mashed potato

2009-01-12T18:22:00.001-05:00

A lot has happened this cruise and it isn’t even over yet!

On Thursday we were in Athens. I went off and we attempted to go to the Acropolis, but sadly it was too late in the day by the time we got there and we weren’t allowed in. I did however have a great day in Athens and also went way up high a mountain, almost at the Acropolis and took some really nice pictures.

On Friday we were in Izmir, Turkey and I took a crew tour. They are nice here and often set up tours for the crew only. They are at much cheaper prices than you would ever find and include transportation. We went to the House of the Virgin Mary and Ephesus. The House of the Virgin Mary is the structure that is said to be where she spent her last days of her life. It is very small and there isn’t much else at the site than an open air church (which is just some benches and an altar) and a wishing well. The well has 3 faucets and there is one for love, health, and wealth. It was a very short visit. Then we drove to Ephesus which is I guess what I would describe as an unburied ancient city. It was spectacular. Extremely large structures (in ruins), a colossal amphitheater, and public baths… it was as if you could picture people there, there were streets and everything. Really neat. It was huge so we spent a long time there. I also learned that Turkey is in both Europe and Asia… and lucky for me Izmir is in both!!! So yes I have been to Asia and Africa and Europe… just 3 more to go!

And last but CERTAINLY not least… on Sunday I went to Cairo! It was an overnight trip and we didn’t waste a minute! We left the ship 7am on Sunday. We drove 3 hours to Cairo. First we stopped at the Egyptian Museum. It is huge and has thousands of artifacts that have been dug up, from tiny beads from pieces of jewelry, to coins found in skeleton hands, to pieces of tomb walls over 4000 years old covered in hieroglyphics, and even King Tutankhamen’s famous sarcophagus and treasures. Many ancient things that I have seen in history books I saw in this museum. It was amazing and a great start to the trip. Our tour guide was also incredible and kept talking most of the 3 hour bus ride and of course throughout the entire tour of the museum. Then we got back in the bus and went to a Citadel of Salah Al-Din, which apparently is an important mosque… From the top we could see the Cairo skyline, sadly it is really gross in the sky and misty. You could faintly make out the pyramids, had it been clearer… oh wow that would’ve been a sight!! Then we went to our hotel to check in and have lunch. Casey and I took a short nap, we only had an hour, then it was back to the bus! We were taken to the Sound & Light show… now I knew this would be near the pyramids, but as we walked up, I didn’t realize they were RIGHT THERE! Breathe taking. Seriously. Incredible. It really stopped me in my tracks. We were there right as the sun was setting and they were just amazing. The 3 pyramids, with the Sphinx right in front. I didn’t realize the Sphinx was right at the site. The Sound & Light show was a narration with colorful lights, laser designs and a stone screen displayed pictures of Egyptian motifs. It was basically about the time of the pyramids, from the point of view of the Sphinx… or maybe the pyramids and pharaohs… It was hard to tell, plus we were too busy being “omg this is amazing”. After that show we were taken to a Papyrus museum where we were shown how it was made (papyrus, if you didn’t know is the first type of paper ever made, it comes from the papyrus plant and takes 12 days to make). We were able to purchase some pieces and pick up any cartouches we might have ordered earlier on the bus, it was nice that the tour gave you opportunity to do this. After this stop we went down to the Nile and took a dinner cruise. Yeah, I cruised on the Nile! Granted this was a boat, not a ship like mine, but it did have a buffet! During the meal there was local music and traditional dance. We had a belly dancer as well as some men dancing like I’ve never seen before, no clue what it was, but it was fun. Then back to the hotel where we CRASHED like never before! What a long day.

We were given a wake up call at 7am and had to be on the bus by 8. Our first stop was Saqqara which is the site of the very first pyramid, which is actually the very first stone structure that we know of today. We also got to go inside a separate tomb, which had many beautiful pictures on the walls, which included the apparently only picture of a Pharaoh showing emotion, he was smiling. There were a few creepy crawl spaces in there, it was really neat. Then we drove to an open air museum at Memphis. Where lies the enormous statue of Rhames II, which I am sure you will recognize when you see the picture… amazing. The 2nd Sphinx was also there, completely made of one piece of alabaster. Then we were finally off to the BEST most ANTICIPATED site!!!!! THE PYRAMIDS!!! We drove up to the top where you can take a panoramic shot that includes all 3 pyramids, I wasn’t able to get that picture however (I’ll get the ones that Casey took) because I wanted to ride a camel! Those who wanted too walked down the side and we each hopped on a camel. Then we walked down to the base of the pyramids in a caravan of camels. It was so awesome. It was about a 7 - 10 minute ride, maybe not even that long. The others took the bus down, but we beat the bus, so maybe it was 10 minutes. It was amazing. I was able to get nice shots as well. My camel was nice, my friends took a video of me when he stood up! I can’t wait to see it, I’ll have to try to post it. It was a very bumpy ride! When we got to the pyramids, we got off and met the rest of our group. Then we took pictures of the pyramids up close and then (again those who wanted to for an extra cost, just $6), went inside the 2nd pyramid, and of course I was one of them! I can’t believe I went IN a pyramid!!! You see this tunnel and a guy takes your ticket, then you look down and see that it slopes WAY down and its very narrow, barely 2 people across. The floor has tiny wood ledges like a ladder to walk down, not really stairs. You have to duck WAY down, I hit my head quite a few times. Literally, you are basically squatting as you walk down. When you get to the bottom the ceiling is higher, but only about a foot above my head. This lasts about 40 steps, then its another slope, but going back up, it is much easier to walk up! The air is really thick, since there isn’t much down there, and you get really hot and sweaty. If you are claustrophobic, don’t even think about it (Casey didn’t go, when we were buying the tickets we told her to not even ask what they were for - and that was before we even saw how tiny it really is!). So you get up and the space opens and it’s a large room, we looked around… and that’s all it was. A large room! There was just one open spot in the ground, where surely a sarcophagus was before. So we went back outside. It only took about 10 minutes total, but it was SO worth it because now I can say I’ve been INSIDE the pyramids!!!! We took more pictures and then drove down to see the Sphinx. Casey and are idiots and were took excited to try to take pictures kissing him that we didn’t realize that we didn’t follow the group… back on the bus we learned that we were supposed to go up to the side, not in front… so I have no side view pictures and I didn’t get a kissing picture because we couldn’t get it right from where we were!!! BOO!! But it’s ok. Also another let down… a man stopped me and was showing me pictures from the camel ride…. But no one took a picture of me!!! He had nice pictures with the 3 pyramids in the background with the person on the camel. I’m so mad that they somehow forgot to take my picture and I was too excited that I didn’t even notice them taking pictures of others so I didn’t know to tell the guy I wanted one too. Pout. But it’s ok, I’ll live. Then it was time to say goodbye to the only surviving seven wonders of the world… and take the 3 hour trek back to work.

I had a really busy week… but it was SO amazing. I can’t even go on more about it. The pyramids were everything I expected them to be. I am going to try to take a day trip there again before I go. I loved it!!! Pictures to come soon, I promise!!!!

2008-12-21T18:50:00.005-05:00

Ok so I am far behind…. I just am posting pictures with captions from the last while. I loved Malaga Spain… amazing shopping! And I had a really fun morning in Barcelona today. Also I got a free oxygen microdermbrasion facial at the spa today! Yay! They need models for their tour and after a year on ships I finally had the time and chance to do it… for free! It was amazing. And today starts our lovely 14 day cruise. Merry Christmas everyone!!

BTW…

Jessica Maxwell
Cruise Staff - YC
Norwegian Jade
Agencias Maritimas P & B, S.A.
Avinguda De Las Drassanes 6-8
Segunda Planta
08001 Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

In case you were wondering… <3

I didn't go into the museum yet...

BEAUTIFUL xmas tree in Malaga... its HUGE

At the beach in Las Palmas... almost went back to get my swimsuit... haha.

super pretty picture... this is in agadir morocco

lovely malta... i have way more that wouldnt load... this doesnt do the place justice!

when i get better internet ill post more... its so horrible here!

