Spring Break Part one.....

So I recently had spring break. Now normally that would consist on sitting around the house doing nothing and relaxing so to speak but not this spring break. This year I had the amazing opportunity to go on an amazing 7 day Mediterranean cruise. Now since I saw so much stuff I am going to break this post into two parts so I can adequately describe the vacation and add pictures. So Part One.......

If you have been reading my blog than you know that when I travel nothing is every easy. So I decided to only check one bag so If they lost my bags then I will still have some clothes. So the adventure started in Kuwait where we were taking three planes and 12 hours to get to Barcelona where our cruise was leaving from. Our first leg from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi was 90 minutes late leaving. We only have a 90 minute layover in Abu Dhabi, but thankfully since there was so many people on our flight to Rome they held the plane for us which was great. So since our first flight was late it caused our second flight to be late. So once we arrived in Rome we had to sprint through the massive Rome airport to barely make our last connection to Barcelona, but we made it.

Once arriving in Barcelona you will be shocked as I was when my one checked piece of luggage actually made it Barcelona. After a series of confusing trains we make it to the ship and board, which didn't take too long. First order of business after 12 hours of travel was FOOD!!!!!!!!! We settle into our rooms and relax before exploring the ship and dinner. Our first night on board was good, we went to a show which was less than impressive. Our first stop on the Journey was Marsaille. France. Instead of booking an excursion we decided to take a shuttle into town and just explore ourselves. We ended up going on a little train ride which took us too Notre Dame de le Garde which was beautiful check it out.

Then we had lunch at this charming little restaurant. You would think since I was in France I would eat french food but nope, I had Gnocchi which was to die for. After a long day of exploring we headed back to the ship for dinner. We were seated with a couple from Alabama which was great and ended being so much fun to sit with.

Our next stop of the tour was Savona, Italy. Instead of staying in Italy my friends and I decided to take an excursion and go back into France and go to Monaco and Monte Carlo. It was a 2 hour bus ride each way, but it was well worth it. Monaco and Monte Carlo was amazing!!!! We got to visit the famous Hairpin turn from formula one racing, which is the sharpest turn in the world for racing. We also got to visit the Monte Carlo casino which was beautiful. My friend Laurie who was traveling with us was unforunately horrible sick. She didn't know she would get sick and was throwing up sick all day, and was miserable sorry Laurie. Here are some pictures from the day.

That night we decided after dinner go to the chocolate bar on the ship. This beautiful italian man named Luca was performing on Guitar. He was amazing and we ended up spending the next 5 nights going to listen to him perform. It was one of the highlights of the cruise. I was even lucky enough to get a copy of his CD which is AMAZING!!!!!

The last part of this post will include our next stop on the adventure which is the amazing city of Naples. Italy. Now this is the highlight of all the cities for me. We booked an excursion to Pompeii. I know what your thinking Pompeii?!?! Yes I got to see the ancient roman city that was covered in ash by Vesuvius . It was completely and utterly stunning. We took a 2 hour tour of the city and then got to eat amazing Pizza. It was by far the best pizza I have ever had. Here are some pictures from the day.

So thus completes part one of the adventure. Part two coming to a theater near you real soon!!!

Magical March...

Now I understand I am well over due for a blog post. I apologize to all my faithful readers, I have been so busy (a good busy) that I have not have time to blog. So this will be a longer post to make up for that. I was sitting at my desk the other day and couldn't believe that it is already March!! I mean where did the time go? I remember in August saying that the year was going to be so long, but it has honestly flown by. I am amazed that I have already been here for 7 months and in just 3 short months I will be home for summer vacation and my first year in Kuwait will be gone. It has been an amazing adventure so far with lots of ups and downs (more ups then downs).

Back at the end of February I took a mini vacation with some friends to Amman, Jordan. I went with; Thelma, Laurie, Karla, and Martha. Kuwait was celebrating National Day and Liberation day so we got 5 days off from school. So we took the short trip to Jordan for some R&R. It was an amazing trip. We spent the first day settling in and going the The Citadel which is an ancient city with ruins. It was cold and windy but it was a lot of fun. We also had lunch that day at Hashem which has the best hummus and falafel in all or Jordan. They had no menus and only served 5 dishes it was one of the best meals in Jordan.

On the way home from The Citadel we took a taxi and we hit the jackpot because our taxi driver was in the lonely planet guide book. He told us he could take us anywhere we wanted during the week in a van and he would give us a cheaper price than our hotel we were staying in. So we took a chance and used him for the following day.

The first full day was spent going to Madaba city of Mosaics, Mt.Nebo, and the Dead Sea. It was a long and exhausting day but was so cool. My favorite part of the day was floating in the Dead Sea. It is so salty that you naturally float no matter what it's a really weird sensation but so cool. The Dead Sea is also the lowest point on earth. After floating in the dead sea for a little while we got covered head to toe in this special mud that is mined from deep in the ocean and supposedly has healing powers. So we got covered head to toe in this mud let it dry then went back into the dead sea to wash it off. It was really neat. I still can't get over the fact that I got to float in the dead sea so cool. Here are some pictures of the things from day one.

Day #2 was dedicated to Petra which is one of the seven wonders of the world. It was in the southern part of the country and a 3 hour drive to get there. Needless to say we left very early. We made a few short stops along the way and made it to Petra around noon time. We immediately paid for our tickets and were off on our way. We decided to pay for a tour guide to get the full experience. The tour/ trail is about a 2 1/2 hour walk each way. It was all downhill going which meant all uphill coming back. The tour was great and we had an amazing tour guide and who we had a lot of fun with. On they way back they offer carriage rides which we happily payed for and cut our commute time back in half. After arriving back we had a 3 hour car ride home....(gross I know) most of us fell fast asleep as we were exhausted from all the walking. Here are some pictures from one of seven wonders of the world.

   

Friday our last full day in Jordan was spent going to a couple places. The first stop was this hill where you were standing in Jordan but could see Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. It was so surreal and cool to be one place and to see all those countries.Take a look Israel to the left, Syria to the right and Lebanon way off in the distance.

After that we made a few more stops a couple at different ancient castles. The last stop was Jerash the most well preserved ancient Roman city in the world. It was really cool and nice but you could tell our group was exhausted and while it was great to see by this point it was 3pm and an ancient ruin is an ancient ruin is an ancient ruin.....lol

Since returning from Jordan I have started rehearsal for Shrek the musical. I was cast in the ensemble as a couple different characters. Papa Bear, Duloc Villager, and a Rat in the tap dancing scene. We have had a couple of rehearsals and it is so much work but I have met some amazing new people and we are all having a great time. More details to follow with this.

Also last Thursday was my birthday. I am now officially 29. It was a pretty good birthday, I got to talk to everyone in my family. It happened to be my friend Karla's birthday too so a bunch of us went out for dinner at the olive garden. It was a lot of fun and nice to celebrate with friends.

Lastly I have decided to paint my apartment.... I know I'm nuts to be doing this with so much going but hey I like chaos I live for chaos. I am painting my entrance way/ dining room/ living room a soft grey and my bedroom a greyish blue. The entrance way has been completed and so has the dining room. Next up will be the living room which is a big project. I will post pictures once it is completed.

Well............I guess that is all for now. Life is good and things at school are good and I am feeling pretty settled in here in Kuwait. I can't wait to see what the next chapter in the adventure is. Stay Tuned!!!!!!