Better late than never!

Things have been a bit crazy here as we make the transition to a brand new band leader. Our beloved Jorge left a few days ago, which was hard for me and Marie. Fortunately, our new band leader (who is also a pianist, since Patrick is now gone as well) is really great so far. He is a good, energetic pianist, and a very positive, encouraging, and responsible band leader. He goes by Jack, and is about 40 years old, from Poland. Our new bassist (Joe) is in his mid-thirties and is from Pennsylvania - he also has a Master's degree in double bass performance, aka he rocks. He is really really good. Last night we had our first jazz set as a new band, and it was so much fun to play with these guys. Usually we just have electric bass at the sets, but there is a double bass that lives on the ship and is used for a ceremony once a cruise. Joe commandeered it for the jazz set, and it was so awesome. He is really really good on it. Jorge wasn't comfortable using one, so never did. This is going to be a great change. We'll miss Jorge a lot, but things turned out much better than we expected.

Last week was my first birthday away from home, family, and old friends. It was a strange experience, but also a pretty good one. It was hard to be so far from home, but for the circumstances I think it couldn't have been better. First, my church threw me a little party (I have videos!) and made me a cake that said Happy Birthday Andrea, and sang to me in Spanish and English. I spent a lot of time with friends the night before and the night of, and the cast sang Happy Birthday to me. The band took me out to lunch, and we happened to be in Kusadasi that day, which meant my birthday lunch was authentic Turkish food, in an outdoor cafe with cats wandering around and Turkish music playing. Possibly the weirdest birthday ever - I felt very far from home. But it was a fun day to spend with the band. Next I bought myself a birthday present - An authentic Turkish Carpet. I made sure to get one big enough to sit on in case it ever gets it into its' little carpet-brain to be a magic flying carpet. :-) After that, I returned to the ship only to discover that the singer had gotten sick and cancelled her show. So instead of an afternoon rehearsal and 2 shows, I had the night off for my birthday!! Woohoo! Not that I'm happy about the singer getting sick and quarantined, of course.... :-) So I relaxed and watched a movie, didn't practice at all (gasp!!), and then got ready to call home and celebrate with my family. Unfortunately for me, all the phones on the ship decided this would be the perfect time to all stop working at once. I was really frustrated for a while, and getting desparate because I knew they were waiting to call...but finally a kind soul lent me their Greek cell phone, which had 10 minutes left on it. It worked, and gave me just enough time to make that most important call and celebrate with my family. I opened their present while on the phone with them, and they sent me all of the most perfect gifts. Their creativity made it seem like I really was home with them, eating, drinking, singing, dancing, and laughing. They are the best family ever. I was a bit emotional after talking to them, and went out by myself onto the crew deck to sit for a while. The sky was clear and beautiful, and God gave me three shooting stars for my birthday. After that, I spent a bit more time with friends, and then went to bed happy. I will never forget this birthday -that is for sure! I'll always remember sitting by myself near the ships' railing, gripping the phone between my face and shoulder while opening my present and sitting on the wrapping paper to keep it from blowing overboard. Good times. To my family: thanks for making my birthday so wonderful. I love you SO MUCH. I can't believe everything you did for me. I love you.

And to all you who don't have facebook: here are the links to my photo albums!

http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036639&l=5fa5f&id=56903845

http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036384&l=41776&id=56903845

http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036638&l=082f5&id=56903845

http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034423&l=50c7a&id=56903845

http://apu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038821&l=0ee67&id=56903845

