We will be having a big change in the band at the end of the next cruise - 3 players will be finishing their contracts, so we'll have a new bass, alto sax, and drummer. I'm excited to see what the dynamic of the band will be then. I've heard really good things about the bass player, and apparently the alto sax is going to be a girl! 75% of the horn line will be female in two weeks! Neat. Ben is going to feel out of place. :-)
We played 4 big band sets tonight, which is one of my favorite things to do (we only do it once every cruise). We have another day off tomorrow, which is nice because I've worn myself out a bit doing so many excursions. I can't wait to sleep in!
Today my excursion went to Lindos in Rhodes, where there is an old castle and acropolis, from which point you have a beautiful view of the coastline (pictures soon!). I really love Rhodes - it is a fantastic island and it is becoming my favorite port of call. I love it. It reminds me a bit of California foothills, only with more rocks and hills and some slightly different vegetation. Most of our ports don't have anything like it - they are all city and no nature. Rhodes is different, and more tranquil, which I really appreciate.
Our last stop on the tour was at a handmade Greek ceramics workshop. I got to watch all the different steps in the process of making and decorating a plate or vase, which are classic Greek art. It was so neat to see that I even bought one - a small plate. Its good to know that it was made right there, and neat that I know exactly how it was made from having watched some works in progress. Well, its getting late, so I will say goodnight!
Mont Blanc
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Kusadasi, Turkey (again)
Good afternoon! Its really hot here in the Mediterranean, especially in the afternoons. I'm in the shade and its still sweltering! I guess California is pretty hot, too, though.
Today I got escorted another tour, and got to go see several neat places near Ephesus. One was the remains of the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There's not very much left of it, but it was still neat to see. We saw a castle from 500 A.D., as well as a house where it is believed that Mary the mother of Jesus spent the last years of her life (while on the cross Jesus told John to take care of his mother, and we know John ended up in Ephesus.) In my opinion, the house is probably not the exact place where she lived, but it was still a neat experience, since she did live somewhere in that general area. But the highlight of the tour for me was St. John's Basilica, where John's actual burial place is. That was an incredible feeling, and the ruins of the basilica were fantastic. I took pictures but I'm having a hard time uploading them today, so you will have to wait til later to see them. Sorry!! But it was pretty darn cool.
Yesterday the band had a day off, so five of us went to the beach together in Mykonos, and then Marie had made a reservation to eat dinner in the dining room. So we all got dressed up and got to eat in the main restaurant like normal guests - and the food was so amazing! The atmosphere made it really great, too. We all stuffed ourselves. I had steak. (I know you would have done the same, Dad :-) Oh, and "chilled strawberry soup" which was basically like thick strawberry juice with cream....probably one of the most refreshing and delicious things I've ever tasted. So good!! It cost us $5 each to cover the tip, but it was SO worth it. We enjoyed our time there so much we think we're going to make a tradition of eating there once a cruise on our night off.
Finally, one more piece of good news - I had a really good conversation with Marie and was able to share the gospel with her. She listened and said she wanted to take some time to think about what I had said. It went so well. Please be praying that god will work in her heart - and that she will ask me more questions about how to become a Christian. She is such an amazing girl - I really hope that the Holy Spirit beings her to a relationship with Jesus. In any case, is was a very satisfying conversation, and went so well. She and I are starting to spend a lot of time together and get pretty close. I hope that God can use me in her life! As a result of all this I am feeling pretty positive about life!! Thanks, God!
Today I got escorted another tour, and got to go see several neat places near Ephesus. One was the remains of the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There's not very much left of it, but it was still neat to see. We saw a castle from 500 A.D., as well as a house where it is believed that Mary the mother of Jesus spent the last years of her life (while on the cross Jesus told John to take care of his mother, and we know John ended up in Ephesus.) In my opinion, the house is probably not the exact place where she lived, but it was still a neat experience, since she did live somewhere in that general area. But the highlight of the tour for me was St. John's Basilica, where John's actual burial place is. That was an incredible feeling, and the ruins of the basilica were fantastic. I took pictures but I'm having a hard time uploading them today, so you will have to wait til later to see them. Sorry!! But it was pretty darn cool.
