One in the Afternoon and No Pirates Yet…

Sunset over Egypt as depart Aqaba

The view of the nearest shore...50 miles away.
Blue water in all directions.

We are waiting.  It could be exciting.  After all, we saw the movie “Captain Phillips” before leaving on this jaunt.  So, after the warnings from the bridge about pirates, well, I’m a little disappointed.  AND my disappointment doesn’t end there.  The “Red” Sea is not red, like they have advertised for centuries.  It is really blue and I mean REALLY blue!  As far as we can see blue with puffy white clouds above it.

Enough of disappointments.  I’m on now to the crew.  The ship (I’m told I have to stop calling it a “boat”) has 27 different nationalities aboard.  We hear a polyglot of languages being spoken.  On previous voyages, we’ve always had a butler (stop it.  Sometimes one needs a butler to do odd and assorted things, like polish your shoes or bring you breakfast!) who was from the Philippines.  But, just this year, the MO has changed somewhat.  While we still have crew members from the Philippines, OUR butler is from Bali.  And his son is on the ship as well.

So, meet our butler Ketut.  Really.  That is his name.  And he has sailed with Regent for 13 years.  He is of a slight build, always with a smile on his face, a spritely old elf, as one of our Christmas poems tells us.  So last night I “interviewed” Ketuk, to see what his life was like.

He has sailed around the world several times in his 13 years, but still has a hard time understanding different customs in different parts of the world.  For instance, he asked us why, in the Middle East, women are covered head to toe with black abayas, only their eyes giving a hint that there is a person in there.  We explained about the Muslim religion, the subservience of women to men here.  He still had a hard time understanding, although he had been here many times.

Ketut setting up breakfast.

You see, Ketut is a Hindu.  The Hindu religion is most interesting to people who are unfamiliar with its tenants.  In Bali, for instance, there is a caste system.  If you borne into a low caste, you can never ever move up, even if you have wealth like Bill Gates.  However, if you are a woman, you can marry a man from a high caste and you will be raised, as will you children.  However, if you are a high caste woman and you marry a lower caste man, you will lose your status and you and your children will become a lower caste.  They also believe in reincarnation and, when a child is born, you will take that child to a soothsayer to have his future read, almost always in his palm.  This soothsayer will determine who from your past has been reborn in the baby.  (I say my granddaughter Iris is a spitting image in personality of my mother, who died in 1996.  So who knows if they have something there!)  It just puzzled me that a man or woman who was so well-traveled would not have absorbed more information on other cultures his life had touched!

But back to the story. .. First of all, the crew works from contracts, usually 7 months on a ship and then 2 months off.  Ketut loves his job.  When asked how his wife had adjusted to his absences, he smiled and said she likes him being gone.  When he is home in Bali, during his times off, he manages a restaurant for a Russian fellow, who goes home to Russia during that time.  So, he assured us, his isn’t home even when he IS home!

But his eyes lit up like light bulbs when asked about his 2 year old grandson.  He calls him his “grand”.  And he calls home to talk to his Grand every single day.  He also Skypes, although communication can be rough from various points on th globe.  He says the only time he cries is when he leaves his Grand to return to the Ship.  Imagine doing that for your entire adult life --- waiting on people, serving them, day in and day out.  And the people you are serving know very little of your real life, your personal wishes.  AND those people change every couple weeks – all year long.

But now Ketut is looking forward to returning to Bali – for two days.  The ship is headed there in its endless journey to all the world’s ports.  He will be in Bali around Christmas for two days.  But he also must be onboard to serve his cabin’s breakfasts and do their bidding, then run off to see his Grand, then rush back to the ship to continue his life of service that evening.  His day: up at 5 a.m., dress in his butler costume, serve breakfast, make canapés for cocktail time, be there for turndown time, check on laundry and dry cleaning, and fall into bed at 11 p.m.  Day in.  Day out.  Year in.  Year out.  That is our new friend, proud grandfather, Kt