Civitavecchia

Yesterday I had the most unique show experience I’ve had since I got here – I ran powerpoint. Ha ha. The guest entertainer was a pianist named Naki Ataman, and there are no horns in his show – it only uses bass and drums from our orchestra. All his show consists of is a nonstop trip through the music of 23 different countries, and there is a slide show for each country, beginning with the country’s flag, followed by a bunch of pictures of famous places or things from the country. The music never stops, and he never says a word to the audience, just flows from one country to the next, nonstop for over an hour. I think you would either find it very interesting and impressive, or incredibly boring. Anyway, back to the powerpoint presentation….Since he doesn’t actually stop in between countries, the cue for the next country is the reappearance every few minutes of the theme from “Around the World in 80 Days.” He always plays it before moving on to the next country, but he does it in different keys, with different tempos, and totally different styles (going along with the music style of each country). So, he requires a musician to sit backstage, listen carefully in order to recognize the theme, and push “enter” every time he finishes that theme and begins a new country. Apparently there is always a big fight among the orchestra cause no-one wants to do it. I didn’t mind (hey, I didn’t have plans) and volunteered. I sat through an hour and a half rehearsal, followed by two shows. It wasn’t bad, the hardest thing was to stay focused during the entire show. You can’t stop listening even for a moment because you might miss the cue. Plus he plays his piano solos slightly differently each time. So you can’t just assume you have 5 minutes and zone out. It was a bit rough to stay 100% focused since it got boring rather quickly, especially the third time around. I have been told a lot of horror stories about people who stopped paying complete attention and got lost, messing everything up completely, having the wrong country up on the screen, causing Naki to skip 20 minutes of his show….stuff like that. But, I am proud to say, I did a flawless job. I was always right on. I was strangely proud of myself. And it was a bit fun to do something I’ve never done before. And everyone was very appreciative of me being willing to do it. I got personal thank-you’s from my band leader, production manager, and the cruise director himself. ☺ Oh, and almost a dozen from Naki himself, who is a very sweet, gray-haired Turkish gentleman (straight from Istanbul) who speaks almost frighteningly perfect English and is fluent in 5 or so other languages. I hear he’s going to be on next cruise….I’m thinking I’ll just volunteer to do it again to make things easier for everyone. He wouldn’t have to explain it to someone again and no-one would have to sit through the long rehearsal. We’ll see.

Today Marie and I had a date in Rome – just the two of us. We didn’t really have a plan or an agenda, but we walked around all day and saw so much. There is always more to see, especially in Rome. For lunch we had pasta and gelato and felt very Italian. It was really nice to be with her all day and be so far from the ship (since Rome is at least an hour away by train). It was nice to really get away and not feel rushed, either. We got off the train at the Vatican, walked by it through a tunnel, and then walked North along the river for quite a while, past the Castel St. Angelo. We walked all the way through the city past the Spanish Steps to the terminal on the other side. We are quite exhausted now that we’re back on the ship, and couldn’t wait to take a shower. (This will make sense only to a few of you, but the whole day reminded me of the song from Wicked, “One Short Day”) ☺ It was a great day.

Rhodes, Greece

I slept in late today and then went out with Marie, Jorge, and Lisa for lunch in Old Town. We had the Greek classic food: gyros. It was an awesome breakfast/lunch. :-) After we spent about an hour there, we split up and I wandered around Old Town on my own a bit. I found a really old church when I left the main touristy squares. Its really amazing - the town is so crowded and busy, loud and full of shops, but all you have to do is turn up one of the side streets to find a quiet, sleepy, small-town feel. The streets are very narrow, only big enough for people or motorcycles, and are very safe to explore and walk around. When I found the church (which was closed - why are they always closed??) I decided it was a good place to sit for awhile. I went around behind it and sat against a wall behind the garden, under some big trees. It was really beautiful and peaceful. I listened to music on my ipod (mostly Ginny Owens today) and journaled. There was a cat that kept walking by me and looking at me intently, but I couldn't coax it over to me. I think I need to bring food next time. I was there for an hour and a half, and it was really nice to be pretty much alone for a couple hours. Especially in such a beautiful place.

Yesterday I saw Ephesus for the second time, and I really enjoyed seeing it again. I took pictures this time, too! I even brought extra batteries just in case my camera died. But it didn't. Also on this tour we went to two other ancient sites, Didyma and Miletus, which were also really interesting. I'll post pictures eventually (I've found the ship's wireless connection too slow to upload pictures). It was an awesome tour, although I'm looking forward to October when these places won't be so unbearably hot.

This cruise has been very slow for us in the orchestra, as far as work goes. Its hard to believe that I only performed with one guest entertainer in 11 days time. We've already had two days off, and then two days where I played a 45 minute set with Marie and that was it. I felt silly filling out my time card those days. :-) But I'm not complaining, I haven't gotten bored yet. I find plenty of ways to entertain myself when I'm not performing.

