Day 21
St Paddy’s Day
It’s St Paddy’s Day and we’re in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Now, if you’re like me, you see “St Paddy’s Day” and you might think that looks odd. I mean, it’s a shortened form of St Patrick, so shouldn’t it be “St Patty’s Day” or maybe “St Pat’s”?
Apparently, no. I’ve learned in the fairly recent past that to call it “St Patty’s Day” is borderline offensive to some Irish, as “Patty’s” is the female version, short for “Patricia” and “Paddy” is the shortened form of Patrick.
Now, this sort of thing happens all the time - words or phrases that we’ve used for years become something of a taboo. It’s not because people are offended more nowadays, but because people who’ve been offended all this time are finally speaking out about it, probably due to the internet creating connections and people find out they’re not alone in their feelings surrounding a term or phrase.
NOW- you can react to this information in two ways:
[1] “Screw you and your woke nonsense, I’m going to keep using that word or phrase.”
[2] “Oh, I didn’t realize that the thing made you uncomfortable, I’ll make a change.”
For me, I’m going with [2] every time. I don’t need to know WHY it makes someone uncomfortable or WHY it might be offensive. It’s not my culture, it’s not my life, it’s not my story. All I know is that it’s a very, very small change on my part and easy to do. If that small change can improve my relationship with someone or some culture, then it’s a tiny price to pay, honestly.
I have lady friends who cringe at “the C word”. For me, that word has no connotations and it doesn’t bother me in the least, but I know it bothers them and out of respect for them, I don’t use it. Super easy and it means a lot to them.
Likewise, there are a lot of slang words for ‘gay’ and having grown up in small-town Texas, I can tell you that I’ve heard them all: gay, queer, homo, pansy, Nancy-boy, flamer, etc etc etc. All of them roll off my back without the tiniest bit of effort, but if you use that one particular term that starts with “F”, we’re going to have issues. To explain it would take awhile, so I’ll refrain, but the bottom line is that sometimes a word or phrase will hit a nerve, whether it happens on an individual basis whether it affects a whole group of people. I try to avoid using those words because I’m trying to be a decent human being. Simple as that.
WOW, that got off to a preachy start, dinnit? On to the trip.
Viking Baggo today - I tried the captain’s underhanded claw throwing technique and WOW. I more than tripled the number of points I scored in the last game. In fact, every single bag I threw scored some points! Our team lost by just 100 points - and when the total points are in the 20,000 range, that’s damn near a tie. Our team actually out-threw the other team, but they got 400 bonus points for having two team members in full St Paddy’s regalia.
I want to know how many bags they brought on board, because who packs that much crap for one day of use?
Whatevs. Had a nice lunch, then got absolutely murdered at trivia. Most of the other teams struggled as well. Nobody got a perfect 15. We got 12.
I’m gonna blame it on the St Paddy’s cocktail they handed out at lunch: Apple schnapps, Irish whiskey, ginger beer.
It was OK, but not something I’d order. But hey, you bring it over to the table and hand it to me, I’ma try it.
They had a big cake as well.
Choir rehearsal went well - we finished up learning “The Wellerman” (a sea shanty) and got most of the way through “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” - even though it’s a very non-traditional arrangement. Fun trivia: the iconic chorus “wimoweh, wimohweh” is nonsense. The original version, by South African singer Soloman Linda, was titled, “Mbube” and the chant-like chorus repeated the Zulu word ""Uyimbube" (you are a lion). In 1949, folk group The Weavers heard the 78rpm recording and misheard the chant as “wimoweh” and that mondegreen became standard for all the versions that followed.
Mondegreen? That’s mis-hearing a lyric or phrase as something else, which changes the meaning. The American writer Sylvia Wright coined the term in 1954, recalling a childhood memory of her mother reading the Scottish ballad "The Bonnie Earl o' Moray", and mishearing the words "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen".
Back to the cabin for a nice nap, then off to the front of the ship to catch the sunset. Sunsets over the ocean are magical, seriously.
That was the ‘clean’ pic - but sometimes, the ones with other people or stuff in the way make for an even better shot. This was my favourite.
We decided to have a later-than-usual dinner so we could attend the lecture on the origins of superstitions.
Wait, what? OK, I should explain the difference between Viking and some other cruise lines. In addition to the all-inclusive policy (wine/beer included with meals, shore excursions included, etc etc) and the no-kids policy, Viking has decided that they’re not going to be a ‘party ship’ with an emphasis on things to do on board. There are no water slides, no climbing walls, no casinos, no art auctions… instead, they offer educational opportunities to learn about the art and culture of the places you’ll visit - and on sea days, they offer lectures on other random subjects. Tonight’s was about the origins of several superstitions and how superstitions factor into the culture of a people. It was really interesting!
Off to dinner - highlights were a biltong seasoned venison steak and huli-huli chicken. No idea what that second one was, but it was delicious. The biltong seasoned venison steak was very good as well. I’m not a huge fan of venison, but I am a huge fan of biltong - it’s an African staple of dried meat that is similar to jerky. The seasonings are awesome and you can usually find all kinds of interesting game versions.
Speaking of game, last night I had beet carpaccio - if you’re unfamiliar, carpaccio is a plate with paper-thin slices of raw food, usually drizzled with olive oil and seasonings. I love carpaccio - and as delicious as the beets carpaccio was, it was pretty ordinary. But hey, I got to add it to my list of carpaccios that I’ve had. I’ve liked every one I’ve ever had. Beet, tuna, beef, lamb, octopus, zebra, kudu. Zebra was the first one I ever tried and it was the best one until 2019 when I had the kudu carpaccio in Zimbabwe and wow. I could have that every day. I’m not usually a fan of game, but when it’s paper thin and raw, it has none of that “gamey-ness”.
After dinner, we saw Harrison Treble, a “rock n roll pianist”. He was very entertaining.
On the way to the show, I got a glimpse into the control booth for the ship’s entertainment venues. That window is usually blacked out, so I was surprised that we could see in tonight.
After the show, there was nothing left to do but come up to the Explorer’s Lounge and write this. I usually do it little by little throughout the day, especially on sea days when the wifi is extra slow, but that didn’t happen today. It’s late - nearing midnight - and two things stand out. The first is how unbelievably DARK it is out here in the middle of the ocean. The ship and the moon are the only sources of light for hundreds of miles in any direction.
The other thing is the hallways. When nobody is in the hallway to break up the view, you really get whacked with how looooooooong these hallways are.
…and Viking are small-to-midsized ships compared to most cruise ships. They hold 920 passengers, where most cruise ships start at 2500 or so and go up to more than 6000 passengers. I really enjoy the size of the Viking ships - big enough to offer plenty of amenities, but small enough to not be overwhelmed. It also allows the ships to dock in places where the bigger ships will have to anchor and tender to shore.
I think that’s it for today. Another sea day tomorrow, then things should get really interesting. Stay tuned!