Cruisin Part 2

Day 5 we ported in St. John’s, Antigua. This is a pretty port overlooking the island. Here we drove down to the south side of the island and saw where Christopher Columbus landed and discovered this island. There are not as many fancy houses here as there was in BVI, but the economy is definitely better here than in the DR. We have come to find that most schoolchildren wear uniforms in most of these Caribbean islands. They are free, provided by the government. I don’t know about other islands but I know that in Antigua, the population pays 7% of their income for health care coverage. And the individual only pays 3.5% of that; the employer pays the other 3.5%. Then if they have to go to the doctor or hospital, they get their treatment and don’t have to pay anything. I think that’s kind of a good system! I mean if you think about how much we pay in premiums, and then add deductibles, we pay a lot. But I don’t think this would work as well for us because of all the people that abuse healthcare (like going to the ER for a cut). But maybe if everyone had to pay for health care coverage it would be different, instead of having the opportunity to get free treatment without paying anything else! I guess we will see how the new Obama plan works out for us.

Along our drive we drove through a rainforest, which was different just in the amount of trees around us. Didn’t start raining on us or anything like that. Kind of reminds me of going through the “rainforest” in Costa Rica, it’s not like the Amazon Rainforest or anything, which is more what I think of when I think of what a rainforest is. But we drove by some people ziplining through the trees, looked fun, but probably not something I would want to pay for. We drove by some gorgeous bays and beaches; and we saw some beautiful (and pricy looking) yachts. We stopped at one beach for about an hour. Had two hard rainstorms go by during that hour. Each time I had to bolt it for cover so my camera wouldn’t get wet! It was kind of funny. After driving around we walked around town for a while. I found a store to buy some tennis shoes, so now I can run again! I don’t think I enjoyed Antigua as much as I could have because I was dizzy feeling the whole day. Not sure why. We docked at about 8am today so I decided to try running around the ship since I didn’t have to deal with a moving ship. I got dizzy at the end of my run, but then got over it eventually. But then, not that long after we got off the ship and started walking around I got dizzy again. And it was bad all day; so weird and very annoying. By the end of the day I was even holding my brother’s hand to keep my balance! I have decided to try the scopolamine patch. We will see if I can tell any difference!

Day 6 we visited Barbados! I had wanted to rent a scooter or motorcycle on one of these islands, and we finally did in Barbados! Nick and mom went off and did their thing and my dad and I rented a motorcycle. Barbados is 8 miles wide and 21 miles long. We were able to drive around most of the whole northern half of the island. The northeast coast was gorgeous! Drove along with views of the beach and the cliffs. It is a fun little island to ride around on. The people here are very nice and helpful. One guy let us follow him in his car so he could show us to this hike we were looking for. Another guy who made sure we had a helmet saw us later on and stopped to make sure we were doing ok and knew where we were going. Not the best day weather wise for riding around on a motorcycle! It poured down rain on us twice throughout the day. It wasn’t that I really cared about whether or not I got wet, it was more having to keep my camera from getting wet. Luckily we had these awesome looking rain ponchos that we put on and protected my camera. We looked awesome let me tell you with our nice yellow ponchos and helmets! Fun times. Barbados is pretty, lots of roads and small towns. There are a lot of people on this small island. It is mainly flat, not too many big hills or mountains. And they don’t allow any camping on the island; so much hiking with camping is out of the question. We saw a lot of police, didn’t seem like they were as strict with rules and the law on the past islands. A few tips for Barbados, don’t wear any camouflage colors, and no smoking in public areas.

Dad looking cool on his tiny Harley!

Cute monkeys at the Wildlife Refuge! They were friendly!

Dad modeling the poncho!

Day 7 was our last port day and we went to Basseterre, St. Kitts. This was my favorite island. It is a volcanic island so there aren’t as many white, sandy beaches. There are some black beaches as well, but the scenery is amazing. There is one volcano and the black beaches are more on the northern and western sides, the volcanic sides. The south and southwest part of the island is gorgeous, definitely the place to be for hanging out at the beach. We did a tour of the whole island then spend a little while at the beach. It was not soak me through with sweat hot either, good temperatures. One place we stopped called the Caribelle Batik had gorgeous handmade Batik. This is a type of drawings on cloth using wax for white areas, and then dipping in dye to make the colors. My mom and I got some pretty headbands there. The dresses were gorgeous but a little too pricy. Looked like a place people would get married at.

