The things I neglected to blog about...

Okay. so In one long run on sentence, without hesitation, articulation, punctuation and many other *tions,  lets talk about how I forgot about this blog. 

After Spain and a lost wallet I discovered ancient ruins in Rome military bunkers in Norway stood in waterfalls climbed up 400 something odd steps to look out over a city fell out of bed saw a chocolate Santa in Saint Petersburg went to a freaky night club in Sweden got kicked out of a chocolate shop because chocolates are for buying not for picture taking saw some tropical stuff in Portugal held a hawk in Lisbon and ate a bunch of food that tasted amazing and some that didnt drank a lot of drinks that were pretty cool saw a lot of jellyfish street performers and bakeries did a whole bunch of other stuff too navigated through Amsterdam and Frankfurt airports and found my way home where I was picked up by my grandparents I had three months off to sit on my butt and get fat recorded an album by the band Husky you can find it at www.husky3.bandcamp.com signed another contract with Holland America Line to board the ms Zuiderdam on Dec 21st 2012 until May 11 2013 survived the appending doom the Mayans apparently predicted on that day had a great Christmas and new years on the ship and here we are sorry to all the people who read this and were waiting for more if there are any of you

That was fun. 

So here we are in Curacao, week 3 of my contract.  I haven't had many chances to get off the ship yet, there was is lots of work to be done.  But it keeps me busy. I think that's all I have the brain power to write at the moment. I'll detail the beginnings of my trip another day when there is wi-fi.

Does anyone want to see some pictures of the last trip?

Thought I forgot about you didn't you?

... well I didn't

The days seem to blend together after awhile... if it wasn't for the day of the week on my computer and the elevator mats,  I wouldn't know it but you already know that from an earlier post. 

....lets see.... what have you missed....

Norway, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Estonia, Denmark, Scotland and The Netherlands, two bass players, a sax player, a guitarist, a keyboard player and five production vocalists.... I think that about covers it... yeah...

Lets start with The Netherlands.  Rotterdam is our home port so we're there every seven or fourteen days and a majority of our passengers are from The Netherlands.  Which means I don't understand what many of them say.   It's quite frustrating to try and tell someone who doesn't understand you "I don't speak dutch" while they are trying to speak in dutch to tell you they don't speak english. 

I have seen a lot of Norway and a lot of ports are repeats at this point.  I have been Kayaking in Flam, walked in waterfalls in Geiranger, drank beer from breweries in Tromso and Flam, been to the arctic circle when visiting Honnigsvad, 

Chorizo, Cheese, Churches, Wine and Wallets

Why this title you ask?

Chorizo is a tasty sausage

Cheese is a tasty version of mold

Churches are in abundance in Spain and Italy

Wine because sangria is amazing... and tasty

Wallets because mine has made someone a little bit richer than they previously were

I'm on my third "cruise" of my contract.  Day...........um....tuesday?  Could be wrong... didn't see the elevator mats today...

This cruise is a 17 day Spanish Rhapsody collectors voyage which means we stop in lots of touristy places that have lots of churches as well as stuff to see and buy in between where we dock and where these touristy churches are.  Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these touristy churches.  I wandered the streets and found my way to them too.  What I have a problem with is the lack of shopping variety in between.   I never purchase anything for myself, however when you walk down the streets the shop order goes:  Legitimate looking overpriced Watches, Shoes, Women's Clothing, Made in China Souvenirs, Shady Electronics, Legit overpriced Watches, Shoes, Women's Clothing, Made in China Souvenirs, Shady Electronics, Legit overpriced Watches, Shoes, Women's Clothing, Made in China Souvenirs, Shady Electronics..... you get the picture....  This occurs all the way until you hit a pharmacy with it's big LED blinky + sign, and then it begins again until you reach your touristy church destination or the restaurant district.    

Siestas are not my favorite thing either.  (Get ready for one long-winded run on sentence) Do you know how much money the aforementioned business would make off these wealthy tourists walking past their stores and ogling at the overpriced goods in the windows not realizing that the currency is euro's and not USD....  they'll figure it out when they get the credit card bill.... would make if they stayed open from 1400hrs to 1700 hrs instead of closing!? (for all you non 24 hour time readers thats 2PM and 5PM)  They wouldn't have to have a store... or they could buy the empty one down the street and branch their souvenir shop out into a legit looking overpriced watches store. 

