Equador!

12/6/08

Hey everyone... just wanted to write another little message to everyone while I have some down time. Today we're in Manta, Equador. It is a small town with a strong economy that thrives on tourism, tuna fishing, and chemical products including everything from cleaning supplies to oil and margarine. The town is pretty small. We got here early this morning and docked right in an industrial port... right next to a submarine. When you looked out the window, you could watch a bunch of guys offloading one missile and putting two more onto the submarine. Pretty crazy considering you'd NEVER see that done in the US... there would be security everywhere. Anyways, I had to work for a few hours in the library this morning and then I got to get off the ship.

It was a 15 minute shuttle rides to the shops, but Danny could only be off the ship for an hour cause he had rehearsal, so we couldn't do that. In retrospect, I kinda wish I had stayed off the ship and gone over to the shops cause some of the passengers said it was really nice. There is a small town nearby that makes the authentic panama hats, so apparently they're sold all over here. Anyways, we ended up just walking to a nearby beach and walking along the beach. The water was really nice, but I unfortunately didn't have my swim suit on or else I wouldn't have been able to resist jumping in. The waves looked great... a little rough because it was so windy, but nothing that I couldn't handle. It would've been a great day to go body surfing.

We just crossed the equator last night between 2 and 3 am... well, this morning I guess. Normally, ships do the King Neptune's Ceremony that I told you about as they cross the equator, but since we did it in the middle of the night we're going to have the ceremony tomorrow morning since its a sea day. Which brings me to my next point... tomorrow I'll be one of the polliwogs. Haha it's gonna be hilarious. I'll be sure to take pictures. I was told today that the slime that they're going to throw on us will be a mixture of sour milk (they put it out today and have intentions of putting it out in the sun at 8 am tomorrow,) flour, and maple syrup. It's going to be absolutely disgusting. I just talked to my boss a little bit ago to make sure that I'll have ample time to take a 45 minute shower to fully cleanse myself from all the disgusting smells that will probably be on my body. I'm nervous that I'm going to throw up after they put all that stuff on me. Normally, they use mirangue and speghetti, but I guess they're going all out this time. Siiiiick! I'll let you all know how it goes.

Tonight is Country Line Dance Night, my favorite. It was always fun on the Veendam, so we'll see how it is here. I'm starting to just get really burned out and can't wait til this little boy gets off the ship so I'll get more time off. It's insane how one person can change the dynamic of how we're all working. I told the Cruise Director and Event Manager last night that I'm starting to feel like I'm at my breaking point cause before today, I had yet to really get off the ship. They promised it'd get better... since this cruise is almost over. The same little boy will be here until January 3rd, but there will be 42 more kids onboard next week, so his parents understand he won't get to be up in the kid's club all day every single day. They also are sending another Youth Staff to help us out... maybe even 2 more. I'm praying that helps.

I walked into the front office today and there are Christmas decorations everywhere. I decided thats my new happy place, so I told all of the people there that they'd be seeing a lot more of me so I can get into the holiday spirit. I'm going to miss being at home on Christmas so much! The decorations just aren't the same when you don't get the whole family, cold weather, and all that good stuff. I've decided that I'm never going to be away from home on Christmas again. Tonight I'm going to watch Elf to brighten up my spirits... that movie always makes me smile. Alright, its off to dinner then library, Name that Tune, and Country Line Dance night.
Miss you all like crazy! Xoxoxoxox.

Oh and ps- I'll make sure to wear my Skins jersey for the upcoming game against the Ravens... GO SKINS!!!