If there are white caps in your toilet...5

Day four started out fantastic but ultimately was a very unfortunate day.

Our second port day was in Santo Thomas De Castilla, Guatemala. That country is in turmoil and the port is a work in progress. We were told not to wander very far from the ship dock unless we were going on a shore excursion because it was unsafe. The ship dock area was tiny. The only thing there was a big flea market type of building and a place for the shore excursion buses to park. We did take the opportunity to get off the boat and check out what was inside the building. Honestly I thought it was pretty cool. They had a local band playing xylophone music. We sat and listened for a while. There was a guy there painting pictures. It was fun to watch him. That port was also the most difficult because you had to barter to buy stuff. That notion scared the snot out of me. The vendors were also really aggressive when trying to get you to buy stuff from them. Several vendors had the exact same stuff. We did ultimately spend a lot of money there. It was intense though.

We had all day to sit there in port and after shopping we decided it would be a day to lounge outdoors while there were even fewer people on the ship. Hubby Guy grabbed a Chemistry book and headed for his scoped out spot. I suited up and took my Christmas present (iPod touch) outside. It was then that I made a very bad error in judgment. It didn't occur to me that I was much closer to the equator (therefore the sun) and that it wouldn't take long to singe my person. So after I came in (after being out WAY TOO LONG) I realized the error of my ways. Unfortunately at that point the damage had been done. Hubby Guy's joke he likes to tell about that day is that Guatemalan Lobster was on the menu that night so the ship's chefs chased me all over the boat for the rest of the day. Let me tell ya... death at that point seemed like a really nice out. Although I LOVED the color, with every passing minute I became more and more painful. I had to endure the agony for several hours until the ship was at sea so they would open up the Duty Free shop were pain medicine was available for purchase.

That night we took in a show by a pair that used to be in a Cirque do Soleil show. I LOVE Cirque and I LOVE acrobats so it was a nice distraction from my dire circumstances.

It was a rough night. I managed to power through though.

Funny aside: I chose a sweet spot at the back of the boat where there was practically no one to do my lounging in the sun. It was the same spot you saw the picture of yesterday where I took the picture of Hubby Guy and I sittin' around. It just so happens it is also the ship's helipad in case they would need to take someone off the boat while at sea. Later in the week we went down to the place of the ship where you can see the captain and all the ship driving instruments. I looked up and noticed at the safety guy's desk that there is a video camera trained 24/7 on the exact spot where I was lounging. Lesson # whatever: If you choose to lounge on the helipad the captain and crew can see your hiney.

It is now 9 days post poor judgment and my skin is still trying to recover. I ended up with pretty serious sun poisoning. My lips look like a jungle beast chewed on them. I have really bad fever blisters over almost the entire surface of my lips. I'm peeling all over my body. It's a darn good thing that I was wearing a really modest suit. Had I not been I can't even imagine the horror. The burn was deep enough that underneath the skin that's peeling is more burned skin. There's no telling how many times I'll peel. The worst spots have just barely started to peel. I'm afraid I may actually be scarred. We'll see.

Hubby Guy has been picking on me (but actually being half serious) that he's never taking me south again. We'll only vacation in the north and in the winter so I won't do this to myself again. Honestly though.... I HAVE learned my lesson. I won't ever do this to myself again. I missed out on so much because I was in pain and feeling awful for the last few days of the cruise. I really paid for my stupidity.