Yesterday the band had a day off, so five of us went to the beach together in Mykonos, and then Marie had made a reservation to eat dinner in the dining room. So we all got dressed up and got to eat in the main restaurant like normal guests - and the food was so amazing! The atmosphere made it really great, too. We all stuffed ourselves. I had steak. (I know you would have done the same, Dad :-) Oh, and "chilled strawberry soup" which was basically like thick strawberry juice with cream....probably one of the most refreshing and delicious things I've ever tasted. So good!! It cost us $5 each to cover the tip, but it was SO worth it. We enjoyed our time there so much we think we're going to make a tradition of eating there once a cruise on our night off.
Finally, one more piece of good news - I had a really good conversation with Marie and was able to share the gospel with her. She listened and said she wanted to take some time to think about what I had said. It went so well. Please be praying that god will work in her heart - and that she will ask me more questions about how to become a Christian. She is such an amazing girl - I really hope that the Holy Spirit beings her to a relationship with Jesus. In any case, is was a very satisfying conversation, and went so well. She and I are starting to spend a lot of time together and get pretty close. I hope that God can use me in her life! As a result of all this I am feeling pretty positive about life!! Thanks, God!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Messina, Sicily
Well, I am in Messina today, but not getting off the boat. We had a late arrival here and I have a rehearsal soon, so its not really worth getting off. Plus Sicilians have a 4 hour siesta that is going on right now, so there wouldn't be anything open. Next time!
Last night Marie started teaching me French! We decided that she'd teach me French and I'd teach her Spanish, which she's really interested in. We had our first lesson last night - picked out important words and phrases, and then she taught me the French translation while I taught her the Spanish. It was really fun, and we're serious about doing this, so hopefully we'll have learned a lot by October when her contract is up. I am so excited! French is hard to pronounce, though. About as hard for me as Spanish is for her. :-) We're having a good time struggling through it.
Yesterday we got up at 5:30am and tried to get to Rome to see the Vatican, only to find that the train station was having a strike, so we couldn't get there. It turned out for the best, though, because we ended up exploring our port town of Civitavecchia instead - something we might never have done otherwise since Rome is so exciting. Plus we had time to do quite a bit since we were up so early. It was a great day!
Last night Marie started teaching me French! We decided that she'd teach me French and I'd teach her Spanish, which she's really interested in. We had our first lesson last night - picked out important words and phrases, and then she taught me the French translation while I taught her the Spanish. It was really fun, and we're serious about doing this, so hopefully we'll have learned a lot by October when her contract is up. I am so excited! French is hard to pronounce, though. About as hard for me as Spanish is for her. :-) We're having a good time struggling through it.
Yesterday we got up at 5:30am and tried to get to Rome to see the Vatican, only to find that the train station was having a strike, so we couldn't get there. It turned out for the best, though, because we ended up exploring our port town of Civitavecchia instead - something we might never have done otherwise since Rome is so exciting. Plus we had time to do quite a bit since we were up so early. It was a great day!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Kusadasi, Turkey
Hello Everyone!! I am so sorry I haven't been able to update! I've been writing blogs on my computer but been unable to post them because the internet onboard is down. I tried putting the posts on a flash drive, but the computers available to us don't have anywhere I can plug the flashdrive in, so I've been unable to update. It has been quite frusterating! But I'm back again - and I've been able to find a couple of places ashore at different ports where there is wireless internet. So I shouldn't run into this problem again. So now begins the task of updating you!! What follows are the posts I have written in the past two weeks or so, from most recent to oldest. Hopefully it isn't too confusing! But first, the update for today:
We have a new drummer and trumpet player on board, and both seem very nice. The trumpet player is really good. Almost as good as the last guy, who was just amazing. We were all afraid the new guy wouldn't be able to keep up, but so far he's impressed us all. I did end up getting to visit Rome a week ago, which was incredible. I took about a million pictures - it will probably have its own album when I'm able to post the pictures. I saw the Colloseum, the Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. It was so neat. I can't wait to go back - next time its the Vatican for me. :-)
Perhaps the most important recent happening is that God answered a big prayer of mine yesterday. I had been praying for God to give me a chance to share my faith with my fellow crew members, and then yesterday it happened. I was sitting upstairs with the band after we were done for the night, and the conversation turned to religion. Patrick and Hanaya (our new drummer) asked me what I believed and I told them. I also told them to feel free to ask any questions they wanted as I'd love to talk more about it. I wasn't really expecting them to ask, but it turned out that they had a lot of questions, that were really intellectual, profound, and difficult. I did my best to answer them in the intense 2 hour conversation that followed. I don't think I said all the right things or argued all the right points, and I definitely didn't know all the answers, but I am still very grateful to God for the chance to confess Him before men. At the end Hanaya asked if I would give them a Bible study and pray for them!! I know that God is powerful enough to accomplish his work in spite of our failures and weaknesses, and that is my prayer for the results of this conversation and the conversations to follow. While Patrick is very turned off to Christianity and the God of the Bible, Hanaya seems interested, and I look forward to talking with him again. I pray that God works in both their lives in spite of the poor job I did of speaking the truth. It was still truth. No matter what the results, I need to understand that it is my job only to share my faith, not to convert. That's not up to me. And I am grateful that God is already opening doors for me to share his love with others.
