Santarem, Brazil

So...how to discribe the Amazon river??? Well...sad to say the actual river isn't really anything to write home about...it's kinda poopy brown and gross. BUT...Brazil is beautiful! I got some great pictures as we went down one of the side rivers on our fishing trip today that I can't wait for everyone to see. I just couldn't get over how amazing the landscapes were and the clouds just seemed to keep going and going straight on up to heaven!

I also ate Pirana for the first time today...and boy was it TASTY! I didn't think I'd like it but it was so fresh because they had been caught on our trip...cool huh? I can't wait to get further up the river and see Manaus...it's a bigger city and is really cool from what everyone says.

The most interesting thing about today's trip was definitely seeing how the people in Brazil live on the river! There are no roads in this part of Brazil, everyone gets around by boat. We saw the city at first and then we went more into the country and got to see these little shacks on stilts that people live in and their farms. Each family had about 10 kids! And they were poor as could bee (the guide said they were all on gov. welfare) but they seemed so happy as they played in the water by their homes. It was a really neat experience and really makes you greatful for all of the little luxuries that we take for granted (like clean drinking water!)

I think it only gets better from here...I'll write again soon!

It's show time!

It definitely has been more difficult to get on the internet than I expected..sad day! But I got it to work tonight so here we go! We had our first show last night...WOOHOO! We did Love Broadway and it went really well! We got a standing ovation at both shows and the cruise director and entertainment staff were really excited about how things went. They loved us so much that the cruise director bought champaigne for a toast after our 2nd show...fun:)

So...one down...seven to go! We blocked Showgirl today and will do our first run of it tomorrow. Thankfully though we get the daytime off tomorrow...yay for laying in the sunshine!

Tomorrow we will arrive at the Amazon and our first port in Brazil will be the next day. My roomate and I are signing up to go Pirana (spelling??) fishing in a few days and go on another boat tour. I can't wait! It's absolutely beautiful here and I can't wait for what's next!

On the SHIP!!

Hello from the MS-Prinsendam!!



Wow...what a crazy couple of days it has been! Yesterday we boarded early in the morning and went straight to rehearsal and spent most of the day in meetings or in the theatre blocking our first show. The ship is big to me because I've never been on one before but everyone else says its really small. Last night we got to get settled in our rooms (which are teee tiny...haha!) But it's nice to make it feel like home! The food has been really good so far...everyone says its better on this ship because it's smaller. Tomorrow we have more meetings and then have most of the day off from rehearsal so I think I'm gonna go explore more and try to get used to the ship!



The cast laughed at me when we first took off because it took me a while to get used the rocking of the boat (I almost fell a few times...haha!) They say that this ship is rockier than others because it's smaller and that it wont be as bad on the Rotterdam but I've gotten used to it pretty quickly!



Tonight we're going to the first guest entertainer show and then we have a midnight rehearsal...woohoo! I'm gonna try to get my pictures up when we have some time off tomorrow afternoon! Keep an eye on skype tomorrow afternoon I may be online



<3kt

Rehearsals are OVER!

Hello!! Today is the day we fly to Ft. Lauderdale to board the ship EARLY tomorrow morning!! I can't believe how quickly these last 4 days of rehearsal have flown by! It has been so wonderful to have all of our cast here together at last and they are all WONDERFUL! It's gonna be a little crazy on the ship the first week from what I hear so it may be a little while before I can put up another post but I'll try to get on again asap and get some more pictures up! What an adventure...I'm so excited:)

Round one is FINISHED!

Hello!!! I know it's been a while since I've been on here to make a post...but here I am again:)

We officially finished rehearsals early last week (our rehearsals got extended by a week when they added Songs of the South back into our line up!) and we were lucky enough to have our dance captain Ted and my M2 Ferdi come join us when they got off of the Amsterdam. It was so wonderful to have them there and it was great for me to get to work with my partner for a few days before we left for break!

So...since rehearsals have finished I've been playing in LA with Jake and our friends! Thanksgiving in LA was fun, we spent the morning with friends and the evening with Jakes sister and her boyfriends family. We got some great Thanksgiving eating done...but I certainly did miss spending the day with family and all of our traditions. Jake and I ventured out a little bit on black Friday and went to visit his sister at Saks and people watch in the crazy crowds! Overall it was a fun holliday weekend:)

This is my last week here in LA and I can't believe the time has passed so quickly!! Jake and I just got back tonight from a quick trip down to San Diego...it is really a beautiful city! We went to the Zoo and to San Diego State University so I could check out the Musical Theatre MFA program. That was a fun trip! Anyways...I'm headed home on Saturday so I'm gonna just try to enjoy these last few days here and I guess I better start packing!!:)

Love you and miss you all...hopefully I'll be seeing you soon!!

Late Night!

So...I was thinking it was about time for another update...but I'm gonna keep it short b/c it's about 12:30 am here and we just got home from rehearsals and I'm pooped!!! We are almost finished with Showgirl...yay!! We should finish choreography tomorrow and then have Sunday off and just do runs of the show on Monday. This 4-midnight rehearsal thing is proving to be a little bit challenging...10:30 or 11 rolls around and we all start to check out...but we've made pretty good progress all things considered! My fellow Rotterdam cast members and I are beginning to get a little tired of learning everything in the background...but we do get to step in for a run tomorrow night...so we shall see how that goes!

We found out the other day that when we're flown to Singapore on March 11th we actually get to spend 3 whole days in the city before our next ship even gets there...so that is really exciting! I told the girls that my main priority for those days will be to collect as much fake designer merchandice as possible (aparently thats the cool thing to do there!) Anyways...we also got our full and detailed itenerary so hopefully I can get that up here soon so you can know where I'm going to be and when!

Love you all...keep in touch!!

One down!

Well...one show down...6 to go!!! We finished working On the Air yesterday and my cast finally got to step in and run the show. The run went pretty well overall...it was a little difficult to just jump into the show without much spacing rehearsal but I think we did pretty well for learning everything in the back of the room!!:) Thankfully, we have a much needed day off today and everyone is trying to lay low and get some rest before we start Showgirl Monday!

We move to 4-midnight rehearsals for the next 2 weeks so I'm going to have more day time free to make phone calls and things (silly time difference!) so If anyone wants to catch up...give me a call!! :)

Love you and miss you all!<3