2 to go!!!

We have 30 days left on board!! I know this because my friends Adrian and Christy keep very close tabs on our slowly approaching sign off day. It will get here very quickly, I'm sure, since it breaks down into only 2 voyages. Yikes!! This next one is the one I am most excited about - I finally get to visit Israel!! I'm not sure exactly what I'll be able to see, but whatever tour I manage to get will be wonderful. I hope to see Jerusalem and maybe some other spots as well. I may get a chance to get out to the pyramids in Egypt again too, hopefully. Then our last voyage is one to the warm canary islands. One last bit of sun for me before I head into the winter of home. Last voyage was only 5 days and went by very quickly. We had so many young people that the shows had quite a different atmosphere than usual. Last night we had a special guest come and do one song during the act. His name is Ross King, and he is a TV presenter who works out of LA now, I think he does the weather a lot (Daybreak, Lorraine??). Anyway he sure acted like he thought he was a big deal. We backed him up for one song (Mack the Knife, dad) and he did a few jokes with the comedian who is his buddy and he is travelling with. Anyway I'd never heard of this guy but the crowd reacted like they recognized him. I tried to care....it didn't work too well. He seemed a bit arrogant and full of himself to me, though that could have just been the way his nervousness on stage presented itself. But he has been up to Lake Arrowhead and we chatted about that for a minute which was cool. Always nice to meet someone who's heard of it. Anyway this adds to the list of people I'm met that are famous in the UK but don't mean anything to me. :-) Today we are in Southampton - it is like our little oasis in between voyages, though only for a few hours. Its a nice day, despite the chill. I can't believe I only have one more turnover day here before we sign off. Today I'll be back on board to be the facial demo girl again. Yay!!

I can't remember if I've mentioned anything about my roommate or not. Her name is Naira, and she is a petite, dark and beautiful violinist in the string quartet. The quartet all come from Russian-speaking parts of the Ukraine, I think mainly Kiev. Naira is Armenian by nationality, however, having moved to the Ukraine with her family when she was 13 years old. She is thrilled to have me as a roommate as she gets daily English practice that way, something she works on diligently but is still not confident with yet. I am picking up some Russian along the way from her and her friends, as well as many of the dancers and two in our own band. Yesterday I surprised her - the phone rang, I guessed it was for her and answered the phone in Russian. I was responded to, at which point my laughter along with Naira's gave me away. But I had him fooled for a minute. He said I sounded Russian. :-) Today begins our 5 day little getaway to Amsterdam, Brugge and Le Havre. Since it is such a short voyage, we aren't wasting any time doing our short teaser Welcome Aboard Show, (or WABS as its called by us) we are starting right in with one of the cast's big production shows, Hotel Royale. We aren't in this one, which means our first night will be a dixieland set in the pub. We now have little white waistcoast vests that we stole from the bar department. We wear them over our blacks and hope no one orders a drink from us while we're playing dixieland. As I write New Zealand is about to take on France for the Rugby World Cup, on their own home turf in Auckland. This is such a huge thing for the country - I am supporting my All Blacks and wish I could be there!! If you get a chance you should check out a video of the team doing their "Haka" - its a traditional Maori war chant taken and adapted. They do it before the game to strike fear in the hearts of the opposite team....it gives me goosebumps. Its about to come on tv as the game starts very soon. Exciting!! They had better win. :-) I know all my friends there are watching!!