早上被街道上传来的说话声吵醒，我推开房门，来到专用凉台上四下观望。近处，五颜六色的土坯板房依山就势，错落有致；远处，灰不溜秋的舰艇渔船傍湾靠港，星罗棋布。嘿，今天是星期六！我喜出望外，早就盼望出海远洋这一天。糟糕！我得赶在登船之前上街买回游泳眼镜，家里现成的那副忘记随身带来。 

      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.

      九点过后，我们出门朝闹市区方向走去。瓦尔帕莱索素以山路陡峭著称，与加州旧金山九曲花街相比，恐怕有过之而无不及，称它为山城实无夸张之意，山即是城，城即是山。双轨缆车沿着大街小巷不知疲劳地爬上爬下，把“既处在一个地球板块漂移所形成的地理断层上，又完整地保留着世界海运变迁所留下的历史断层”定格在世界科教文组织《世界遗产名录》之中。最令我担心的是，整个城市实际上像一个巨大无比的三维迷宫，稍不留意就会陷入死胡同。我们初来乍到人生地不熟，起码有两回彻底找不到北，因此走了不少冤枉路。如果以市中心为轴心，瓦尔帕莱索山城如同一个圆形露天剧场，全方位向外伸展，蜿蜒狭窄错综复杂。我们上可登天，下能入海，脚下好像永远踩不到笔直平坦的道路。记得有一次，我们沿市区一条主要大街行走，本以为照直走下去肯定能到达目的地，结果花了老半天时间也未走到头，要不是感觉越走越偏僻，我们还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.

      我们好不容易找到全城最大的雷普利百货大楼，哪曾想晴天霹雳，那里根本不卖游泳眼镜！！！听后我顿觉天昏地暗，差点没晕倒在地。回来的路上，我情绪十分低落。

      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!

    回到旅馆不久，出租车便来到门口等候我们。我们将行李打包装车，从半山腰盘旋而下，直入“星辰•公主” 号游轮停靠的码头。过了安检部门，我看到“无极•精致” 号游轮正在装卸货物，那艘船比我们的至少要大出两倍来！

      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，我才意识到自己已经饿得前胸贴后背。下午两点钟，我竟没吃午饭！我点了一份鸡肉三明治，三口两口吞到肚子里面。妈妈还没来得及夹上一筷子她喜欢吃的油煎偏口鱼。我盯着面前掉的残渣碎末，不觉倒吸了一口气，几分钟前手中握有三明治，眨眼间就变得什么也没有了。这时，我转向窗外张望，思乡之情油然而生。

      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.

      吃罢午餐，我们一起去打乒乓球。我已有两、三个月的球龄，这回跟不少人交手，比分相当接近！说起来这个球场有一个缺陷，中午前后打上几分钟，我就会汗流浃背，妈妈见状躲得远远的。除此而外，游轮样样不错，包括极可意水流按摩浴缸。今天临睡觉前，我大概需要享用一下。

(二O一二年十二月廿二日)