February 2, 2016, anchored off the coast of Fanning Island, Nation of Kiribati.

I'm actually a day behind in my blog, but the days and evenings are so busy that there is little free time.

When last I wrote, we had attended the first shore side event for the full World Cruisers. I am still left with thoughts of the mammoth battleship, the USS Missouri, which we visited. It is sobering to think of the fight that the crew of this ship, and many others like her, carried out—and the loss of lives and injuries incurred. Thank you to all of those who served in a war with meaning.

Our days begin with the Pilates Class on the Reformer, or medieval torture rack as it is affectionately known. There is a righteousness about working up a sweat that makes one feel they are entitled to a healthy breakfast! Our instructor, Grace Wang, is adorable and very encouraging.

The series of lectures with a Mideast theme continues. I especially enjoyed Professor Louis Rene Beres' talk on espionage in the Middle East. He focused primarily on the Israeli Intelligence groups and talked about how Eichmann was discovered in South America. It brought back the memory of our dinner with Simon Wiesenthal. Our friend, Bob Cooper, produced the HBO movie of Wiesenthal's life. After the premiere, we, along with 3 other couples were invited by Bob and his wife, Nessa, to dinner with Simon Wiesenthal at the now defunct Chasen's in Beverly Hills. I felt as though I was touching history, and Simon Wiesenthal was hardly a James Bond type, he looked more like your Uncle Morty. He continued to live in Austria and said he did so to remind them of what they did. On a side note, he sent his food back three times!

Afternoons are busy with Odyssey Art at Sea. I am still working on my stone carving project—and that is hard work! It's like another hour in the gym as we rasp away the rough and hard stone. Some of the pieces are really creative and look very professionally done. Mine looks rather like a rock!

We are enjoying the couples at our table, and the Doctor has proven to be a genial host.

Last night was the Crystal Society Party, and guests were recognized for their 70^th, 80^th and 220^th cruise. Mama Lee, who lives on board, has achieved her 220^th cruise within only 7 years. My hero! Pauline Hoff, who has over 300 is also on board, but getting quite frail.

It is so interesting to watch the stylized dancing by guests, especially Japanese ladies, who are so graceful and who take the dance classes on board. Another interesting sight, both on and off the dance floors are the predatory single ladies who have a Dance Host within their sight and go after them with the speed and accuracy of a heat-seeking missile! There are quite a large number of single women on board, and Crystal does an excellent job of taking care of the solo travelers. We were under the assumption that there would also be female Dance Hosts on board. Apparently, they were discontinued on the World Cruise because the solo lady travelers were upset that a woman was taking up space of a potential male Dance Host!

We are enjoying our time with several new people and especially Terry and Kerri from Sydney.

We took the tender into Fanning Island this morning, and, unfortunately, it was rainy and overcast. The seas were quite rough and the crew on the tenders really earn their money as they help the guests, many elderly and infirm, off and on the tender with great gaps both horizontally and vertically. Thank you to them for their hard work!

This is our second time in Fanning Island, and there seem to be no changes or improvements since our visit in 2014. The residents are very friendly and have radiant smiles. We bought a few hand made crafts, mainly to help support the residents. It was a short visit to the island since the rain began in earnest. An amazing island with no electricity,no running water and seemingly happy people.

We're heading up to Lido for lunch. I will try and include some photos of the huge variety of food available on the Lido Deck between the Lido Cafe, Tastes and Trident (and Ben & Jerry's ice cream!)

All for now!