So Long!

     At one point or another I believe we all fantasize about running away from home. It doesn’t matter what your home life is like, it’s just something naturally programmed within us to reach for something more; to believe that there is more. I remember thinking about it distinctly on three separate occasions of my life.

     The first occasion was when I was about ten years old and feeling claustrophobic in my own skin, under my roof. I decided, with all the vindication a ten year old could muster, to take a few things and run away- to never look back. I’m pretty sure I made it about as far as the mailbox before I realized that it was a pretty poor decision on my part.

    I tried running away again when I was a junior in high school, preparing to embark on the next phase of my life to go to college. It was the first chance I had to choose where I was going to go for four straight years of my life. I could pick anywhere- the world was my oyster. Dreams of California and Colorado filled my mind as I dreamed of picking up my things and simply setting off without planning a return trip anytime soon. It was almost as if I had some kind of overwhelming desire to detach myself from whatever held me home in New Jersey. In the end, I chose to go about 2 hours north to New York State.

   And again, I attempted to flee the comfort of the familiar when I applied for an externship with Celebrity Cruise Lines to go abroad for nearly 5 months. I was presented with the opportunity to see parts of the world no one in my family had ever seen before. I had been given the opportunity to set foot on land that no one bearing my surname had ever reached. This time, however, I made it well passed my mailbox at the end of my driveway. Ten hours later I found myself in a hotel in Barcelona and a few short hours after that I was setting sail for Egypt. I was finally going.

    Over the past five months I have encountered just about every kind of individual from every corner and every country on the planet I could name- not to mention I met some people from countries I had never heard of (ten dollars to any of my friends from home who can tell me where Mauritius or Macedonia are without looking at a map). I learned of selfless sacrifice; parents who work on the ship to pay for the families livelihood and forfeiting their abilities to see them for nine months at a time. I learned of hard work and dedication; working for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for 8-9 months at a time all with a smile. I learned of business; its all about the bottom line. And of course, I learned of friendship and the kindness of the human spirit; had it not been for the friends I made on board the ship during this experience, I would have gone mad long ago.

    Perhaps what I learned about most during my 5 months aboard the Solstice, however, was the last thing I expected to learn about at all. I learned about myself. I learned that I was capable ( while not exceedingly happy) to work a 90 hour work week consistently. I learned that there is enough time in every day to do what you love if you love it enough to find the time. I learned that I’m braver than I thought, stronger than I thought and maybe even a little smarter than I could have imagined.

    I look back now to those times when I so desperately wanted to run away throughout the years and realize that I wasn’t actually running away from home. I was running away from myself. And now that I’ve caught up, looked myself in the eye and seen what I can do, I’m ready to say that it’s time to go home.

    I’ll see you all soon, I cannot wait.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

So sorry about the delay; Things have been crazy to say the least. Please allow me to explain why I haven’t posted in so long…

I’ve been fricken busy. Get off my back.

Or, in a more detailed and friendly explanation, the ship disembarked on the 23^rd of December from Sydney to take part in a 12-day cruise that ends in Auckland, New Zealand. In Cric Quay (the name of our port) we picked up a staggering 3,182 guests. That’s max-capacity. And the crew? Well, we lost quite a few crew members who completed their contracts and decided to go home- I don’t blame them. The hardest hit department, arguably, and in a completely biased opinion, was the galley. Our par-level on any cruise is supposed to be 162 employees to feed the all guests and crew on board the Solstice. We had 130.  We were operating at about 80%. This meant everyone was working longer hours and switching from station to station at a moments notice, especially me.

I’ve been working in the butcher’s station for the past two cruises (24 days to be exact) but have also doubled as a round cook (prep) roast- assistant ( cooking all the meats) hot-line cook (plating all the foods) and vegetable prep team. Sometimes I did all those jobs in one day. It may not seem like its that big of a deal, but having to switch your mindset from one focus to another in a matter of minutes isn’t always the easiest thing in the world to do! So, yes, I’ve been busy. But I also go to experience Christmas and New Years abroad!