Two days ago I escorted a tour in Santorini, and got to hike all over a still active volcano (the one that formed all of the islands of Santorini). It was fun, even though I ended up being a babysitter for a kid whose mother didn't want to have to watch him (she didn't realize that's really not my job, but I didn't mind so I didn't say anything). He talked a lot and was funny. We explored the volcano together and pondered possible courses of action should the volcano choose to suddenly erupt. I took a couple of small rocks even though technically you're not supposed to. :-) Afterwards we went swimming in some hot springs near the edge of the volcano. It was pretty fun. The day before yesterday I escorted a tour in Rhodes and got to see a lot of ancient ruins. I decided I really like Rhodes a lot - it might be my favorite place.
Yesterday Marie and I took a cab to a real mall in Istanbul and had a fun morning doing some girly shopping. Then we relaxed on deck reading books and enjoying the breeze since we had a day off.
*********
Naples, Italy:
Tonight marks the end of my second cruise here, and as I sit and reflect I’m really happy with how things are going. I am happy here, and I have so much to look forward to each day. It is a good feeling.
We played another show that was new to me tonight, for a singer who played the Phantom of the Opera in Australia for years: Donald Cant. He was really personable and fun to work with. His show was just the right amount of challenging and fun, and I enjoyed playing it.
I hope to go into Rome tomorrow with Marie and Patrick – it will be my first time in the city (the airport’s outside of it, and I left straight from there to our port in Civitaveccia). I’m pretty excited!
********
Athens, Greece:
Hello again! My jazz set went really really well the other night. Our new/temporary drummer was really impressed, and the others kept telling me I sounded good. There were quite a few people there listening, and they really seemed to enjoy the music. Hooray!
Today I escorted a tour to the Acropolis in Athens! And I did get some great pictures! Our tour guide was terribly boring, but the sights were spectacular enough to more than make up for it. I can remember learning about the Parthenon and Acropolis my freshman year in high school. It is unreal to actually see them, and have the pictures come alive. They date back to something like the 4th or 5th century B.C. There was also a museum alongside the ruins, with a lot of artifacts – each of which could be the prize piece of a museum in the U.S – but they were all there, in one building. I felt like I was flipping through the pages of an ancient history book, just looking at the pictures. It was pretty incredible. Also, we got to see the Olympic stadium from the 1896 olympics. Neat!
When I got back from Athens, I went and got a massage here on the ship – the first time I’ve ever gotten a professional one. It is half price for the crew, which means that it’s….well, still expensive. But it was worth it. It felt amazing, and I think it did a lot of good. After that I played another jazz set like last night, only I had to come up with totally new songs since I’d just played the night before. As a result I was a bit more anxious about it, but it was fine. Actually, no one showed up – we ended up playing exclusively for the guy manning the vacant martini bar. It was fun – Patrick kept picking random songs, so I was sight reading and winging it. And after every song, Petr would stand up and announce, “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! What would you like to hear next?....” in his thick Russian accent, while executing a grandiose bow to the empty seats. Ha ha!
