You Must Be This Tall...

Note: A friend pointed out to me that immediately after my first blog, which told you that I don't write about my real life, I have since only written about my life. She finds it ironic, I suppose. ;) I, too, noticed this, but I wrote that first post before I went on vacation, and afterwards, my experiences had just been too out-of-the-normal for me that I decided it might be entertaining to write about. And thus, the long string of vacation blogs was born!


Now, before I continue to write about Day Four, I need to tell you something that I forgot to put in my last blog. On Day Three, I talked about "Senor Frog's Restaurant, Bar, and Clothesline" and how I still haven't figured out what the "clothesline" was. What I forgot to mention was the notice posted at the door of the bar: "You must be this tall to drink". That's right. Apparently, in the Bahamas, they treat drinking like they do roller coasters. If you're a really tall twelve year old, go at it! Poor forty year old midgets....


And now, on to Day Four, my last day on the cruise, and my best day!


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Day Four



Because I had gone to bed so late the previous night (and there was no window in my room to allow natural light in), I slept in very late. By the time I got up, the breakfast food in the cafeteria, if I may call it that, was being replaced with lunch food. Also, I woke up with a very bad headache. Before you say anything, no, it was not a hangover. I wasn't allowed to drink alcohol on the ship (and quite frankly, who wants to anyway? It smells awful, so I can't imagine how it tastes...). I had apparently been working on getting a head cold, because that's what I've got now. Ugh. Anyway, for most of the morning, I was just sitting at the table with my head down. But, at noon, my mom made me go with her and my dad and brother to a shipwide scavenger hunt. It was pretty confusing and the questions we had to ask were confusing. And the Guest Relations people were mean. I'm serious. Everyone on that ship was so much fun and so nice... except for the people hired to have that kind of job. A bit ironic, eh?


After the scavenger hunt, which had us running aaaaaalllllll over the ship (all twelve decks and across the span of it), we were tired. So, my mom, my grandma, and me all went to a towel folding demonstration. It was really cool to see how the staff members fold towels into those cute, little critters that they leave on your bed once they clean the room up. I got a pamphlet from them to learn how to make my own.


I wasn't feeling well at this point of the day. My headache and sore throat were not mixing well with the sloshing acid in my stomach due to the rocking waves that were moving the ship A LOT that day, so I went back to my room and took a nap while my parents went to a blackjack tournament (it wasn't played with real money, don't worry). As soon as they lost, they came and got me. We got ready for dinner and headed out to Claude's dining room on Deck 4.


It was nice to see Karian and Wilson again. They're such a cute team and they do their job really well. My parents wanted to go to the casino after dinner, so my brother and I stayed at Claude's for dessert. As we were finishing up, the head waiter announced that they were going to introduce the kitchen staff, so we stayed to watch them. Then, out of nowhere, all the staff gets in a huge conga line and they all parade around the restaurant to music! They were doing tricks like juggling wine bottles and balancing things on their heads (including lit candles, yikes!). Apparently this parade was a goodbye gesture to all of the guests. As soon as they were finished, the head waiter announced that he wanted everyone to be involved, so the music came on again. This time, it was the macarena. All the guests got up at their tables to dance (most of them had been drinking wine and were a bit wobbly...), and Karian and Wilson came over to dance with us. Now, Karian and Wilson took care of several tables as the waiters, but they chose us to dance with. We all laughed and danced around like fools. After everything was done, we shook hands with Karian and Wilson and left the restaurant.


I found my family in the casino (you only have to be 18 to gamble!) and told them about what they missed. Then, my grandma told me about what I missed. Apparently, as she was leaving, Karian gave her a hug and Wilson gave her a kiss. So, a bit disappointed and a tad jealous that I hadn't received a kiss from him, I marched up to my mother and said, "I'm going to go get a kiss from Wilson. ....That's okay, right?"


She just laughed and told me to do whatever I wanted. So, with my brother in tow (as he had nothing better to do, I guess), I marched back into the restaurant and found Karian and Wilson cleaning up dishes. As soon as they saw me, I looked at Wilson with my arms crossed and said, "My grandma just told me that you gave her a kiss. Where's mine?!" He looked like a deer caught in the headlights! It was so cute and funny! Karian started laughing and I opened up my arms to hug Wilson. So he laughed and hugged me, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I swear, I just gave Karian blackmail material for that poor boy. Afterwards, Wilson decided to give me his email address so that we could keep in touch, and Karian gave me hers. I said my final goodbyes to them and went off to find my parents again as I listened to my brother complain about what he had just seen and how he couldn't believe he had followed me, and when was he going to learn not to trust me when I say I have something fun to do?