2008-12-18T06:14:00.000-05:00

So. I think I wrote about Malta and going into Barcelona. I had to work the day we were in Casablanca, Morocco, so I didn’t go. Yesterday we were in Agadir, Morocco. We took a taxi into town and walked around, not much to do. Ate lunch and saw a mosque. We learned you can talk the people selling in the bazaars WAY down if you just keep pushing and eventually walk away… they give things up real cheap.

Last night we had a wonderful time at the spa, they were doing a crew night and we were allowed to use all the amenities. On this ship we aren’t allowed in the spa, very sad. So we took full advantage last night and were there for about 2 hours, hot tubs, sauna, steam room, plunge bath, hot stone beds, the list goes on.. Very relaxing!

Today we were in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands of Spain. Beautiful! I got lost trying to find a money exchange, and I found the beach! Absolutely gorgeous and the weather was really nice so I rolled up my jeans and walked in the shore. The sand is black and brown speckled, it is all volcanic mountains around here, hence the color. Then I found the money exchange and met up with everyone at a mall to get our secret santa shopping done… of course I didn’t but I had a great time window shopping. The clothes here are amazing.

Yeseterday was Funchal, on the island of Madeira, which is in Portugal. Wahooo. Another new country. I forgot my camera tho… it was cold and we just walked around a little and ate lunch.

2008-12-15T13:14:00.001-05:00

I finally got an internet card...

I need to put up some pictures... but I'll do that later.

My first cruise ended and I had some time in Barcelona, which was really nice. I went to las ramblas... so cool.

Then this cruise I am on teens, so it will be an easy one! I went to Morocco today. Not much to see in the city... I really need to get on some tours so I can see cool stuff. I just want to see the places for myself first. My next few cruises I'll certainly try to get on tours.

I finally have money so I can start buying things... hahaa... there is WAY too many cool things here, this could get dangerous.

Take care everyone and I'll write more soon!

2008-12-15T13:05:00.002-05:00

I didn't have an internet card for a while... so here is a recap on some things:

Those are really boring pictures of egypt...

I went to Egypt! Yes, it is in AFRICA! Amazing. We are docked in Alexandria, Egypt. When we got off the ship in the morning, we first caught a shuttle that was free for the crew to go to a mall. It was so neat to be driving around Egypt… wow. But it is very different than any city I’ve seen before. The mall was interesting. We went to a Walmart type store which was fun to look at all the weird foods. The mall had an arcade, first I was sad because there was no DDR, but there was a roller coaster and bumper cars.. But then I saw the DDR machine and I was pretty thrilled. There also was a McDonalds, Starbucks, and a KFC… It’s true that America is everywhere.

After the mall we went back to the port and stopped into all the little shops right at the pier. They sell lots of neat touristy Egypt things, but also legitimate Egyptian items. We met a few of the workers and I’m sure we will see them every time.

The second day, we tried to go to the wool store (all the girls are really into knitting here). We walked into the city, and wow, it is a really dirty place. First off EVERYONE bugs you, like crazy… for taxi rides or whatever else. Everything was closed, apparently it is a holiday, I can’t remember the name but it is an important one. Apparently, so important that they were slaughtering animals in the street, gross. The smell was disgusting and well, not a pleasant sight. We went back to the ship since everything was closed. Next time I’ll hopefully get to Cairo, it is a 3 hour drive so you have to be on tour. Then I will get to see the pyramids, Sphinx, and all that cool stuff. But hey, I can say I’ve been to Africa now!

Today was a long and boring sea day… Malta tomorrow!

Malta is amazing… I completely fell in love it is such an amazing place. It’s a small island, almost the most southern place in all of Europe. We went to the capital, Valletta, it looks ridiculously old and run down, as you walk down the streets, they are very narrow with cobblestone, most of the streets are not allowed traffic. Most of the doors on street level look like they haven’t been used in DECADES… so old falling apart, but that nice rustic kind. And it goes up and down, there are streets that run up and then passage ways… oh its so interesting and hard to explain… but it is so neat! Then when I finally found the central area, there was tons of restaurants and shopping and just so pretty. From the post cards that they sell, it looks like there are some nice beaches there… I need to look into that… I would seriously pick this place as where I would want a vacation home someday! It is just amazing. And they speak English.

More to write about Malta... and pictures to post...

2008-12-09T17:31:00.002-05:00

I went to Egypt! Yes, it is in AFRICA! Amazing. We are docked in Alexandria, Egypt. When we got off the ship in the morning, we first caught a shuttle that was free for the crew to go to a mall. It was so neat to be driving around Egypt… wow. But it is very different than any city I’ve seen before. The mall was interesting. We went to a Walmart type store which was fun to look at all the weird foods. The mall had an arcade, first I was sad because there was no DDR, but there was a roller coaster and bumper cars.. But then I saw the DDR machine and I was pretty thrilled. There also was a McDonalds, Starbucks, and a KFC… It’s true that America is everywhere.

After the mall we went back to the port and stopped into all the little shops right at the pier. They sell lots of neat touristy Egypt things, but also legitimate Egyptian items. We met a few of the workers and I’m sure we will see them every time.

The second day, we tried to go to the wool store (all the girls are really into knitting here). We walked into the city, and wow, it is a really dirty place. First off EVERYONE bugs you, like crazy… for taxi rides or whatever else. Everything was closed, apparently it is a holiday, I can’t remember the name but it is an important one. Apparently, so important that they were slaughtering animals in the street, gross. The smell was disgusting and well, not a pleasant sight. We went back to the ship since everything was closed. Next time I’ll hopefully get to Cairo, it is a 3 hour drive so you have to be on tour. Then I will get to see the pyramids, Sphinx, and all that cool stuff. But hey, I can say I’ve been to Africa now!

Today was a long and boring sea day… Malta tomorrow!

2008-12-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

I forgot to mention, yesterday we didn't go to Greece. The weather was so bad that we had another sea day... boo. But I wasn't going to be able to get off anyway, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

2008-12-05T10:06:00.002-05:00

Today we went to Izmir, Turkey. The weather was really nice, cloudy but nice. We walked around and shopped, there are lots of nice things here. We stopped and ate at a little café, there are millions of them along the streets. The guy was so funny. Not too many people speak English here, or any language that we would even understand. It’s easy to get by in Italy and Spain, since you can always say hello and I don’t understand! But in Turkey, it is hard to tell them that, they just keep talking! We went to a great grocery store and picked up some snacks for the cabin. Here are some pictures of me in Turkey.

2008-12-03T16:10:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we were in Civi Italy. We took the train to Rome, it was about an hour. I had to change my money to Euros, which is not good. We went to Vatican City and saw Vatican square and went inside and everything. It was really stunning. Also we went to the Vatican Museum which lets you see the Sistine Chapel. It took forever to get to the Sistine Chapel, but it was worth the walk and time. It was incredible, you have to see it for yourself… it’s quite powerful and overwhelming in size. Then we stopped at a little pizzeria for lunch, delicious.

Good times in Italy.

Today was a sea day so I worked all day, but a lot less than on my last ship… only worked 7 hours!

Tomorrow we go to Athens, Greece, but I have port play so I can’t go… next time.

Also the waves right now are ridiculous, I’ve never been on water like this! The crashing is so loud I can hear it in my room and things fall from the shelves!

Here I am at the Vatican, by the Pope's window... mailing a post card... and with Casey in front of our ship.

I'm in Europe!!

2008-12-01T07:35:00.000-05:00

I am on the Jade!

