Back to the U.S. of A...

I received this e-mail the other day and thought it was hilarious. I thought I'd post it for my avid blog readers. It's also quite disturbing when we have a leader who's an embarrassment to our country so much I hate to say I'm from America in these foreign places. It seems there are freer countries out there than what we have. Countries where their president won't kill their own people for re-election or a reason to go to war, but that's a story for another day. Check it out at infowars.com. You'll be enlightened. For now enjoy the reading:

1. Bush: End of an Error
2. That's OK; I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway
3. Let's Fix Democracy in this Country First
4. If You Want a Nation Ruled By Religion, Move to Iran
5. Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.
6. If You Can Read This, You're Not Our President
7. Of Course It Hurts: You're Getting Screwed by an Elephant!
8. Hey, Bush Supporters: Embarrassed Yet?
9. George Bush: Creating the Terrorists Our Kids Will Have to Fight
10. Impeachment: It's Not Just for Blow Jobs Anymore
11. America: One Nation, Under Surveillance
12. They Call Him "W" So He Can Spell It
13. Whose God Do You Kill For?
14. Jail to the Chief
15. No, Seriously, Why Did We Invade Iraq?
16. Bush: God's Way of Proving Intelligent Design is Full Of Crap
17. Bad President! No Banana.
18. We Need a President Who's Fluent In At Least One Language
19. We're Making Enemies Faster Than We Can Kill Them
20. Is It Vietnam Yet?
21. Bush Doesn't Care About White People, Either
22. Where Are We Going? And Why Are We In This Hand Basket?
23. You Elected Him. You Deserve Him.
24. Dub'ya, Your Dad Should'a Pulled Out, too!
25. When Bush Took Office, Gas Was $1.46
26. Pray For Impeachment
27. The Republican Party: Our Bridge to the 11th Century
28. What Part of "Bush Lied" Don't You Understand?
29. One Nation Under Clod
30. 2004: Embarrassed, 2005: Horrified, 2006: Terrified
31. Bush Never Exhaled
32. At Least Nixon Resigned

At the moment we are making a crossing across the Atlantic headed for a few ports on our way to NYC. We already stopped at Palma de Mallorca (located on a small Spanish island) and Ceuta, Spanish Morocco. We'll also be stopping at Ponta Delgada in the Azores Islands of Portugal and Hamilton in Bermuda. It's a bit like a roller coaster ride right now. I hope the weather eases up a bit.

Grecian Isles...

It has been a while since I've written. I'm starting to repeat ports now that I'm back in Europe. We also did have a string where we were in port for 7 days in a row. I forgot how exhausting that could be. Well with rehearsals and in port manning it was broken up a bit. In fact with the transfer of ships, rehearsals, and duties I honestly only saw 4 ports of the 7. We'll be back to a few of them. Only 1 of them that I missed we will not revisit. However I heard that it wasn't much to see unless you went out on tour. We started our long string of ports in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This place is truly spectacular. This is where the momentous event of the two ships met bow to stern. No flights were involved in this transfer. We simply walked from one ship to another. That day I actually felt like a guest entertainer and we even transferred ships with a few of them. Once we got settled back on our home ship, we went off in different directions to explore the city our own way. We'll be back in this port and we had little time so we did what we could and did it leisurely. Back at port the two ships were commemorating the fact that the two ships with grand voyage clientele were in port together. There was a ridiculous expenditure of money to entertain the guests with a theme for this event including making commemorative plates for the occasion. Other crazy things were street performers (stilt walkers, fire throwers, jugglers, etc) around the Lido Pool on the Amsterdam and a performance of the Dubrovnik Symphony in the Queen's Lounge. The Mayor was to speak as well as the President of Holland America Line. All the bigwigs were on board supervising the event and proud to have spent all the money. Both Cruise Directors believed this to be the most idiotic expense ever. It wasn't going to boost ratings and if it went wrong it would be on their heads. If it went well our idiotic entertainment head (Bill Prince) would take all the credit. Such is politics in a corporation. Also this company has trouble spending money on more passenger friendly items like padding or insulation in passenger cabins around noisy areas of the ship such as the Queen's Lounge (show lounge), Officer's Bar, and other late night entertainment areas. Instead passengers get frustrated with the noise that leaks into their cabins. Okay, enough griping about corporate bullies. It happens everywhere. Croatia!! Lovely town. I was here last year a few times on the Rotterdam. The one time I did get to go into the city I was taken aback by the design of the old city. It was so clean and beautiful. We ended up spending the day leisurely at a cliffside bar on the Mediterranean Sea side of the old city with another cast from the Noordam. We had friends on board there and we wanted to catch up. It was nice, but I didn't get to se much of the beauty of the city. This time I walked into town with a faint memory of where everything was and I knew what we needed to see. We started our journey on the perimeter wall. It felt like a mini Great Wall with all its levels and castle points. The old city is fortified with this wall and you can walk around the entire city. It takes about 2 hours, but it's worth it to see everything from above and get different views of the surrounding landscape. Especially where the wall travels along the Mediterranean Sea. All the buildings are built the way they were when the city began with the old red shingles and huge brick walls. The streets almost look like they're paved in marble. At every turn there's a new artistic picture to be found. Alleyways that climb up into the hills aligned with shops and restaurants. We reached the pinnacle of the wall later in the day and near the end of our trip around the perimeter. The heights and views from above the city were stunning. After our trip around the city we didn't have much time so we sat at a little café we stumbled onto where some of our Amsterdam passengers said there was some great pizza. It was nice and relaxing and through our meal we saw our fellow cast members from the other ship stroll by. We caught glimpses of everyone throughout the day and it was good to see them again after we transferred way back in Buenos Aires. I left Dubrovnik satisfied, unpacked, and mixed feelings about being back on the Prinsendam. Here I have to share a room again and the room is significantly smaller. That's the only downer really, but lately it's an important one for me. The people here are above and beyond nice, the stage and storage lockers are well suited for the shows, and the ship in general has a nice and intimate feel that makes the passengers happier and nicer. If I had my own room, this ship would be perfect.