In Barcelona I had the fortune of meeting some of our librarian Rachel's parent's friends and they gave us a guided tour of the city as we walked all the way from the ship to the metro going through side-streets, and past castles as well as other photogenic but not necessarily touristy places.  This was an adventure, as they didn't speak a word of english and only Anna, my co-worker Ace's fiance, and myself (from what I learned in the kitchens of Sweet Tomatoes), spoke Spanish somewhat.  She was a heck of a lot better than I at it. She understood almost everything. I understood enough that I was comfortable answering some questions and say si.  We eventually got through the city and onto the metra system and took a train out of town.  We just followed and had no idea where we were going... I'm not sure they did either.  We ended up outside the city in another town that I don't remember the name of.  We went to lunch at one of their friend's restaurants.  We had no idea what we were ordering and they couple that was touring us around was very understanding and very happy about treating us to lunch, which consisted of a 4 course meal. ensalada (salad), Paella del mar... I think that's what it was.  It's a seafood and rice dish that is a specialty in Spain,  it was very good, and then we got some cuttlefish and squid and pork.... all very interesting. Cuttlefish has a very buttery flavor but it has the texture of a hard boiled egg white, if not a wee bit rubbery-er. and then we were supposed to get yet another course, however we couldn't eat any more so we had gelato as our fina course.  They took us back into the city and we walked our way back to where Rachel had to get on the ship.  The woman gave me a warm hug and the man a firm yet pleasant and welcoming handshake, we all exchanged thank you's and goodbyes and went our separate ways.  That was such a pleasant experience that was of the most unique I believe I've ever had.

After this Ace, Anna and I went to McDonalds and Starbucks...... to find free wifi. Then headed back to the ship and stopped for sangria on the way.  I was surprised at how many people were trying to pickpocket the tourists. They usually swarmed in groups of two and were very bold as to how they did it.  Made me make sure my wallet was in my front pocket and my hands were in them as well.

This brings me full circle...

Now....wondering about the wallet? Let me tell you a story, a rather short tale, of a wallet gone missing or stolen, I can't really tell.

Here I was wandering the streets of Valencia, having a wonderful time photographing old touristy churches and stuff, walking around the older touristy side of town, when I happened upon a shop that was selling some orange wine. (alguia de Valencia - that might be spelled wrong) I decided I had to buy a bottle to try.  It was only a few euros so I decided why not.   I purchased this bottle of wine and started off to find some foodstuffs with Ace and Anna.  We happened upon a restaurant about one block away down an alley that turned out to be REALLY nice and Extremely Delicious.   We went to pay and I couldn't find my wallet in my pocket!  My conclusion is that either A- it got stolen on the walk one block down, or B - I dropped it in the store I bought my wine in.  I backtracked to the store to see if I left it, but they were on Siesta.  No number to call or anything....   so I'm going to say I got pickpocketed because it helps me feel less dumb and allows me better sleep at night.    Everyone was very concerned and sad for me, I was very optimistic and probably could have been viewed as carefree about it.  I thought of it this way.  I could have been mugged for the wallet.... or... I could have lost my passport instead of my wallet.... or.... who knows... it could have been worse. . . I lost a bit of money and had to cancel my credit card which was a minor inconvenience... worse things could have happened....

That was that day.... Onto the last adventure I wish to discuss for now. 

Rome.

Rome was amazing.  We docked in Civitaveccia which is about 30 minutes train ride outside Saint Peters square.  I was exhausted and fell asleep on the train ride in.  We got off the train outside Saint Peter's square and walked to it.  Took some pictures and made our way through rome stopping at many touristy photo op places along the way.   I had some italian pizza.  It was good.  The gelateria we found was soooo much better than the pizza.  Then we found our way to the Colosseum, which was an amazing sight.  we had pre purchased tickets on the starbucks free wifi in barcelona that were only 13 euro to get us into the colosseum and the forum.   We got into these places took lots of pictures then headed back to the ship.   I'll have pictures up on facebook when I have a good enough connection to upload them.  I may upload some to the blog here as well.....

Well.... that's all for now I suppose... It's 2am-ish  I think.... Goodnight all. 

Hope you enjoyed my post.

Lisbon short post

Hello again world. Ive officially survived two months on the m.s. Rotterdam. Its had its ups and downs its back and forths but its still afloat. I'm fine too I'm sitting in a starbucks in Lisbon, Portugal at the moment. I'm getting to know my shipmates more and they're all some cool people. We're going to go castle shopping. I'll update again when i have internet.

Toucans, Monkeys, Coffee and Secret Service... Oh My. . .

Cartegena, Columbia

Day. . . um. . . yeah. . . 

I'm going to tell you about life in once sentence blurbs this time...

Well here we sit in port in Columbia. 

Went through the Panama Canal yesterday, that was really cool.

