Mixed bag

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Hey all!! Greetings from Mazatlan, Mexico. This week has had it's fair share of good news and bad news.

Good news: Stiletto, the company that is responsible for maintaining all the equipment for the musicians on the ship, has sent a representative to cruise with us for 7 days. Ray is my new best friend because after we had a lunch meeting, he swapped out my sucky keyboard that has 8 broken keys with a new fully functioning keyboard that same day!!! Last night I actually got to play without having to lift up on the keys after I played them.....very exciting!!!

Bad news: Our ship has just been set to code RED, which means that a highly contagious virus is sweeping across the entire ship. This particular virus causes extremely violent vomitting and diarrea for three straight days before passing through your system. People who get it are quarantined in their rooms for five days straight, having all their meals delivered to them and having no contact with anyone for the duration of the illness. No work, no friends, no exercize, no outdoors, no nothing for five days!!!! So, PLEASE say a few prayers for all of us here on the ship, hoping for the least amount of victims as possible.

Bad news: The US CoastGuard is coming aboard this coming Saturday to test us on our safety/security, which means we have been running drill nonstop for the past week, and our drills will continue to increase until Saturday. ALL of the crew are required to know all the safety/security procedures....I've only been here two weeks, and they say that they grill EVERYBODY!!! Wish me luck in my studies.

Good news: I'm on a cruise ship!!!!

Bad news: Due to the code RED status of the ship, crew members that work in the kitchen are required to work for less hours in order to keep the ship extra clean. This means that other crew members (ie cast members, dancers, singers, musicians, etc.) will have to fill in these posts on the Lido deck, serving meals and working extra hours without additional compensation. My dream of never working in the food industry after DQ has finally come to an end. Again, pray for me.

Good news: My meal routine on the ship during the @ Sea Days is becoming very enjoyable. I wake up around 9am every morning and have an omelette, cantalope, and tea for breakfast. I usually then have some sort of drill for an hour, then proceed to try and take a nap, or visit some of my friends on ship. Next comes lunch, again on the Lido deck, Which usually consists of pasta or a sandwich. Dinner varies every night, from veal to roast beef to lamb.....lots of meat 😊

Good news: Yesterday we were at sea, and I found that I had an extra hour to relax, so I went to the Lido deck to have some tea and look out into the ocean. During my 45 minute stay, I saw four whales come up and take a few breaths, AND a swordfish leaping in and out of the water, maybe only 50 yards away from the ship!!!! THAT was really exciting for me......I started gasping and the few people around me started looking at me strangely. Oh well, I'm a dork 😊

Bad news: Yesterday, I was at the gym running on the treadmill. Now, on each of the treadmills, there is a thin slip of paper that states "Use treadmill for 30 minutes only". I took that as a reminder to be courteous to other people who want to use the machine. Being as there were only four other people in the entire gym, I decided that I could run longer than 30 minutes and not have it be a problem. So, I'd been running for a while, and I'd slowly worked my way up to a very fast pace of 12 mph, when all of a sudden, the machine shuts off, without a warning. I proceed to run straight into the front of the treadmill, crashing into it and then collapsing to the ground, gasping for air and clutching my stomach. Apparently, the thin strip of paper is not a courtesy reminder....these machine only work for 30 minutes at a time, apparently. Apart from the physical injury, which was minimal (don't worry, I'm fine mom), I looked up to see if people were staring at me, which none appeared to be, but they could have just been being polite. Later that night, while at work, I was telling my story to the audience, and some guy walked in and said that he saw me at the gym today. I asked if he saw my crash landing, and he said no, so I'm hopeful that my incident went unnoticed.

Alrighty then, that's my update for today. Tomorrow I will be in Puerto Vallarta, where I plan to go to Crystal resort and hang out by the pool, drinking a margarita and catching some rays. Today, I might head out to go parasailing at Joe's Oyster Bar....I tried to do it last week, but the wind speeds picked up too much and I had to go jetskiing instead. Major bummer, right? 😊 The day after tomorrow, I will be in Cabo San Lucas, where I will either swim with the dolphins again or visit Sammy Haggar's Bar. Maybe I'll do both 😊 I miss you all very much. Even though I am having some fun out here, I really wish you guys could be with me.

Keep me in your prayers, and I'll be making sure you're in mine. Love you all,

--Charlie

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