END OF THE WORLD?

I am proud to say that it is 8:00 PM on December 22, 2012 (AKA – The day after the apparent day of the end of the world) and I’m still floating in the middle of the ocean with no problems. Based on Facebook status updates, I can confidently say that my friends on land have had the same good fortune.

I've just begun my fourth week with DCL and I have to say, things are going pretty well. I’m a little less overwhelmed now in some areas and little more in others. The ship doesn't seem quite as big to me anymore because it’s finally becoming home. I've made some really great friends and I get genuinely excited to go to work. Balance is so important with this job. I've stopped relying on getting eight hours of sleep a night because that simply doesn't happen. There are times when I only have seven hours between the time I get off at night and the time I start again in the morning. Add in showering, shaving, brushing my teeth and all the other nightly/morning routines and that leaves around five or six hours of sleep in a night. Therefore, my breaks have also become nap times. Most days, I have a couple of two or three hour breaks where I catch up on rest. I definitely stay busy.

I've finally started hosting my own events on the ship. So far, it’s been smaller events like karaoke or trivia. Currently, I’m in rehearsal for two shows: “A Pirate’s Life for Me” and “Mirror, Mirror.” And when I say rehearsal, I actually mean spending twenty minutes quickly running through blocking and learning small dance routines while simultaneously learning lines and crying a little because I feel like I’ll never get it. As you can see, I’m a little stressed about it. But I know I’ll be fine. It’s just very difficult to find time to actually learn the script when I'm already working 10-12 hours in a day. Next week, I’m expected to be show ready with those two. We’ll see what happens.

Other than that, things are pretty much the way they were last week. I didn't get off the ship much this cruise. I spent my days sleeping. Also, the weather was pretty rainy. This led to canceled events and excursions which led to more activities being added that I was required to be a part of. Hopefully this next week will be a little better in regards to weather.

Alright, that’s enough for now. I can hardly believe it’s already been three full weeks. My next goal is to get a few photos of me in my costumes.

Bye!