Monday, January 19, 2009

Sunday Jan. 18

We started the day in the pool, as we will on most days. We swam 2000 meters again this morning... the 50 meter pool still seems so very long to me. I am accustomed to swimming in a 25 yard pool. We worked on stroke drills today, and alternate side breathing.

After a shower and breakfast we lined up for a "fashionable" bike ride. There are two kinds of rides here, fashionable and fast. After the ride I decided I was not ready for the fast one! We did not just tool around! Rather, we rode at a steady pace, around 15 mph, up and down hills all over this side of the island. In one stretch the faster folks dropped me and I was too stubborn to slow down and wait for the slower ones, so I rode alone for about half an hour. It was a bit scary riding in a foreign country, not knowing the language and not knowing how to get back to this hotel! But we were on a dead end road and I met up with the fast guys at the turnaround. I managed better in the heat on this ride; I guess I am getting used to it.


I took a photo of the airplane restaurant, not sure if I would want to eat in it, but it is remarkable... the Curacao idea of sex education is rather interesting--here is one example, and I'll take photos of the other benches on later rides...














In the afternoon while the fast bike ride was going on Phyllis and I went to the Sea Aquarium where they have rescued large and small sea creatures. We watched the trainers and dolphins at the Dolphin Academy--very cool!














I was too tired to do the ocean swim on Sunday, after not getting any sleep Saturday night. (No I was not out on the town, I just could not sleep). We ended the day watching the sunset from Andy and Irene's balcony and then going to dinner down the beach a ways. We keep watching for the elusive "green flash" that none of us has ever seen.

Camera battery died while uploading just now--put it on Walt's adaptor to charge it. Fortunately (thanks Bill) I had an extra battery!