Building the House

I wanted to send out these pictures before I left home, but didn’t get the chance. This is the last volley of photos from me about the house. Everyone in the family has been working diligently on it, even Mae (who frequently plays the supervisor role.)

I have been cruising past the Chilean Fjords. They’re beautiful steep mountains that were created by glaciers. And there are still some glaciers around here, but I was in training this morning and missed them. The crew say these are nothing, wait till we get to Alaska. The mountains are pretty though and we get really close for being such a big ship. I have been taking plenty of pictures. Unfortunately the computer that I can upload them to, is still down. As soon as it is fixed, you’ll be getting lots of pictures.

I’ve been very lucky. I happen to be in a room by myself. I’m sure it won’t last, but it’s a nice luxury for now. My room is on deck one, but there are two decks below it, deck zero and the tween deck, apparently it’s a nautical term. I am forward (front) and on the far starboard side (right) so at night it is very quiet except for the waves crashing against the wall. It’s like sleeping in a hammock on the beach. Because I’m so far from the middle of the ship, it rocks a lot. I love it. Good thing I don’t get seasick.
Katie

Arrived on GTS Infinity

I am happy to report that I have made it safely to the Infinity. I had a very long flight all night to get to Santiago, Chile. From there I was driven with a hand full of other new sign-ons to Vapariso, Chile. It was a nice drive only took about two hours. We started in the mountains, then went through wine country, and finally ened up in this big port town. I got to ride a car with one of the concierges and we were having a great time enjoying the scenery until she noticed that the driver, who spoke no English, had a pistol nestled between the passenger seat and the emergency brake.

She said, I don't know weither to be glad or scared. Should I be glad that he has a gun and can protect us, or scared that he needs a gun to protect us. He was happily pointing out land marks to us in Spanish, and nothing bad happened. I guess it's just the way things are around here. These next few weeks I will be very busy learning all my new equipment, I will send more about my adventures later.

Katie

Vaccines

I figured it was about time for another chronicle, though I don’t have much to report on. I have finished working for dad doing locksmithing stuff. It was a pretty cool job. I was just starting to get the hang of it. There was still a lot to do when I left, but now dad’s student crew is back, so the pressure’s on them.

I had a bunch of vaccines yesterday. Before traveling to South America I was required by Celebrity Cruises to get a yellow fever shot. Apparently some of the countries I’m going to require the vaccine before you can enter. So I made an appointment with our local branch of the CDC. Once they had me there, the nurse explained to me the other diseases that I should get vaccinated for. I ended up getting 4 shots and a flu mist. My arms are still sore. In a couple weeks I will be safe guarded against yellow fever, typhoid fever, Hepatitis A, and tetanus (which apparently expires every ten years, and all adults should keep updated, and it’s free up here.)

So after going though all this I am wondering why would anyone want to go to South America? I know there’s supposed to be great jungles and stuff, but who would want to risk their life to see them? I’m going to spend much of my time on the coast. It just seems like; if you want to see great beaches go to the Caribbean where they probably won’t try to kidnap you because you’re America and you are less likely to die from a mosquito bite. Oh well, I guess I will let you know what all the fuss is about when I get there.

I have acquired two new cameras, one is a Canon auto focusing 35mm camera that mom got me for Christmas in a last ditch effort to keep me at home. The other is a Pentax medium format camera. I’m taking them both. So there should be lots of pictures for me to share.

The house is on hold. We are waiting for an inspection before we can continue. Sorry no new pictures yet. I did attach a self-portrait that I did. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything; I just think it looks cool. That’s all for now.

Katie