Oh, Lima!

So, we're in Lima (Callao), Peru for our second day in a row with one more to go. The first day, as usual, I was on IPM. Today, Sherwin had the day off until 4:00, so after I worked the morning library shift, we took a taxi into town. Unfortunately, Bush is here along with every other political figure for the APEC meeting, so we couldn't go into Mira Flores because of the crazy security (40,000 cops were brought in for this meeting.) This place is so unsafe on our own though, so we took a "safe Cab" offered by the port to the mall, the only place open for today because it's Sunday, plus the whole APEC deal. We walked around for about an hour, we bought a real churro (it's not just the sugar and cinnamon like the ones in the states), and it had a creamy center that was delicious. We enjoyed it! After a while of walking and looking at all the Christmas stuff, we were both homesick and ready to just sit until the cab came back to pick us up. We sat in Starbucks and just people-watched for a bit. Nothing too exciting, but tomorrow I'm going to a local orphanage and I must admit I'm quite excited about it yet nervous at the same time. I'm sure just seeing the kids will be a bit upsetting, but I'm so excited to see them happy when the can enjoy the cookies and presents we are bringing them!

Ok – so it's a couple days later (we're in Ecuador again today and tomorrow). Like I said, 6 of us went to the Hogar San Antonio, which is the San Antonio Orphanage. The port agent picked us up around 11:30 and we headed over to their office to load the car with the 5 boxes of clothes we had collected from all the crew and an interpreter, then we headed straight towards the orphanage. Once we arrived, we had to sit outside while the guard checked all our ID's. One of the buses from the school was unloading in front of us. The kids were primarily special needs children. Anyways, once we got inside they began giving us a tour of all the different age groups. Half the children were still in school and they were about 20 minutes away from going through the transition of swapping out the groups. The first stop was with the youngest children – the youngest was probably 3 or so. 90% of the 10-12 kids in this room were special needs. They were so excited to see us – they ran up and just wanted to hug us and say hello. We had to be careful of who got what, but we handed a few of them those giant pencils with erasers, but they all got peanut butter cookies. We toured several more rooms with different age groups; the oldest group of boys were 9-12, if I remember correctly. We handed all of them cookies, we gave each group an inflatable ship or two and had the interpreter explain that that is where we worked. The older boys got postcards of the ship and they thought that was so cool!

Next stop was the girl's quarters upstairs. Just as we did with the boys, we met all the girls – most of them ready to leave for school, just waiting on the bus to arrive. Most of the groups of girls were quite reserved, but again – their smiles were incredible, just to see them get these pencils and ships and things like that, they were so excited. The oldest girls were the most fun, though. We walked in there and they were all trying to say Good Morning in English and they were so proud that they did it. We were touring their dorm-type area and they started singing us a song in Spanish. So, you all know me and I said we have to sing them a song back…I picked "If you're happy and you know it…" They thought it was so funny that we were doing crazy things. They sand us another one. So for our last song, I knew they would know "head, shoulders, knees & toes," but juts in Spanish. SO I began to sing it in English and the two ringleaders of the group starting singing it in Spanish. Tons of fun J

The woman showed us their infirmary and things like that and the interpreter was phenomenal at interpreting everything for us. He was even touched, he said he had never done anything like that before and he was so happy he did it with us.

Our final stop, the woman had to give us a head's up. She told us it might be hard for us to see children with severe disabilities. We all said we wanted to do it – that's what we were there for. We went into the last facility with about 12 kids in wheelchairs. None of them were physically able to talk, but they knew we were there. I made an effort to at least acknowledge every child and give them a bit of human touch - I'm sure they don't get the affectionate touch like we all do, and we all know that we need it. There were a few little boys who were so strong. They pulled and pulled and just wanted to hold our hand. Eventually, we figured out it was the flash of the photographer's camera. So we would click the flash and they would just start hysterically laughing. I had a pump (the ones that you use to blow up floats and things like that) so I was puffing it in his face and he thought it was just fantastic. We ended up in there for about 20 minutes and were ready to head out. We stopped in their room (the special needs) sleeping quarters. There were three boys in there. The first one was a little boy, probably 2 or 3. The photographer from the ship was a bit distant with most of the kids. Not sure if it's just her personality or she just wasn't a kid person or it was hard for her to see. When we saw the first little boy, she melted. She spent a ton of time with him tickling him – he had a belly laugh that could make anyone smile! The second kid was physically unable to move. The only thing that he could move was his eyes, his teeth were worn down and he had no vocal response to anything. I went and talked to him for a bit and rubbed his arm. Then I got attached to the next little boy. I would rub his back or his arm and he would go into fits of laughter. It's truly hard to explain what it's like to see these kids laugh, but it's refreshing in a sense. I'm sorry, it's probably not making much sense to you as you read this. We decided to head out and say our Goodbyes to the kids. Darlene, one of the girls with us was outside crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said that the little boy in the middle (the one I said was physically unable to move) was only expected to live no more than 2 weeks. Wow…reality hits there!

