February 9, 2009

Tampa day is quickly becoming my favorite.

There was a boat drill this morning that was much earlier than I thought it'd be. It ended up being an hour BEFORE I had set my alarm to go off. So, I woke up to an emergency announcement and had to quickly throw on some clothes, grab my life vest, and run out the door. In the process I had grabbed my personal cell phone instead of my work cell phone and the Captain called me while I was at the drill, but... I'm just assuming it wasn't important.

I also had slide duty this afternoon, which I forgot about until I was on my way to lunch. I wasn't late to it, it just meant I had a lot less time off the boat than I originally thought. I ALSO ran into my boss and my new roommate (hereby refered to as 'C') on my way off the ship, so instead of getting off right away I showed C around a little, helped her get her room key, and showed her where the crew lounge was since she had training there in an hour. I felt bad leaving her on her own with nothing to do for that hour, but I had a limited timeframe to make phone calls and find free wifi. I failed at finding any sort of shop that sold any of the items I forgot to bring that I've been so desperately desiring (what I would do for a loofa right now...), but I found a coffee shop with internet and will still call it a success.

As far as the new roomie goes, C seems great so far. She is only a year older than I am, is indeed American, and is very sporty. The first two questions she asked about me were whether or not I drank, and if I liked music. ...I think we'll get along just fine.

I've been trying to be a good new roomie too, making space for her and trying to tell her everything I wish I'd known my first week here. I've been introducing her to every passer-by I know, took her to dinner (where she got to meet some more musicians), and walked her to work (since she's still very lost). She has training every port day this cruise I think, but we're going to explore Tampa together next time we're there.

The cruise this time is a religious charter, and they have an awful rep among the crew. One of the movie options for kids is something called 'Bibleman Defeats the Gossip Queen'. My teens surprised me by wanting to turn off the religious music, doing the Cupid Shuffle around their room, and going on at length about all of the cute boys they've seen on the ship (apparently there's a piano player who's just a hunk - and also probably fourteen).

Not much else going on. I work a lot less hours this week, and I get off earlier as well. When I do work, it's usually with C - at least for parts of it. The only downside is that there isn't much to do in the meantime. C and I turned on Animal Planet briefly earlier and squeed over a program about a baby panda bear... I have a feeling there will be a lot of that.

Lastly, I had my ear fondled by a Romanian earlier. I've come to the conclusion that Romanians are an odd bunch. And Transylvanians do not appreciate being asked if they're related to Dracula. Take note.