We sailed onward into Greece. Our first port was Katakolon and the gateway to Olympia. This island was the sight where the first ever Olympics were held in honor of Zeus (chief deity of the pantheon, ruler and protector of both gods and men). Hercules, his son, decreed that the men of Greece would meet every 4 years in Olympia to compete in a series of athletic events to commemorate his victory against the King of Elis Augeas. Wow. A visit to a very historical sight since I enjoy the Olympic ceremonial aspect of the games. During those times and even now all hostilities including wars are suspended due to these events. We got up bright and early to enjoy a Greek breakfast, but to no avail nothing was open yet. I came back and had my nice breakfast since I didn't know when lunch would come around with all our traveling today. We set off for Mount Olympus. All 7 of us. Woops. That's another benefit and glory of this ship: in port manning is in place as a rule, but it's on the honor system. Most people don't pay attention to it, but are cautious. Since we just left a ship where the rule was very much enforced with a computer lock out and all, we were balls out and just hung out in port all day. More on that story later. We crammed 10 of us into 2 cabs and headed off on our journey. We got to the archaeological sight and began our tour. We had no idea what things were other than the signs posted at each location. This would be a great place to buy a tour book or invest in a guide that could give all the history of each sight. Instead we walked along the scared grounds just admiring what was left of the sight. Since the first games were held somewhere around 776 BC, the earth has changed quite a bit in the last 3,000 or so years. Volcanoes and earthquakes have changed the area and caused the intense damage we found to this sight as well as war and other events. We did make it to the stadium where I posed at the starting line ready to go. Here I made my own crown of victory of olive leaves and stood on the podium. It was exciting to make something straight out of nature. I had a true olive branch wreath on my head that the cruise staff used later to wear during Greek night. As you enter and exit the stadium there are markings where statues used to line the path. These statues were erected to note the cheaters. How embarrassing. Can you imagine what it must feel like to cheat and then have a statue erected to notate your offense for thousands of years to come? Yikes. We came back into town and enjoyed a fabulous Greek lunch at a lovely café along the seaside. This is where we got busted. We decided to all hang out together. Woops. Big mistake. Who should walk up while we were all drinking, being merry, and having our feast but our Cruise Director and our immediate boss. Not to mention the Safety Office was sitting there as well. I got an earful later. However I found out later that the Cruise Director was violating his IPM that day as well. What a hypocrite.

Our next ports in Greece I didn't see too much of, but we will be back to them. We went to Piraeus, which is the gateway to Athens and all the archaeological sights there. It was a working day for me since all our costumes came on board that day. We were in Santorini as well and I elected to stay on board since we got busted in Katakolon and it was my turn in the rotation to stay on IPM. In Iraklion (which we will never see again) we had a big rehearsal for our upcoming show. From what I hear the town wasn't that much and you had to go out and see the Palace of Knossos to get some sights in here. At Knossos there was the sight of the great labyrinth that was built for the Minotaur. It would've been nice to see, but it was kind of cool and cloudy and we were busy. It just comes with the territory. I did manage to get out in Corfu again. Ahh Corfu. Not enough time there and our only time in the city. I'm thankful I had so much time to see it while I was on the Rotterdam. We just had a nice lunch along the water in the sun during the beautiful day we had there. The only non-Greek port we had in our string of island hopping was Kusadasi. I was scouring the town looking for a watch that day since I was told I could get a very nice one for much less than retail. I was told to go a to a specific shop, but I didn't find it. Maybe next time. We have 2 more times there. We're now on our way to Valetta, Malta. I think the most expensive place on the planet. Our dollar is only a third of their dollar. That means when I exchange my $30 in U.S. money, I get $10 in their money. Whoa. It's a beautiful place though mostly built out of Limestone. It's like a sand castle on the water. I had some lovely times there last year so I hope to sneak off and see it again. I may not though since I have IPM. We'll be there again as well. I'm more excited about seeing Tunisia coming up and some new places in Spain and Lisbon. We're on our way to NYC now and that also means a stop in Bermuda. Woo hoo. More to come.

