A Quick Note

I'm also sad that my world map is now outdated.
First Montenegro, now Kosovo. Well, I guess I'll have to go to Staples sometime in the nearby future...

A Legendary Carnival

**Note: I have posted this part on both blogs because it is both international and domestic.**

I went on the Carnival Legend in the early morning of Sunday, with a myriad of people. There were: senior citizens avoiding assisted living, groups of college boys ready for some boozing, groups of college girls ready for some boozing, family reunions, young families with crying children and awkward teens, LOTS of romantic couples, 3 wedding parties, girlfriends on a week getaway, and some other stragglers (us included).
A few notes abut the cruise ship before I go on about my adventures:

• I loved it! It was a really great escape.
• The exterior was mammoth.
  
• The interior was rather gawdy. It reminded me a lot of DisneyWorld or something family-oriented with lots of bulky ornaments.
• There was an ungodly amount of food available at ALL TIMES. Deej would have loved it. People ate 24/7, too! There were buffets, ice cream stations, pizzerias, one sushi table, a bakery, and loads of bars and lounges with bar food. Most people probably gained no less than 5 pounds on the trip. Luckily, I couldn't eat very much of the constant food (gluten), so I only gained about 2 pounds, mostly from water retention.
• The dinners were always very good.
  
• Every night my mom and I would walk into our stateroom with a new adorable towel animal. Some of them had my sunglass on them for a cute effect.
• The servers, waitstaff, and other staff were absolutely amazing! They knew our names before we sat down the first night! After the first night and me telling someone my love of Shirley Temples, the drink server (Calvert) brought me one as soon as I got to our table. They danced and sang and joked with us, but it wasn't fake; they were seemingly having a genuine good time and enjoying our company. And the hostess of the ship came to our table every night to help me pick out gluten free meals for the next day, dessert included. It really made the trip a lot more special.
• A lot of the cruise I napped. Every day I had a nap. I was relaxing!
  
• The ship did sway back and forth, but I did not get seasick. It was almost lulling.
• Everytime we docked or tendered at a port, we were with about 3 other cruise ships. It was like looking at the looming monsters in the background, watching its little precious possessions (the islands, that is). Kind of creepy, to me.
• No, I did not party on the ship. I flirted with some waiters, but otherwise, I was alseep by midnight. There were clubs on the ship, but most of them were full of 18 year-olds or drunk freshmen. I didn't mind.
  

Monday was a day at sea. I went to the spa (yes, there was a spa) and had an Ionithermie treatment on my legs. They rub algae all over you and put electrical sensors on you that stimulate your muscles and break up the cellulite! Slightly uncomfortable, but I cut off 5 inches that day! Sadly, within a few hours after the treatment, I accidentally fell asleep outside in the sun and got 2nd degree burns all over my back and legs. I puffed up like a cream puff like you wouldn't believe, and the burns made it hard to walk and sit (and do most things) for the rest of the trip. I also attempted some Pilates on the ship, but the sway of the ship made it virtually impossible to balance.

Tuesday we tendered to Georgetown, Grand Cayman. The water is gorgeous, and the port was very quaint and colorful. I was a bit disappointed in how developed and merchanidized the port was. People were there to strictly shop, I gathered. Meanwhile I hobbled off the beaten path a bit and enjoyed the quiet, simple scenery of residential neighborhoods.

Wednesday was our stop in Cozumel, Mexico. This was one of the highlights, for me; I signed up to take a boatride to the mainland and see the Mayan Ruins of Tulum!!! The half-hour boatride to and fro was so rocky that the stewards ended up handing out vomit bags to most of the tourists. We landed on the Mexican Riviera at Playa del Carmen, where we boarded our "Sun & Fun" bus and took the hour-long ride to the ruins.
We stopped at a Mayan shop on the side of the street to pick up some souvenirs before getting to the ruins, and I bought some black obsidian stone (which was supposedly mistaken as gold...it shines in the sunlight!). I tasted very nice and smooth tequila, it didn't taste as rank as the stuff from home. The air was extremely arid and hot.
We finally got to Tulum, where we had to walk a kilometer to the groundsite. The cripple I was griped, but the real me was bouncing up and down like a three year old. We got there, and it was huge. The Mayan ruins are absolutely stunning. Behind the walled "temple village" is the amazing beach and port with at least 5 hues of bright blue water and palm trees hugging the ruins. The buildings and foundations were clearly well designed and planned, especially since most positions of ruins coincided with solstices and equinoxes. The massive "human sacrifice" temple was peering over the rest of the city and had a very regal aura to it. Iguanas were everywhere!
After I scurried around the walled city, I walked back before the departure time the indulge in a frozen margarita and arroz con carne. The drink was so strong I barely made a dent in it before feeling mighty punchy, and the arroz were fabulous and super spicy. The ride back to the port (and the ship) were light while I conversed with the older woman next to me.
On the ship, I watched a hypnotist that made a man stuff balloons in his clothing and then pop them (believing they were monkeys).

