早上被街道上傳來的說話聲吵醒，我推開房門，來到專用涼台上四下觀望。近處，五顏六色的土坯板房依山就勢，錯落有致；遠處，灰不溜秋的艦艇漁船傍灣靠港，星羅棋布。嘿，今天是星期六！我喜出望外，早就盼望出海遠洋這一天。糟糕！我得趕在登船之前上街買回遊泳眼鏡，家裡現成的那副忘記隨身帶來。 

      I woke up this morning to the sound of people coming from the streets. I stepped out onto our private balcony outside the hotel room in Valparaiso, the largest port city in Chile. At sight, the spectacular hillsides were dotted with a variety of colorful houses. In a distance, the beautiful bay was sparked with a series of peculiar boats. I checked the date and cheered myself up immediately. Yay! It's Saturday. I really looked forward to cruising away in the afternoon. Oh no!  I had to go shopping for a pair of goggles right now because I left it at home.

      九點過後，我們出門朝鬧市區方向走去。瓦爾帕萊索素以山路陡峭著稱，與加州舊金山九曲花街相比，恐怕有過之而無不及，稱它為山城實無誇張之意，山即是城，城即是山。雙軌纜車沿着大街小巷不知疲勞地爬上爬下，把“既處在一個地球板塊漂移所形成的地理斷層上，又完整地保留着世界海運變遷所留下的歷史斷層”定格在世界科教文組織《世界遺產名錄》之中。最令我擔心的是，整個城市實際上像一個巨大無比的三維迷宮，稍不留意就會陷入死胡同。我們初來乍到人生地不熟，起碼有兩回徹底找不到北，因此走了不少冤枉路。如果以市中心為軸心，瓦爾帕萊索山城如同一個圓形露天劇場，全方位向外伸展，蜿蜒狹窄錯綜複雜。我們上可登天，下能入海，腳下好像永遠踩不到筆直平坦的道路。記得有一次，我們沿市區一條主要大街行走，本以為照直走下去肯定能到達目的地，結果花了老半天時間也未走到頭，要不是感覺越走越偏僻，我們還不知道自己迷失了方向。

      Finally we arrived at the biggest department store Ripley in town and heard the worst news of the day. They didn't sell goggles!!! At the moment, I almost blacked out. I walked in despair back up the steep and twisting roads.

      我們好不容易找到全城最大的雷普利百貨大樓，哪曾想晴天霹靂，那裡根本不賣游泳眼鏡！！！聽後我頓覺天昏地暗，差點沒暈倒在地。回來的路上，我情緒十分低落。

      The taxi was waiting for us at the hotel and ready to send us off the port where our cruise ship- Princess Star docked. We packed and descended from hillside to seaside. As we passed through security, I watched a larger ship called Celebrity Infinity pull its cargo. It seemed at least 2 times bigger than ours!

    回到旅館不久，出租車便來到門口等候我們。我們將行李打包裝車，從半山腰盤旋而下，直入“星辰•公主” 號遊輪停靠的碼頭。過了安檢部門，我看到“無極•精緻” 號遊輪正在裝卸貨物，那艘船比我們的至少要大出兩倍來！

      As soon as we boarded on the ship, hunger knocked me down. It was 2:00 PM and I hadn't had lunch yet! I ordered a chicken sandwich and gobbled down so fast that I was not aware. Mom did not even have time to touch the fried marinated sole, one of her favorites. I was staring at crumbs in shock at a place where the sandwich had been moments ago. When I looked outside, I felt nostalgic and started to miss my home.

      一上船，我才意識到自己已經餓得前胸貼後背。下午兩點鐘，我竟沒吃午飯！我點了一份雞肉三明治，三口兩口吞到肚子裡面。媽媽還沒來得及夾上一筷子她喜歡吃的油煎偏口魚。我盯着面前掉的殘渣碎末，不覺倒吸了一口氣，幾分鐘前手中握有三明治，眨眼間就變得什麼也沒有了。這時，我轉向窗外張望，思鄉之情油然而生。

      We went to play table tennis which I had been taking practice lessons in the past months. I competed against some other people and had quite close matches! A put-down about this place was that around noon, it got so hot that in a few minutes I must let out steam. My mom took an easy way and chickened out. Other than that, the ship had everything including a Jacuzzi. I probably needed it as the day came to the end.

      吃罷午餐，我們一起去打乒乓球。我已有兩、三個月的球齡，這回跟不少人交手，比分相當接近！說起來這個球場有一個缺陷，中午前後打上幾分鐘，我就會汗流浹背，媽媽見狀躲得遠遠的。除此而外，遊輪樣樣不錯，包括極可意水流按摩浴缸。今天臨睡覺前，我大概需要享用一下。

(二O一二年十二月廿二日)