Aruba

Our ship was not scheduled to arrive in Aruba until noon so I attended Robin Williams' (not that one) class Fourth Wall? What Fourth Wall? The Elizabethan Stage. Robin showed pictures of the old globe and the new globe in London and talked about how actors in the New Globe gained new insights about Shakespeare's plays when they performed those plays on a stage similar to that which he used. Particularly it became clear how many speeches were aimed at the groundlings who stood at the very edge of the stage. She also introduced us to the Wheel of Fortune and the Great Chain of Being and we learned the proper use of thee/thou vs you in Elizabethan English.

After that I went to a session on podcasting by Randal Schwartz on the Macmania track. I can only hope that my comments were helpful as I did not go as much to learn as to share.

For our shore excursion we did a sea kayaking and snorkeling trip. We had 3 very nice guides who showed us how to paddle and un-capsize a kayak (fortunately the second set of knowledge went unused). We had never kayaked before but had wanted to try it. We did not steer anything like a straight course but did manage to get to and from a park down the coast which we used as a base for snorkeling. I had brought my prescription swim goggles so I went out without a mask and snorkel which made the snorkel part of the excursion more work. There was not really great visibility but at least I was able to start getting the hang of the underwater video camera (Sanyo Xacti) that I had recently purchased. The guides made us wear life vests which just got in the way. Mine kept coming unzipped which just gave me one more thing to fuss with. We were warned by the guides that fire coral which was prevalent in the area would give us a painful and permanent tattoo should we touch it.

After the excursion we walked around the port area of Aruba but only had to venture a block or so before the city started looking pretty seedy.

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Chris Christensen
Amateur Traveler podcast
Tripinator - Travel 2.0