madfranks
16th December 2014, 02:19 PM
So my wife and I just got back from our cruise vacation, to celebrate 10 years of marriage. The cruise experience is really amazing, you're basically pampered with food, comfort, and entertainment for 7 days straight. There are tons of fun things to do (live performances, comedy club, casino/arcade, mini golf, spa, restaurants, I could go on), lots of good food to eat and traveling to other countries is really an eye opening experience. Escaping America for a week to visit other cultures and ways of life is incredibly refreshing, it shows that while America tries to be the center of the world, there are still places where nobody gives a shit about what politicians in America are doing. Here are some of my significant observations and realizations about the whole thing.
First, if there is any place that really signifies the gluttonous, rude, prideful and narcissistic American stereotype, cruise ships are it. The staff on the ships are all from poorer countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, etc), but damn they were the most attentive, polite, hard working people I've seen in a long time. My wife suffered a headache during the trip (I think it was from dehydration, she wasn't drinking enough water), so we lounged in our room for a few hours, told our room steward he didn't have to clean our room, so he moved on, but he actually called the room later that evening to check and see if she was feeling ok and if there was anything he could do. But we saw so many people being outright rude to the ship staff, ordering them around like slaves, pushing their trash at them, openly complaining about trivial things. While we were walking around the ship, one lady had an empty wine glass and without even making eye contact, just pushed it in the hands of one of the staff and said "take this". Other people were so gluttonous they would pile the food on their plates, high and deep, then eat a few bites and leave the plate to be cleaned by the staff, again many of which come from poor countries and I'm sure they are all sick when they see this food being wasted. I saw one fat guy pile on two hotdogs and two burgers on his plate, eat half of one dog and burger, and leave the rest for trash. One fat lady bumped into me and stepped directly on my foot, full weight, and out of instinct I said "I'm sorry" as if I had bumped her, and she turned and glared at me and walked away without saying a thing.
One of our stops was Roatan, one of Honduras' bay islands, which is a very poor country. For $40 we hired a personal tour guide who drove us around the island in his car, wherever we wanted to go. We shopped at a local grocery store (local rum was just over $6 a bottle after exchange rates, a bag of candy for the kids was only $0.50), and ate at a local food joint. These people don't have a lot, but they were all very nice and held positive outlooks. Our driver was a musician and singer at his local church, and he sang us some gospel songs while driving around. They love Jesus here and aren't ashamed about it at all, the way many Americans are shy about their faith. They love Americans because the USD is so valuable compared to the Honduras Lempira.
While driving down one road with potholes in it, we passed a man working in the street filling the potholes with dirt, tamping it down with a shovel. We naturally assumed he was a road worker, and asked our driver about it. Turns out that man was unemployed, filling potholes in an attempt to get tips from tourists driving on the pothole laden roads. They don't have welfare in Roatan, so unemployed men try to be useful to get tip money, as this is better than lounging around doing nothing. Turns out that there are many unemployed folks who, instead of turning to crime, try to be useful to earn tip money from Americans. I gave our driver $2 with the promise that next time he sees that man in the street filling the potholes, to give it to him. We walked by a man with a bucket of young coconuts, a machete, and a bottle of rum. For $3 USD he would machete open the top of the coconut, give you a straw, have you drink some of the coconut water out, and fill the rest with rum. An amazing local drink, and the price was great.
We also hit up Belize City, in addition to Roatan. There is very little government involvement in these areas, for the most part you are left alone until election time comes. In Belize City, we asked our guide about local politics and he said that nominally they are a democracy, but every time an election comes up, the politicians will literally go door to door, offering $100 Belize dollars for a vote. Most people are too poor to turn it down, so the elections are literally bought and sold openly. Then the politicians work to get as much aid money as they can to finance their own lavish lifestyles and personal projects, while letting the roads fall apart and doing pretty much nothing for the people.
Overall, my wife and I enjoyed the vacation, with a joyful heart and recognition that this was one of God's blessings in our lives. I love to cruise, and can't wait for the next one. Also, we did this whole trip without passports, even though we visited many foreign countries. :)
First, if there is any place that really signifies the gluttonous, rude, prideful and narcissistic American stereotype, cruise ships are it. The staff on the ships are all from poorer countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, etc), but damn they were the most attentive, polite, hard working people I've seen in a long time. My wife suffered a headache during the trip (I think it was from dehydration, she wasn't drinking enough water), so we lounged in our room for a few hours, told our room steward he didn't have to clean our room, so he moved on, but he actually called the room later that evening to check and see if she was feeling ok and if there was anything he could do. But we saw so many people being outright rude to the ship staff, ordering them around like slaves, pushing their trash at them, openly complaining about trivial things. While we were walking around the ship, one lady had an empty wine glass and without even making eye contact, just pushed it in the hands of one of the staff and said "take this". Other people were so gluttonous they would pile the food on their plates, high and deep, then eat a few bites and leave the plate to be cleaned by the staff, again many of which come from poor countries and I'm sure they are all sick when they see this food being wasted. I saw one fat guy pile on two hotdogs and two burgers on his plate, eat half of one dog and burger, and leave the rest for trash. One fat lady bumped into me and stepped directly on my foot, full weight, and out of instinct I said "I'm sorry" as if I had bumped her, and she turned and glared at me and walked away without saying a thing.
One of our stops was Roatan, one of Honduras' bay islands, which is a very poor country. For $40 we hired a personal tour guide who drove us around the island in his car, wherever we wanted to go. We shopped at a local grocery store (local rum was just over $6 a bottle after exchange rates, a bag of candy for the kids was only $0.50), and ate at a local food joint. These people don't have a lot, but they were all very nice and held positive outlooks. Our driver was a musician and singer at his local church, and he sang us some gospel songs while driving around. They love Jesus here and aren't ashamed about it at all, the way many Americans are shy about their faith. They love Americans because the USD is so valuable compared to the Honduras Lempira.
While driving down one road with potholes in it, we passed a man working in the street filling the potholes with dirt, tamping it down with a shovel. We naturally assumed he was a road worker, and asked our driver about it. Turns out that man was unemployed, filling potholes in an attempt to get tips from tourists driving on the pothole laden roads. They don't have welfare in Roatan, so unemployed men try to be useful to get tip money, as this is better than lounging around doing nothing. Turns out that there are many unemployed folks who, instead of turning to crime, try to be useful to earn tip money from Americans. I gave our driver $2 with the promise that next time he sees that man in the street filling the potholes, to give it to him. We walked by a man with a bucket of young coconuts, a machete, and a bottle of rum. For $3 USD he would machete open the top of the coconut, give you a straw, have you drink some of the coconut water out, and fill the rest with rum. An amazing local drink, and the price was great.
We also hit up Belize City, in addition to Roatan. There is very little government involvement in these areas, for the most part you are left alone until election time comes. In Belize City, we asked our guide about local politics and he said that nominally they are a democracy, but every time an election comes up, the politicians will literally go door to door, offering $100 Belize dollars for a vote. Most people are too poor to turn it down, so the elections are literally bought and sold openly. Then the politicians work to get as much aid money as they can to finance their own lavish lifestyles and personal projects, while letting the roads fall apart and doing pretty much nothing for the people.
Overall, my wife and I enjoyed the vacation, with a joyful heart and recognition that this was one of God's blessings in our lives. I love to cruise, and can't wait for the next one. Also, we did this whole trip without passports, even though we visited many foreign countries. :)