And now the big news. I've signed up for my next contract as of this afternoon. I will be on the Celebrity Summit from January 19th through April 10th. I lucked out getting a short contract (less than 3 months!) because the ship will be dry-docking in April and taking on all new musicians afterwards. I will be mostly in the Carribean! And at the end we do a transatlantic voyage stopping in Spain, France, and then England for the dry dock. I'll fly home from England on the 10th. This is perfect because I get almost two months at home in between contracts and I make it back just in time for Sean and Sheena's wedding. So that's the big news! I will keep sailing awhile longer. :-)

Messina, Sicily (well, we just left)

Well, we’ve had some bad news in the orchestra – it looks like our band leader Jorge might be stolen from us. There is a brand new ship in the fleet, and since Jorge has such a great reputation they really want him on it. Marie and I are really sad about this – because he has been so wonderful as a band leader, and is just a great person in general. We are selfishly hoping something goes wrong so that he can stay with us. But it looks like he will likely be leaving on the 24th of this month. ☹ This is one thing that it can be hard to adjust to on ships – people are always coming and going, and there are never any guarantees that people will finish out their contracts how they expect to. So we may have a very big change coming up in three weeks.

On a more positive note, the shows and guest entertainers have been different than normal last cruise and this cruise, allowing me to take shore excursions that I never have been able to do in the past. First, last Thursday I was able to go on a long, full-day tour in Naples, that went to Sorrento and all the way down the Amalfi Coast to Positano and Amalfi – which are very famous resort towns. I had no idea there was so much beautiful countryside around Naples, before I had only seen the busy, dirty downtown area near the port. So this tour was amazing – I loved it. I’ll get to do another long one next time we’re in Naples, too (I hope!).

Also, for the very first time since I’ve been here, we had no show in Messina. I was so surprised, because there has always been a show since it’s the first night of the 11 day cruise. But tonight the show is a comedian, who doesn’t need an orchestra, so we have the day off! Marie and I immediately jumped on the opportunity to do an excursion in Messina, and signed up to go to Mt. Etna. I just got back a couple hours ago. It was quite a long drive to get there, but so worth it! It is a very active volcano (they’re expecting an eruption at the end of the month!) and a very alien-feeling place. Especially today because of how much fog shrouded the craters and volcanic rock. Don’t worry, I took tons of pictures, which I will post soon. I will also make sure to post some more links to those photo albums for those of you who do not have Facebook.

When we got back, Marie and I got cheeseburgers from the grill near the guest pool, and sat out on the back deck enjoying them while watching the sailaway. (When we untie the lines and start to pull out of the harbor, en route to our next port of call). We shared a fruit smoothie (which had a little umbrella in it, so you know it’s good) and I reflected on how lucky I am. ☺ Tonight: laundry, practicing, cleaning my trombone, excercising a bit, and maybe a movie with Marie. Ha ha, Jorge has started teasing us about always doing things together. Like if he sees me walking around without her, he asks if I’m ok, and where’s my other half?? Things are sure going to be different my last two months here when she’s gone. But let’s not think about that now!! ☺

At Sea

Well, today is officially the rockiest sailing we've had since I've been here. The ship is really rocking a lot. It's tilting side to side quite a bit, but it's worst in the front of the ship where the prow is also moving up and down over the waves. Guess where my cabin is.....yup, the front. It is altogether impossible to walk in a straight line for more than 2 steps. When going up stairs, you alternately have to work really hard to climb each stair, or you unnaturally sort of fly up them as the ship dips. The lower outdoor decks are closed to passengers, and there was actually water sloshing over the windows of the staff mess on deck 3. Suffice it to say its a bumpy ride. I must admit, though, I think it's kindof fun...especially since I don't get seasick. For me, its the same sort of feeling as being in an intense winter storm - everyone's stuck inside and its a little bit exciting....you can hear the elements beating against the walls.....I like it. But don't worry, Mom - we aren't going to sink or anything. I hear that this is nothing compared to what it feels like going around Cape Horn in South America, where the waves are huge, and cruise ships make it through fine.

Well, the violinist Nicola Loud's show went pretty well yesterday. Our rehearsal lasted a full 2 hours, as compared to the usual 45 minutes to an hour that we need with most guest entertainers. Marie was really happy afterwards because the played the difficult clarinet parts very well. She feels like a better musician today - her practicing is finally playing off. Nicola bought us all drinks again after the show - which I translate as her being happy with how the show went. It also means that we like her a lot. Its nice when the guest entertainers show appreciation for our work to learn their show, and that they are interested in getting to know us and socializing.

It has been nice having June Hamlow aboard with her whole family - I've been able to eat with them a few times, and I keep bumping into them around the ship. Also, our second day in Istanbul I was signed up to escort a tour, and by divine intervention was able to go on the tour that they were taking!! It was so neat to be with them, they are a fun group of people. Plus it warms the heart to see other people with APU shirts on. I loved that.