I went to the airport Friday afternoon and had lunch with my parents. I said goodbye and walked towards the gate… let me tell you, I always get a weird feeling when I walk away from them there, because I am heading off to such craziness that it just always feels awkward, but good. This time it was so different. I was overcome with SUCH a feeling of just omg overwhelming wow, I had to was glad the guy in front of me to show his ID was taking too long because I had to stop and take a deep breath. Craziness. Then I was fine. I had a long layover in New York, boring… Then the plane ride to Barcelona wasn’t too bad, we were delayed in leaving, but I was so tired that I actually was asleep before we took off, apparently we left almost an hour late. The flight was 8 hours and not too terrible. They fed us dinner and a yummy croissant and juice for breakfast. I slept off and on, but it was pretty uncomfortable. When I got off the plane it took a while to get my luggage, but it all made it across with me! I also was lucky that it was easy to find my ride, there were about 40 NCL people and they were all standing there with a sign and waiting for everyone. We got on a bus to the hotel, it was pouring rain. Barcelona is pretty cool, it was neat to see all the Spanish signs and not be in Mexico!! The hotel was cute and in a little neighborhood. There are so many Volkswagens! I had a room to myself, we got there around 11am. I am an idiot and I decided to take a nap because I was tired (since it was really 5am at home) until about 2pm. The problem was I didn’t wake up until 7pm… I got up and ate dinner at the hotel and went for a walk around the block, everything was closed but it was cute and a took a few pictures of the neat buildings. I went inside and watched some movies. I tried to sleep around 11pm but that only lasted until about 1am and then I was wide awake. I stayed up the rest of the night watching the episodes of Degrassi I bought and reading a book. I went down at 7am for breakfast and the bus picked us up at 8am, I was on the ship by 10am and Casey (my last and current roommate) happened to be right at the gangway as I was heading towards our room, we had a very wonderful reunion! We went up to our room and I got all settled.

Sadly, I had to do my safety training (for the THIRD TIME) but since my last ship wasn’t a big one, I had to do it. This meant I did not get to take a nap at all. I was in training all day and then I had to go to work. The center is nice and I am actually working with 4 other people that I know very well, in fact 3 of them have been on 3 other ships with me and the other is Casey and well she was my roommate on my last ship the whole contract. I am on the 2-5’s and they were super cute. It is so nice to be in a smaller sized group, we only had about 10 kids come to program last night… we were hitting 25 on the Sky. After program I made a few phone calls, checked my email and CRASHED. After being up since 2am I was very ready for bed at midnight!

I woke up late this morning and was late for my training that was at 830am (whoops), luckily, for once, the Safety Officer did not get mad at me (probably because I didn’t make an excuse I just said I overslept). I just finished my morning session and am off for another 2 hours, and then I have the night off after 7pm! The schedule here is pretty nice. Tomorrow we are in Civitavecchia (we call it Civi for short), it is in Italy and close to Rome. Wahoo!

So I’m safe on the seas! And will post some pictures as soon as there are a few more! Take care and write me!

Welcome Home

2008-10-20T23:48:00.002-04:00

I figured I should write in this again... I am home (for now).

I am headed out the day after Thanksgiving to Barcelona... yes the city in Spain. Amazing, I know.

Luckily for me, my great friend Casey (roommate from the Sky) is coming with me. We are doing Europe and Africa together... Amazing.

Oh, I suppose I didn't even write about the Sky... not much to say, 3 months in the Bahamas. It was fun.

But yeah... I'll surely have things to say about this next ship... here are the 2 itineraries I am doing:

Yeah... it's pretty amazing. We do the one to the West then the one to the East, then back to the West... etc. Always out of Barcelona. It should be spectacular.

Yup. I'm going to Egypt.

2008-06-21T20:23:00.002-04:00

i might try to be better this time around... but again, probably not!

i just got home a few weeks ago from the dawn. i had a super amazing time. i realized in the 3 months i was gone i went to 8 different countries (mexico, belize, hondouras, bahamas, dominican republic, british virgin islands, us virgin islands, and bermuda), pretty ridiculous.

last week i went back on the sun for a week vacation in alaska. it was SO nice to get to go to alaska! of course that also meant going to british columbia (vancouver is such an awesome city). i also took the white pass train from alaska on a scenic tour and it went into the yukon territory. i had a great time.

im home for about 12 more days and then its off to my new ship, the sky. i will be out of miami sailing to the bahamas on short short 3 and 4 day cruises. spectacular. im looking forward to getting a LOT of sun, getting certified in scuba diving, taking ship wreck dives, and possibly sky diving.

wish me luck :)

the dawn is alright now.

2008-05-05T10:47:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't written anything since forever ago when I wasn't about to give the dawn a chance. Well... as of about a month ago... I love the dawn. ha.

Really. Things are super. The Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, and Tortola were pretty nice. Hot, sunny, I got super tan, had a nice sea lion encounter, and just had a fun time. As far as work goes... things got way better. When I first got here things were really strict and not fun. Now they are better and fun!

Now we are sailing out of NYC to Bermuda... its not hot anymore... but it's still pretty nice.

I have a bunch of friends and I've been having a really great time. I'll be home in 4 weeks... which I'm kinda bummed about... but its ok. I'll be back soon.

the dawn...

2008-03-09T10:55:00.002-04:00

ugh.

i dont even feel like writing anything.

i look back on the sun and when people laughed and said that it wasnt a "job" more of a vacation.. comparing the sun to the dawn... it WAS a vacation.

this is no fun. and the ports aren't even that great.

i swam in the ocean once this whole week.

im tired. im cranky.

im SO writing a letter to them when i get home... a very angry one which will probably hold my resignation.

5 more miami weeks, then it's off to nyc for 7 weeks to bermuda. can't come soon enough.

im going to try to take a cruise on the sun as a passenger when i get home.

Monday and Tuesday...

2008-02-26T18:12:00.001-05:00

Yesterday in Roatan was nice. We went to Eagle Ray’s (my favorite restaurant) and then swimming at Sun Downers. We shared a cab with 2 guys from another ship and one of them sat behind me and said “Oh my god, Keith Haring! Can I get a picture of your tattoo?” and I was so touched and gave the weirdest reaction, I started crying! I was so happy that someone actually recognized the artist. So many people make comments about the tattoo, mostly asking what is it… when clearly it is an angel. I gave him a big hug and said of course. It was a great day.

Then today in Belize we went to the Wet Lizard for lunch and then found the cheap DVD place. I got 6 DVDs for $21!!! I got The Nanny Diaries, Juno, Hostel, Across the Universe, The Black Dahlia, and 1408. They are all movies I have been dying to see, and I think Juno is still in theaters. The I came back on the ship and went to the gym.

I worry this is my last week here, hence why I ate out… even tho I promised to spend less money here, which I did last week. But if this is my last week, I don’t want to miss out!!

Still haven't heard anything... not to be a sour pants... but I am going to say that I am 99.99% leaving the Sun on Saturday. :(

Still on the Sun... for now :(

2008-02-23T23:22:00.001-05:00

Cozumel was lovely! The weather was perfect. I went scuba diving with Panda and Magic. There were only 6 of us on the tour altogether. We went down to 35 feet and stayed under for about 30 minutes. It was amazing… so many cool things to see!!! And, you should all know how much I love being in the ocean… being submerged for that long was spectacular!!! I want to do more scuba diving for sure! I am not sure what to do about the certification because I didn’t get any thing saying that I’ve done a dive… but I will talk to the shore-ex people on board to see what I need to do. I highly recommend it to anyone! It was a little scary at first, but you practice breathing in shallow water first… after that I was fine!

Sea Day was… not so bad! Nothing too exciting happened… normal stuff.

Great Stirrup Cay was excellent. Great weather, not super sunny, but so warm!! The fish feeding was great, good to see my fish again! Yay for Stanley. My tan is back, it certainly didn’t take long.

I’ve spent a lot more time walking around the ship, Magic has shown me that it’s way better to walk around and that it is ok to do so. She’s really great, super roommate, and super sweet. I’ve watched a lot of dvd’s on my laptop (so grateful to have this!) and I’ve been going to the gym pretty regularly (hopefully will keep that up).

Another week begins/ends. Miami was nice, except full ship immigration took forever. It was great to talk to everyone on the phone today, especially Skylar! She loves her cousin!!

