Eat, drink, and be merry

I went aboard my first ship today, and made a rather surprising discovery: a huge part of my job involves...eating! It actually makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. We're working with people who haven't seen anyone but their fellow crew members (and Immigration officers, who come onto ships with guns in hand, and are appallingly brutal to seamen) for months on end, so one of the best gifts we can give them is accepting their hospitality. All the same, I can't help but feel like I'm getting the better end of the deal.

Immediately upon boarding the Hoegh Berlin, a car carrier with a crew of 20 Filipinos, we were greeted with coffee and cookies. As we got to work selling phone cards, and helping the crew members top off their phones (a lot of them have trouble understanding the English prompts), the cook bustled in with a tray of freshly-baked banana bread, still hot from the oven. Not ten minutes after we had politely refused thirds, insisting that there was no possible way we could eat any more, we were ushered into the mess hall for lunch. There, the cook wasn't satisfied until we had eaten more than our fill of his soup, noodles, and (perplexingly) fried chicken. I disembarked clutching my stomach and grinning from ear to ear. 

It was an overwhelmingly positive experience. It was clear that the crew were in desperate need of human interaction, and we had a merry time listening to them discuss their families, life on board, and the idiosyncracies of the various ports where they dock. We had a decidedly less merry time listening to them worry about pirate attacks (yes, friends, I get to discuss pirates - real ones - on a daily basis). I was told afterwards that the the crew was somewhat exceptionally cheerful and well taken care of, but I have been assured that feasting can be counted on as a regular part of the work environment. I think I can live with that!