Thursday was our Belize City day. It was pouring for a lot of the day. Mom was pretty reluctant to the idea of venturing off into the city and away from the port, but after agreeing to shopping for about an hour or so, I finally coaxed her off into "unchartered territories". It was pretty run down (it looked beaten up by storms), and people roamed around on the street shoeless (which I marvel at). But it was still charming. Everyone was super nice and would stop to say hello just because you were there! The city area we were in looked kind of like a slum, but I didn't feel in danger at all ever. I also encouraged my mom to get some fresh fruit and a smoothie before heading back to the ship. All I can say is: they don't make it like that in the US. Simply ambrosial.
While in Belize, I was walking and talking pictures while I heard my name being called. Calvert, one of our servers, comes over to say hello! It was so fun to run into someone else I knew randomly, even if we were both there for the same reason (ahem, the cruise). Mom commented that only I would be able to run into someone randomly and unintentionally in some foreign city, seeing as I have in most cities I've been to recently.
Later that night on the boat was a Robe Party, which was the ship's attempt to have a Toga Party without the college connotations.

Friday was Roatan, Honduras. This one my favorite, and most pleasantly surprising, port. It's this giant, lush jungle-like island full of happy people, pretty landscape, tropical everything, fantastic beaches, and developing ports and bays! I swear, I'm moving there someday. After cruising through some of the little shops on the port, I hazed my mom into a carride with one of the locals to get a better tour of the island. Kicking and screaming, my mom boarded our vehicle and quickly befriended the driver while she showed us around the place.
We saw 2 shipwrecks in the waters on our drive. It was fantastic to see these rusted and gutted skeletons in the reefs. It made me feel a little pirate in me. We bounced and bobbed on the hilly and rocky roads to some of the developing "American" areas, which were, of course, phenomenal. We ended the ride with a visit to the West Bay; where all of the surfers and beach bums have created a great little area of a beach town to congregate.
Of course, there was a big food event on the ship that night: Midnight Artisan Food Gallery. It took 200 manhours to craft these amazing and lifelike sculptures and wonders of architecture in our dining room. It took a little less than 10 hours for the artwork to be completely devoured by the hungry masses of the cruisers. I couldn't eat most of it, luckily. How do people eat that late?

We had our final day at sea. I read, I napped, I ran around the dock, and I went to the gym. While at the gym, I noticed the other gym-goers were gawking at me in disgust. I quickly found out that my sweat had crept under my burnt skin and had blistered the majority of my body to the point that it was squirting out of my skin as I flexed. Disgusting, yes, but also rather funny!
At our final dinner, our table of now closely-knit women shared emails and numbers, and I exchanged emails with two of the waiting staff.
The final show on the cruise was a bunch of the cruisers impersonating singers. It was....interesting.

We had to wake up before the sun rose on Sunday to make our planes. With a huge line of other people disembarking, we trudged off of the port and into the car of the grandparents once more. I think it will be forever a tradition with me to break my luggage as I return to the US from some foreign place. This time the wheel literally fell off. Apparently I picked up the flu on the ship from one of the servers (in a wholly kosher way), so I started getting nauseous as soon as I got into the plane.
When I got back to Newark, Dad Bill and Aimee picked me up to bring me back to the city for Easter Sunday. I got carsick quickly. And NO ONE EVER TOLD ME that you'd feel seasick once getting OFF of the bloody ship! Anyways, I ruined Easter by being unable to eat anything Dad made (and he made it gluten free just for me!). I crashed into bed early, feeling like I was on a rocking ship.

The last two days I have fought off the flu mostly and have things running back to normal. All quiet on the western front, for now.

2 Weeks Ago...

Alex was visiting me 2 weeks ago, when I last wrote. We had a pretty great time and talked a lot. Lots of bonding, a bit walking around...sadly, I was still working and studying for midterms when she came over, so a lot of the sightseeing she had to do on her own. But for the jetlag she first felt, she was QUITE the trooper! She came to Chamber rehearsal the first night and partook in our singing extraordinary attempts. Poor girl, wanted to conk out and I wouldn't let her until 11pm.
We went one night out to dinner with one of her Polish-American friends from Australia (this is her normal relations with people; meeting them in their unnatural countries). It was this pretty overpriced restaurant in SoHo, Boom, where the waiter acted dim and I had to explain in full detail 3 times what "gluten" was. It was frustrating, but the company was alright. I later parted ways with her and her group of friends to get a flourless chocolate cake from Cocoa Bar (which, I will admit, was a bit disappointing, too) and spent the remainder of the night with Lauren and Jenni chez eux.
That Saturday Alex and I ran to meet up with Kami before he left for France. I will miss that boy, he was such a sweetheart.

Monday through Wednesday were pretty boring. I just worked and studied. I had a big midterm on Wednesday, and when that was done, I ran around and finished many errands that I had been avoiding.
Thursday night after work I went ou to dinner with my boss and co-worker. We went to this LOVELY tapas bar called Alta, where we spent 5 hours drinking wine, eating tapas, and talking about all kinds of interesting topics. I learned all about Santiago! Scary... After getting home not-so-sober around midnight and drunk-dialing a certain Matt, I went to bed and woke up in the morning to say farewell to my dear Alex. She left for DC that day, and the next day I was out of town myself. Parting is such sweet sorrow to those you hold dear. I was treated out again by my boss to lunch, where we finished our conversation a bit before heading back to a long day at work.