There are only 96 kids on board this week so it should be quick and easy. I’m only 6-12’s with Animal and Panda. Good times will be had. Still haven’t heard on my transfer… we are just going to say I’m staying… keep with the positive thinking. I talked to Cori today and she is acting like I am staying, so I’m trying to keep the good vibes out there.

Take care! Write me!

Belize... no.

2008-02-20T00:38:00.000-05:00

Didn’t go off today, was going to, but I couldn’t find my buddy Ted (he had invited me to go for Chinese with some casino folk). Instead I met up with the girls at the crew bbq out on the aft deck, how nice. I also ate with a new hosti, Jayne, from Australia, she’s a lot of fun and I am going to join her at Barracuda tomorrow. It is weird, none of the YCs really want to get off the ship ever, which will help in the saving money effort. Due to this, I am about to head to the gym! Yay me.

I have been thinking about the whole transferring thing. It is a super bummer that I would miss the Panama Canal, Alaska, and all that… and of course the largest bummer being that I miss Crouton. But I thought about the good things. The ship sails from Miami to Samana, Tortola, St. Thomas, and Great Stirrup Cay. That would be 3 new, tropical, ports for me, and would be adding a day I could swim (since I can’t swim in Belize). This ships repositions to New York. From New York it sails to Bermuda, stopping in one city for one port day and then the next day stays the night in another city. I think that would be nice, it isn’t Boston, but maybe some people could take the trek to NYC to see me at least once. The other thing is that my friend Ted (the one I mentioned above) is transferring to the Dawn the same day, so at least I would know 1 person. The even better thing is that Mango is supposed to be joining the Dawn on March 16 after her vacation, if she does that I will be happy and could deal a lot better with the whole situation. I am still very upset that they are doing this to me, but it turns out that there are some bright sides.

back in roatan

2008-02-19T02:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a crazy sea day. I forgot how long they are! And I had late night until 1am! So long. The personnel manager sent my emails from shore side that say I am supposed to be on here for the whole contract, to the shore side asking what is up… hopefully we will hear something. Turns out that they are transferring me to the Dawn on March 1... Well that is just no good for me.

Today is Roatan, this group tends to stay on the ship, so I couldn’t find anyone when I was ready to go out. I decided to just go out and find a way to swim in the ocean. I met a kid on shore, don’t remember his name, and I asked him about getting to the little island off shore. He brought me to a man and they took me out into the ocean, just behind the ship. I jumped off the ship and swam in the ocean! Ha! It was great. We stayed out there for about an hour, it was nice. Then I went back to the ship and talked with Magic for a while and then went to the gym and then to lunch at the nice buffet. Now I am just hanging out in the palace writing on my laptop!

I really hope there is good news about my placement tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. Apparently the Dawn is a crappy ship to be on… but I know 2 people that are going there, so it wouldn’t be terrible… except my parents won’t get to see me…. And I won’t get to see Crouton. YUCK!

From Saturday.... Feb 16th

2008-02-19T02:44:00.001-05:00

I am back on the ship now, after luckily meeting my nephew!!!! Yeah, I can’t express the excitement of that enough…. He’s so cute!

I am here, it is ok. I am staying in a passenger room with just one other girl, who is very nice. But I am a little worried/confused. They have me down as only being here for 2 weeks… so that is a problem. My supervisor (not Crouton/Cori a new one, Panda) is going to write to shore side tomorrow to see what is going on. I will be very, very upset if they are transferring me, but we will just have to tell them to transfer the other girl that came with me yesterday, she is also here for 4 months. So really, that would be better. I called Crouton to complain yesterday and she wasn’t very happy either, but unfortunately, there is nothing we can do but wait until we can email shore side and hopefully it will get fixed. *ugh…*

I also am on my new laptop, so expect more frequent postings.

I am on the 2-5’s this week with Animal, she was here when I left, she’s from Georgia. We have a good group expect for 2 zombie kids that are just zombie weirdos and one, ‘very active’ as his parents put it, 3 year old.

2008-02-15T12:14:00.002-05:00

This is my nephew!!! I almost missed seeing him... he was born at 4:45am and I had to leave for the airport at 6am! But yes I got to hold him and everything!!! He's a super cutie and I love him!!! So sorry I only got 30 minutes with you.... see you in 4 months big boy <3333

Don't worry... there will be more posts soon!

2008-02-04T14:47:00.000-05:00

I am heading back out in 2 weeks! I will be joining the Sun again on Feb. 16th in lovely Miami. I am very exciting. Mostly because I miss the ocean, but also because I got the Full Time position I was hoping for. I will be on the ship until May/June. The ship will follow the same itinerary it was before until mid April, then it will take an 18 day reposition (that I am VERY excited for) from Miami, down through the Panama Canal, and up to Alaska, then it will start doing runs in Alaska. I will post that itinerary when I am actually there, but basically it goes through Sawyer Glacier, the inner passage, out of Vancouver.

Hopefully I will have a working laptop before I go so I will be able to update more frequently! And provide pictures!!!

Right now... I'm busy praying that the new baby comes before I have to leave!!! So please pray with me on that one!! I really don't want to miss meeting my new niece/nephew!!!

48 hours

2008-01-17T18:09:00.000-05:00

Ill be in boston in 48 hours. WOW.

I am all packed, except for the clothes that I have pulled aside for the next days. I think I did a good job, hopefully nothing will break. I only have a few things that could break, but I would cry a lot if they did.

I did my first part of my sign off today. I signed something... which I prolly should have read! HAHA. Actually really... I just realized I didn't read it. I wonder if it said my sign on date... I'll go to personnel tomorrow and find out. That was dumb.

All I have left is to hand in some stuff, my safety card and my uniforms. Then tonight I have to wear the stupid uniform and go on stage. Then tomorrow we go to the island and have pj party... I drop off my luggage and go down to photog to get some pictures printed. Then we will be off to the crew bar and then finding a place to party until about 5am when I have to go get paid and them begin the REAL signing off process... sheesh. It's sad really. I'm going to miss this place, but I am VERY excited for my vacation and expecting it to be a good one! YAY!!

Wow.

This has been absolutely amazing. I honestly can't believe I really did it. Nuts.

4 more days!

2008-01-15T15:19:00.000-05:00

I will be home SO soon! It is crazy.

This week I am with the 6-12's with Animal... shes new. This is her 3rd week and shes from Georgia. The kids are alright. Much better than the last time I was in this group! Last week, however, our ratings were AMAZING. We got a 90 for the program and 92 for staff!!! Our cruise staff department as a whole averages 84 so that is VERY good! Yay for us.

I've certainly spent too much money this contract, which is a problem. I will be much better prepared for the next one and I will take better care of my budget. But I am coming home with about $2000 cash, so that's a good thing.

Yesterday we went to Roatan for my last day there. It was gorgeous. All 5 of the YCs went to Cori and I's favorite restaurant, Eagle Rays. Then we swam in the ocean. It was so hot out, it was great. There is a dock with a top part that is about 2 stories high. We jumped off of it. I got dragged up there a 2nd time, but I couldn't do it!!! I don't know what my problem was, it kinda makes me mad that I couldn't do it. Oh well... At least I jumped once!!!

We did some arrangement of the schedule so I am able to do dolphins in Cozumel, I was going to do them today but they stopped doing the tour in Belize... so I worked this morning and Cori also worked this morning, because our team is so nice 2 people traded with us. Now I just need to go to the desk tonight and get our tickets! I am VERY excited to FINALLY swim with the dolphins, and Cori is coming with me which makes it even better. Yay.

I think on Thursday I will start thinking about the whole packing process. Blech. Wish me luck.

See you all VERY soon!!

one week more!

2008-01-12T11:42:00.000-05:00

I'm SO looking forward to coming home! I never thought I would say that... haha! But really, it's getting silly being here. It is great and all, but some things (like working 63 days in a row) is not looking so fun anymore. I will, of course, miss jumping in the ocean on a weekly basis... hah. But I will be able to jump in snow!! And wow, I am excited to use my new snow board!!!! SO EXCITED for that!