Truly, this facility was amazing though. It was clean and organized and just well run overall. I was so impressed at the entire facility and its efficiency – I told the lady who was giving us the tour (well, I told the interpreter, he told her J) The kids were so happy and the adults were so appreciative and grateful for us just visiting. The director, the lady giving us the tour, said profuse thank you's and said these kids have no idea what a Mom or a Dad or a true family are. The teachers and staff give all they can and want to give more, but unfortunately it's not that easy. I'll stop ranting now, but want to say what an incredible experience – it's reality, it's refreshing, uplifting, motivating and just makes me smile every time I think about it. I recommend that type of experience to anyone with a heart!

The port agent interpreter, Cesar, took us to lunch since we still had a bit of time. We went to a place called Bembos, basically a fast food restaurant. Thank Goodness for Cesar! He helped us all order and when the guys got really confused and got all the orders wrong, he fixed it. Of course, we bought him lunch- but we had a great time just hanging out with him and learning about the Peruvian culture!

I think that's all for now, I will post pictures hopefully on the 6^th in Ft. Lauderdale!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Eat Turkey (the dark stuff J) for me!

 

Look at Me!

I just posted a post yesterday and I'm doing it again today! We were in Trujillo, Peru today and it was very eerie. The port was an industrial one and it literally looked like they could have filmed a movie about space in port. No vegetation – all black sand, dust and rocks. Once we got out of the port (we took a cab, the shuttle was taking forever)- we started to see a little vegetation, but this whole city is pure poverty. It looks like the projects everywhere. The streets are full of vendors selling anything and everything they can.

When we got into the city, the city center was beautiful full of historic buildings and statues. The buildings were all bright and vibrant colors – you'll see that in the pictures (Hopefully I'll get tons of them posted on December the 6^th – I'm so excited for you guys to see some of them).

Anyways, back to Trujillo! We walked around for a bit – nothing to see but tons of junk. Very run down and yet quite clean at the same time. We ended up at a restaurant of sorts. More like a sandwich shop. Very small wooden benches and tables and the bathroom door was made for someone no taller than 5 foot 1. Gavin and I sat at one table and the other three sat at another (that's how small these tables and benches were). I got a bottle of water, a sandwich with fries (but put ketchup that wasn't ketchup on them that tasted nasty. God saying "Sydney, don't eat them". Well God, it worked! Gavin ordered a beer, ¼ of a chicken, fries and a salad. The entire meal was $9.00. Woohoo! That's about all for Trujillo!

There's a couple on board, Carol and Dave, that are from Tennessee and they are super sweet! She actually makes angels with ribbon and pearl heads and they're made out of those big paperclips. I think they're called butterfly ones, but not sure. She gives them to everyone (she brought 1,000 with her…Sherwin and I both have one!) Anyways, she wears 3 (large) diamond rings and I've been joking with them that she can donate just one and it would be ok. She laughed and said "not on your life, Sydney." One day, her husband was sitting at a computer and I found a picture of a Cartier ring (huge!) and asked him if I could get that one since Carol wouldn't share. He said "Sure!" Anyways, it's been a running joke for awhile now and today they bought me a silver ring with a heart. He said "I couldn't see that ring you showed me because you were on the other end of the room, but today I saw this one and I'm pretty sure it resembles that one." How awesome J

There's also another "Angel Lady" named Peggy with her husband Bob on board – she makes angel earrings and hands them out – she gave me a pair the other day. God's looking out for me these days! ::Thank goodness somebody is::

Alright…have a good one! Hope all are well!

