This week is the last cruise of the 7-day repeated itinerary!!!!! That means I have a brand new port to look forward to and a change in my schedule!!! WOOT WOOT!!! And it’s not that long until the crossing back up to Europe!!!! YAY!!!
I’ve had some new adventures in our last two ports, Rio and Salvador. On Sunday, we were docked in Rio and Jessica, Derrick and I took a taxi to the famous Ipanema beach. It was very pretty and we enjoyed the day eating grilled cheese on a stick and watching the Brazilian beach life. Brazil’s beaches are always flooded with vendors selling anything from bathing suits to CD’s but this can sometimes make it difficult to take a nap or read. In fact, I never even heard the waves crash on the shore! I would say that if you go to a beach in Brazil, at least the very heavily populated beaches, go expecting lively characters and not a real relaxing atmosphere.
My day in Salvador was probably one of the best days I’ve had in Brazil to date. After boat drill a group of seven of us piled into a van and drove for about two hours to a Sea Turtle Sanctuary. They had several types of turtles, massive ones to two-day old babies!!!! They were SO CUTE!!!! Volunteers and beach patrollers look for nests along the shore and when they find one, they mark it with a stick in the sand so the sanctuary can come and retrieve the eggs. They replant the nest in their protected sand so that the eggs are safe. The beach jeeps create hard sand in their tracks, making it impossible for the baby turtles to pop thru after their born. Why we even NEED beach jeeps, I don’t understand. Nonetheless, SOME humans are trying to help rather then hurt. We were so lucky to have gone that day because it was a release day, something that only happens a few times a year!
The employees dug up the turtles from their nests and put them into a bin. I got to touch a few and take pictures with them. Their arms fins are surprisingly strong and rough. After all of the turtles were collected, we walked to the beach and smoothed the sand to make their journey into the ocean just a little bit easier. I was told that for every 1,000 turtles born, only one or two survive. They struggle in the wild because after they hatch, they follow the light of the moon to the ocean to be swept into their new life. But with human light pollution, they get confused and some never make it to the ocean.
I felt like I was apart of something very special that day. Even though we speak different languages, humans all over the world fight to protect what we are constantly harming. I liked helping the animals and I definitely want to continue helping!
After the long trek back, we finished the day off by enjoying some live music in the local square of Salvador. And back on the ship, I joined some of my cast members for our traditional game of Apples to Apples. We borrowed the game from Adventure Ocean and every Salvador, we play on the back deck, Some other crew members have joined in and it helps them with their English. It’s a lot of fun :D
Welp, that’s the scoop for now!!! Shout out to my brother’s for a Happy Birthday!!!! Wish I could have been there to help you celebrate!!!! Love you all!!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
WeRK AND WeRK!!!!!
It's about mid-contract and I'm starting to feel the anticipation of going home!!!! The challenge now will be keeping my motivation up to finish this contract in high spirits. It helps that I have the new role of "G1" to concentrate on but I feel like I need a few other projects to bury myself in.
This weeks cruise is a bit different from the usuals, its a fitness cruise. Some trainers have signed on as staff to teach guests classes ranging from hydro-bikes to yoga. When the classes aren't full, we can join in. I attended a yoga class followed by a stretching and massage class but I found I was more challenged and enthralled by practicing my Portuguese then I was by the movements. The classes are very basic so I don't think I will invest my time into any others. BUT as a cast we work out to a video Wes has called P-90x or something like that, also known as "Insanity". It supposedly works really well and costs some ridiculous amount. I liked it a lot because it had cardio without having me run on the treadmill for 30 excruciatingly boring minutes. I enjoy a class setting more than just going to the gym to repeat lifting weights and all that CRAP!!!!! It felt amazing to be dripping sweat again, like I had just finished a day of dance at Rocky. Then, Connie taught a ballet class at night which helped me SO MUCH. Both physically, my ankles were cracking in pleasure (and pain), and mentally. Today I woke up SO SORE, but it was the good sore. Like coming back to dance class after the two weeks vacation for Christmas.
Every thought that I have and every gut feeling in me is pushing me towards Chicago. There's still the part of me that wants to travel, but my thirst for my craft is so much stronger. I'm literally going crazy because I used to be so immersed in dance, so wrapped up in my passion for it. I was so spoiled with dance at the studio and I didn't even realize it. And now I'm in search for it again. I feel that the East Coast will have something more to offer me than the West Coast and I am so excited to explore it all.
So, for now, while I'm in my mid-contract blues, I will be searching for something to occupy my time. I've finished the Twilight series and almost 4 entire seasons of Prison Break so now tv and reading are off my radar for a bit. I've been having a Harry Potter marathon and eating chocolate. LOL. I'll keep you updated if anything sparks my interest!!!! Miss you all!!!!!
This weeks cruise is a bit different from the usuals, its a fitness cruise. Some trainers have signed on as staff to teach guests classes ranging from hydro-bikes to yoga. When the classes aren't full, we can join in. I attended a yoga class followed by a stretching and massage class but I found I was more challenged and enthralled by practicing my Portuguese then I was by the movements. The classes are very basic so I don't think I will invest my time into any others. BUT as a cast we work out to a video Wes has called P-90x or something like that, also known as "Insanity". It supposedly works really well and costs some ridiculous amount. I liked it a lot because it had cardio without having me run on the treadmill for 30 excruciatingly boring minutes. I enjoy a class setting more than just going to the gym to repeat lifting weights and all that CRAP!!!!! It felt amazing to be dripping sweat again, like I had just finished a day of dance at Rocky. Then, Connie taught a ballet class at night which helped me SO MUCH. Both physically, my ankles were cracking in pleasure (and pain), and mentally. Today I woke up SO SORE, but it was the good sore. Like coming back to dance class after the two weeks vacation for Christmas.
