Oh Whaddup

HEYYYYY

(sorrry for the typos but im writing fast and i hear 10 languages (5 real/5 baby talk) a day so my english is depleting.)

update 2. 2 girls are slepping so il make this quick. i went out to the crewbar tonight. it was jammin's (youth counselor) last night and i thought i should because everyone on my staff does. i was nervois if i would find them, be accepted, make conversaion, etc. but it went off witout a hitch and my coworker and future superviser come dec 19 bought me 2 drinks. i even stayed out later than my roomate who has been doing these rodeos for years.

anyways, i was scared but now i am feelin alright. hopefully my gesture of going out when we have a passfail exam 8am tommorow wont go unnoticed. im really nervous for it and for the homework we must turn into lenny...the ex brit navy guy.... i havent been this stressed over homework since 6th grade goldrush project.

well im gonna try to go to bed, got my 2 beer in an hour buzz on and the ship is rockin which adds another brew to my center of gravity.

ive been showering here....well once so far since LA...but its real nice. staying hydrated. making friends. attending shows. my next misssion is to get dressed up and get cocktails in the passenger areas well some girlfriends (dont worry LA girlfriends....they aint got sh@& on you! seriously, everyone ive met is lovely but they are in the "cruise mentality" which i dont think i am. many girls are on their 5th or 6th contract and this is their element, where they thrive. ps theres a party in teh cabin next to me. its louder than hannon on opening weekend.

day 3. woke up early to sit by myself in the staff mess hall to study. i got my first glimpse of malta from the window i sat next to and i almost started to get a little misty. it was so beauitful and it was so surreal. but then i got a hold of myself and drank my passionfruit guava juice!

ANDDDDDD i missed 2 on my exam out of 60! yes!!!! and i passed my written evacuation exam too so now i am living life so happy. i was pretty stressed...so stressed this mornign that i forgot we didnt have to work til 3* and wore my crew uniform to the test while everyone else was in their street clothes. the pants rising so high really stress me out so its amazing i only missed 2.

*i woke from my nap to go to work at 3 only to be told at 430pm by my boss that i wasnt scheduled til 5. haha. not.

back to the monring: then i found out that i didnt have training until 1130 so i met up with 2 youth counselors and we went out to malta. malta is seriously beautiful and wildly romantic ...almost everything is made out of limestone so its very fort-esque and the streets are narrow with little shops carved into the stone. i didnt go on a tour and only had an hour and a half there but we took some good pictures and i feel like i got a little taste of the place. it's fancier than i thought with tons of tommy hilfiger shops and burger kings and jewels??. ok i dont shop.

a highlight was talking with a fisherman who was selling 1 shark on the street. there was a tour sign that said "the malta experience" and we asked him to take our picture under it...he could absolutely not understand why we thought it was funny/worth a picture. hes like...this way with the beautiful view! this way with the market! this way with the horses..!?? no, this way...with this silly sign please sir. half exasperated, half intrigued he bid us a friendly malta aideu.

ok im going on break with 2 counselors, we are going to the passenger buffet which is amazing!! indian food, ice cream, crepes, etc. im going to grab a cappucino and read and i think they are doing hte same. work back at 7pm til 1030pm. pretty easy day i think .

kizzzes, as you can see im not roughing it with the spa and malta and passenger buffet. the only hard part is not being able to share it with you people that i love.

update1: ok we are in naples this today. i work 7pm so after training at 1 i am going off the ship for some pizza i hear is good...updates to follow..

miss you people
last night i had 2 horrible dreams and one of them was i was confined to a pitch black box and i woke up and i was sleeping in my bed iwth the curtains closed....in a pitch black box essentilaly. dreams do come true

update: naples was a little lackluster. the thing to do here is climb mt vessuvius & go to pompei. also you can go to sorrento which is supposed to be beautiful ....but naples....eh ....theres a bunch of trash everywhere and construction, granted i only had 1 hour there to walk around with Elmo...a nice phillipino girl from canada who is also a youthcounselor who was here 2 weeks before me but slept at every port town last 2 weeks so is touring with me as her first time seeing these places too. she is trigger happy with the camera which means ill have a lot of me standing giving thumbs up and peace signs in random places.

update 3: sorry for all the updates ...last one for now. its 645am and i cannot fall back asleep so im listening to some pattty griffin and writing you lovely people. i have evacuation drillls from 930-12 today while we are in port in chitiavecia sp? or something...very near rome. we have 12 to 4 i think in rome. apparently we are going for world famous gelatto here. i am very excited.

ok officially im done for now. love love love. tonight is a crew party with everyone on the ship that work. thats like a 1000 person party. the youth counselors happen to be hosting hte event so its in the spinnaker lounge (see Ncl.com desc of my ship The Gem for goof photos of the ship) I volunteered to bartend for 1 hour of the night which is just opening beer and wine and a good chance to meet people. its 80s throw back prom night so im feelin good about that!

love
al pal