Christmas was actually spent at sea, in transit from Sydney to Melbourne, but I got to see first-hand what an Australian Christmas Eve looked like. I have to say, I’m a pretty big fan of what I go to see. The normal Christmas decorations adorned the public areas, “Merry Christmas” was spelled out in bright green and red colors, a giant Christmas tree with fake presents in the center of the city- the perfect spot for a family photo op. Christmas music gently wafted in the background of the shopping areas, people were happy and in the holiday spirit- and in SHORTS with sun screen on! Come on, what could be better? Yes- the whole white Christmas thing is nice in theory until it becomes gross with dirt and deer poop and you’re forced to go outside and shovel for hours. I’ll stick with the 90 degrees and cloudless summer skies, thank you very much.

New Year’s Eve on board was also pretty spectacular. I got dressed up, thanks to my friend Justin on board who happens to have an impeccable sense of style and also wears the same size clothes as me, drank some champagne and “watched the ball drop”, which is to say I counted down the ball dropping and on the first moment of 2013 chugged a glass of champagne and gave a lot of kisses to a lot of people. We danced and laughed and took plenty of photos that will one day surface but I think I’m fine with them being delayed a bit.

All in all, life has been good. Full of ups and downs and twists and turns. I’ve never been so exhausted in my entire life, but I also have never been able to experience so much in so little time before, either. So I’ll take my beatings with a smile and continue on.

On a side-note, it is exactly 60 days until I come home to my favorite country in the world. And I can say that now, having been to 12 countries in only 4 months! Crazy to think that once upon a time I was convinced I’d be stuck in the United States my entire life. 

Misinformation

I am willing to bet a decent chunk of my paycheck – actually, only about ten dollars, which is sadly a rather large percentage of my salary – that most of my friends who I am acquainted with outside of the CIA have the following vision of my daily routine:

French chefs gliding around the kitchen in pristinely white coats with large toques adorned with a silly poof tilted slightly off-center, holding a skillet in one hand and a wooden spoon in another, ever so gently stirring a sauce and sprinkling a little salt and pepper. They taste the sauce and, Parfait! , They announce to the wait staff, which is patiently waiting with a smile to pick up their order for you, the customer. Your steak is now being seared and cooked to order by a master butcher. The kitchen is filled with elegance and professionalism- a calm mystique engulfs the room as each masterpiece is artistically plated with the precision of a surgeon. Each detail meticulously calculated without error. Afterwards the kitchen staff gathers around for a grand dinner; fantastic wine, delicate cheese and fruits, crisp baguettes with a delectably soft center and perhaps a cake for dessert. They laugh and applaud each other for the wonderful service that they all put together almost as if they were an orchestra and the plates were their composition.

Well I’m here to call it: bullshit. (For many kitchens, anyway.)

Your vision of my life is not completely your fault, however! TV shows and movies have glamorized the industry that I have now sucked in to. But of course they want you to believe that each and every person in the back of each and every kitchen across the globe is specially trained and a master chef who can stand side by side with the likes of Gordon Ramsey, Bobby Flay, Cat Cora and all the other “Televsion Chefs” you can name. The reality is that the restaurant business is filled to the brim of regular everyday people who just know how to work- and work hard, at that. The days start early, the nights run late and it’s a pretty thankless job with next to no glamour for the large percentage of us. We work holidays (all of them) and earn a lot less money than those who’s weekly hours exceed no more than 40 while we hardly ever work less than 80.

So why does the majority of the service industry-employed army do what they do every day? For some, the answer is simply that it is a job that can be found in every corner of the globe from Albuquerque to Zimbabwe. For others, the passion for food far exceeds the rational-man’s thought processes to the point of obsession with flavors, textures and the manipulation of ingredients to create something from seemingly nothing. And for others still, it’s the ability to connect with the masses; feeding the drunk, the hungry, the bored, the rich and poor, the depressed, the joyous, the morose, the single-man and the married couple, the president and the average Joe alike is a wonderful feeling.

And for some, it’s to get on Kitchen Nightmares to be screamed at mercilessly by an angry British man.

Australia, How I love thee..

It is difficult to explain what is inherently intangible, so trying to describe what I felt in Australia is going to be nearly impossible. Here goes nothing.

