Today meant several dips in the pool in order to stay awake or to become refreshed, or both. After lunch I took a nap for about an hour but was awakened by singing. It is Sunday on the ship and since sixteen hundred hours, the personnel on board have been knocking off for personal time. They are pulling their chairs out onto the walks and sitting down with beers to enjoy time, thoughts and life in its simplest form. Some are singing native songs and others talk of loved ones, politics or just ordinary matters.

Scott was making his rounds and he stopped to hear the singing and was offered beer and since he will accept the offer, he is easily accepted into communion with one of the groups. As for myself, I still remain aloof, standing just out of sight. I would rather be at a distance watching and listening than to be close and personal.

What do I notice? I notice that these are simple hard-working people that have left their families to get a job at sea because it was possibly the only job to be had. They are like I once was, putting in a hard days work and after relaxing with a few drinks, talking and unwinding from the day. They have accepted their orthodox religious beliefs, their allotment in life, the status quo, and are ingrained in the rut with no vision to do different, nor can I say that they wish to rise above the programming. Yet in my distance, how am I to be a benefit.