Every thought that I have and every gut feeling in me is pushing me towards Chicago. There's still the part of me that wants to travel, but my thirst for my craft is so much stronger. I'm literally going crazy because I used to be so immersed in dance, so wrapped up in my passion for it. I was so spoiled with dance at the studio and I didn't even realize it. And now I'm in search for it again. I feel that the East Coast will have something more to offer me than the West Coast and I am so excited to explore it all.
So, for now, while I'm in my mid-contract blues, I will be searching for something to occupy my time. I've finished the Twilight series and almost 4 entire seasons of Prison Break so now tv and reading are off my radar for a bit. I've been having a Harry Potter marathon and eating chocolate. LOL. I'll keep you updated if anything sparks my interest!!!! Miss you all!!!!!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Successful Singing Shows
So I successfully opened the two shows!!!! Phew!!!! It was stressful and I felt like I was carrying the cast so that's a lot of pressure but what an experience!!!! I've had so much fun pretending to be a singer and I can't wait to get back on stage again and continue to improve!!! :D
Everyone has been so supportive, which has helped the process go smoothly. I haven't felt true stage fright in so long!!! I think it was a mixture of being thrown into something new and also having not a lot of time to nail down my product. The singers have a month of rehearsal to learn their words, their blocking, their choreography and I had a week!!!! For two shows!!! I couldn't be more proud of what I have accomplished because looking back on it, I took on a lot and I handled the responsibility with grace, courage, and poise. I feel like I stepped up to the challenge at hand when someone else backed away and I pushed myself to achieve greatness. God works in such mysterious ways because never once did I think I would ever do that, especially this contract when I wasn't even assigned understudy to begin with, But then all these circumstances came into play and I was offered this opportunity. I haven't felt challenged like that in years, because even back at my dance studio, I reached a peak in my dancing that I struggled to overcome and improve. And I fell into this job that hasn't pushed me until now. So I am very grateful because I got the taste of a new and higher goal to reach and I have my hunger for it back.
I feel a continual push to move to Chicago and the more I discuss it and begin my research and planning, the more excited I become. I miss my family so much so of course, being able to be home for the holidays is an incentive that right now, seems impossible to pass up again. And the excitement of something new, the adventure of throwing myself into a situation I will know nothing about and to start from the bottom and work my way up, is a thriving idea in my head. Who knows what will happen in the future but I have things I'm passionate about that I need to pursue before I settle into anything. These goals are crazy, sporadic dreams but in the end, I will be proud to share the stories with my children and my children's children because I will have a unique tale.
Things will be back to normal and I will be able to relax now that the shows are set and we are back to routine. Hopefully after this next paycheck I will be able to invest in a dive in Ilha Bela. Hope all is well, I know there was some intense snow-age back home. I hope everyone was careful on the roads!!! I think I will need a refresher course on driving in the snow when I get home because I've missed it for two years now!!!! :o
Love you all and miss you tons!!!!!
Everyone has been so supportive, which has helped the process go smoothly. I haven't felt true stage fright in so long!!! I think it was a mixture of being thrown into something new and also having not a lot of time to nail down my product. The singers have a month of rehearsal to learn their words, their blocking, their choreography and I had a week!!!! For two shows!!! I couldn't be more proud of what I have accomplished because looking back on it, I took on a lot and I handled the responsibility with grace, courage, and poise. I feel like I stepped up to the challenge at hand when someone else backed away and I pushed myself to achieve greatness. God works in such mysterious ways because never once did I think I would ever do that, especially this contract when I wasn't even assigned understudy to begin with, But then all these circumstances came into play and I was offered this opportunity. I haven't felt challenged like that in years, because even back at my dance studio, I reached a peak in my dancing that I struggled to overcome and improve. And I fell into this job that hasn't pushed me until now. So I am very grateful because I got the taste of a new and higher goal to reach and I have my hunger for it back.
I feel a continual push to move to Chicago and the more I discuss it and begin my research and planning, the more excited I become. I miss my family so much so of course, being able to be home for the holidays is an incentive that right now, seems impossible to pass up again. And the excitement of something new, the adventure of throwing myself into a situation I will know nothing about and to start from the bottom and work my way up, is a thriving idea in my head. Who knows what will happen in the future but I have things I'm passionate about that I need to pursue before I settle into anything. These goals are crazy, sporadic dreams but in the end, I will be proud to share the stories with my children and my children's children because I will have a unique tale.
Things will be back to normal and I will be able to relax now that the shows are set and we are back to routine. Hopefully after this next paycheck I will be able to invest in a dive in Ilha Bela. Hope all is well, I know there was some intense snow-age back home. I hope everyone was careful on the roads!!! I think I will need a refresher course on driving in the snow when I get home because I've missed it for two years now!!!! :o
Love you all and miss you tons!!!!!
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