I Made It

After a mild hiccough in my travel plans I managed to make it home 3 days after leaving the ship. The most traumatizing part of the whole experience was arriving home Wednesday night and realizing I hadn't showered since Sunday. It was bad.

I saw this sign in Amsterdam and had to take a picture because it was so relevant!

Then I saw this in the paper and was a little distraught at the fact that the sun goes down at 4:42. That just seems wrong. Thankfully I don't have to worry about security on Beach Rd. after dark. I went for a run at 6:30 last night. No worries at all.

Once I got home I started doing things right off the bat: I went with my mom and a couple of family friends to see Cinderella on stage that same night. I am sure I would have enjoyed it far more if I hadn't been so tired and my feet hadn't been so itchy that my whole body was having spasms (mosquito bites).

 

Then the next night I got to meet my niece! It seemed to odd to have a baby around and to see my sister as a mother, but that is the new reality of my family. 

I also met my brother's child:

Her name is Abbey and she is a cane corso. She is so energetic she was literally jumping on my parents' dog, and we was not impressed. He was very patient with her though and didn't get mad or anything. He just looked annoyed at her craziness (typical old man). 

It has been unseasonable warm, but last night the snow was falling as I ran. As long as I am dressed for it, I don't mind the cold at all; I am thrilled not to sweat everytime I step outside. 

That is all for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Winter Wonderland

You might remember this post from last year about Winter Wonderland. This year I decided I want to sell something and have my own table. I stick with what I know, so cupcakes it was.

 

Due to the fact that I am little crazy I decided I needed to bake alone-ish. I say alone-ish because you are almost never alone on the ship. Like I said last week, that means I would need to do it late night or early morning. I did both. I went to the crew galley at 9:30pm and there were a bunch of people in there so I turned right around. I went back at 10:45ish and the same people were still there. I knew I had to get started because I was too amped up to go to sleep so I wouldn't be able to get up really early. I started at around 11:00pm and finished decorating and cleaning at 4:30am.  It was very nice and peaceful. The only downfall was the headache I woke up with on Saturday after sleeping for 5 hours, and I didn't get rid of it until today. Oh well. 

The actual event was quite fun. It was just challenging when people started selling out and packing up. It was mildly reminiscent of the circle incident. I felt like I was standing there, with a million cupcakes leftover and a piece of me was dying. Dramatic? Perhaps, but I take things personally, because I put my heart into everything I do. I think the issue was less about the product itself and more about the amount of other people who had a similar product. Also, my price point was a bit higher than the other options because everything was from scratch and there was lots of butter in the icing, which is expensive. Unfortunately, not everyone understands that. I did get some really positive feedback though, which was really nice to hear. 

 In other news, I will hopefully be leaving for home tomorrow; if Air Madagascar cooperates and I get my passport back today. It went to Tana to get a visa put in it, and it should be on the bus right now. Here's to hoping.

The "Normal" Days

What exciting things happened today? I can't give you big news every week, so this time around it will just be an ordinary post. Today I went to the market to grab a few last minute gifts and on my way out of the port a portly (ha ha I didn't notice that until I proofread it - port/portly) Malagasy man made a gesture to suggest that I was fat. Well, sir, I don't believe that is really going to help your cause, and don't you think that is a little bit of the pot calling the kettle black? I was confused. Moving forward. The market was fun, as always. During one transaction I was bargaining with a lady and then another vendor came over and gave his suggested price (half the price the lady gave in the first place), and then another man came over and completely took over. I ended up just walking away because the 3rd guy was insulting my other purchases in order to make his seem better. Inside the market building I am now careful not to walk down the aisle full of vendors selling raw meat. First of all it just smells unpleasant, and second of all it looks scary. Oh, I almost for get to tell you that on my way to the market I saw a little boy herding goats down the street. I kids you not, he probably had 20-30 goats.

That was my excitement for the day. Next weekend is Winter Wonderland, where crew members can sign up to sell whatever they choose (mostly crafts and food) and other crew members buy what they like. This year I am being brave and selling cupcakes. In order to avoid the chaos of the shared kitchen my plan is to wake up super early on Saturday morning (5 am) and get a good amount done before people start to wake up. The joy I get from baking is easily squashed by too many cooks in the kitchen. Also, I am kind of crazy about making everything as fresh as possible, so although I could bake the cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them, that would make it too easy for me. Sometime doing things the hard way is just better (and in this case, more delicious).

Have a wonderful Sunday!