* * *
Albert arrived at eleven and Sofia was paged to receive him. Although he knew the ship well it was always nice to have someone from the department to welcome him onboard.
When Sofia saw him by Diego’s desk, she couldn’t help a smirk. He was just about as tall as her, skinny with brown hair slightly long. He was wearing faded jeans and a Hard Rock Café t-shirt from L.A. that had been washed a few too many times. The sun glasses gave it the final touch and made him look like a careless tourist.
Diego introduced them and Albert kissed her hand overdramatically.
“Nice to know I’ll be working with a pretty face.” He said, and Sofia concluded only by his expression that her new boss was going to be one of those characters.
“Don’t look at me like that gorgeous. I don’t date people from my department. It’s one of my rules… actually it’s my only rule. You’re out of my market.” He stated with a wayward smile.
Sofia chuckled. “Oh, you just broke my heart. How am I going to survive the rest of my contract?”
“No worries, we’ll think of something. Now, would you please join me for lunch? I’m starving.”
“Only as respectful co-workers, right?”
“Of course. What else could I possibly be thinking?” He replied and left the crew office with his bag in one hand and the laptop case in the other, while Sofia walked out with him, giggling.
Amy and Diego looked at each other and burst in laughter.
“Another crazy one. Just perfect for cruise ships.” Diego observed and started adding the passport information to the computer.
“I’ve known Albert for a while. He’s always joking, always messing up with the girls, but I’ve also seen him working and I can tell you one think, when that one puts on the doctor mood nothing gets on the way. And you’ll never see him show off his stripes or pulling ranks on anyone. When I was night manager I found him one night on deck 3 in a corridor party with the bar staff and the waiters.” Amy said.
Diego smiled. “That’s good to know. There’s a lot of arrogance on this ship. We don’t need more. I’m happy that he is a good human being”
“Yes, and that’s why I don’t want changes in this office until I leave. At least here we don’t have bitching and backstabbing.” Amy concluded.
“Just for that, I’m going to buy you coffee today. Amy, you’re the best!” Diego declared.
“I know.” She replied with a soft twinge of smugness in her voice.
Sofia quickly concluded that Ryan was right about Albert. It was very easy to like him. He made jokes but knew the limits. He was friendly and polite and as soon as he stepped in the medical center he also became the professional a senior doctor was expected to be. He was on top of his game.
Albert immediately made friends with Carla. They talked for a good while and Sofia and Mary heard laughs all along.
“Is he always like this?” Sofia asked Mary, since she knew him better.
“Albert? Oh yes. When I first met him I thought the man had two cans of Red Bull first thing in the morning. When I’m still half asleep he comes in cheerful like a spring flower. It used to annoy the hell out of me! That man is up by six and he’s in the gym running five minutes later. His best friends will be the fitness instructors. He’s a health freak. The best moments I’ve had with Albert were seeing him tell off fat passengers. He doesn’t care about politeness. I heard him telling them that they can get on a diet or get ready for a stroke. Of course we all know that, but most people wouldn’t be that direct. I like Albert: he goes straight to the point.”
Sofia smiled back at her. “You like Albert because he’s just like you. Straight cut!”
“Precisely. I don’t like people who sugar coat. I like people who put things the way they are, even if they are not good. Politically correct might look very good on a letter or a computer screen, but in medicine we need to be clear and real.”
“I agree.” Sofia concluded and joined Albert and Carla to have a share in their fun, which lasted until they closed for the evening. Albert didn’t seem to have a pause button.
By six o’clock there were only three lost luggage reports on her desk and Denise was very happy. The front desk phones were ringing but only with the usual first day questions. She felt her instinct was right and that was going to be a good cruise. To make it even better, Kate hadn’t shown her face since early morning and Leah was too busy counting money to get on anyone’s nerves.
Just before six, Diego managed to screw up her happiness with one phone call.
“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?” He asked with his traditional happy mood, like it didn’t matter how bad it could be he wouldn’t worry too much about it. She had always envied that about him.
Denise made a pause and then asked him for the good news first.
“As you know Amy’s husband left today and since she was feeling a bit depressed we are doing a wine and cheese party tonight.”
Denise suddenly remembered that Amy was going to be alone for another two cruises before she went on holiday. “Sure. That would be great. I might even have some cheese this time.” She joked and heard him chuckle on the other side.
“Time for bad news now. You know Kate’s guy, that Italian engineer?”
“Yes.”
“His wife joined today and she’s going to be onboard for two cruises.” Diego said sounding serious enough so that she knew he wasn’t just teasing.
“Crap!” She replied. “And I thought last cruise had been hell.”
“I guess you better prepare yourself.” Diego recommended.
“Well, thanks for telling me, and I’ll just focus on avoiding her like a contagious disease.”