There are many small towns we drove through. Like other islands, drivers use their horns a lot; here it seemed even more so. Everyone honks his or her horns to say get out of the way, watch out, or hello. So it can be positive or negative. The beach we stopped at was gorgeous, excellent views of the beach against the cliffs and mountains. This island reminds me the most of Hawaii. There are two sides of the island, the Caribbean side and the Atlantic side. Apparently the Caribbean side is the better side, it wasn’t recommended to swim on the Atlantic side (I guess rougher seas or something).

Our flirtatious tour guide

The changing room! No peeking!

We got back on the boat just in time to watch the sunset from our room. Gorgeous! Best sunset yet, actually the only one I have really been able to see. Either it has been too cloudy for a good sunset or I have not been outside at the right time. For dinner, my mom and I sat outside to eat dinner listening to some Caribbean music. Afterward, there was the chocolate buffet. Oh boy, too much chocolate for us chocoholics. It was amazing! We got some chocolate dipped apples, many different types of cakes, mousse, and fondue. My favorite was the chocolate banana bread and mousse. Now we have two days at sea, and then back in Miami. Now time to relax…maybe!!!!

Can you see the rainbow?

Cruisin

Day 1 of the cruise we left Miami at about 4pm. Didn’t do a whole lot that night except eat, get unpacked, and get oriented with the ship. We tried getting in the hot tub that night but the wind was horrendous. Literally blowing the water out of the hot tub. We didn’t last that long. The whole time we were sitting in the hot tub, water was blowing up into our faces. Kind of funny to watch I am sure, but annoying to experience! That night we went to sleep with our bellies full already. It’s going to be a long 9 days on the cruise trying not to eat too much, pretty sure that is impossible on a cruise though! You want to take advantage of getting to eat as much great food and desserts as you can!

Just the living room and kitchen area of our ship room

The night we took off I was already realizing that I may not be cut out for cruises anymore. It has been a while since I have been on a cruise, since before I started having vertigo problems. The vertigo while I run started around my senior year of college and in the past year has started while I am hiking as well. The only time I have really experienced motion sickness is on this curvy road close to our cabin in Colorado and then once when my friend Brea and I were deep sea fishing in Washington. Deep-sea fishing was more due to the smell of the gasoline I think than the boat movement. But the first night on the cruise I was already feeling a little nauseous and dizzy. On past cruises I have had no problem running around on the deck, but I am not sure I am going to even attempt that on this cruise. Do not have very high hopes that I won’t get vertigo running in circles on a rocking boat! The odds are not in my favor. Hopefully just running on the treadmill will be ok. There were a few people trying to do lunges with weights and they realized they weren’t going to be able to do it because their balance kept getting thrown off. It was kind of funny.

The second day we were at sea all day. Another windy and cloudy day so we couldn’t relax out by the pool, instead we relaxed inside! I received a free acupuncture consultation! She was able to tell a few things I have problems with just by feeling my pulse and looking at my tongue. It was pretty cool. And of course she recommended three treatments to help with the problems, mainly while I was on the cruise, while I was relaxed. Yeah right, if I even considered acupuncture I would not do it where they way overcharge! And I don’t think I am ever really relaxed, always wanting to go do something, so me being on a cruise is probably not going to make much of a difference. A friend in Oregon does acupuncture I think once a week and he really enjoys it. Might be something I wouldn’t mind trying once.

Early evening after this first full day on the ship, after going in and out of feeling like I was getting sick all day, I was just sitting on the couch in our cabin, and I feel like my nose started running quite a lot right after I had just blown it. I thought it was very strange. I usually have to blow my nose a lot, but this was kind of weird. So I got up and got a Kleenex, then noticed my nose was actually bleeding! What the heck? Yeah, it was very strange. It wasn’t from a dry nose or anything like that. Nope, in this humidity I am sure my nose is very moist! It bled for a little while then finally stopped. Makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the vertigo and the inner ear. Can’t figure it out.