A Breakthrough....

Today we sit in Haifa, Israel and I sit on the ship serving my in port manning duty. This same duty kept me from seeing Salalah, Oman and Sharm El Sheik in Egypt as well as Alexandria (but I'd been to Alexandria and Cairo more than enough already). Yesterday was a momentous occasion that I was delighted to take part. It was the first time in 7 years that a Holland America ship docked in an Israeli port of call, which was Ashdod, Israel. The states of affairs are finally at peace enough to have us visit the port. It was slightly unsettling to go out into port today with the thought that with every first there are lessons to be learned and thankfully no harm or incidents happened while we were out in the countryside. Our tour guide told us that day that there are some areas that are still under Palestinian law. Under the law (and for the protection of the Israelis), no Israeli is allowed to be in an area still under Palestine Rule. Our guide said it is to keep down the incidents where terrorist groups kidnap Israelis and hold them ransom to trade for terrorist hostages. There are certain windows provided by the governments that allow tour guides who are Israeli to cross the borders. This is the case for Bethlehem. We set out in the morning on a bus to go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. What was also interesting about today's journey was that its now Jewish Passover and we are in the midst of Christian Easter. Two major religious events for Jerusalem with history behind it that people from both factions of religion have learned since they attended temple or church. We set out with warning of the large crowds and traffic that would be happening today because of Holy Week. Indeed we did encounter such crowds and traffic. As we traveled along the countryside I could only imagine what it must have been like over 3,000 years ago and then imagined what it was like over 5,000 years ago. According to our touristy little handout, Israel's account of history began in 3200 BC in the Early Bronze Age. That's quite ancient if you ask me. I think it's one of the oldest places I've been to yet. There were many olive trees and olive groves casing the landscape as we approached Jerusalem. Once we were there, we were told that the city has fallen so many times that the actual and original city of Jerusalem was about 20 meters below ground. We were in the midst of traffic and a city I never imagined Jerusalem to be in my imagination. It was a mixture of old and new. Our main focus was to get to the old city and we ran into many obstacles since the police had sectioned off many areas surrounding the old city. We traveled up to Mt. Olive where we made our first stop. We had a beautiful panoramic view of the old city, Mt. Zion, and a faint sighting of Jordan in the desert region. It was breathtaking. From here we traveled to one of the entrances to the old city. The closest gate we could get to was the entrance near the Muslim quarter of the city. We strolled through many narrow areas of the souks. There were all kinds of shops for anything you needed. Along the way we followed the path of the cross. There are stations marked to note where Jesus stopped on his way to the church to talk with his followers or to rest. He walked through Jerusalem while carrying his large cross. The places were packed with people milling about through the city. We stopped for a lunch and shopping break where we had chicken in a pita sandwich. Yummy. We continued on to Mt. Zion in the Jewish quarter where we had an overlook of the temple and the western Wailing Wall. In the Jewish quarter there were hundreds of worshippers coming to say their prayers on the wall. It was definitely a sight to see. Here the men and women had to separate into two areas in order to pray by the wall. Once you have your head covered, you can approach the wall and touch it while you pray or slip a piece of paper with your prayer on it into the wall. There were so many people praying, I decided to say my prayers from a distance and respect those who were worshipping the wall with fervor. Because of all the traffic and blockades we made our way back through the city on foot instead of exiting through the Western Wall gate. Instead we exited through the Jaffa Gate. Here we caught our bus to go back to the port area. With all the traffic in the city and the time it took to get through the old city on foot, we missed our window to go into Bethlehem. We did drive up to its borders and view it from a hilltop. As I watched over the town of Bethlehem a cloud patch got in front of the sun. The rays poked out at every angle from the side as I looked over Bethlehem and it had a Godly appearance. In the distance there was a sheepherder and his flock on the hillside. I got chills for a moment since this was like all the paintings you see in the churches and galleries of the Holy area. We were also close to the Jordan Desert and the Dead Sea. It would have been fascinating to go through the desert to Masada, which overlooks the sea, and to stroll into the Dead Sea itself. The salt concentration is noted to be so high that nothing will live in it. The mineral and salt content in the sea is supposed to be excellent for your skin though. I came back to the ship so overwhelmed by the sights I was able to take in today and all the history revisited.