“Fingers crossed. Maybe it won’t be that bad.” Diego replied.
“Or maybe I’ll just turn into an alcoholic.” She replied and he laughed again.
After work, Amy gathered a small group in her cabin and by the smile on her face, no one would have guessed how much she missed her husband. Denise looked at her for a little and wished to be that strong-minded.
“Why can’t Kate and Leah be like that? Would it cost them anything to be nice? Look at Amy, people love her. She’s respected for who she is. With or without stripes, no one questions her authority.” Denise shared with Diego, who was in a very good mood again and had his arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder, which she found very pleasant and comforting.
“People are different, maybe they can’t get their heads around whatever is happening in their lives. It’s difficult to understand. Just let go.” He suggested.
Letting go was not Denise’s specialty. She turned her head back and kissed him softly. “I know, but it’s hard to let go when you have to work with them. You’re so lucky to work with Amy. She’s so great.”
“I know. Let’s see what I get next. Amy leaves in two cruises, but then I leave just after her, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Denise shivered when he said that. Being so busy she hadn’t stopped to think clearly that in a month Diego was leaving. The thought made her incredibly sad but before she could dwell on it Amy turned her attention to them, gave them some wine and crackers with cheese and distracted everyone with her conversation.
As much as she wanted to keep her mind away from it, Denise started to grasp that Diego was actually leaving and if so far he hadn’t made future plans or talked about what to do next, it was very clear that she wasn’t included. That was more painful than she had anticipated.
“What’s wrong?” He asked one of the many times he noticed her mind wasn’t there.
“Nothing.” She replied automatically.
“Does that nothing have anything to do with the fact that I am leaving in a month?” He asked.
She sighed. “You are more observing than I gave you credit for.”
He held her hands on his and looked her in the eyes. “Denise, you know how things work onboard. This is not the
real life. It never was…”
She could glimpse a little sadness in him. “I know.” A fantasy. That was what her life had turned out to be the past few months.
He brushed his lips over hers. “I really, really want you to be happy. I want us to have a good time while we can. Please don’t be sad. I like to see you smile, you have such a beautiful smile, do you know that?”
She didn’t have words to reply. He pulled her to him and embraced her. She felt the comfort of his arms and an urge to start running. She fought that and stayed in his arms. There was nowhere to run to.
When they were in the cabin that night, instead of going straight to bed she had a long shower and cried all she needed to cry before joining Diego who was playing with the remote, oblivious to everything else. When she lay next to him he didn’t notice her swollen eyes in the darkness of the room and she was grateful for that. That night she promised herself that once it was over with Diego, she would never again put all her energy and feelings into a relationship that had nowhere to go.
20
Albert didn’t mind to give Sofia the day off since his ID wasn’t ready and he couldn’t leave the ship that port. She went on a tour of Rotorua.
The tour started early and Sofia’s excitement increased as she took another look at her guide. Rotorua was located on a volcanic plateau that encompassed most of the central area of the North Island. There were two major attractions: geothermal activity and beautiful lakes. Rotorua’s sparkling Lakeland features eleven major lakes and the city nestles on the shore of the largest in the district: Lake Rotorua. It was the intense volcanic activity that sculpted and reformed the landscape.
On the bus, the guide told the visitors that thanks to the geothermal activity, Rotorua was famous as a Spa resort for people wishing to relax in pools of natural hot mineral water, wrap their bodies in mud or get a massage under thermal water.
The town was pretty and quite unique. There were not so many places in the world where one could find steam rising from cracks, gardens, pathways to beautiful places and all so close to residential areas. The price to pay was the strong and most unpleasant smell of sulphate but if the locals didn’t complain and could cope with it all year long, one day should be all right even for the sensitive noses.
The group walked through the city and just a few minutes away from the center they saw geysers, boiling pools of mud, silica terraces and fumaroles. It was an incredible manifestation from the Earth’s internal activity that reflected in the shapes and colors it created. Everybody’s cameras were in action immediately and Sofia didn’t miss a chance and asked a few passengers to take some pictures of her with the geysers and the steam being spilled from the insides of the planet right behind her.
The crater lakes were also absolutely startling. Their rich mineral deposits gave the landscape different tones that went from pale white to a vibrant turquoise blue at the same time the steam was released from the many cracks in the cliffs.
The guide explained that there were several volcanoes, now dormant, and the calderas became the sparkling lakes that dazzle the tourists. These lakes were home to numerous species of plants and animals, including trout that entertained the lovers of fishing. Sofia found herself thinking that she wouldn’t mind to fish one on her plate.
Almost answering her thoughts, they stopped in a local restaurant for lunch and Sofia ordered grilled trout. It was great to eat something fresh and different. The ship’s food was not bad, but after a few months getting the same menu every cruise, it was fantastic to have a different meal.