Third day was port in Samana, Dominican Republic. We got off and, of course, immediately there are people everywhere wanting you to do a tour with them. We had no idea what we were going to do there or where we were going to go. Not even ideas if we wanted to hike, hang at a beach, kayak, or whatever. We ended up taking a van to a beach a little ways away. The beach was nice. It had some chairs and hammocks. I got to swim and relax in the hammock for a while. Start my sunburn and enjoy the view! On the way there and back we got to see a lot of the culture and went through a few towns, although I am sure you would not think they were town going through them. The DR is neighbors to Haiti so I am sure you can imagine what kind of lifestyle the people there have. I have a friend from OBU whom used to live in the DR with her husband. She was a teacher, I think she taught English but I could be wrong about this. It was kind of cool to see where and the way she was living. Too bad she is not still living there, maybe could have seen her in the DR!!! After the beach we stopped for a short hike to a couple of small waterfalls where some local boys were swimming and jumping. I think they were taken off guard to have us come up to them, but they just continued having fun and getting clean. One boy was washing his hair as were just walking about. And there was this very small boy, maybe about four. He was adorable. I really wanted to take a picture of him but didn’t get the chance. Last we did a little walking in downtown Samana. Wouldn’t think this was a city if you didn’t already know. The scenery is great in the DR, the building, however, not so great! The people are friendly until they figure out they are not going to convince you to buy anything from you! Back on the ship I guess we needed some guys vs. girls time. The boys went off together and then mom and I spent the rest of the evening just her and I, which was nice. We always love having our girl time together!

Chillin on the beach in the DR

I don’t know if I am just getting less fun or old, but usually, knowing me, I would go off in the evenings and have fun, meet people. It could also be because I don’t have Luke here with me to go off and have fun with. Or maybe I just don’t want to continually explain to people that yes, I am over 18. So far, after only three days on the cruise, my age has been questioned about 5-10 times. Today we were in Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). We got off trying to figure out what to do and we come across this boat that could take us to one of the islands with some gorgeous beaches and caves. They were explaining to us that on the way back it was an open bar, and someone asked me if I was over 18 because then it probably wouldn’t be that much fun. I was like, yes, actually I am 25. They were so shocked. Same thing in the hot tub after exploring the BVI, my mom and I got in the hot tub, these two guys got in and they started talking to us. One guy was 22; the other was older, closer to my age I think. But of course, my mom has to make sure they know they are not talking to a 16 year old so she tells them how old I am; they were so shocked. The older guy actually just graduated with his nursing degree and he was shocked that I have been a nurse for 2 ½ years. I gave him some advice, hopefully it was helpful! It is kind of an uncommon occurrence for a 25-year-old singe girl to be on a cruise with her parents! Oh well, I will just have to keep explaining myself!

Now let me talk more about Day 4 in the British Virgin Islands. We talked to some people and heard that this other island is a great island to visit, relax on the beach, hike, go through caves, and see some beautiful scenery. Just approaching Tortola and looking out at all the islands was amazing! There are so many different islands. Most have houses dispersed along the hills with cool winding roads going up the sides. This definitely is not as poor of an area as the DR. There are some huge houses here, and we saw some famous peoples houses. After being here it makes me think more of travel nursing here!

After we got off the ship we were stopped by a guy telling us about the boat he can take us on to the island we wanted to go to. There were other cruise passengers there that told us how great it was; so we decided to do it. It was a very fast boat and still took at least 30 min. to get to the other island. Mom did not enjoy the boat ride because on the way there we were in the front and she was getting jarred and tossed all about! The beaches and water was gorgeous when we got there. The boat just drove right up to the beach and we crawled out the front of the boat. We were able to spend about 4 hours on the island. It felt like we were on a deserted island, but it did have houses and buildings, we just never saw them. We were able to crawl through some caves to get from beach to beach and hike along a trail to see some other beautiful areas. We all got a little red, ok, more than a little! We didn’t get too burnt though, yet! I was telling this couple on boat ride about my vertigo problem, she said she had a lot of scopolamine patches and I could have a few if I needed. So I will have to try them out sometime and see if they do anything for the vertigo on the cruise as well as while running. I feel like it is getting even worse when I run, and it is making me really nervous for my ability to be able to do the triathlon I want to do near the end of my assignment in California.