Where in the World is Sydney??

I figured I was due for an update and I actually have a few minutes to sit and breathe, so I guess I'll get right to it J

I don't think I ever wrapped up last cruise – not sure where I left off, so I'll start with our last port of Half Moon Cay, which is Holland America's private island. The only thing I can say about it is that it is INCREDIBLE. The sand on the beaches is softer and finer than powdered sugar. The water is crystal clear and the perfect temperature. True Paradise. I happened to be quite lucky because I was assigned to run the island activities on the island for the day (actually both days we were there…we did Half Moon Cay, Ft. Lauderdale for embarkation and Half Moon Cay again!). Truly, when there are activities there, nobody shows up – so I would lie on the beach – walk to the volleyball court for 5 minutes…and back to the beach! All of our workers (primarily Bar Staff and dining room servers) go over to the island and we take all the supplies to sell, so unfortunately Sherwin couldn't go over the first time and the second time he was working on the island – so I did get to see him throughout the day!

Anyways, to sum up Half Moon Cay – it's just a real-life Utopia. The white (soft) sand, crystal clear water, the cabanas, the sting rays…it's all just perfect.

In between the two Half Moon Cay's, we went to Fort Lauderdale for Embarkation. We went to Target (which is wonderful! You never realize how much you miss things like Target and Wal-mart until you can't have them for a few months! Then we went to the Philippine Consul so Sherwin could get some documents signed. Busy day, but nothing exciting.

Next stop…Grand Turk. Fantastic Island – just for relaxing and hanging out. There's a pool where everyone went with the swim-up bars, but Sherwin and I just laid on the beach and relaxed. Fresh air…amazing!

Santa Marta, Colombia and Fuerto Amador, Panama - I had IPM both days, so couldn't get off at either. (I've been a bit screwed over lately with my days off – because we've had tendering and no crew shore leave in the San Blas Islands in Panama…and my boss is an absolute moron.)

We stopped at the San Blas Islands in Panama, but no crew shore leave. It's a very very primitive island and quite small. Literally, I can see the entire island from one window of the ship and fit it all in one picture. It's about 200 steps across the entire thing, from what I've heard. The Indian chief even pulled up in his canoe to sell stuff on board. I mean, the natives came up to the ship in these very small wooden canoes (looks like they were literally carved out of a tree) and they're taking on water and quite a distance from the shore (we tendered here also), just to beg for money. They were pointing at people and holding up dollar bills and asking us to throw them down! The worst part is that in these unstable little canoes with only a paddle or two had 3-4 children to help them beg! Crazy! (By the way, no target or wal-mart anywhere. No thanks!)

The next day we entered the Panama Canal again at Cristobal. We will enter the canal again at Balboa on the 29^th, if anyone is interested. They can check out the webcam at www.Pancanal.com. It's pretty neat to watch – I'll post the specific locks and times when I get them. I can't wait for you all to see some of the cool pictures I've taken of the canal the first time we went through!

Yesterday, we were in Manta, Ecuador. My boss screwed me over a bit, so I ended up having to stay on board until about 2pm. Worked out okay anyway, Sherwin got off at 2 so we could just go together. I wanted a Panamanian hat (because they're made in Monte Cristo, Ecuador…ironic). Some passengers said that there was a market right where the shuttle dropped us off. I went to the gym and ate lunch and started walking back to my cabin so we could go. I looked out the port side of the ship and just see a couple hundred people running from the fishing ship on the next pier. It looked like ants fleeing from an ant pile that was just disrupted. Then you see many of the men running for dear life back into the ship and just dragging out bodies and ripping their clothes off. I started to pray and actually got a little emotional – I could only imagine the fear that these people were feeling. I watched for a few more minutes and they just kept hauling body after body of injured guys from the ship. They had to wait a few minutes because of the toxic fumes coming from inside (I'll type the article in a minute, so you can read the details). I ran down to the cabin because Sherwin was waiting and I was doing no good by watching. As soon as we got to the cabin they announced the gangway and the port were closed. (There were so many ambulances – they were stuffing 4 in each because there were so many injuries – and soon to find out, deaths.)