I am figuring out my plans for the next contract right now... I got an email from shoreside. They want me to come feb 10 - march 30... but... meh. I CANT miss the baby, so we need to have a chat.

Otherwise, things are good. I think my last week will be a good one. The weather was really nice this week and I am brown again. Phew.

Take care!

btw...

2008-01-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

im dumb and there has been this webpage

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/fleet/publicRooms.html;jsessionid=HDz5t04xjTSLtqMLkbyPR4w9lSKlkCh4!601259410?shipCode=SUN&displayTab=WebCam

that is the ships webcam... duh. so you should check it out to see where i am. if you look from 8am - 4pm ish... on mon, tues, wed, fri, or sat you will see the ports i am in.. sun and thurs you will only see ocean.

so yeah go check them out.

also i am feeling much better. i jumped in the ocean yesterday and that helped a lot!

im sick :( week 8 begins

2008-01-06T23:53:00.000-05:00

so. last week is over. which is great. i had to say goodbye to kelly, that is the girl that i met at the airport and shared my first meal with at the hotel sooooo long ago! it is pretty crazy!

oh by the way... dont remember if i posted, but on friday we went to nassau instead of our island... it was wonderful and i had the best thai lunch EVER. but the rest of the day was still terrible.

in miami i had to work... so i only got to go off for a small bit, we went to chillis and my belly wasnt feeling right... when i worked, i had to stand at a table, in the sun, for 2 hours. afterwards... i felt like complete garbage. i was getting the chills and then the burning sweats and then the chills.... awful. i also had sore sore muscles and joints all over. not good. at registration it looked like we were going to have good kids. i am on 2-5s this week with mango again! yay! mi novia. shes great, but she was very sick on friday and is still sick. at program we only had 10 kids and they were WONDERFUL!!! but... my sickness was worse and cori and mango were also very sick... also astro had to get a shot for her sickness so she is knocked out for a few days.

so then today, the first sea day... i woke up... still garbage. OH by the way, we had to move out of our lovely cabins... on saturday. we are now on the NINTH floor, which is SO far from everything. but our cabin is HUGE. but the beds are like cardboard... so that isnt good EITHER! boo boo.

so today... i woke up feeling awful. we had program, only 5 kids came, so that was really good. then i slept and went back to work... this time only 4 came! very very good. then me, mango, and cori all went to the doctor and got LOTS of medicine. so i took it and took a 25 minute nap and went back to work.... now i am writing about my woes and then goign to bed.

pray for me!!! i need lots of sun tomorrow so i get raise my morale by jumping in the ocean. and pray for my health.

love you all!!!

not so bad...

2008-01-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

so after crappy weather... we ended up in nassau today. which is cool, but the weather is nasty. not so nasty... just not nice. (in other words, im wearing jeans).

but this week is almost over. and im off the ship!!! after 5 days! yaya!! and i get to eat real food at a restaurant! yaya!

not much else to share except i still hope everyone is doing well and things. i miss lots of you.

most annoyed pirate EVER

2008-01-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

this has been the worst week ever. i am so glad that i am extending until the 19th so that this isnt my last memory from here!!!

first, our children are spawns of the devil. half of them don't speak english and are related so it is very difficult to control them. we have has as many as 47 6-9 year olds in the room with just myself and mango in charge. it has been very difficult.

secondly... on monday we had to decorate the clubs for new years... so i wasn't able to get off the ship... then on tuesday i had port play and i also couldn't get off the ship... then today we were supposed to go to cozumel... but the weather is ridiculous, with HUGE waves so we are not in cozumel... instead we have to WORK. so i havent been off the ship since saturday and now i wont get off until friday... but we might go to key west instead of our island... we will see.

so yes, this week has been awful. luckily our new years celebration was a lot of fun.

im going to take a nap before i have to go to work again.

2008-01-01T18:29:00.001-05:00

dear everyone. im staying until jan 19th, sorry for any inconvenience. i love you all.

happy new year!

issues...

2007-12-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

ok... so the other night i wrote an insanely long entry on my ibook about what was going on the last week... i didn't post it.

then i went to cozumel yesterday, i brought my laptop to use some free wireless.... i still didn't post it.

then i decided to go off-roading in a jeep... kinda forgot that having an ibook in my backpack in the back of the car on the floor would be a REALLY bad idea... get back to the ship... ibook doesn't work. :/ im really REALLY not happy... i have all my pictures on there... so hopefully when i get home, someone out there can help me ATLEAST get my pictures off the ibook... very frustrating....

other than that, im having a great time...

and i might stay 2-3 more weeks... not sure yet.

posts will be continue to be less frequent due to the non-existant ibook :/ sorry.

oh hi!

2007-12-26T12:12:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't postedin a while. Things have been CRAZY! I've made lots of friends and been having a great time.

Xmas was good. Busy busy but fun.

that is me and my boss cori, shes amazing.

and im too lazy to write more now, and im sitting at the beach in cozumel.

i promise to write some more and post soon!

Thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes for xmas. im sorry i missed everyone this year.

love you all!!!

starting week FIVE

2007-12-15T12:53:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it. It has been a month. Wow. I've been having an amazing time, almost don't want to come back home. But of course I am. Soon, just 3 weeks left. I think I will try to get back on my ship, full time. Hopefully.

I don't have much to say else, except I hope everyone is well and enjoying the snow. Please email me if you wish... messicamouse@gmail.com I haven't been getting many emails and it makes me sad. *pout*

Take care!!! I tried to post pictures last night, but the site was being funky and not loading... blah. Oh well, there will be massive slide shows when I get home. <3

week 4 continues...

2007-12-13T12:32:00.002-05:00

Ok... so I didn't write much else about this week yet. In Belize we went horseback riding through the rainforest. It was amazing. We got poured on. Very fun. Followed by a nice swim in their pool with a waterslide!! Then in Cozumel I just had a relaxing day... bought myself a beautiful necklace, swam in the ocean.

Now just a boring sea day....

Roatan FOUR!

2007-12-13T12:32:00.001-05:00

Today we went to the orphans to give presents, we didn't go to an orphanage, instead we went to this nice resort beach place and the kids met us there. There were SO many kids, too many kids. We didn't end up having enough presents, but we told the orphanage how many they could bring and they brouhgt way too many and their own kids and some children snuck back to take a 2nd gift. All in all though, it was really great. The kids were super cute and we sang songs with them. I let a bunch of girls play with my digital camera, they were really happy.

After we were allowed to go around the resort, and they had tons of turtles!!!! It was so awesome. They also had nurse sharks. We were all allowed a turn to pet the sharks and the turtles. The sharks felt rough, like a cats tongue... which was not what I expected, I thought they would feel like a dolphin, but maybe regular sharks do. Nurse sharks have cute teeth. And of course I was way excited about petting the HUGE sea turtle. We named him rodney, after our yoga instructor that sounds like a surfer dude, and therefore we associate with the turtle from finding nemo... I also jumped in the ocean.

After getting back to the ship, crouton and I went for drinks at the blind tiger, which has very nice beach chairs in the sun. I got an arm burn because I was still wearing my kid's crew t-shirt. Oh well. Then we went walking around on a mission and I found my friend Dennis from my first time in Roatan. I kept yelling "Hi Dennis!!" everytime I saw him, which was about 5 times, he was very busy! When we were walking back to the ship this other boy came up and said "Hi, I'm Dennis" and I laughed because I knew he was saying thta only because he heard me before all those times. I said no you're not! And then I got mad at him because he called Dennis a penguin. I don't know why he did... but I said be nice! Silly kids. I really want to take some out to lunch or something. I was joking that we should give them books, since they don't go to school... they are just forced to make money in the streets. The kids look really happy, but at the same time, they spend their day begging people to buy bracelets or just walking with people down the streets for a dollar, rather than going to school or just playing. But I would like to get some things for Dennis and maybe a few others.