There’s a sensation one feels the moment that foot touches land after being on the ship for so long- and no, I am not talking about the kind of feeling you get after being on a trampoline for an extended period of time and the Earth feels like it is bending and shaking underneath you. I am talking about the feeling you get when you arrive somewhere and you just know whether or not you will like it; whether or not you feel safe, happy or even if you know you will hate where you are. It is almost as if every location has its own energy coursing through its pavement.

In Dubai, the energy was unreal. And that is probably because it was just that; unreal. It was a lot of bright lights, lots of fireworks and razzmatazz without a whole lot of substance. It was a show without heart. But that is not a bad thing. Dubai is a place where the super-rich go to escape from reality. They are not paying through the nose to have to face whatever had already been left behind, so the un-realness is exactly what Dubai needs.

On the other end of the spectrum, Alexandria was almost too real. The city unapologetically stayed the same and did not alter itself and put on a façade to appease the thousands of guests who trampled the city littered in trash and debris every year. It is almost as if it said, Here I am, this is me. Take it or leave it. In its own way, that was pretty beautiful and brave to be so genuine with reckless abandon and without compromise.

Australia, however… Australia was something unique. The night before docking in our first port, Darwin, I was so excited I literally didn’t go to sleep. I had to find ways to occupy my time before docking at 6 in the morning other than pacing back and forth because my roommate started to think I had issues. It has always been my dream to go to Australia and I was finally here. I was like a kid on Christmas who had been given a thousand dollars to go to a candy store and then told I was going to Disney world. Yes that excited.

Once daylight broke I ran to the porthole closest to my room and pressed my nose up to the glass to watch the shores come in closer and closer. Once we finally laid down our anchor, my heartbeat spiked and I got even antsier.  Around 10 o’clock I met up with some Americans and we set off to explore Darwin, our first stop in Queensland, Australia. After swiping our cards to leave the ship, I stepped out into the Australian sun- which, by the way, I feel like was a heat lamp that God forgot to turn off over top the country- and took a deep breath. I immediately felt at home.

Walking around the city the energy felt electric and inviting but somehow still very relaxed, but not lazy. It is almost as if the people of Australia do everything the rest of the world does, but does not find the need to stress out about when it gets done. It is a very calming feeling.

We wandered to the Crocosaurus Zoo, which, unsurprisingly, was home to crocodiles. Terrifying, monstrous, ugly, gnarly crocodiles. You remember Steve Irwin? Remember how he used to wrestle these things? Well now I know why he was famous for doing it- these things have jaws that are so powerful they have the bite force of 44k. And they live in the water here- both salt and fresh. However, baby ones are actually kind of cute and cuddly! We met one named fluffy and did the normal tourist “oo-ing” and “ahh-ing” that we are expected to do. We took many photos and pointed at things that probably don’t even faze the typical Aussie. One should note: they drive on the left side of the road and the toilets do flush the opposite way.

Getting back on the boat was sad for me; I didn’t want to leave so soon. But I was even more excited for the next port of call, Brisbane, to meet up with my dear friend Ash who graciously agreed to show me around his city while I was there!

Ash has been a good friend of mine for a couple of years now. I met him in New York City while hanging around and lollygagging with Matt. Ash back then did what Aussies do best; talk to strangers. He came up to Matt and I and asked if we were local and was wondering if we could show him around the city a bit. We have been friends ever since. Ash has been back to New York City since then and kept telling me to come to Brisbane ASAP because I would love it. I constantly told him I would get there eventually, never really believing it myself. All of a sudden, here I am on the Solstice traveling 22 knots and hour, barreling towards his home city. It’s all very surreal.

Brisbane is part of the Gold Coast, which is famous for its rum, its beautiful beaches and Steve Irwin’s zoo, among other things. I can attest to the fantastic rum and its absolutely astounding beaches. We took a trip from the port of Brisbane to a place called Surfer’s Paradise, which is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life. The beach had crystal clear waters, the air smelled only of salt, the sand was free of trash and the people were friendly and slightly less obese than I am used to on New Jersey shores.

We enjoyed a nice lunch by the beach and caught up. Having an extensive conversation with an Aussie always plants an idiotic smile on my face because I love the accent and the lingo. My favorite of their colloquialisms is I think what perfectly exemplifies the Australian spirit; No worries. There is no single phrase that could characterize them better No worries, what a perfect saying.

