Arubaby

Here I am at my favorite hangout in Aruba (Dunkin Donuts). The internet is rather slow today. but I have a lot of things to catch up on online so I'll be here til my batteries run out. I am feeling much better, and I only have a cough that just won't quite disappear. But I'm back in the swing of things after three days of missing work. It is so good to be back! Especially to be out of my cabin. Yesterday I walked to a beach about 15 minutes away and went snorkling with Pierre. I saw a fish I had never seen before that was really neat. The beach we were at was really nice - part of a hotel resort. Pierre and I just walked in like we were supposed to be there and camped out on the beach for a few hours. It was a really nice afternoon - the first thing I've done outside since I've been sick.

Well, this week has been a tough one for the new cast and the theatre staff, with rehearsals and run throughs at all times of the day and night. They only have one more show to make it through, and then the all-important first week will be over. After tonight they will have performed all of the shows for the first time. Then the big head-honchos ("quality management personnel") from the company will be gone and everyone will be able to relax a bit. From what I've seen, this cast doesn't have as strong vocalists as the last cast did, but they have been doing a pretty good job with the shows. The dancers seem really good, and the dance captain is a very talented, friendly, and charasmatic, short british guy named Andy Lee. If you saw the shows from an audience perspective he would be the dancer that would really stand out. I watched one of their tech rehearsals, and he puts so much into his performance that its hard to watch anyone else. I think he will make this cast into a really strong team of dancers in a month or so. I haven't met most of them yet, although I have met the singers, and they are really friendly.

Andy keeps giving us a countdown on how long until drydock when we leave - its amazing how fast this contract is going by. We only have 3 more week-long carribbean cruises left after this one! Yikes! Then it will be the transatlantic, and then it will be time for me to go home. I can't believe it. Only 3 more weeks in the caribbean. I had better get a tan fast! :-) Well, I'm running out of batteries quickly, so I'll wrap this up for now.