Anderson South American Misadventure Day 15 - Somewhere off the coast of Chili "I See Land" March 18, 2020

Yeah, we can see land, but they will not allow us in. Most people are dealing well with things on board but some are not. This morning we witnessed two ladies fighting over the same table at breakfast. Seriously ladies there are other tables. Get a grip this could go on even longer. We are keeping busy, today I went to knitting and started a new project. My knitting needles for my other project are starting to separate. I tried to tape them with Scotch tape but that did not work. I asked for a piece of electrical tape but could not get a piece. I know that this is a minor problem, but as I keep saying "It is much easier to deal with the crazy lady if she has her knitting to keep her calm." If someone could get a set of 7mm bamboo circular needles to me I would really appreciate it. Rob and I took a tango lesson. It is good for us and I know that we will get the hang of it eventually. Rob keeps telling me that I need to sense his feet and not watch them. Yeah, but my toes are really sensing his feet. There will be more lessons, we might even mast the cross over. They had a special Indonesian lunch. Very good and the waiters all wore batik shirts. Then off to trivia. We won again. We are wondering if we can bribe our way off of the ship with our HAL South America pins. We have quite a collection by now. We went back to our room and I had a phone interview with a reporter from our local NBC affiliate. When I get the link I will post it. I had a sinus infection before I left and went through two rounds of antibiotics. Yesterday morning I woke up to a sore left sinus. Oh, no, break out the Musinex. Today I started to cough. Let me tell you if you cough on a cruise ship people move away. These days they practically jump overboard. Rob also started to cough so we both went to the medical center. Yup, I have a sinus infection. I am to irrigate my sinuses but I do have an antibiotic if I am not better in two days. Rob has a cold and was also told to irrigate his sinuses and given a decongestant. Well, that was one way to spend our on board credit since we obviously cannot go on an excursion. The bill came to our room. It was actually for less than we had thought but WOW, that is one expensive antibiotic. We ate dinner with a couple from Virginia who told about contacting their senators and congressional rep. Hmmm, that is a good idea. When we returned to our room there was a letter waiting for us. When we boarded they collected our passports. When we thought that we were getting off they returned our passports. Yup, you guessed it, they need them back. Something about Chili having to give them an exit stamp. Right now I am not real thrilled with Chili, but if we want to be re provisioned we will turn in our passports. They will have a desk set up on each deck to make it easier for us. The show tonight was a tenor. I had no idea what kind of music he would be singing but when he came out in a tux I figured that it was operatic. Yup, but does he have a voice. He sang a mixture of music, opera, and Elvis and a love ballad. He did the "how long can I hold this note" thing and yes, he really can hold that note for a long time. He joked about getting on in Punta Arenas, we all laughed. He said yeah, he thought that he was going on a cruise and is now in a hostage situation. The program was great. He even did a piece with all electronic amplification turned off so that he could show how his voice carried. Impressive. Even with all of the opera Rob enjoyed it. At 10:00 they had chocolate surprise. They wander around on deck 5 with trays of different chocolate goodies. We wondered how they would do this with the serving instructions. Ah, each waiter had a small tongs that they used to serve to each guest. We did not stay long, but it is a fun event. Victoria is keeping us well informed. It looks as if we will be going to Valpariso for refueling and restocking. Sanantonio will not allow us in. Nice of them. I told her that I would contact my senator and she said to contact all of them. OK, she did have to help me find how to email Rep Chabot. He made it hard enough I have to wonder if he really wants to get emails. Victoria is working on a script for people to use to call their reps if they want to help us. We really want to be allowed back into a US port but it might be a Mexican port. At this point I think that they are still open. In all of this it is amazing how other things keep adding to our issues. Besides my knitting needles coming apart, lesson, if the price seems too good it probably is, my fitbit has died. I always have it on. I like to know what time it is. The travel agent through whom we booked this cruise has left that agency. We think that we bought trip insurance and it might cover some expenses. Here's hoping that he left good records. And the guy who we paid to drive us to and from the airport will not pick us up due to fear of COVID-19. So we might get to Cincinnati, actually Covington and then have to figure out how to get home from there. Here's hoping that Lyft is still operating. There, I vented about that, I feel better.