*******
Rhodes, Greece:
Hello all! I was able to escort my first tour the day before yesterday – to Ancient Ephesus. It was absolutely incredible. Its always nice to get to do a $50 tour for free, but this I would have been willing to pay for. Ephesus was amazing. It isn’t just a couple of rock piles, it’s an entire city, preserved from thousands of years ago. And so much history happened there – Biblical and otherwise. It was really moving to walk along the streets and see the columns, houses, churches, ampitheatres, and the great library. I was walking along the same streets that the apostle Paul (and so many others) walked along. The tour guide pointed out the place where archaeologists believe he stayed while in Ephesus. I couldn’t stop touching everything – it was a truly mind-boggling experience. Unfortunately, my camera batteries gave out just as I was about to take my first picture, so I can’t show you what I saw. But the good thing about this contract is that it is a bit like having an annual pass to Disneyland – I don’t feel pressured to see everything in one day, because I know I can come back again and again. And I know I’ll be able to get pictures next time I come.
Yesterday I went to the guest gym for the first time. We are allowed to exercise in there when there aren’t many guests, which usually translates to when we are in a port and most of the guests are ashore. It is a really really nice gym, and pretty big. I also went upstairs to eat lunch at the buffet for the first time, and it was pretty fantastic. We’re allowed to eat there during the last half hour of the buffet. Let me tell you, the food is amazing. It’s a good thing I’m not allowed to eat it all the time or I’d never stop eating. ☺
Today I explored Rhodes a bit and had lunch there – It is one of my favorite places so far. It is a medieval city, still surrounded by fortress walls and fortifications. It also feels very safe to walk around in, with a lot of neat shops, restaurants, and churches to see. I didn’t see any churches today, but I found a map of the city and next time we’re here I plan to do a lot more exploring and sightseeing. I have a jazz set to play tonight all by myself in Michael’s Club, which is both exciting and scary. Wish me luck!
We have a new drummer and trumpet player on board, and both seem very nice. The trumpet player is really good. Almost as good as the last guy, who was just amazing. We were all afraid the new guy wouldn't be able to keep up, but so far he's impressed us all. I did end up getting to visit Rome a week ago, which was incredible. I took about a million pictures - it will probably have its own album when I'm able to post the pictures. I saw the Colloseum, the Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. It was so neat. I can't wait to go back - next time its the Vatican for me. :-)
Perhaps the most important recent happening is that God answered a big prayer of mine yesterday. I had been praying for God to give me a chance to share my faith with my fellow crew members, and then yesterday it happened. I was sitting upstairs with the band after we were done for the night, and the conversation turned to religion. Patrick and Hanaya (our new drummer) asked me what I believed and I told them. I also told them to feel free to ask any questions they wanted as I'd love to talk more about it. I wasn't really expecting them to ask, but it turned out that they had a lot of questions, that were really intellectual, profound, and difficult. I did my best to answer them in the intense 2 hour conversation that followed. I don't think I said all the right things or argued all the right points, and I definitely didn't know all the answers, but I am still very grateful to God for the chance to confess Him before men. At the end Hanaya asked if I would give them a Bible study and pray for them!! I know that God is powerful enough to accomplish his work in spite of our failures and weaknesses, and that is my prayer for the results of this conversation and the conversations to follow. While Patrick is very turned off to Christianity and the God of the Bible, Hanaya seems interested, and I look forward to talking with him again. I pray that God works in both their lives in spite of the poor job I did of speaking the truth. It was still truth. No matter what the results, I need to understand that it is my job only to share my faith, not to convert. That's not up to me. And I am grateful that God is already opening doors for me to share his love with others.
Two days ago I escorted a tour in Santorini, and got to hike all over a still active volcano (the one that formed all of the islands of Santorini). It was fun, even though I ended up being a babysitter for a kid whose mother didn't want to have to watch him (she didn't realize that's really not my job, but I didn't mind so I didn't say anything). He talked a lot and was funny. We explored the volcano together and pondered possible courses of action should the volcano choose to suddenly erupt. I took a couple of small rocks even though technically you're not supposed to. :-) Afterwards we went swimming in some hot springs near the edge of the volcano. It was pretty fun. The day before yesterday I escorted a tour in Rhodes and got to see a lot of ancient ruins. I decided I really like Rhodes a lot - it might be my favorite place.