The afternoon was spent learning about the Maori, something that turned out to be a lot more interesting than Sofia’s initial expectations. Rotorua is the heartland of New Zealand’s Maori culture. The Arawa people of Rotorua were New Zealand’s first visitor guides, leading the way to the natural wonders that have been part of their life for more than six hundred years.
The Whakarewarewa thermal village was a surreal place for someone who was completely new to the Maori culture. Set amidst a landscape of erupting geothermal activity, hot thermal springs and hot bubbling mud pools, the Maori village attracted thousands of tourists every year.
The sign at the entrance read “Nau mai, naere mai, whakatau mai”, meaning: welcome, come in, make yourself at home.
Local hosts wearing the traditional outfits – called kakahu and made from the fibers of the flax plant – received them with a warm smile. They explained that the people of Tuhourangi/Ngati Wahiao had lived around the geothermal activity of Whakarewarewa for more than two hundred years. In 1997 they had started an independent tourism project that made the village and the Maori culture known to the world. The Tuhourangi/Ngati Wahiao people have an incredible heritage which they have shared with visitors eager to learn more and to help preserving their unique background.
The Maori guide explained that the villagers were always delighted to share their knowledge and pastime experiences. For the next half an hour Sofia learned remarkable facts about the culture and traditions of the people, starting with the Maori migration from the legendary homeland Hawaiiki to Aotearoa in New Zealand.
The host informed that all the geothermal features in the local area played a special role in the villager’s life. Surrounded by a mixture of geothermal activity, from the spray of the geysers to the plopping of mud pools and beauty of the mineral lakes, each feature was significant to the village.
One of the highlights was the Whare Tupuna, an ancestral carved house. The building retained carved and woven panels which displayed the genealogy, history and culture of the tribe, almost like a book. This was seen as the heart of the village, since it was the living display of centuries of the Maori activities.
The last part consisted of cultural performances that demonstrated the Maori culture through songs and dances. There was a Karanga, a formal welcoming performed by the women, a Whaikorero followed by a classical Maori chant named Moteatea and then a Waiata-a-ringa, an action song, followed by the famous Haka. The Haka was a dance performed by men and it used to be a psychological and physical preparation for battle. Since this was the only part of the show that the visitors were already familiar with, it was also the most applauded.
Someone mentioned that the All Blacks always performed a Haka before their games and Sofia made a mental note to look for that online.
The bus dropped them back by the ship at six thirty and they were one of the last groups onboard. The ship sailed at seven and Sofia returned to her cabin, exhausted but very happy with the experience. Days like that make it worth to be a crew member.
In her cabin she scrolled quickly through the pictures that she had downloaded into her laptop. They were fantastic and she selected one of them, with her posing in front of a geyser to send Kieran.
Then she paged Denise and asked her to come over. Her friend arrived a few minutes later, looking worn out as well, but surely for different reasons.
Sofia handed her a package wrapped in light green paper. Denise looked at it surprised.
“You got me a present?” She asked taken aback.
“Yes. I thought you would like it. Open.”
Denise removed the paper carefully and opened random pages of the book entitled ‘The best of New Zealand’.
“It’s beautiful. Thanks Sofia, I really love it.” She said, looking at the pictures. “This country is so gorgeous I want to come back one day and see it.”
Sofia nodded. “Yes, I guess that would be the only way to see anything properly. If you only have three hours off a day, you can’t go far.”
“Yes, and I’ve heard a rumor that the company is going to increase the hours. For us it will be bad, but imagine for the waiters and cleaners, going from eleven to thirteen hours a day.” She observed.
“That’s not a life and I don’t know if it’s even legal. If they have to work that much their rest period won’t be respected.” Sofia said, surprised that someone would actually consider that.
&nbs
p; “Ships are different from land. Standard rules don’t apply here and if people sign a contract that says it’s thirteen hours a day, than it’s their problem. I’m not signing it for sure.” Denise confirmed.
“So you’re not coming back?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. My decision is not final yet. I’m not very good making decisions in general. But it might be time for me to look for alternatives, now that it seems everything is turning against me. I’ll think of that as a sign, even though I’m not superstitious.”
“Fair enough. If you finish your contract you can always come back anyway. Maybe you could wait for some time and see if it makes sense to return or not.”
“That’s exactly my plan.” Denise nodded positively.
They went for dinner in the buffet because Denise wanted a break from the same people that were always in the officer’s mess and in the wardroom. They paged the Tour Office manager and Denise called Allison to join them. The four women had a really nice time up there.
As the others talked about their day to day challenges, Sofia observed the buffet stewards and couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. Such hard working people who would never have the chance to see the places she had been to. If they had eight hours off, they still had to fit eight hours of work in their schedule and that was what they called a day off. That was a very hard life.