Santa Cruz

Nov 11th
Santa Cruz

I yet again attempted to do another tour, and yet again didn’t get it to work out. This time, there just wasn’t enough space to send an escort, which happens, but I’d have really liked to see more of the island during the 10 hours we spent in port. Instead, I got off the ship in the afternoon and walked around the city trying to spend the rest of my euros. I walked along the waterfront for a ways till I got past all the busy shops and touristy areas until I came to a restaurant. I decided to get a sandwich, an exciting ham and cheese sandwich (which was good), and just hang out for a while. After spending some money there (I’m pretty sure he charged me too much, but whatever, I need to get rid of the currency), I continued walking, taking pictures, and finding snacks to buy. I bought this great pretzel at one café, and got some shoe polish at a grocery store (a necessary buy). I started to walk up the hill to explore more of the city in the extra hour or so I had left, and bean talking with an older local man who came up to me and asked me something in Spanish. After explaining I didn’t speak much of his language, he picked up on the fact that I at least know a little, at which point he became determined to have a conversation with me. So between my broken Spanish and his broken English, we talked for 15 minutes or so about the ship, the area, where I was from, and everything else I could remember a Spanish word for. It was funny though, and I thought it was a nice experience to conclude the European part of my trip with. I eventually made it back to the ship after running into a few band friends on the island, and then played a usual big band dance set that night.
After the set though, as soon as the clock struck 12, it became Nov 12th, and therefore my Birthday. So I caught up with Pieter and Brandon and we went to the crew talent show, something musicians were not allowed to participate in. The show was actually fun to watch, especially some of the performers. Imagine a guy from the Philippines doing an Elvis impression. So we watched the show, had some wine in celebration of my BDay, and I eventually made it to bed later that night. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and my first day at 22!