Yesterday Marie and I took a cab to a real mall in Istanbul and had a fun morning doing some girly shopping. Then we relaxed on deck reading books and enjoying the breeze since we had a day off.
*********
Naples, Italy:
Tonight marks the end of my second cruise here, and as I sit and reflect I’m really happy with how things are going. I am happy here, and I have so much to look forward to each day. It is a good feeling.
We played another show that was new to me tonight, for a singer who played the Phantom of the Opera in Australia for years: Donald Cant. He was really personable and fun to work with. His show was just the right amount of challenging and fun, and I enjoyed playing it.
I hope to go into Rome tomorrow with Marie and Patrick – it will be my first time in the city (the airport’s outside of it, and I left straight from there to our port in Civitaveccia). I’m pretty excited!
********
Athens, Greece:
Hello again! My jazz set went really really well the other night. Our new/temporary drummer was really impressed, and the others kept telling me I sounded good. There were quite a few people there listening, and they really seemed to enjoy the music. Hooray!
Today I escorted a tour to the Acropolis in Athens! And I did get some great pictures! Our tour guide was terribly boring, but the sights were spectacular enough to more than make up for it. I can remember learning about the Parthenon and Acropolis my freshman year in high school. It is unreal to actually see them, and have the pictures come alive. They date back to something like the 4th or 5th century B.C. There was also a museum alongside the ruins, with a lot of artifacts – each of which could be the prize piece of a museum in the U.S – but they were all there, in one building. I felt like I was flipping through the pages of an ancient history book, just looking at the pictures. It was pretty incredible. Also, we got to see the Olympic stadium from the 1896 olympics. Neat!
When I got back from Athens, I went and got a massage here on the ship – the first time I’ve ever gotten a professional one. It is half price for the crew, which means that it’s….well, still expensive. But it was worth it. It felt amazing, and I think it did a lot of good. After that I played another jazz set like last night, only I had to come up with totally new songs since I’d just played the night before. As a result I was a bit more anxious about it, but it was fine. Actually, no one showed up – we ended up playing exclusively for the guy manning the vacant martini bar. It was fun – Patrick kept picking random songs, so I was sight reading and winging it. And after every song, Petr would stand up and announce, “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! What would you like to hear next?....” in his thick Russian accent, while executing a grandiose bow to the empty seats. Ha ha!
*******
Rhodes, Greece:
Hello all! I was able to escort my first tour the day before yesterday – to Ancient Ephesus. It was absolutely incredible. Its always nice to get to do a $50 tour for free, but this I would have been willing to pay for. Ephesus was amazing. It isn’t just a couple of rock piles, it’s an entire city, preserved from thousands of years ago. And so much history happened there – Biblical and otherwise. It was really moving to walk along the streets and see the columns, houses, churches, ampitheatres, and the great library. I was walking along the same streets that the apostle Paul (and so many others) walked along. The tour guide pointed out the place where archaeologists believe he stayed while in Ephesus. I couldn’t stop touching everything – it was a truly mind-boggling experience. Unfortunately, my camera batteries gave out just as I was about to take my first picture, so I can’t show you what I saw. But the good thing about this contract is that it is a bit like having an annual pass to Disneyland – I don’t feel pressured to see everything in one day, because I know I can come back again and again. And I know I’ll be able to get pictures next time I come.
Yesterday I went to the guest gym for the first time. We are allowed to exercise in there when there aren’t many guests, which usually translates to when we are in a port and most of the guests are ashore. It is a really really nice gym, and pretty big. I also went upstairs to eat lunch at the buffet for the first time, and it was pretty fantastic. We’re allowed to eat there during the last half hour of the buffet. Let me tell you, the food is amazing. It’s a good thing I’m not allowed to eat it all the time or I’d never stop eating. ☺
Today I explored Rhodes a bit and had lunch there – It is one of my favorite places so far. It is a medieval city, still surrounded by fortress walls and fortifications. It also feels very safe to walk around in, with a lot of neat shops, restaurants, and churches to see. I didn’t see any churches today, but I found a map of the city and next time we’re here I plan to do a lot more exploring and sightseeing. I have a jazz set to play tonight all by myself in Michael’s Club, which is both exciting and scary. Wish me luck!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Mykonos, Greece II
I met a new friend last night – her name is Sarah and she works with the children’s program on board. We hit it off right away, and decided to explore Mykonos together the next day. We wandered all over the beautiful city, enjoyed some gelato, and got a lot of great pictures. The city is all white – all the buildings and even the streets. Check out the pictures!