After spending my day in Brisbane, all I can think dream about is going back to the city on a slightly more permanent basis. Till we meet again, my dear city.

Let Me Count the Ways...

      I could never be a baker or a pastry chef. Never. Ever. Ever. I've come to realize this after 5 short days in the baking and pastry section of the galley(kitchen). Why? Let me paint a picture for you...
      It's dinner time and waiters- who are the wretch of society I might add- are screaming at you on the line for food, skipping in front of eachother because they think that their table is more important than the last. Telling you that you need to take out tomatoes when there is tomatoes in the sauce. Telling you that you're plating it wrong, which is interesting because their job is to merely carry the food to the hungry customer, not to tell you how to put the food on the plate itself. On the hot line, you yell back at the waiters to calm down. Sometimes you come up with witty things like, "Hey, penguin, you want to come behind the line and do my job? I'll give you my pay check." Or even, "You babbaloo," yes, babbloo is a real term used on the ship, " you couldn't tell a tomato from a comquat." Yes, its a fun little game that the kitchen and wait staff plays to insult eachother and then at the end of the day come together and enjoy a beer or two- or in my case, a soda.
      But in the pastry section its a completely different story. Everyone is eerily calm all the time. I'm pretty sure that the head pastry chef is slowly poisoning them all with eye drops or something. I've seen that stuff of 20-20, man. It happens! They all focus so intently on the pastries that they're plating that it makes me a little uncomfortable. Calm, cool, collected; annoying. They move with a breezy confidence that makes the hot line seem like a bunch of linebackers that are bumping in to one another without any sort of discretion. It's so irritating to watch them be so... perfect. And to boot, the other night I was plating the gelato and ice-cream on the dinner line and out of nowhere there was a line of about 20 waiters all sceaming for different things. " Applie pie a la mode!" "Pistachio, pistachio!" "Papi, double vanilla!" "I was here first, serve me!" So at first I gave them all a death stare that made the insanity subside for about five minutes. But then the chaos returned with a vengance. So I snapped. "Back the *bleep* off!" My team, which was quiet to begin with, somehow managed to become even more silent than before. My supervisor came over and put his hand on my shoulder with a concerned look on his face and genuinely inquired, "Are you okay? Do you need a break? I know its stressful here." I just stared at him, dumbfounded. You are all too nice. That's problem number one.
     My second problem is that I absolutely, unequivocally hate being sticky. Hate it, hate it, hate it. A lot. The feeling of leaning on a counter and having to literally peel my arm off of it afterwards because you leaned on some puddle of what once was a sugary confection makes my skin crawl. At the very mention of honey or jelly I went and washed my hands. I must have been at the hand sink about 10 times in one hour the other day, once again causing concern in my superiors. They think I am a germaphobe. "I hate sticky messes." I must have said about 30 times already while obsessively cleaning the counter tops.
    I want to eat everything, I think is the biggest issue. I see a chocolate cake with a caramel cream layer. strawberry topping and chantilly cream, its mine. Banana bread with walnuts and banana brulee? Why yes, I'd love to sample some. Molten lava cake with French Vanilla bean ice cream? I need to know what it tastes like, you know? Seriously, every single thing in the pastry kitchen just screams snack time to me. And I know that it can be the same way in the culinary section, but I usually snack on things like vegetable scraps and fruit. Those don't really exist in the pastry kitchen. Or if they do, I haven't seen an asparagus soufle quite yet.
    I can't be nice, I can't stand sticky messes and I'm going to get huge if I stay in the pastry kitchen any longer. Thank baby Jesus its only for 16 days! To all my P&B friends, I salute you.

