Buzzing Around The World With Fellette & Doug

Tomorrow... India

Since leaving Kenya my urge to write has been in hibernation. Tonight, the last night before India was no exception. We had an invitation for a pre-dinner meet in The Crowsnest before the Indian Themed Dinner at 6.00 pm. The day had been somewhat lazy at the start, early coffee, Tai Chi on the balcony, breakfast, Tai Chi lessons, then a walk around the deck until an interesting talk by a former US Ambassador. This was the last of four talks by him. I found it extremely interesting; it is a wonder the USA is not at war with every other nation, but that is another story.

I ended up the afternoon on the balcony reading an absolutely riveting book by James Follett. Fellette had her usual social whirl of choir practice, puzzle time [they are working on a 4000 piece puzzle that at first, in Cape Town looked undo-able] and other activities that do not involve her husband.

She rushed into the cabin at 5:05, ready to dress for cocktails at 5:15! Tonight, those so inclined were to be dressed in Indian attire. Earlier in the day she had laid out her choice of clothing for the evening; a pair of pale yellow silk pyjamas that I gave her for Christmas. Plus a reddish wrap-around that we bought in Barbados for $10, held in place by a Tilley's maple leaf broach that came with the last Tilley purchase.

I wasn't sure whether I, dressed in my white tuxedo, really wanted to make the trip upstairs to the lounge with her and later to the dining room for a formal night . She said as we left the cabin, "the first laugh and I come back and change", Although she looked lovely, she really looked like she was ready to go to bed!

No problem...the ship was in India mode. Nothing but smiles and compliments as we worked our way to meet our friends up in the lounge at the very front top of the ship. I introduced Fellette as my Mail Order Indian Bride. The mood was wonderful.

Later down to the dining room, where many women really looked wonderful in gorgeous wraps and saris, we made our way into the dining room where the mood as magical! The Maitre de's and waiters were all attired in the most magnificent Indian attire you could imagine

No tacky imitations here, really. It was one of those moments that will never be repeated, for us, and many others.

Holland America really went over the top tonight.
The dining room looked more like a scene from a Rudyard Kipling movie set.

We have a table mate that suffered an injury while on safari in Kenya so there was an empty spot at our table for eight. A gentleman suddenly appeared at our table and was seated in the empty chair. Bruce, I will call him is a ''dance host" on the ship. For the next two hours the table was alive with excitement as we found out that Bruce was from the Boston area, as were four of our table companions. That wasn't really as exciting as the fact that as long as Bruce was at the table, his wine flowed without end. That was also not as interesting as finding out about life as a "dance host" on a cruise ship. Yep, guys, that is what some people do for a living, believe it or not, a dance host on a cruise ship. As I may have said earlier, a cruise such as this brings many unattached women [and men]. Bruce's job, that is detailed out in long written form, is to dance with women who make themselves available to him. There is no hanky-panky. One of Bruce's main problems is to make sure that any hanky-panky does not happen, it is worth 'his job." Bruce is a very gracious man, I can see why he has this job. Although he enlightened us on his job he was very ethical and only talked in generalities, no ship gossip. It was an interesting dinner.

I will give any 20-30-40 year olds that may be reading this a few hours to digest this. I don't really believe you can fully understand the zest for life that some "older women" can have until you encounter them first hand. It sometimes is not a pretty site guys! There are no female dance hosts because of the surplus of available women.

On the way from the dining room the waiters were only too pleased to pose for pictures.

Tomorrow we meet the real India, not the India that we dreamed of as a child, nor was in our dining room for that magical evening!

posted by Doug and Fellette @ 5:29 PM