WEEK 4!

2007-12-10T00:18:00.001-05:00

Okay, week 4 started last night,, exciting. Luckily yesterday my mom was able to come on the ship because her work people let her move her presentation back, THANK YOU!!! I got to show her all around my new home and see my room and all my pictures. It was very good to see her!!! And now shes in lovely Miami for the week and the weather was real nice! It's too bad shes not staying til next saturday and I could see her again!

This week I am on 6-12's again. Fun times. Today was the first sea days and during afternoon program it was getting REALLY rocky, like not a nice rocky, really not nice rocky. About 6 kids said they felt sick, but they were acting ok so we just gave them barf bags in case. Then in the middle of playing Jeopardy, a kid said he was going to be sick and before I could move him... projectile vomiting... ew. So that put a damper in the day. Also today I haven't been feeling well, I'm not sure why. It is my stomach and then the rocking didn't help. I didn't eat anything weird tho, so hopefully it will just pass.

Tomorrow we are going to an orphanage to give presents to the children in Roatan. I am very excited. It is also kinda funny because right now all the presents are still in the boxes on pallets... and they are all from toysrus!!! So its very funny for me. It looks like my work down in stores right now, of course we only have about 6 pallets, but still.

Sorry for the delay in the posts!

blah..

2007-12-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

So I used up my internet card quite quickly because Corey was online twice. I therefore haven't been able to post. Sorry for the delay.

This week has been rough... we go to all these programs for the teens, they dont show up, so we leave. It is just a waste of time. But atleast I got to eat at the real buffet every night.

The sea day was totally boring because we had so many programs... and of course no one came to any of them. Boring and long day. Nothing exciting at all really.

Great Stirrup Cay was great. Fed the fish again, saw tons of jelly fish, the little crappers that stung me before, finally saw them! Then we went for a walk around the island, we found the light house and a bunch of creepy rundown abandoned buildings... weird. And an international airport, or a helicopter pad with a sign reading international airport. Also saw lots of big iguanas! Cute.

Then I found out the awful news that we have to sanitize the whole ship tomorrow, which means no one can get off until it is done. Which means... I prolly won't be able to see my mom until after 11amish... which is awful because she has to leave shortly after noon!!! It is so unbelievably unlucky and unfair. I am quite upset about it. I was really looking forward to her visit. Basically, another ship had an outbreak of GI (some awful virus that makes you vomit and poo for 3 days straight) and they docked in miami today so we need to sanatize our whole ship and they need to sanatize the terminal as well. Which means none of the crew can get off until it is done, which is also unfair and makes no sense. It is just horribly unlucky and bleh. It is weird how things like that happen. Similar thing is happening to my friend Mango. Next week her family was going to Cozumel to see her, they had it planned for 3 weeks now. She just got assigned her basic training and now she has a course that day and can't go see them. Bleh. Some things are just soooo not fair.

cozumel 3

2007-12-10T00:13:00.000-05:00

Well, Cozumel was wonderful. I did a lot of shopping, there are such beautiful and brightly colored things here! Totally my style. I want to find something really nice for a wall hanging and also some jewerly for myself. I will be on the look out the next few cozumels.

After shopping around we went to Barracuda, this is a crew only bar/restaurant with a pool, a sand area with chairs to tan, and steps down into the ocean for swimming. It is so nice! I sat out in the sun snacking on a grilled cheese sandwich and then went swimming in the ocean, then back to sitting in the sun... you get the picture. It was a lovely day and the sun was so warm! Great day!!!

I've been doing the yoga thing with crouton, my new supervisor. She has a few dvds so we do them in the kids korner on the tv. Very nice.

Again no kids came to program so more boringness. But its ok really because it just means more time off. I've barely lifted a finger this week, except for having to get dressed up each night and then not having anything to do... waste of time, but whatever.

I looked at the sailing schedule to see what ship I might want to go on next time. I can stay seasonal and choose where I want to go, or I can go permanent for more money and be placed somewhere... it is a tough decision because I found that in June the Dream will be sailing out of BOSTON on a 6 day to Bermuda. It has 2 sea days and 3 overnights in Bermuda. That would mean I could see Corey and whoever every Boston day. Which would be really nice. So this will be a tough decision. If I stay seasonal for less money I can prolly get on that ship. But I might be able to go permanent, make more money and pull some strings to get on that ship... we will have to wait and see. But that made me really excited!!!

2007-12-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

This is me and the girls, Astro and Kiwi, in a nice hammock at the great stirrup cay. And that is me, at our lovely beach. great stirrup cay is NCL's private island. Yum. Nice water. I went snorkeling there and saw lovely fish! That's every Friday. Jealous?

2007-12-04T14:55:00.001-05:00

This is my supervisor, Crouton, with the monkey we met at the beach in Roatan, his name is Austin. He is a very fun monkey. I need to get the picture of me and him from my other friend. He is so cute!

2007-12-04T14:49:00.001-05:00

Here is my ship! It is anchored out in Cozumel. Lovely!

2007-12-04T14:41:00.001-05:00

Here I am in the Great Stirrup Cay, this was last Friday. Lovely. The water is so blue. I am trying to get more pictures on...but the free wireless here is soslow! I am in Belize at the moment. I will keep trying to put up more. but I only have another hour here. The sun is shining today tho! Which is great because it ususally rains in Belize. Last week it poured.

my job on ship

2007-12-04T14:40:00.001-05:00

I realized I haven't written about my actual job. Ha. So basically I am a 'camp counselor' on a ship. We split the kids into either 2-5, 6-12, or teen, unless it is high season, like it was the week of thanksgiving, then we split 6-9 and 10-12. That week I had the 2-5's, with 3 other counselors. Usually 26-30 showed up for program. Blech. The second week I had 6-12's with one other counselor and we had around 16-22 each program, but sometimes only like 11. This week I have teens with one other counselor, there are only 26 on the entire ship, BUT we have only seen 4 show up... and they never stay. So this week we have just been showing up for program and then leaving after 15 minutes because no one shows up. It is making the week very easy, but annoying because we arent going to get tips and we still need to show up even though we know they won't, just a big waste of time.

In the kid programs we start with just 45ish minutes of free play. Then we start program. In 2-5's we just have different themes for each program, do a song, game, coloring craft, whatever. It's fun. In 6-12 we have a ton of cool games that we play, they typically take 45 minutes each so we do a lot in each program. We also start with 45 minutes of free play. The games are really fun and usually start with forming teams, coming up with a name and making a poster or something like that. It's also really fun.

The program is the same every week. So once I get to know the programs, which won't take long, I will know them all quite well pretty quickly.

i love roatan!!

2007-12-03T19:36:00.001-05:00

Today was SUCH a good day in roatan. I absolutely LOVE this place. And the sun actually came out. When we first got up it was looking pretty bad, we had boat drill followed by captain's staff meeting and then cruise staff meeting. It was about noon when we could get off, I did put on my bathing suit, but a tshirt instead of a tank. Big mistake. It was so gorgeous. I took about a million pictures because the last two times here it was overcast. I can't believe how beautiful it is with the sun out. I wish internet didn't suck, I would post pictures... I must try again.

I went to lunch at half moon bay, its near the west end where we usually go, just a little farther. We ate at a restaurant that was out on a small pier over the water, gorgeous. Had delicious drinks and nachos. It was only 3 of us so it was nice to be a smaller group for a change, very relaxing. After we went back to where the ship is to do some shopping. We found a place, it's a little far, that gives us a huge discount for being crew, so I got some nice gifts. We also got a really nice carved box for our supervisor who is retiring from ships after this week.

After getting back on the ship I did the yoga dvd with crouton again, I am going to try to do it as much as possible with her. Increased flexibility and relaxation here I come.

Today definetly felt like a vacation day, it really made me feel lucky for this experience! And I really fell in love with roatan, as of right now, it's in my top 5 favorite places in the world.

