"We are the world's charity cases!" and other conversations

I enjoyed many conversations on our cruise from people from so many other countries.  Part of the fun of travelling is being exposed to different ideas and expanding your horizons, right?  Mostly, these conversations just made me laugh! 

Louise, from Ireland, who gave me an awesome haircut while on board, had me giggling for days after she cut my hair.  She took about 4 inches off my whole head, and told me "You'll just feel a stone lightah, you will, with all this hair gone" in her beautiful Irish tongue!  Carter says I didn't sound Irish at all trying to repeat it, and they got tired of me saying it day after day.  It still cracks me up.

Our hostess one night, a very, very dark skinned gentleman from Africa, who as always, asked how my day was.  I said it was great, but that I would pay for the sun tomorrow, and explained that as hard as I tried to prevent it, I still got too much sun.  With a puzzled expression on his face, he said "But you're still SO white!"  We had a good laugh over that one! 

And the only other Irish gal on the ship (Louise told me there were only two), whom I happened to meet a few days later, whose name I wish I could remember.  She was having a slow day in the jewelry store, and let me try on $3,000 earrings and $6,000 rings, and we had the best conversation about all the nationalities on board the ship.  There are over 70 countries represented in the 1,000 person crew, and I was saying how all of their English was so amazing, and we (Americans) are generally so lazy at having a second language, and just expect people to talk English.  She said "Yes...you and us both....we're like the world's charity cases!" 

I also talked to many of the crew about life on board ship as well as life at home.  They work on the ship for 7 months, every day (EVERY day) and then go home for 2.5 months.  Some enjoy the work; our waiter Sandip from India said some people get addicted to ship life; others work it for a while then go home to have a family.  Most, our waitress Inina said, have families at home, and this is just the way they have to support them.  When wage at home is $7 a day, this is an option for them to support their families that isn't there for them at home.   Inina said she does plan to go home to Ukraine one day to have a family, because well, home is...home. 

Our room steward Canon from Jamaica said while he doesn't necessarily love his work (which didn't show in the way he cared for us for our 8 day trip), he does it for his three kids.  His oldest, who is 11, wants to be a doctor.  He said he would do whatever he has to to make that a reality for him.

I told him with a role model like him, I was sure he would do just fine.