Miami is Nice

Yesterday marked the first time I had left the ship when it was in Miami. Since I typically only dress as if the weather is the exact same temperature as my room, I was very uncomfortable walking around South Beach in my corduroys. A freak thunderstorm during our lunch at the News Café cooled things down a little bit, but I still found it necessary to buy some shorts while we were there and change into them. We walked by Versace's mansion and Paul and Sue showed us some of their other favorite places in South Beach (the lobby of a fancy hotel that Jason noted looked like the set of a music video since billowing white curtains sectioned off areas and all the furniture was covered in animal skins). I asked our cab driver where exactly the MTV Video Music awards had taken place when they were held in Miami last year, but strangely he didn't seem aware that they had occurred at all.

I took advantage of the spa's crew discount and got a lava stone massage when we got back. I feel like a jerk even writing the words “lava stone massage” so I'll move on, but I do want to note that my masseuse either gave me a bunch of gels and oils for free or I mistakenly bought them. Chalk it up to another breakdown in US-Philippines Communications.

The shows were received very well, probably because the weather has been bad the past few days and people have stayed on the boat living it up. Two drunk women sitting in the front row talked throughout the second show, which was distracting, but other than that everything went smoothly.

There was a helipad party for the crew last night, where they moved the crew bar up to the helipad for the night. If you're reading this, you're probably realizing how small your own life is since you don't regularly attend parties on helipads, but they are not as glamorous as the media has led us to believe. The people in other departments aren't willing to meet people outside their own social circle unless you directly go up to them and introduce yourself, which is sometimes awkward because of the number of languages spoken in the crew. It all has the effect of making the crew bar seem like a middle school dance, with tightly formed groups of people interact independently of each other. Yet the night was fun and we still managed to meet some new people.

This morning Randall and I went to the private island. Jason couldn't go because he had a meeting with one of the personal trainers. We also get discounts with the personal trainers as part of our crew perks, and a lot of the former and current casts have taken advantage of this. The trainers are very big on the Zone diet and want everyone to eat five meals a day and drink protein shakes. I have not yet taken the personal trainer leap yet, but that probably has as much to do with the money I spent on the lava stone massage (there are those words again! Arrgh!) than anything else.