http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032532&l=0c5f9&id=56903845
I found a lot of places I’d like to revisit next time around, including a restaurant on the ocean and a nice quiet little beach. I’m excited to go back.
Also, I just found out I get to go on my excursion tomorrow – I get to tour Ephesus! Hooray! I can’t wait. I have to get up really early, though. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten how to do that already. ☺
I’m beginning to feel a lot more comfortable with the people here now that I’m getting to know them. This was the first day that I felt like I could relax and be myself with them. Things are definitely looking up – today was really a good day.
http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032532&l=0c5f9&id=56903845
I found a lot of places I’d like to revisit next time around, including a restaurant on the ocean and a nice quiet little beach. I’m excited to go back.
Also, I just found out I get to go on my excursion tomorrow – I get to tour Ephesus! Hooray! I can’t wait. I have to get up really early, though. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten how to do that already. ☺
I’m beginning to feel a lot more comfortable with the people here now that I’m getting to know them. This was the first day that I felt like I could relax and be myself with them. Things are definitely looking up – today was really a good day.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Messina, Sicily
Marie, Patrick (pianist), Kevon (A/V), and I got off and wandered around Messina today. It was fun to explore the city with friends and get to know them a little better. We saw a lot of churches, unfortunately we couldn’t get inside of any. This might be because its Saturday – I’m not sure. But it has become my goal now to get inside one of these amazing historical cathedrals. I really want to go in one, and I won’t rest until I have!
I moved yesterday, I am now officially Marie’s roommate. Our cabin is TINY! Its about as big as my parent’s walk-in closet. Actually, I’m not sure if its even that big. It took quite a lot of arranging to find places for my things. Despite that, I am glad to have a roommate. I’ve gotten used to it over the past four years, and its been a little lonely being by myself, especially since I have so much free time. I’m enjoying my new living situation a lot – I even made a game out of trying fit everything in. And won. ☺
We got a new drummer last night, and he was really cool – he was my age and just graduated from Cal State Northridge. I really liked him a lot and was thinking we were going to be great friends – but something was wrong with his medical forms and it looks like they’re going to be sending him home tomorrow. Sad day. Things are going to be interesting for a while as we search for a permanent replacement. (Tyler??) ;-)
I’ve signed up to escort a couple of tours this cruise – I’ll find out whether or not I got chosen to do so the night before each of them. Here’s hoping! Oh, and more pictures are up! Some from Naples, some from today in Messina, and a couple of the band. Check it out – follow the link from two posts ago. Ciao!
I moved yesterday, I am now officially Marie’s roommate. Our cabin is TINY! Its about as big as my parent’s walk-in closet. Actually, I’m not sure if its even that big. It took quite a lot of arranging to find places for my things. Despite that, I am glad to have a roommate. I’ve gotten used to it over the past four years, and its been a little lonely being by myself, especially since I have so much free time. I’m enjoying my new living situation a lot – I even made a game out of trying fit everything in. And won. ☺
We got a new drummer last night, and he was really cool – he was my age and just graduated from Cal State Northridge. I really liked him a lot and was thinking we were going to be great friends – but something was wrong with his medical forms and it looks like they’re going to be sending him home tomorrow. Sad day. Things are going to be interesting for a while as we search for a permanent replacement. (Tyler??) ;-)
I’ve signed up to escort a couple of tours this cruise – I’ll find out whether or not I got chosen to do so the night before each of them. Here’s hoping! Oh, and more pictures are up! Some from Naples, some from today in Messina, and a couple of the band. Check it out – follow the link from two posts ago. Ciao!
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