Oh and I am no longer using the phone outside of Miami. I talked with crouton about it and she said if it isn't roaming, like it wasn't yesterday, that means it is prolly picking up maritime which can seriously cost $7 a minute... she told me a girl came home from her contract to find a $1000 phone bill... so I am done with the phone just in case. If that it true I apologize now dad!!! Corey and I will pay for it though, don't worry.

week 3!

2007-12-02T12:32:00.000-05:00

Miami day was nice, except for getting up for immigration again, this time I showed my passport to one man, he looked at the cover and gave it back. I then gave it to another man and he put it back in the box, that was all. Dumb. We went to target, it's nice in Miami because there is a free loop shuttle thing that brings us from the shuttle drop off to the rail system. So it only cost 1.50 each way to get to target, there is also a mall and some other stuff. But we just went to target. I made a bunch of phone calls and then we went to an internet cafe that is only 1$ for an hour. Rad.

I am on teens this week. First night only 4 showed up but they didn't want to stay. Oh well, there are only 26 on board this week so I don't think we will be working much. We just show up at the program times, wait 15 minutes, if none stay we leave and close down. It just stinks because if they don't come we won't get any tips or good comments. So I do hope that more come out.

Back to today, another sea day... I had a bagel, yum. Oh and last night we got to eat dinner at the buffet and it was SO good!!!! Im so jealous. But being on teens I will get to eat there a lot! And see all the shows. Very exciting.

ship ship ship

2007-12-02T12:31:00.001-05:00

Our sea days are so long. This 2nd sea day I was stuck in more training, so boring, but I got certificates so I won't ever have to do them again. They were mostly about waste disposal, international security ship codes, and drugs. Blah. I ended up missing a lot of the days programs, but I did get to go to the show!!! There are 3 shows done during the week, I saw Cirque Pan, which is Peter Pan, crazy dance style. It was really cool, and real neat to finally see the kids I've been hanging out with perform! By the way, being a principal singer is a great job on the ships... you get all priviledges, even room service!! And they have no duties, other than their performances/rehersals. Luckies.

Today was Great Stirrup Cay again, oh it's so nice there. I fed the fish again, we saw a sting ray! After feeding the fish and the rest of our jobs, we had lunch and then I borrowed a friend's snorkel gear and went out. It was soooo neat. I saw tons of beautiful fish. I need to do some research and find out what fish I see there! I also want an underwater camera, so cool. It gets REALLY deep out where I went, but I was too scared to swin down. I will next time.

The weather was real nice today. A good day all together. And tomorrow, back to Miami, starts my 3rd week! Crazy. Totally crazy.

I highly suggest getting a cruise ship job. Really.

Oh and it is a good thing I brought this laptop... it would be SUCH a pain to deal with all my pictures when I got home. It is much better dealing with them everyday. I already have about 300 pictures.

SUN SUN SUN!!!

2007-11-29T18:18:00.001-05:00

It totally cleared up and today was GORGEOUS out!!! We went to this place called Paradise Beach, which was amazing. It is a day resort, you pay $9 and you can use their stuff (floats, snorkel, kayak, water trampoline, water rock climb thing) and they had DELICIOUS lunch. It was so tasty, just what I needed. Even though I can't eat taco bell, I've been having the best mexican food!!!

After playing in the water, climbing the big thing, and kayaking, I rented a jet ski with one of the girls and we went nuts!!! I've never been on one before, it was the coolest and scariest thing ever! She races stock cars back home, so clearly she drove full throttle! I was holding on for dear life and I couldn't stop laughing. It was soooooo exciting and fun! We took turns driving, I wasn't as good, but I did manage to go full throttle for one run! So scary!!!! It was such a great day!

I've only been here for 12 days, and it has been the most amazing experience, I can't believe I get to stay here for another month! And I'm getting paid!!! What?!

Belize again...

2007-11-29T18:17:00.000-05:00

It was pouring all day in Belize. Boo.

We went to eat lunch at the Stormy Mermaid, which was a gorgeous place. It is basically a outside courtyard with little enclosed bungalows or whatever you would call them. It was soooo neat! Good food.

After eating we went to the shops, I was going to go to the internet place, but it was so wet and I was done. So next week or maybe sometime this week I will work on getting pictures up.

I am going to get my uniform (finally) and then we have early program at 6pm, I guess we take the kids on stage and do some jr. cruisers thing. We also film a show for the tv channel. Awesome.

I hope it clears up for Cozumel tomorrow... but I kinda hope it doesn't. If the weather is bad we will go to Nassau instead of Great Stirrup Cay... that would be cool!!

Monkey business!

2007-11-26T18:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I slept instead of going to the crew party. But today I finished my training, the test was SO easy, I'm sure I passed.

I went into Roatan around 11ish this morning. We drove back to the west end to eat at the yummy pizza place with the pool again. Apparently part of the road there was shut down so our driver had to drive all the way around the island to the other side. It is such a beautiful island. I found out today that the first season (was there only one?) of temptation island was filmed in roatan, we passed the resort that they girls stayed at. Anyway... I went in the pool at the pizza place and we saw a very nice parrot and we all got to hold him, so cute!!

After pizza we walked down to the beach and saw a woman with a monkey! We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with her and Austin (the monkey). The woman that owns him is from Louisiana and her and her daughter have been living in roatan for a year now working at her art gallery and making drinks by the beach. They were very nice and we hope to go see them and Austin on lots of our roatan stops! Yes I got to hold him and yes he was sooooo cute!!! and funny!!! I forget what kind he is, but today was a very animal filled day. I didn't swim in the ocean tho, just put my feet in.

I did my laundry, finally, when I got back on the ship and now I am just hanging out until 645, working on my pictures. Good times. Tonight we are doing Survivor so I hope it is fun. I miss watching that show... I miss watching a lot of shows!!!! And it's only been a little over a week!!! I am going to make 2 complaints... the tv gets TNT... they show the regular law and order... boooo. and I really need taco bell. Other than that... I don't mind the other comforts of home being obsolete. I did put my feet in the ocean today <3

oh btw... I am writing most of these posts from my room and then going online later to post them. Don't be suprised if something I wrote is a few days old... or if I post 2 different posts on the same day, like I did just now.

More stuff...

2007-11-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

In my spare time Ive been fiddling with the pictures so hopefully I will have some to post in Belize. Crazy. I handed in my mom's information, so hopefully she will be able to get on the ship December 8th when she is in Miami. It should be fine.

Tonight there is a crew party outside, but I am still quite tired so I don't plan on going for very long. Even though tonight is also hour back (yes we cross time zones here), so I will get extra time... and tomorrow is a port day so I also don't have much to do.... I still feel sick and need to rest. Not sea sick, just sick sick. Probably from all the recycled air and a/c. Gross.

I have one more training tomorrow morning and then I'll finally be done with that, no more getting up too early for extra stuff... except this saturday, we are doing full ship immigration so I need to get up at 6am for that... even tho I JUST did it and I am American!

We did an egg drop with the kids tonight, it was fun. I built my own 'safety contraption' but my egg didn't survive. Oh well. We dropped them from deck 12 outside down to deck 11, the pool deck.

one week down!

2007-11-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

Saturday ended my first week on ships!!! and started my 2nd week! Very exciting. Except that I had to be up at 5:15am this morning for immigration, which is insane because as you all know I am an american, apparently if I didn't go, I wouldn't be allowed off the ship in Miami... weird... but the whole ordeal lasted until 7am... we got off our ship, went into the terminal and waited in a line, then I had to show a lady my passport, she looked at it, and then gave it back. Then I went to a guy who looked at it, found my name on his paper and wrote usa, then he gave it back again. I was then directed back on the ship. No one asked for my passport (they hold onto our passports for our entire contract), so I asked the guy that swiped my card what I was supposed to do with it, he said bring it to personell later. So I crawl into bed around 7am, mind you I went to bed at 4:15am because the 3 girls that were only here for the 1 week had to leave at 4:15am so we stayed up all night hanging out/goodbye party.... then at 7:20am the phone rings. It is the lady from personell saying that she needs my passport right now... blech. So I had to go bring it to her.