So here's the article:

Explosion in Nicaraguan ship kills five

Quito: At least five people have been killed and 30 injured in an explosion on board a Nicaraguan flagged vessel in the port of Manta in western Ecuador, EFE news agency reported Thursday, quoting officials.

Juan Carlos Medranda, the head of radio operations for the Manta firefighters, said that the blast occurred when a pipe on board the ship carrying ammonia gas ruptured and the gas ignited.

The injured and the people who were present near the explosion area were taken to nearby health facilities, Medranda said adding that there was no danger in the ship or its surrounding area now.

Meanwhile, Patricio Mora, the Manta port captain, said the vessel was flying the Nicaraguan flag and provided services to an Ecuadorian fishing company.

The 1800-ton ship arrived at the port Monday, Mora said adding that the explosion occurred when 450 tons of frozen tuna were being unloaded and one of the rock-hard fish bumped into the ammonia pipe. (IANS)

End of article J
PS – The port agent tried to give the excuse to the captain that this was only a drill….we found the real article/information J

The port was closed for about 30 minutes and they let us go. Sherwin and I went down to the shuttle and the lady made an announcement that we were going to have to wait a few minutes before leaving and we didn't know how long it would take and how many shuttles they would let in. So, we didn't want Sherwin to be late, so he left and I stayed with some of the Steiners (spa girls/guy). We went to the market and I got a male hat and a female hat, in the boxes for $21.00. Initially they wanted $15 for one. I said no…$20.00 for two. After much more bargaining, we ended at $21.00. Several other people paid $20.00-$25.00 per hat J Mom, you did well! I also got two 10-count of the natural crayons (the wood with the colored wax in them…they wanted $2.50 a pack- got them both for $2.00.) Then we headed to the mall ($5.00 for 5 of us and a 10 minute ride!), walked around for a bit and came back (3 of us for $2.00 – two of the girls wanted to stay for awhile longer. That was my day in Manta J

This was way longer than I intended, but a crazy day yesterday. Just pray for their families – I can't stop thinking about it.

Hope this finds everyone well!

 

 

 

 

Panama, Panama

I’ve been dreading writing this for over a week now and I’ve decided to bite the bullet because it’s only going to become a list that is longer and longer and longer! So, we’ll go Port by Port on this one :)

First Port of Call: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

I wasn’t IPM, but it is a tender port, which means a busy morning. So, I’m handing out tender tickets in the Show lounge. Things started going wrong when it took the ship until 10:20 to get cleared (normally we’re cleared by 10 a.m. so tendering can get underway.) We had started handing out the tender tickets at 10:00 a.m. and anticipated the first tender to leave by 10:15. No dice. Some people ended up sitting in the Lounge for 2 hours – I had people screaming in my face, arguing with me and all I could say was “I’m sorry, I’m going on what the captain is telling me on the walkie-talkie.” Now, how often to I break down in front of people? Well, I wasn’t going to this time either. After 2.5 hours of nasty beasts in my face, I had to walk back stage and take a few deep breaths – I was done! I had the Broadcast technician turn the TV on – he turned on sports. The women complained. Then, we switched it to CNN and a riot broke out because these conservative pricks (excuse my French but their behaviour was atrocious!) started flipping out. So I turned on the Shore Excursion Demo – they we happy with that. Go figure. After we finally got everyone off, I made some enemies, but I couldn’t go ashore because I had an activity an hour later. Luckily, I had quite a few supportive passengers that confirmed what ass holes people were to me. Uh well, Cabo isn’t my favorite place anyways!

Next, we docked in Acapulco. We had an initial threat of having to tender in this port also. I said they would not put me down in front of those people again, unless there was a deck officer there to explain the entire procedure. Luckily, no tendering. I did end up getting off, but didn’t want to take a taxi by myself for 20 minutes to where the hotel was with everyone – didn’t think it was safe. So, I walked around the city for about an hour – had enough of the “Hey Lady..buy this!” I decided I’d just go back to the ship, since Sherwin had to work the whole time I had off and lay by the pool. It was fantastic!

Santa Cruz, Mexico- I was In Port Manning.

