returned to civilization

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I'm in Miami now, but I started this entry when I was still in Freeport, so I thought I'd post.

Since I've been so off the grid here in Freeport (this is the first day I've gone on the internet since I got here a week ago), allow me to give you a brief rundown of what I've been up to. It hasn't been very exciting or varied, but I'll give you the highlights.

The dancers (or "twirlies" as the tech crew affectionately(?) labels them) arrived on board about three days before we left Charleston and I've been slowly getting to know them. The ones that I've had a chance to have a few conversations with are really cool. On our last night in Charleston, some of us took an impromtu trip into downtown at 11:30pm to hit the bars there. We all barely made it back to the ship before our 3am curfew, and we didn't feel so snazzy the next day in the theatre, but it was totally worth it. I love spontaneous adventures. The next day we had all sorts of stories to tell everyone and we had this little adventure that brought us together. It was great.

We left the next day, arrived in Freeport like a day or two later and shortly thereafter lost air conditioning for most of the day and continued to not have air conditioning in the theatre for several days. Now, we kind of have it, but with the lights on the stage, we can't tell. At the ceiling above the stage, the temperature registered as 123 degrees. Back by the lighting console it got up to about 110. It was joyous.

So our workdays continued to be long, but still rather uneventful. We spent a great deal of the day sitting around watching the dancers rehearse and occasionally had to fix immediate problems, but usually had to wait for the rehearsals to end before we could do anything. That meant starting between 8 or 9am and not being done until as late as 10pm on some days.

I have decided though, that the shipping yard here in the Bahamas is a lot prettier, and the weather has been pretty nice. Most days, the weather outside has been breezy and refreshing, especially when compared to the air-conditioned-less theatre. One day, I got the distinct pleasure to spend the entire day outside spray painting lighting fixtures white (don't ask). I got a slight sunburn, but it wasn't so bad, and I needed to see some sun.

I think it was about the fourth day here, that we got an afternoon off, so I headed into town to check things out. The touristy part of town is about a 20 minute cab ride ($24) and everything around there has tourist town written all over it. A lot of stuff was closed because it's kind of an off season, and everything that was open was really expensive; totally not worth the money. I didn't even see too many photo ops, because everything was just kind of bland. I spend half the day walking up and down the beach. I ate dinner and then headed back with another group of people from the ship, so the cab ride wasn't so expensive on the ride back. i didn't feel very comfortable wandering around there because it felt like the local women only acted like I existed when I had money to spend and almost every local man would make a lewd comment in my general direction. I really can't imagine spending a vacation here.

I've been on the ship the rest of the time. I've done some socializing in the crew bar and been hanging out with the entire entertainment department. I played poker the other night with the other techs and actually did quite well. The first game we played there were 5 of us and I was the third to get knocked out of the game. But the second game we played, we started with four players and it came down to me and just one other person. It was a close game by the end (especially with 200 and 400 blinds. We were just trading chip leads back and forth until somebody got a decent had to play with, which unfortunately wasn't me. The final winning hand was a pair of fours. I had absolutely nothing but queen high, but I knew that due to the blinds, I wouldn't have enough chips to play the next hand, so we both just went all in. I lost. But at that point I was tired and sweaty, so it was good that the game was over. And hopefully, the next time the guys all get together to play cards, they won't be so shocked that I want to play. I couldn't believe the look of questioning awe on their faces when I expressed an interest to play. Why is it so amazing that a girl knows how to and actually wants to play poker.

I've got some good pictures of the ship in dry dock, and a few pictures from Port Lacaya (the touristy area) I'll upload those when I get a chance. I have to warn you, there are a few sunset pictures, because the Bahamas definitely have their fair share of gorgeous sunsets--even from a shipping yard.




Now I'm in Miami and dry dock is officially complete. The first cruise sets out today. I'm kind of bummed that I have to go back to adhering to the dress code and maintaining some degree of professionalism when I'm in guest areas. And I didn't make it off the ship while we were in Miami because I had too much work to do, so I've been a little edgy these past couple days. The lack of sleep probably hasn't helped either. But last night I got to learn a bit about the lighting console and that was interesting, so I didn't mind so much that that was one of the things keeping me on the ship. As long as I'm being productive I'm in a good mood. It's when the boredom starts to numb the brain that I start to get a little frustrated.

Oh, and I discovered that my Cingular phone works in the Bahamas, although, I don't know how much it'll cost to make a call. I'm probably only using it for text messaging. But in case of emergencies I can at least be reached when I'm in Nassau. That brings my communicative days of the week to a grand total of four days--with the potential of five if I can get a cell signal in Calica or Cozumel. And the crew internet is supposedly going to be accessible from my cabin soon and it's supposed to be a faster connection and a cheaper rate, so I'm crossing my fingers that that happens soon. Although, I have to admit it. I got a lot more accomplished when I was less connected to the world. And working so many long days, I was starting to learn to live without the internet because I didn't have the energy to drag my computer to the crew lounge to go online.

Anyway, we're taking off soon, so I'm going to lose my modem signal.

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