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Cruising the Arabian Sea November 18


A nice relaxing day today, milder weather although still hot but it was nice sitting on the balcony for a few hours this afternoon.  And since we’re now moving slower, (to keep ahead of those pirates Jan K!!), there’s not as much wind!  

After breakfast I attended a talk on the Emirates and how they were formed.  The lecturer is good, seems to know what he’s talking about, not that I’d really know, of course, as all during the cruise he’s been lecturing on the Biblical aspect of all these countries and that might have been sleep inducing!  

The Arabian Peninsular is a peninsular of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate.  It geographically includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen as well as the southern portions of Jordan and Iraq.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the greater part of the Peninsular and the majority of population is in SA and Yemen.  Of course this Peninsular contains the world’s largest reserves of oil.  SA and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, the only Peninsular country in the Persian Gulf on the larger Peninsular, is home to the Arabic language television station Al Jazeera. And about to host the 2022 World Cup but that is another story!  Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, forming one of the main staging grounds for coalition forces mounting the UAE led 2003 invasion of Iraq. 

At 6pm we had ‘Krew Kapers’ an excellent performance by many of the 47 nations represented as staff on the ship.  Probably the best of such performances I’ve seen, very professional and shows what talent lies behind the scenes.  A formal night, many of the older ladies were out there in their best Titanic like finery!!! Yes, there are still a few of those around.  Formal nights seem to almost be a thing of the past these days.  Sadly.  

The show was good, I’m back in the room, tip-toeing around as I take my pills, remove the war paint, add some spackle, put my chocolate in the draw and finish off my post!!  Till tomorrow!!  XX

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