Switching Cabins

Today I had a full body, deep tissue massage on board. They have a great discount for crew in the spa. A Canadian named Merrill was my masseuse and man was he good. I feel like pudding. If you have never had a professional massage, you must get one before you die. Yes, they are expensive, but it is an experience worth the price. Just don’t get addicted to them, then you’ll be in trouble.

I’ve had to change rooms. I’m sharing now. My roommate is the only female on the AV team her name is Marie. She’s French Canadian and she’s so sweet, and tiny. Two of her shoes would fit in one of mine. When we were first standing in the room together she said, "You’re so tall, are you sure you will fit in the bed?" We get along great and I didn’t mind moving, but now I’m in the very back of the ship and it’s so noisy. My old room was a the front and you couldn’t hear the engines when we were moving. All you could hear was the water splashing against the side of the ship, it was like sleeping on the beach. In the back there is a rumbling hum like when you’re in the movie theater watching a disaster movie and there’s an asteroid about to hit and there’s that low rumble as it gets closer and closer and your seat vibrates. It’s like that. I’m laying in bed waiting for the asteroid to hit. The first couple of nights I couldn’t sleep. I’m getting used to it now. Hopefully when the singer who has been stuck on the ship because she can’t get a flight out in these little South American ports gets to go home, they will move me back.

The broadcast room is also at the front of the ship and now because I’m as far to the back as physically possible it takes me 4 minutes to walk to the broadcast room. This ship is that big! Still beats rush hour traffic though ;)

Katie

Estancia (ranch)

Finally I have some pictures to share. They aren’t mine though. One of my friends from the crew, Adrianna, escorted a shore excursion with me and she had a digital camera and was able to burn a CD of the pictures that she took, so I can share those with you now.

The trip we went on was near Montevideo, Uruguay to an Estancia (ranch) where we saw real Gauchos (cowboys) do sheep shearing and dancing and horseback riding. We had a great lunch with all the children in the family (about 12) serving. Then everyone got to go horseback riding and I told them I already knew how to ride and they let me run with the horse. Then we went on a hayride out to a beach where all the family rode their horses along the surf. It was a fantastic trip. Both Adrianna and I had a great time.

The first picture is of the dancers doing some drumming. Then there’s Adrianna doing the hayride. Two of the boys in the family riding next to us. Adrianna took a picture of me on the trailer for the hayride. And then there’s the family riding along the beach. Katie

Website Update

Since I can't do anything with the South America Pictures I have taken, I decided to update my photography website. It really needed it. Check it out at:

www.katiedamien.com

Katie

Getting into Chile

It’s been a long time since I sent a Chronicle. I’ve been a bit busy working on the ship and learning all kinds of interesting things. I have been able to get off a few times. Mostly I go on shore excursions. Since South America is a new and growing place as far as tourism goes, the Shore Excursions department likes to send one crew member as an escort for each tour, so they can help the guests to stay together and report back on how the tour went and if the guide was good and all that. The crew sign up to go and I’ve been lucky enough to get a few. I’ve been to the beach, touring the cities and to a tango show. And let me tell you, you haven’t seen a tango until you’ve seen it done by Argentinean dancers. Wow.

I haven’t sent anything because I don’t want to tell you about all the amazing sights I am seeing without any pictures to show for it. I just haven’t found a way to make them digital yet, but as soon as I do I will get more specific on how each port is. Right now I will just say that Buenos Aires (not pronounced Aires, like it looks, but Eye-res) is my favorite port. It is a big bustling city with lots of monuments and plazas and interesting sights to see. Montevideo (also not pronounced the way it looks, but rather Monte-vi-dayo) is my second favorite. Many places around here look very European like old Italy or Spain.

Before I leave you with that little tease of what I’ve seen, I do have one picture I can share. I had to spend $100 just to get into the country of Chile. They wouldn’t let me out of the airport without paying this reparation fee. I still don’t know what it was all about, but it’s now the most expensive passport stamp I have in my book (actually the company reimbursed me so it didn’t actually cost me anything.)

Katie