Today we left the Amazon River behind. As we were motoring, yes motoring(it seems the MV in MV Explorer means Motor Vessel…no steam here) down the river we could see it getting wider. Now, wider is relevant right? 1000 miles up the Amazon at Manous the river was over 1 mile wide, according to my expert. Jack. From Santerem it was probably 3 miles wide and as the day progressed the shoreline got further and further away. Until, still on the river, the shoreline was not visible. We read somewhere it is at some places 30 miles wide. Right through the day and into night we are still experiencing the muddy look to the ocean from the outpouring of the waters of the Amazon. The sea is quite calm right now and we motor through rainstorms periodically but with our speed they don’t last long. Classes today were a craft class for Barbara, I have a really hard class schedule don’t you think? We made a cute box called a Wabi Sabi box with mat board and fabric. Jack went to “Caribbean Leftovers – Waves, Hurricanes and Oil Too” We watched another lecture on the television, as the room was quite crowded, on "Emerging Global Generations". Quite an interesting look into the values and perceptions that differ from generation to generation. We tried to get into the “Community College” class on “How Light Affects Health” but it filled up very quickly so we went to the lounge and read. The community college classes are taught by our fellow passengers and sometimes are quite interesting. The at sea days are quite full of classes and you can select which you want to participate in or let them go. It is not like real school at all. It seems there are always games and cards going on in some of the classrooms too. We did get about 1 hour to bake in the Equatorial sunshine. I mean it, 1 hour is about all you can take. The temperature is very deceptive: 82 degrees and a wonderful breeze as we are moving at a good speed so the sun does not seem so hot but it is strong. Tomorrow is another day at sea and then Trinidad. Rumor is we will be docking around midnight. We plan to stay up for the festivities. If I do not get to write tomorrow: WE WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!