that running on the treadmill on a moving ship is not easy. I ran off the thing three times before I figured I had to hold on with both hands. There is a running group here and I am going to join and have a few runs at our next port in Dominica. I hope all is well back home. Later, and happy running....

Preparing for Adventure

Well, in less than a week loco will be sunning his hairy chest on the beaches of the Bahamas. The Bahamas will mark the beginning of an epic 104 day adventure by ship around the world. The loco family applied for and received jobs aboard the "Semester at Sea" program through the University of Virginia. This semester involves 600 college students, 30 professors, 30 staffers, and 200 ship crewmembers. Loco is preparing for this adventure by running as many miles as possible before departure. Loco is a little concerned about being reduced to a treadmill runner on board a moving ship, but will find a way to run. There is a running club on board for when we hit ports. I look forward to trying to get in as many runs as possible, and will post pictures and comments from each port. This blog will morph from a running blog to a running/travel blog for the next 4 months. Thanks to all my blog supporters ( both of you), and happy running.

Loco's Running Tip of the Week

Sometimes a good "anger" run is refreshing to mind and body. The basic idea is to channel your anger about something else to your running. This requires being able to run after being "triggered" by a spouse, sport team, finances, etc. The key is to know when you're triggered and have a sufficient amount of emotional pressure. At this time put on your shoes and shorts and hit the road. A good anger run involves starting off fast and trying to hold the pace as long as you can. Before you know it you'll be so tired, the anger will be released while other thoughts enter your mind. The anger run can be a great tool for your emotional health and well being.
Caution: Loco doesn't recommend picking a fight with your spouse for the sake of an anger run. Sometimes this strategy can backfire and lead to more problems than solutions. Happy Running....