That night there was a hypnotist show. I have not quite decided how believable I think this is. My senior year prom there was a hypnotist and I went on stage and was booted off pretty quickly because I was unable to become hypnotized. I wanted to give it another try. Amazingly I was chosen to go on stage. I went in with a very open mind and truly wanting to get hypnotized; however, I was probably a little skeptical as well because I knew it hadn’t worked on me in the past. I went up, listened to every thing she said, obeyed everything, and attempted to totally relax myself. I did get very relaxed; I was totally slouched over. At one point she had us relax our eyelids and keep them tightly shut, then she said when we tried to open them we wouldn’t be able to. This happened, I was not able to open my eyelids, but that is probably a mental thing. That is the most that happened to me. I didn’t get booted off, but that’s because I just faked my way through doing a lot of things! I was disappointed. But I think that if you don’t believe in hypnotism, it won’t happen to you. Who knows, maybe God just doesn’t want me to be controlled by someone else to get me to do interesting things. I know that my mind does not stop working and I do not relax very easily, so the fact that I personally can’t be hypnotized does not make me disbelieve it can really happen. I don’t think I will ever decide either way.

After the show I was going to work out and discovered that my tennis shoes were nowhere to be found. We have no idea where they could have gone. I took them to the island with me and didn’t see them since. This, of course, put me in a really bad mood. There is no way I can survive 6 more days of a cruise without being able to work out. I will try my mom’s shoes, but she wears a few sizes smaller than I do, that may not turn out too well. Or I might have to look for some shoes on an island. This is very depressing. But I should be thankful its not anything expensive like my camera. But getting to work out helps me to keep my sanity! Of course, being on a cruise and getting to go to beaches should enough to keep your sanity right? Sure, but not for me! I have to have that time to myself and help me from being as guilty with all the food.

Two shore excursions done, three more to go. Many more pictures and thing to tell coming soon!!

Changes

First, let me say Happy New Year to everybody! I hope the New Year has treated everyone well so far. I wish everybody the best this year!

My New Years was very chill. I have wanted to do something exciting for New Years for a while. This year I thought was going to be the year. At first I was going to go somewhere, then I was just going to go to Denver, then I decided to go snowshoeing. Well, none of those things happened. I was mad at how they did the schedule because I had to work the 29, 30, and 1^st. I only had New Years Eve off. Kinda bad when you have to make sure you get some sleep before and after going to work. Also, a storm came in, making it hard to drive anywhere in a timely manner. Temperatures got down into the negative teens that night anyway, so snowshoeing would have been miserable. So what did I end up doing? I ended up spending the evening in my pajamas, making pizza, and watching movies. Kind of a weird New Years when I would think about other people partying it up! Next year though, New York City here I come!! Planning will be starting soon for anybody interested

I have not blogged as much during my time in Pueblo, not because I haven’t been doing anything, but mainly because I have not had much time or not too much to talk about because I have been mainly just snowboarding! So far it has been the same ol same ol; work and snowboarding! Snowboarding has been fun though! I have mainly been going by myself, one day I met a person riding up the lift and we rode the rest of the day together. A few days I was able to go with a friend, another day I went with a friend of mine’s friends, who I had never met! And then I was able to go one day to Copper with another friend. Kind of strange I have only been with my dad maybe once or twice. He is the main person I usually go with. I have gotten quite a few days in though! Of course, with snowboarding, you can never get enough! Seems like every time a storm would come through, and the resorts would get dumped on, I had to work. Bummer, no big powder days for me yet. Oh well, I am thankful for just getting to board!

I am completely finished with my contract in Pueblo now! I am actually very excited about that. I mean, for one, Pueblo is not the most exciting place to be in Colorado! And second, well I am sure many of you already know the second reason! Haha. It turned out to be a good assignment though. Met some people, again, that I hope to keep friendships with. And the fact that Pueblo is only two hours from Buena Vista should make it easier for me to see them in the future. That is my hope anyway. Everyone at this hospital were great to work with and very helpful. Was able to spend some time with a few people outside of work. It is kind of weird coming from spending 7 months in Oregon to only 3 months in Pueblo. 3 months is short, but really short after having 7 months to get to know a hospital, the area, and the people. But I am thankful for the people I have met as well as the opportunity to go home and spend some time with family and enjoying the mountains!

Now it’s time for something new… a big change actually. First, I was getting very frustrated with certain things that were happening with the company I have been with for the past year. I continue to talk to many different companies and have been considering changing companies for a while. Finally, I did it! And so far I like the new company, except having to do TONS of new paperwork, tests, documents, etc. That has been a pain. But the nice thing about travel nursing is that even though I have changed companies, I didn’t actually “quit” my last company, just not renewing a contract with them at this time. So if I ever needed to or wanted to I could just go to them and tell them I want to look for another contract with them. And it is easy to take time off between contracts. No dealing with staffing issues or getting approval from your manager to take such and such time off. Just don’t renew a contract until you are ready to. But…this also means no pay during this time. So you kind of have to balance it out. Take time off to enjoy life, but not too much so you aren’t going too long without pay. I think this is an ok lifestyle for me right now! Why not, nothing else keeping me tied down!