Puerto Chiapas, Mexico- Always an adventure with Sydney! Sherwin and I both had the entire day off so we wanted to do some kind of excursion or something fun like Jet skiing. So, we got off the ship, found a cab company that was willing to take us to “Playa Linda” round trip. The ad had an awesome resort with a nice beach and restaurant. They said it was a great place to eat and relax. We get in the cab and get dropped off at “Villas de las Orcas” resort. Not a soul was there. We walk out to the beach – not a single person…anywhere. It was almost eerie. After 40 minutes of walking around in search of a phone (the resorts was broken and they all kept pointing us different directions) someone understood what we were asking and got the cab back to pick us up. They took us back to the Port and we spoke to the girl. She gave us $10.00 back and we were happy. Bought a cool sterling silver sunshine pendant with an amber center, Evan’s birthday gift, and Sherwin got a couple Corona shirts, from a legitimate Corona store for only $5.00 each. He was happy! We ended up right in front of the ship…literally. As soon as you walked off the gangway, there was a pool and a big thatched (I think that’s what it’s called) roof with food and drinks – so we ate, ordered margaritas and beer and sat with a large group of crew and swam all day. It ended up being way more fun…we had a long day to relax!

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala: Awesome! Again, not much was there but we went off and walked around through all the local vendors - Just the typical South American arts and crafts and other jewelry. After walking around for a bit, we ended up at another restaurant (we eat a lot!). It was the only thing to do! Ran into some friends there and had a good time. You’ll see lots of pictures of this restaurant and we were right in front of the aft of the ship.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica: In Port Manning.

Panama Canal…was amazing! I got up extra early (and was supposed to be working in the library) to see us go through the locks. I stayed outside for about 2 hours to watch the ship enter and exit the first one and then I was outside for the last one because it was so large and did the lowering. What a fascinating process and incredible to see and understand all the work that went into it and the 100’s of thousand’s of people that working on this engineering feat. The raising and lowering of the ship…very very neat!

We go through there another 2 times in the next month, so I’ll see it a bit more. Rumor has it, that it is $80,000-$100,000 each time one goes through the canal – and that’s for everyone, even the Panamanian Ships. Also, $1 Billion dollars in maintenance a year…WOW!

Cartagena, Colombia: It was another day where Sherwin and I both had off until 4:30, so we went into town as soon as we could get off. We docked in a container port, so there wasn’t much there. When we reached the “terminal” there was a free shuttle – and Sherwin and I assumed it was into town. Well, no. It was back to the ships – so we got a grand tour of the containers :) We walked a bit and caught a cab – we said we wanted some good seafood and he took us to the best restaurant. I wanted to take pictures, but there were too many people and my small camera broke, so I couldn’t imagine whipping out the big one in the middle of this local restaurant. Very authentic though, with the bright yellow walls, wooden chairs. I ordered a “Shrimp Casserole” which was a shrimp soup – shrimp in coconut milk is what Sherwin says it was…anyways, it was delicious! Sherwin got what he’s been looking for since Asia…a fried red snapper. We ate some plantains and garlic shrimp. Service was a bit slower, per say. We’re used to being in and out of a restaurant in about an hour. Nope….THREE HOURS LATER :) It’s ok…we enjoyed just being away from the ship without too much of a time constraint.

We’ll be in Half Moon Cay (Holland America Line’s Private Island) which I hear is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone says that it is absolute Paradise – more than Bora Bora. I know it is run by the natives and our employees – so I’ll make sure to get some pictures before then!

I think that’s all for now. I’m sure there are things I’ve left out – but I’ve given the general gist of it all I think!

New Observation: You know you should probably not eat that cookie if you are now wearing Wal-Mart Scrubs ALL the time. Smart Casual does not mean scrubs are ok- especially since you aren’t a doctor/nurse or anything in between!

I voted!

November 4th, 2008

I voted…for Obama!!

Personally, I think it’s incredible to see such a huge historical event in time. I must admit, when hearing his first speech, I got goose bumps- To see Rev. Jesse Jackson in tears was a sight and the way he spoke of his family and friends. But truly, I think his speech was wonderful. Short, Sweet, and he promised nothing other than an attempt to fix some of the problems – yet no guarantees. I can respect that.