I'll put pictures up on facebook on the 17th when I get to Ft. Lauderdale. 

Summit of the Americas is happening today here. 

Thats why I didn't go into town. 

President Obama is here. 

Lots of security everywhere. 

Supposedly would take 2 hours to get into town. 

Not worth it. 

Secret service everywhere. 

Sitting here with internet outside the ship is good enough for me. 

Saw monkeys, macaws, and got a foot away from a wild tucan. 

That was really cool too. 

Pictures to come on facebook.

Now drinking Club Colombia cerveza premium and using the internet.    

It's tasty. 

Yes... the beer... and the internet. 

This job is probably about the coolest thing ever at this point in my life. 

I'm getting to see the world.

And getting paid to do it. 

Pictures to come. 

I don't have to do all sorts of random work around the ship that doesn't fall under my job. 

No scrubbing the decks for me. 

*smiley face*

Bought lots of coffee to send home. 

Lots of coffee

It's not too expensive. 

And flat rate boxes make it even cheaper to ship.

Feel free to drink it family. 

Just save me some of the Strong or "Fuerte" brews. 

They are whole bean. 

Lauren can you take them to work and grind them?

KThanks. 

I think that is all I have to say. 

I'll update again in a few days when I hit Ft. Lauderdale. 

Have a good one. 

Day.... 31?

Well, here it is, day 31.. ..  maybe. . . . I think. . . I lost track around 23. . . Too late to count.  I've already told you 31.

Well life on the ship is good. The PAX are all great; really friendly, the crew is all great, and the guest entertainers we put onstage are hit or miss and just don't appeal to the audience.

Keeping in touch with you landlubbers is hard. My days are filled with work, sleep, eat, rinse and repeat.
not much time for internet or phone-calls. . . Not much exciting to write about either. . . I work a lot.

The past month of port days have been in places that either were too risky to go out in for risk of catching some GI virus, or there wasn't anything to do.  The few places I did get off I took pictures and had lunch and got back on the ship.  Looking forward to Europe where I can do the touristy tours and stuff.

We had 6 sea days in a row. That was rough.  They were rough days too, lots of people gettin seasick. even seasoned veterans.   I was okay, Luckily.  I can say that I'm not ready for an 8 day crossing of the atlantic though!

Well, time to get back to the ship, Got a tech rehearsal soon!

Even though it may be more than day 31.  For those who miss me, I'll be home soon....ish.... maybe.... this may just be too much fun. :-)

Adios from Hualtuco Mexico

Days 2-8

I'm alive! I promise! It's been a week and I haven't gotten sea-sick yet! WooHOO!

Just very busy.  They day I got on the ship was halfway between confused and disorganized.  I met my new crew,  and they met their new crew member.  Ace, Nonoy, and the Ninjas.  All together a really awesome crew.   Ace is the Entertainment Technical Manager (my direct supervisor), as well as lighting technician.  Nonoy is our ASM, and the four Ninjas are our Stage Crew.  The theatre is small, but it's well equipped audio and lighting wise, no fly-rail system though. I'll post a picture or two later when I have a few decent pictures taken.

I've been working quite a bit.  Lots of hours spent in the theatre and doing maintenance.  We have 2 corporate supervisors on-board with us so we're tackling a lot of projects.  Installed new speakers on our Lido deck, and other miscellaneous maintenance.  I've been babysitting the sound system in lots of guest lectures and talks this week. probably at least 3 a day.  As well as an hour rehearsal every day at noon for our evening shows at 7 and 9.  I've already done about 14 shows,  we run 5 production shows throughout the cruise and guest entertainers or local talent from wherever we are every night we don't have production shows.  So far we have had Dale Kristien - a singer from Phantom of the Opera,  Rafael, a solo violinist who played a lot of Bond music with the HALcats (our house band) and Scottie Mclain a superbly funny scottish comedian.

My room is small but more than enough for one person to sleep in. It has a double bed, desk, and closet.  The bathroom is proportional to the room,  with enough room to walk in and pivot left to the shower, straight to the toilet and to the right for the sink.  But it's alright, I'm rarely in my room for more than a few hours to sleep.

As an "officer" on the ship ( i have 2 stripes ) I get to dine in the Lido Buffet, which serves gourmet food during it's operating times.  It's so much better than the Res Hall food I've had for the past 4.5 years.
Deserts are the dangerous part.

I'm sitting in a Jamba Juice in Honolulu Hawaii at the moment.  This is the first full day I've had off.  Tomorrow we will be in Nawiliwili, however I will be on the ship doing maintenance work in our "crows nest"

I am going to go experience Waikiki Beach.

A Hui Hou!