That brings me to the part about change, and something new. If you don’t already know, I have my next contract. It starts February 7^th. I have many mixed emotions about this assignment. Whenever I was offered this assignment, I surprisingly did not have much hesitation taking it. And it was a huge shocker to my parents. First, they had no idea I was switching companies. Second, I took this assignment without ever mentioning anything to them about it before, which I usually discuss my options with them. I hardly ever know my next assignments so far in advance either, so it’s surprising to have so much time to prepare! So where is my next assignment and why so many mixed emotions? Well…first I will say I am very excited, scared, nervous, anxious, intimidated, and much more. I will be right in the middle of a huge city, TONS of people, and a huge hospital. But, it is going to be a great learning opportunity for me and resume builder. This hospital delivers about 600 babies A MONTH!! That’s a lot of babies! It delivers many famous babies as well! I am going to Cedar-Sinai in Hollywood, California! I am excited because it is only about two hours from Luke and Jackie. I will get to go to the beach and go snowboarding with them. But when else am I going to live in the middle of Los Angeles? I hope never! Haha. So this is an opportunity for me to go somewhere and experience something totally unlike me, and something I would probably not normally want to do! 3 months though! I can survive! Luke and Jackie are excited, I hope anyway! My parents are surprised, but I think they realize now what a good opportunity this is. I am going to be such an outcast there! Small-town mountain girl living it up in Hollywood! It is going to be very interesting! My problem is, I probably won’t even know I am seeing famous people when I am seeing them! Anybody is welcome to visit and come see some stars! And your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. Not only is this place going to be totally out of my comfort zone, and probably going to be really frustrating for me being in the city, but also the hospital is going to be very stressful. I am looking forward to the experience, but know it is going to be hard work. For all I know I will just go from delivery to delivery. Once I deliver one girl, on to the next! No, I have no idea what is going to be like, but that’s all part of the experience I guess.

So what am I doing between my contract ending in Pueblo and starting my next contract? Well, my parents are spending the whole month of January in Florida, and taking a cruise. It was a deal just to add one person on to the cabin for the cruise, so I am joining them! I finished my last night of work in Pueblo, slept a couple hours, then headed to Denver to fly to Orlando, Florida! Long trip to Florida working off 2 hours of sleep. Us night shift people like to describe that feeling as a walking zombie. To everyone else you look like you are functioning just fine, but in reality you are a walking zombie. You feel fatigued, irritable, and the only thing running through your mind is the next time you can close your eyes. But then sometimes when you do try closing your eyes, you’re too tired to sleep. It is very frustrating. And your bodily time clock is so messed up; it doesn’t know what to do with itself! By the time I got to Florida, my childhood friend, Natalie, was able to come to the airport with my dad to pick me up. She is living in Florida right now and was able to come visit for the night. It was great. Always love catching up with friends. And Natalie and I have been friends since she was born. I say she because I was born in August and she in November, I guess I could say we were friends while she was still in the womb! Haha. I was only in Orlando for the one night because we had to head down to Ft. Lauderdale the next day for the cruise. Which means, unfortunately, no Disney Parks for me. Oh well…

We are currently on our way to Samana in the Dominican Republic. It is kind of exciting because all I knew was that the cruise was leaving from Florida, I had no idea of the destinations we would be going to. Now I know, and I am so excited! I have never been to any of these places. Where exactly are we going? That will be a surprise for me to talk about after I have been. It will be fun, but I also have to survive spending 9 days in a cramped cabin with my parents and brother. Could prove to be a challenge at times, but I love them and know they love me, we just get on each others nerves sometimes! Friends, what do you say…should we go on a cruise next?!

For the next 8 days we will be out of country. So no cell phone use, I can receive texts, and may be able to send a few, but cannot make any calls. Also, it is kind of expensive to use the internet, so I may not be on the internet other than to post this blog, we have not quite decided what we are going to do about buying internet minutes. I hope to get on after the cruise! Miss you guys and hope everyone is doing great!