We went shopping in Miami from about 1030-230, stopping for lunch at Chili's, yum. I bought black pants so I have clothes to wear to work, yay. Then I had training for 3 hours, with a VERY runny nose... not fun.

This week I am on 6-12s, we have 25 registered.... hahhahaaa... only 6 showed up for tonight's program, this is going to be INSANELY easy compared to last week. The woman that interviewed me wasn't kidding when she said the first season only lasts one week!!

Anyway... things are still great. When I am in Belize this week I will be going to a free wireless place where I will be able to upload my pictures, so you can see the loveliness. Very exciting.

Beach day!

2007-11-23T17:55:00.001-05:00

I don't remember if I mentioned the rainbow. But wow, I wish I had a camera. I saw a gorgeous rainbow on Thursday in an approaching rain shower while outside on the back of the ship. It was amazing and dove down into the ocean.

Today we went to our private island - great stirrup cay, which is actually feet away from coco cay, the one for royal carribean which we didnt get to go on during our family cruise. It was a nice island and a very fun day!!!

First we did fish feeding with the kids. The other conselors and I went out into the deeper water with hot dog bits to lure the fish in, then we had the kids come out and we fed them. The fish were huge!! I don't have a book or any fish smarts just yet to tell you what type of fish they are, but I'm sure in a few weeks I will know and hopefully take pictures next time. There were large, about 2 feet long, silver and yellow fish, they had bright yellow marks and a large yellow top fin. We also saw smaller striped fish and some long flutey type blue fish. Beautiful!

Then we worked a scavenger hunt where really we just stood around in the sun waiting for families to finish. That ended at 12pm and then we were done for the day! We stayed on the beach until about 4pm. It was a great day.

Tonight we have one more program from 7-10 and then that is it for this run, back in Miami in the morning. Where I plan on doing lots of shopping because I had some messed up communication about what we can and can't wear. Basically I just need some black pants and something else business casual, I also need some crocs or something to wear down at the mess because no flip flops and I hate my sneakers! Oh and some board shorts for beach day, because we have to wear clothes when with the kids, so I got my skirt soaked AND I stupidly left it on the tender... I hope it is at lost and found... have to check that in a bit.

Hope you all had an exciting black friday.... mine was filled with sun and swimming in the ocean!!! HA!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T13:02:00.000-05:00

By the way, there are only 10 youth counselors at the moment, next week there will be less. Also there are only 2 seasonal youth counselors, so I am 1 of 2. Go me for getting a good job. I have been having a great time with the kids and of course my co-workers. They are all super.

Yesterday we went to Cozumel. The Cruise Staff Director is leaving after this week so he had a huge party at Senor Frogs. We had open bar for 2 hours, it was totally crazy fun, followed by running to the tender to catch the last one... we were all running. It was hilariously fun. Our supervisor dupped us and took a cab! But we all made it back on.

Today we are at sea so that means we have to work all day, and on Thanksgiving! No fair. But it is alright because the port days have been so lax! This is turning out to be a great great great job to have!!!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Welcome aboard the Sun

2007-11-21T01:37:00.000-05:00

I finally have internet access! The past few days have been crazy so I wasn't able to get this set up until now.

Saturday morning - woke up at 7am for breakfest, get on bus at 8am, wait out side the ship for about 1.5 hours, go through personell, go to room, explore the ship, go to work!

On sea days, which Monday was, we work from 9-12, 2-5, and 7-10. In between these times we eat in the crew mess, which mostly serves the same stuff, but has a good salad bar, nap, or just hang around. After work there is a lot to do, but that mostly means just getting drinks with my co-workers or dancing. I did play bingo, but did not win.

Tuesday we went to Roatan, it is a very poor place, but very beautiful. I dove right into the ocean. it was SO WARM!!! It is rain forest climate here, so it is very muggy, humid, and rainy. While in the ocean it was pouring, but very light/misty rain, it was so warm and even with the very dark and cloudy sky, beautiful. It is a small island and very hilly. I also made a friend with a little boy that lives there, he was really sweet. I hope to see him next time and buy him lunch or something. He hangs around and tells the touristss about the shops and typically gets a dollor from them. Other children were also carrying umbrellas for people for money. It is kinda sad there, but they have pet monkeys.

After Roatan we had some time to relax before work. On Port days we work from 7-10.

Today we went to Belize City, which was boring. You get off the tender on the pier with a bunch or shops. I had an AMAZING chicken burrito. Mostly it is just dumb shops. We plan on doing tours/excursions in Belize since there isnt much to do, not even a beach!!!

So that is that so far. It hs been amazing and the work is good. It is just insane being in a small room with 30 2-5 year olds.... really really crazy. If it was 3-5 it wouldn't be so bad... it's the 2 year olds. They just cry anc cry... but it is all good, apparently next week there will only be like 12 kids. wooo.

Happy Thanksgiving.

You can email me at messicamouse@gmail.com if you want.

Miami!

2007-11-16T17:16:00.000-05:00

I just got into my hotel room in Miami. I met a girl on the shuttle to the hotel that is also here for the exact same job, so yeah, I met a co-worker. Apparently there are free appetizers and salsa lessons tonight so we are going to go do that.

This morning was very sad saying goodbye to Corey, but I know we will make it!!!

I am very excited about tomorrow... but I still feel really alone for the first time in my life. I've never gone somewhere without someone or travelled somewhere without visiting someone I already know. CRAZY. But exciting.

I leave in the morning...

2007-11-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

I am starting to get sad/nervous!!!

I am all packed up and have the rest of the night to spend with Corey (the boyfriend). It is really going to be hard not having him around for a while, but I think we will both be okay. I feel worse for him because I am the one going on the adventure.

I really hope this adventure ends up being as great as I think it is going to be!!!

Next time I post it will be from Miami!!! See you next year Fitchburg!!!

My destinations

2007-11-11T23:35:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering:

Cozumel is in Mexico.
Belize City is in Belize.
Roatan is in Honduras.
Great Stirrup Cay is in the Bahamas.

Day	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sat	Miami	-	4:00 PM
Sun	At Sea	-	-
Mon	Roatan	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Tue	Belize City	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Wed	Cozumel	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
Thu	At Sea	-	-
Fri	Great Stirrup Cay	9:00 AM	6:00 PM
Sat	Miami	8:00 AM	-

One more week!!!

2007-11-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

Today I went to look for more "formal" clothes for my job. I found some good stuff. I still need to gather everything "formal" that I have bought, try it all on, and decide what I am keeping. I certainly have bought too much!!!

I also found a nice bag that will work for my luggage. The only thing left is to decide what I am bringing, clothes-wise, and buy whatever toiletries I need.

I am getting even more excited now because this week has been pretty boring without having a job. Being unemployed for 2 weeks is hard work!!!

10 days to go

2007-11-06T13:25:00.000-05:00

I will be leaving my very typical, repetitive, and predictable life in 10 days. I am going to be working on a cruise ship as a youth counselor. I will be flying out to Miami on Friday, November 16th. Supposedly I will be staying at a hotel over night and joining my ship Saturday. My cruise will run a 7 day loop out of Miami to Belize City - Belize, Cozumel - Mexico, Roatan - Honduras, and the Great Stirrup Cay - Bahamas.

I am completely unaware of what this whole experience is really going to be like. I have my ideas and hopes about it, but am still open to the fact that it might not end up as great as it seems. I do know that it will be much different from my previous day to day life.

I also am unsure of what day I will be returning. I believe it will be January 5th, but I do not know for sure.

I am starting the packing/cleaning process today. I currently live with my boyfriend in his mother's house, only my everyday clothes and some possessions are here. Everything I own under the sun is at my parent's house. I will be going there today to do some cleaning/packing/organizing, as well as having dinner with my mom and grandmother.

I am really excited about this whole experience and will TRY my hardest to update this on a daily basis once I am on the ship.