30 Days and 30 Nights

     In some ways it's really hard to believe that I have been on the Solstice for a whole month. In some ways, it seems like I just stepped foot on the ship yesterday, and in others it feels as if I have been here for much longer than just the 30 days that have passed so far.
    Just one month ago I was reluctantly saying good-bye to my family at the airport, leaving behind literally everything I knew in search of adventure and experiences to carry me through a life-time. Boarding the plane to Barcelona I was anxious, nervous and honestly a little bit scared of the world I had never seen other than in pictures of magazines. But I was excited, ready to take whatever head-on and not back down.
    After I landed in Barcelona I met up with my friend Julia, a local that I know through tennis. She showed me around the city a little bit; I rode of the back of a motorcycle in the pouring rain, saw La Sagrada Familia and had a mojito in Spain. Never thought I would say I had done all those things in one day. The very next day I was taken to the ship and was completely awestruck by the size of the vessel. 14 floors, 2000 guests, 1000 employees. The first day was a whirlwind of paperwork, orientation and meetings. Then I was put straight to work. Despite the fact that you have an orientation period, they expect you to get trained mostly on the job. Between the crazy work hours, the constant moving between time zones and being homesick, the first few days were pretty exhausting.
    Our first stop brought me to Alexandria, Egypt. While not exactly a 4-star luxury city, it had its own unique charm and appeal. Something that a world traveler may very well like to see and experience because its so raw and unpolished. I cannot express how fascinating I found the city to be. The next place I stopped in was Duabi, UAE. Talk about a wonderland. The metropolis just oozed money and affluence. Had I not been on the ship I don't think they would have let someone so common as myself even look at the city! What a blast that night was.
     Then came my first missed holiday. Thanksgiving. In the past, Thanksgiving marked the first of the holiday season that I spent surrounded by many friends and family. It was when everyone came home from college for a few days and we all spent time together talking about what we've missed in each other's lives and saying so long for a couple weeks until winter break came along. It represented the season that brings my family back together and warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes. I sat in my room thinking about everything that I'd miss back home and going through old pictures from years past before going to work and serving a few hundred meals before lunch was even over. During my break I ran into some friends from the spa and the gym; two Americans and a few English girls plus one Australian. They talked me in to staying for a game of make-shift 6 cup beer pong on two small circular tables in celebration of Thanksgving. I stayed and I couldn't be happier that I did. They reminded me that the holidays were about celebrating everything you love and appreciate. It was a great day.
      I've met some amazing people on board the ship, been to seven countries, and eight cities, fallen in love with one or two of our stops along the way and continue to look towards the future to see what this journey will bring me. 30 days down and 95 more to go; bring it on. Next stop, Bali and Australia!

Thank You

     There are so many things that I can say thank you for and I'm sure that I could never fully convey just how thankful I am but I will do my best. Happy thanksgiving everyone back home!
Thank you to all my teachers in high school and formative educational years; I really mean all of you.  Thank you to the teachers who always supported individuality and making your own mark. Thank you especially to all the teachers way back when that made class so incredibly boring that all I could think about was never having to take a math or science or history ever again ! Had your class actually kept me awake, I may have ended up being a lawyer or doctor or something. That'd just be ludicrous.
Thank you to all of the externship sites I applied to for turning me Down or flat out not answering. At first I was really upset by the lack of responses, but sitting where I am now ( which is Malaysia, by the way) I realize that your rejections  led me on a journey I could have never conceived in my wildest dreams. Thanks to all of you, I've now been to six countries, 7 cities and have joined a crew that represents over 60 countries. And it's only been one month since I've gotten here. to think I could be stuck in jersey or NYC right now.
     Thank you to my friends, both old and new, for being by my side through thick and thin. I believe People come in to our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. There are those who have come into my life for one sole purpose, whether they know it or not, and moved on. Some for an extended period of time but fade away after a while. And some have stayed in my life for years and I know will continue to be in my life for many more years. I value all of you and love you all equally. Without your support I don't know where I'd be.
      And last but certainly not least by any stretch of the imagination, thank you to my family. The hardest part of being on this ship is knowing that I can't just drive home when I miss you. I can't even fly home. I've become acutely aware of just how far away we are from eachother now. But I know it just means our reunion will be that much better. Being on this ship has showed me the sacrifice and love that is necessary to enable the success of not just yourself but of your family. It's an unconditional and powerful force that never ceases to amaze me.
      I never thought I'd be in Malaysia for thanksgiving or Sydney for Christmas. But that does not change my spirit in this season. I send you all my love and best wishes now and always.