March 31, 2012
So here’s what’s been happening since I posted on the 23rd:
On the 24th, Sydney turnaround day, I went with a number of people from the cast and we saw the movie “The Hunger Games” which is based off of a book that I may or may not have mentioned purchasing in my last post. I finished it in 2-3 days so that I could see the movie with the group. It lived up to my expectations though I will say, like most movies that are based off of books, they cut a lot of the good details out. In short, I was happy that I read the book first, after several friends recommended that I do so.
After we left Sydney, we set sail for the islands of Vanuatu, where we were just after New Year’s and I visited all those beautiful places like caves and waterfalls. We had two days at sea, during which we found out that there was a very dangerous weather pattern near the islands, including two cyclones that were threatening to meet up over the top of the island chain and possibly cause the Captain and his team to reconfigure the itinerary for the voyage. But, despite all that, we arrive on schedule in Nouméa, New Caledonia, where I was finally able to buy the wine that I couldn’t buy last time, as some of you might recall. I bought two bottles of “Anjou Rose”, wine that comes from the region of France where I studied abroad, and I am going to try to bring one home if I can pack it in my duffel. It was a really rainy day though, thanks to the weather pattern, so I didn’t stay out long, just ran into the grocery store, bought the wine and a few other things, and went back to the ship. That night, my roommate Melissa and the dance captain, Jess, and some of my colleagues planned a little birthday get-together at the crew bar, which coincided with a “Beach Party” themed party planned by the HR center, so we all put on tropical wear and went out. We had a blast!!!!
The next day we went to Lifou, where the weather continued to be pretty crappy, but I went out with Melissa, Jess, and a few of the other cast members, and we swam in the ocean, despite the intermittent rain. When we couldn’t take the weather any more, we came back to the ship, showered, I worked for a little while and then I changed clothes and went back to the theatre to watch the evening’s show, which was the hypnotist who has been on board a number of times. I would have had to work but I scheduled one of the guys to cover it for me since it was my birthday and all! The show was hilarious, as usual, and then I went to dinner at Chop’s Grille (a steakhouse on board) with Brian and the folks I’d gone swimming with. I had a delicious meal of shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad and Pancetta-wrapped Chicken breast (I would have had the filet mignon, but, I’d eaten it when I went there with my team earlier in the week).
Then I started my duty rotation, which means 5 days stuck on the ship, but Jared traded with me so I could get off two days later in Luganville and go to the French restaurant that Jason and Lauren found the last time we were here. I walked there by myself and had delicious food made by a French couple from Bordeaux who relocated to these islands a while back. The wife was very pleased to hear that I spoke French and we had a lovely conversation for a few minutes and I left feeling stuffed and very content.
Today we were in the city of Vila and once again I wasn’t allowed off the ship, but I worked in the morning taking guests going on tours from the theatre down to the pier and then I went back to bed for a while (didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before) and when I woke up I watched some TV while I did a little bit of room organizing and throwing a lot of things away. It’s still too early to really think about packing, but, I am anyways. Do you think I’m excited to come home? (that’s a rhetorical question!) I’ve been having dreams about being home, about seeing my friends and family, the plans I have for the summer, using my phone again; all kinds of little things that clearly my subconscious is dying to make into realities through my dreams! Ironically, I haven’t been sleeping well these past few weeks, probably because I’m so anxious to come home. There were two nights in a row where I fell asleep between 5-7am and had to wake up a few hours later to work and then had to try to force myself to stay up all day in order to ensure sleepiness that night…it’s been an exhausting circle.
I’ll blog again soon!
B
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