Puntarenas, Costa Rica….2 May, 2011
At last…a FULL day off after 18 days straight working…granted I did have a 1/2 day off but this was my first day off off the ship in a long time..started a new cruise after the 110 day Grand World Voyage…I have only a month and a half left until my contract is completed.
Went off the ship with Sarah my ye Irish friend as well as Violeta the great Macedonian…We had a quick bite to eat right off the ship and there were a huge handful of different little huts people had set up with all of their hand-made goodies.
I did purchase a lovely blue dress for very cheap…I think it was only a few dollars.
Then Aristotle and us girls all met up and went wandering around the streets…the weather was pretty warm and we were just having a fun time off the ship.
There was an interesting sign I found in Puntarenas….see for yourself and it may make you hungry .haha. Or……not. Organic Vanilla Fruity Monkey…Poop? FRESH STOCK.
Oh boy…can I pleaaaaaaase have some?
As you can see it wa
s quite windy while we were there…but it was so beautiful. Hahah ohh and yes…Miglena my Bulgarian beauty and I decided to take a nap with one of the locals on the beach.
Once we got back to the ship…Sarah, Violeta and I were having our own little dance party in the corridor…of course blasting our music loud and having the best time, ever. Then my room phone was ringing…the phone was for me…it was Julie the human resources manager, I thought she was calling because she wanted me to write this months health newsletter. Definitely not why she was calling…she called to tell me my mother had emailed Holland America Line and I needed to call her ASAP. My heart absolutely sank. I knew it wasn’t good news she was going to tell me. My grandfather had been sick for a while and his health was failing fast…I was praying so much and I was keeping positive but I knew my mom was going to tell me the news. So I scurried over to the other corridor to purchase a ten dollar calling card…Aristotle was in the room with me while I made the call.
Sure enough my mom told me on the phone that her father, my grandfather, had passed away earlier that afternoon. I was absolutely crushed. I didn’t know what to do. I was glad Aris was there with me so I could mourn the death of my grandfather.…who we both were blessed enough to spend some time with back in December. I informed my manager and I had no idea what was going to happen from here on out. I needed to be there with my family for my grandfathers funeral.
Since all of that happened…I still needed to work and give my all to the guests on the ship…so the show must go on….and onto Mexico we went!
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was the next stop…here we are. I tried to enjoy myself as much as I could. Good news though…I was able to get off the ship in San Diego, California…emergency disembark, so I could fly to Sacramento, California to attend my 
grandfathers funeral and mourn the death but celebrate my grandfathers life with all of my family….and then RE-JOIN the ship in Seattle. This was amazing. It was all meant to be.
I was going to make the best of this experience in Mexico as much as I could…my life was still happening…granted, yes it was so terribly difficult to put a smile on my face some days…or even instruct some of my fitness classes…but I knew I could get though anything. 
So I enjoyed Mexico to the fullest with my cast buddies, Alexa and Eli and my roommate, Violeta! Making the best out of every situation.
And now….We are in San Diego, California….I needed to pack my entire room up…as if I was actually disembarking the ship…and not coming back. This definitely was a pain in the rear because I was coming back, but I understand their precautionary measures they need to take just in case. So there I was…packed up my entire life from the past 8 months traveling to heaps of different countries. Two huge suitcases plump full. I spent my morning with Aris…at Starbucks and one of the shopping centers right off the port. There were so many emotions I was feeling…I was so happy I was getting off the ship for a ‘mini-vacation’ but mostly to see family and breathe for a minute off the ship…I knew this was going to be a difficult trip off the ship…but I was so grateful I was able to do this…the timing couldn’t have been better. In San Diego after I got all of my luggage…two really wonderful friends from a previous cruise, Grand Asia/Australia, MaryAnn and Hank picked me up and took me over to their lovely condo…I was an emotional wreck…they treated me to dinner and margaritas downtown San Diego and then took me to the airport and I was on my way.
Once I arrived in Sacramento I came upon my brother and my father waiting for me…Oh my goodness..as soon as I saw them I knew I was about to collapse…and that is exactly what I did. I gave my dad the biggest hug ever and I completely melted in his arms. I had nothing left inside of me…I was physically, emotionally, mentally absolutely exhausted. kaput. My dad just held me…and I cried and laughed and cried…and he did the same. 
Then big brother gave me a big hug as well! Ahh this was going to be an OVERWHELMING special trip.
All in all it was a beautiful time to spend with all of my family on my mothers side….yes, it was incredibly overwhelming but I’m so pleased it was able to happen. Grandpa…may he rest in peace, I love you so much and so happy I was able to see you in December with my dear friend, Aris. I will never forget. xoxo
Seeing my baby cousins and other cousins I had never even met or hadn’t seen in so many years…we were all re-united and able to s
tart fresh new relationships…family really is so special to me. Oh my goodness and all of the first, second, third cousins….there’s so many of us.
I love my family so much…they are so important to me…and I feel so blessed to have such a loving family as I do.
It doesn’t get much better than all of this LOVE!!!!!!!!! 
We are family! 
Once the family gatherings were over….duty still called. I needed to hop on a plane again and set back to Seattle to re-join the cruise ship so I could finish strong with a few Alaskan Cruises. Once I arrived in Seattle I was swarmed with yet another blessing of LOVE!! By my dear friends, Kevin and Nick.
Re-united and it feels so good! They were lovely enough to let me stay with them at their place in Seattle…so I could get loaded up with oodles of more love. I’m telling you this was one of the most overwhelming experiences ever…I felt so much love and I didn’t know how to react so I would just smile and laugh and cry all at the same time. Ahhh such marvelous people I am surrounded by.
And then it was time….time to go back to the ship to finish off my contract strong with 14-day Alaskan cruises. So they had a proper send off for me….again, full of love and goodness. Dropping me off back to the office!! Love you guys…you are part of my family…I shall always keep you near and dear to my heart…and that goes with my blood family…I love you all dearly and feel so pleased to have you in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment