Work was much better today… I still miss you guys, but I’m trying to stay in the moment…whatever that moment is. I really want to come away from this experience understanding the inns and outs of the hospitality industry…knowing what I hate, and what I love-but having an appreciation and experience doing the grueling work that goes on in hospitality operations. And honestly, I think this experience will be good for me, I’m realizing now how spoiled I’ve been, pretty much my entire life. I’ve never had to get a real job, I’ve always been “the swimmer”…all these wonderful swim meets, being pampered like kings and queens at SEC’s & NCAA’s… the Olympics etc etc. I’m not saying that I don’t know how to work hard…but I’ve been afforded a lot, and the things that I work hard at, I love those things…imagine having to work your ass off at something you hate? A lot of the people I work with on the ship are here for 8 months out of the year, away from their wives, young children & other family members. I can only imagine that this is out of need and not pure desire for ship life. Just something I thought I’d share…and to think, I used to get upset over swim practices!
November 16, 2011
Nov. 9th Kusadasi Turkey: Trip to Ephesus
OH YEAH…AND I went to Ephesus today, no time to give thoughts right now, but here are a few pictures! If you don’t know what it is, look it up ;)
November 15, 2011
Kusadasi, Turkey "A new attitude"
Monday Nov. 7th
I barely hear my alarm through my earplugs at 7 a.m. after having an early night and getting to bed at 12:30 the night before. My room is pitch black because there is no port hole on my floor, and my body feels like it just went to sleep. However…years of waking up for 5 a.m. practices have taught me to JUST GET UP. So, that’s what I do… ( a few snoozes later of course). The night before (when I was wide awake and planning how I was going to get the most out of this internship) I decided that I would wake up before work whenever we were in a port and go ‘exploring’ coupled with some exercise to knock two birds out with one stone. This morning I decide to get a little ‘tri’ action on (run, outdoor gym, ocean swim/picture taking along the way). The views were absolutely stunning… Kusadasi is a fairly small city…with about 70,000 people living in the city center with beautiful beaches and views atop very high hills (which I would call a mountain, but I don’t want to sound ignorant or incorrect… but coming from the Bahamas, it was a mountain). My run turned into more of an interval training session, with the slow walking/rest being strategically placed at lookout points ;)
View from my run... pretty amazing huh? This picture doesn't even capture 5% of how beautiful the views were!
A little workout station at the top ;) yes, of course I used it!
A little gross & sweaty, but I couldn't resist a self portrait!
I’ve decided that running is one of the best ways to get a real feel for a place when you only have a few days to explore…you notice things you would never encounter on a taxi ride or sight seeing experience… for some reason, when you exercise publicly, locals feel more of a connection to you or something…or maybe it’s just me. By the time I made it back to the beach, there were more people around…in particular, Claus, a sailor from Frankfurt who took quite an interest in the fact that I was going swimming in such cold water… but hey, it was warmer than Izmir! There were also people with fishing rods all over the rocks…but I couldn’t quite understand, because I saw NO fish during my swim…NONE, so I couldn’t quite figure that one out… the morning was successful, and the hours at work were much more enjoyable today-I felt like my capacity to learn was greater after having such a refreshing morning. So-experiment number one=successful.
Izmir, Turkey "My People"
Today was a rough day… it’s Sunday, which marks the end of my first week onboard. For the most part it’s been great, a whirlwind, but great nonetheless…meeting new people, trying to settle into a routine, trying to find time to work out & stay sane, missing home, family & friends, learning a new job etc etc etc. Tonight was weird, I finished working around 11 and had plans to try & get online to email a few people and call Erin. We are at sea, so the internet was moving at a snails pace and the phone had no hope… I became so agitated not being able to contact people that I just burst out in tears (literally)! It was quite embarrassing seeing as I was in the crew lounge area…but I couldn’t help it. Eventually I got in contact with Erin, and as he always does…he helped to calm me down by making me laugh so hard that I was half crying/ half laughing (you know, like a baby does) lol …later that night I realized that while traveling, seeing new places and meeting new people is awesome, it can never replace what I call “my people”. I was trying to figure out how I could be so upset… I have this great opportunity, the people on the ship are extremely welcoming & nice, but as of now…they’re just not “my people”…they’re nice, but they don’t know ME. They don’t know the weird, crazy Alana that sings to herself and starts to laugh hysterically when she’s really tired, or the love I have for children, my peculiar somewhat moody personality, my forgetfulness or my outstanding ability to lose passports ;)
They just don’t know…and at the end of these long days, I just want to tell one of my people about everything that’s happening, all that I’m learning, the mistakes I’m making…I want to be selfish and complain sometimes, laugh, cry, I want to know how my people are doing, are you struggling, are you happy, are you moving forward? So…I say all that to say, I’ve realized something about myself…I am not the world traveler, who can live anywhere, any place any time and just settle in on my own. And you know…it’s funny, because I am very much an independent, self entertainer type of person who needs my “me” time often (Anna & Erin know this well ;) BUT I LOVE my people…all of YOU, because if you’re reading this, you are definitely one of my people, in some capacity. So I say thank you…for being such great friends, teachers, coaches, mentors & family members for me to miss you this much!
After I had this “revelation” about myself and the rollercoaster of emotions I’ve experienced thus far…I lay in bed thinking “how can I make the most out of this experience?” “is it possible that when I leave I will feel the same way about some of the people here as I do about you all?”… I told myself, of course, and along with these people, I was going to embrace this traveling experience, squeeze it dry, you know-like they describe to you in those books about women who travel the world for soul searching and stuff. In a sense…I have that opportunity! Not only am I here to figure out what the heck I want to do with my life career wise, but I’m sure I can find a little more soul along the way as well ;) So, the very next day…that’s what I did J
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