Dominica

So by now, let's see, the last blog was in Aruba... We have visited Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, Curacao, and today we're in Dominica. I don't think I'm going to visit Dominica today and am going to wait till the next cruise. We have to tender across to the shore (take small boats from the cruise ship to port) and I don't feel up to it today. It's good to have the choice of seeing it all the next cruise. We're going to be visiting all these areas at least three times in the next month and a half.

I've gotten a bit more used to the ship now and to my job. Out of nine days, I've only gotten sea sick twice, and the second time was questionable whether it was the sea, or the food I ate in the staff mess. I've since discovered (was told) of a restaurant area on Deck 11 that staff can eat in during certain times in the day. It serves pasta, pizza, and salad, so I've been forcing myself to wait on eating and eat up there when I can every day. It's been much better for my stomach.

We were in St. Lucia yesterday. I tried to see if friends were going out, but they decided to stay in. Some are getting a little ill. So I packed up my things and made the venture out on port by myself. I was dying for some actual good food. I walked through port and found out about a food place across the river. Took a small ferry, and ended up eating at a small restaurant with a nice view of the island and the ship. Of course, being safe with my picky tastes of food, ordered the classic chicken caesar salad. It was worth the money. Plus, I got to see a little of St. Lucia at the same time. I think St. Lucia is a bit of a boring port though. There seemed to be nothing really to do there except shop at the port. I'm not much of a shopper and am saving my money for Europe more or less, so I passed on that. It's a beautiful area though.

I'm still not getting wireless so pictures will have to come later. I've taken a lot so far. I don't want to regret not taking a picture of things, so I go camera happy when I'm on port.

I've written a few letters, but I have yet to find a post office on port (blaming a part of that to my moments of shyness around strangers and unfamiliar areas), but will do so soon. I want to send these letters out before they become too old and my friends think I've forgotten about them!

I've gotten pretty used to my job. I'm not questioning things anymore, or at least, not as much. I know the beta cam camera pretty well now, or at least the basics to get me by. I made my first mistake the other night, but it all went okay. I had shot the cruise director daily show without sound, so we just had to reshoot. Johnny and Luke were very nice about it though and reminded me that I'm new and still learning the camera. Johnny said when he first came on board, he shot something for a whole hour without sound. So there's always flaws in new beginnings.

I've figured out that I really like going alone out to the open deck at nighttime. I find it eery standing there, looking out in to the ocean only to see total black. I hear the water, but there's no way in seeing it. It's very creepy and my imagination usually goes wild, but it's a cool experience at the same time. The night sky is also beautiful to look at. I've gone outside once or twice when the sun is setting also. It's a beautiful sight. I'm trying to take advantage of seeing all of this more. I know in 6 months, I won't be able to see things like this again, or at least for a long while.