My parents, my brother, and I headed off for the farewell show at the Sound of Music Theater, called "Signed, Sealed, Delivered!". It was a pretty cute production of music throughout the decades. As soon as that was over, my brother headed over to his teen club to get his "girlfriend's" email address while my parents and I went to the nightclub for karaoke.


And guess who was heading the karaoke? None other than my British cutie, Stefan. To say the least, I was happy. I am a very outgoing person and did not skip a beat signing up for karaoke (not because of Stefan, Reader. I actually like to sing and perform in front of a crowd). I sang the song I always start out with, the one I'm most comfortable with and the one that karaokes usually have, "I Will Survive". This version was by Gloria Gaynor and had some pretty weird beats to it, but I rocked out anyway. Christy, the other entertainment staff, introduced me when Stefan asked who was up next. But Stefan misunderstood my name was "Angel", and called me "Angle". Usually, this would irritate the crap out of me because that's a very common mistake someone makes when they try to spell my name. However, the people I work with jokingly call me Angle on purpose, so I am pretty much desensitized to it by now.


When I corrected Stefan, he just laughed and said, "Damn my Dyslexia!" and continued on. He asked where I was from, and when he heard I was from Indiana, he asked if there were any other Indiana natives in the building. Two people roared and clapped. Stefan looked at them and went, "All right! Wait a second.. are those-"


"Those are my parents," I replied. Everyone laughed. Once we were finished introducing and making jokes, I sang my song. Everyone cheered, as I knew they would (aren't I just so humble?), and we listened to other singers as they wrapped karaoke up for the night (my dad sang a song too! But he's not as good as me. Sorry, Daddy!). I went over to Stefan and talked to him a bit. He wanted to hear my British accent, so I did it for him and he was ecstatic! He laughed and told me that I sounded just like his sister. And he wasn't being sarcastic! (HA! Take that, Gemma! I sound cockney, not Australian!)

Soon after, I dragged my dad over to Stefan so I could get a picture with him. Being the outgoing person Stefan is, and the outgoing person I am, we took a really crazy picture. Then I laughed and shook Stefan's hand to thank him for the photo. But, instead of shaking my hand, he bowed and kissed it!


It was very hard for me to keep in the squealing giggle I wanted so badly to let out.


My dad just rolled his eyes and went back to my mom as I said my goodbyes to Stefan and made my way back to my mom. Mom and I sat there for a while, listening to the live band that played afterward and talking while my dad had his last go at the casino.


Finally, at about one in the morning, we picked up my brother and headed off to bed. The next day was just full of check-outs, waiting, and plane rides and not interesting enough to be in a blog.


On a final note, I'll tell you why Day Four was my favorite day. You, Reader, may think it was because of the two cute boys that kissed me. Although this played a part in it, I cannot say it was the sole reason for my ecstasy by the end of that night. Throughout the entire vacation, I had nine members of my family with me. Most of the time, we were trying to spend time with everyone and divvy out activities to everyone. On this final day, my uncle and his fiancee' had wanted alone time, and my grandparents were super tired, and went to bed early. My brother had gone to his teen club for most of the day, which left me to hang out with my mom and dad. I am a very busy person, and so are my parents, and we don't get to spend much time with each other a whole lot. They work all day and I work all evening. All of us are going to school, so the free time we do have is spent doing homework. Really, the only time we get to spend with each other is in passing or in the car when Mom drops me off at school or something.


So, I have to say that Day Four was my favorite because I got to spend so much time with my parents. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with my grandparents and my uncle too, but having alone time with my mom and dad was really, really nice. It was wonderful that I could go with them anywhere and do anything with them. My favorite part of that day was probably during karaoke and afterwards, when I got about an hour with my mom by ourselves and we just talked. It certainly was a night to remember!


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So now that you've suffered through the mundane writings of my real life (I tried to make it as interesting as possible!), I'll get on to the fictional stuff from now on. However, I have realized that it's not as hard to write about reality as I thought it would be, so you might be seeing more of these "reality blogs" more often than every seventy years.

~Angel