Saturday morning I had to haul my luggage and me all the way to Newark. It took two hours. Yet again I missed out on making nice talk to a cute guy who was going to sit next to me, in which the fates scolded me by having a big grumpy man sit right between the two of us in the plane. Another trip where I was smeared onto the window of the moving vessel. I slept most of the way to Tampa. And then, I was picked up by "them": the grandparents. The ones who say terrible things to me and my family on a frequent basis. Waiting for my mom's flight, grandma scolded and lamented about all of the trouble she had put herself in just to buy my mother and me treats for our one "short" day visit that neither of us could eat (meet diabetes and celiac). Despite my attempts at being helpful and showing them a long list of Tampa restaurants with gluten-free menus, my grandmother insisted on a buffet-styled dump for dinner where they didn't even understand what I meant by eating limitations. Yeah, I got sick that night a bit. And grandma & grandpa complained the whole dinner about how terrible it all was, though they picked the darn place.

The next morning my mom and I rushed to get ready and leave so we could get to the ship port as early as possible to escape the grandparental grips.

A Few Of The Rendez-Vous

Last Monday I made dinner for Dad and Bill. They seemed to like it alright, though it took forever and a day to cook. It had okra (which I am now quite fond of) and it was pretty simple but healthy! We had a nice discussion about what I plan on doing with my life (which, of course, is hard to figure out) and I got back home at a decent hour to start my homework.

Tuesday after work I went to dinner at Vento on Stern's dime. The best part of the meal, for me, was the Shirley Temple that I forced the waiters to bring me rounds of. The worst part of the meal was that almost everything had gluten in it! The appetizers were plentiful, and I couldn't eat a damn one of them, sans the olives and the garden salad. The waiter apologized to me for this, but I really should have known better...anyways, the food was good that I got to eat. The salmon was excellent! And I bonded with my friend Paul during the dinner, so no huge loss. The Stern alumnus there was completely drunk and rambled about not being a negotiator (sign of weakness or something...). What a laugh!
Afterwards I went to school to help teach Rob how to salsa. We didn't get too far though...mostly because we had to first teach him rhythm and music. Baby steps...though I had a ball with him

Wednesday I found out my Columbia application was due in two days, so I hauled my energy completely to the writing and completion of 2 essays for submission. I ended up going to Neil's place and hanging out with him and Chaz while they watched "I Know Who Killed Me" and I wrote my essays. Worst movie ever, by the way.

By Friday I was finally done with my application and passed it in! I celebrated my completion by getting sick on a really AMAZING cookie at Jacques Torres and chasing it with their spicy hot chocolate. Lots of gluten, bad. Worth it? I think so. I then spent the evening at Lauren's and celebrated more with chocolate-covered strawberries. We waited for Matt to show up so we could go to Jenni's rock show debut. She was nervous to the point of being sick, but she really did well! If only she had more confidence. Afterwards we went back to their apartment and talked more, like usual.

I walked around and worked on errands and homework all Saturday. I don't know why, but I was struggling concentrating on much, so I finally sought refuge at Lauren's again, this time to watch A Knight's Tale. What a classic.

I was supposed to go on a date after Chambers on Sunday with this guy, but he ended up forgetting and I wallowed in disappointment (or let down?) with some AMAZING chocolate from Australian! It's this great Dutch company that makes Australian ice cream with Belgian chocolate in New York! What else but globalisation. It really was amazing, though. I will definitely visit later on...And then I ventured on a romantic adventure on the eastern parts of St Marks Place. What gems in the city I had never known about! Health stores, kosher stores, a fabulous bookshop! I went nuts!
I then met up with Kami and had dinner with him at a Korean restaurant in the neighborhood. We had a great time joking around and talking about the world and our experiences, life, all of that. In English, sadly, but I was impressed with how much he had improved. We had talked for a few hours, and ended it with him coming back to talk to Deejay about Thailand. The UN is forcing Kami to go to Thailand for a conference there that he put together for free. Poor kid.

There was another Rendez-vous at FIAF on Tuesday that I went to. I miss French a lot, and it felt good just getting back into it! I want more now...
Beforehand I went to another career fair, which was not useful for me again (be surprised). I got some freebies at least. And I ended up meeting a woman teaching another man Farsi at school and got her information so we could arrange something between us. I'll be fluent in no time.

Wednesday I cleared my schedule to go visit Sanavita to meditate. Lord, did I need it! I worked out a lot of issues I was going through, and some more interesting phenomenons happened while I was going through my shamanic journey. I have a lot to work out still, but it was nice getting myself back into itself and kind of sinking into my core. I am feeling better again.

Finally! Today my dear Alex came in from Paris! She's jet-lagged now and is asleep, but she is wonderful and I'm so glad to have her with me for the week. We had a great talk, I cooked us dinner, and she brought me Swiss chocolate! Oh man....that girl knows me too well. I look forward to some interesting days with her.