You gotta smoova I could use? - January 7th

We got up super early today - we had to be off the ship by 7 AM! Luckily, we were able to nap on the bus (most of us, anyway!). The tour was really neat - the best part was the Pyramid of the Magician (pictured) - it was huge (TWSS). Also, if you clapped facing straight on, it would talk back - the voice of Chaak (video), the rain god. We also got to see the Nun's Quadrangle, Turtle house, and governor's palace. Afterwards, wewandered back to the ship. The past guest party was that night, and

there was, of course, free drinks! I totally want to go on another cruise right now! Anyway, we decided that before dinner (post drinking) it would be a good idea to sing Karaoke! So we bravely went up on stage and sang Margaritaville. We were awful, but it was fun! I think some people might have been offended that we didn't take it seriously. It's karaoke! whatever. Everyone really enjoyed the fact that Mark said "pop tart" instead of "poptop". After that, we were leaving and Mark thought Ben was in front of him, and put his hand on his shoulder, until he realized it was, in fact, not Ben. It was someone who had sang before us, Wes. Oops. I don't think he minded though.

Typically, I don't like monkeys - January 6th

Day 1: first "fun" day at sea

Trivia team of awesome competes for coveted plastic ship: unfortunately, we were 1 question shy of tying for first. Damn you U.S. history!

Wine tasting = awesome! Well, I didn't much like any of the wines at first, but the expert explained that food makes a big difference. To prove his point, he had us bite into a lime, then taste this Riesling - OMG, what a difference! It was really good. Then we sugared our lime and tried the savignon blanc - I could tell a difference, but it wasn't as pronounced. We also paired some reds with cheese. Overall, totally worth the $10. And for the record, we brought our own bottles on (you can!) to have at dinner, and the bottle of white I picked out (Thanks to Chelsea!) actually ended up being the Matre 'D's recommended wine on the last night. WOO!! I also found out that extra dry champagne = less fruity, brut (aka dry) = more fruity. And because we're awesome, we went to lunch in the dining room at 12 before our tasting at 12:30. They tried to trick us out of it, but we won - except dessert.
To prove we can be classy, Meredith and I went to tea, despite the fact that it was served in the very tacky "neon bar". With the tea they had cool foods like scones, cucumber sandwiches and strawberries and cream (yum!). Later that evening was the captain's party - while the captain could not join us, we did drink his free drinks in his honor. Amature cruisers might just go to the one that corresponds with his/her dinner time, like you're "supposed to", but we knew better - so we doubled up. I think by the end of the first one we were all pretty...tipsy. Mark and I ended up dancing on the big stage by ourselves. They wanted people to dance, but we were the only ones who actually did. We all took a nap between the first and second captain's party. It was formal night for dinner, and even on day 2 I was starting to feel like "mah dress don fiht." Luckily, those seams held out for the night! We ended up in bed pretty early that night as we had a very early day in Progreso the next day!

Did anyone lose a key to their luggage?

Clearly someone did. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a key on the ground, would there?

The journey began on Monday - we hit the road around 8:30 and had fun all the way there. Once we arrived at the port, we realized that there might be quite a bit of low brow people on the trip. Within 10 minutes of arriving at the terminal, we had already made an arch enemy - Tech Man. Tech man decided to DISRESPECT UT. Who won their bowl game? Also, cheerleader girls. Ugh. Luckily, they did not ruin our cruise, though they tried to with their shrill laughter and drunken screeches. Anyway, we got on the ship ("I see the boat!"), ate some food, and decided to look around the ship. That evening we had a super nice dinner (all at the same table after sweet talking the Maitre 'D to move Ben from the other "Fuller" table) and enjoyed some liquor tasting...mmmmm! Also, watched the Fiesta Bowl (ole!) and drank some goodness. After that - who knows what we did?

Bon Voyage!

interj.
Used to express farewell and good wishes to a departing traveler.
[French : bon, good + voyage, journey.]

Tomorrow we depart for our cruise! 8 AM - right, guys? I am so excited - 5 days of eating, drinking and lounging by the pool! Cruise goal: I would like to visit the gym at least twice - we'll see if this happens! Certainly not to burn calories though. Here's my theory: you eat, wait an hour or so, hit the gym, then you've burned enough calories for you to be hungry, so you eat again. repeat. This will ensure you get your money's worth. ;)

Anyway, we stop in Progreso and Conzumel. I'm just excited to have a vacation before I have to head back to school.

So, on a sad note, I won't be writing for a few days. BUT I will write one entry for each day I'm gone. That way I can still fulfill my resolution.

¡Adios, Amigos! ¡Hablaré con ti cuando vuelvo!

glass or plastic?

Hmm... when I started this blog, I guess I didn't really think it through. I sort of forgot there would be days like today, where the highlight was finding a small bottle of rum (pictured) in a plastic container. I also managed to find swimsuits, although these were like $80. Ri-dic-u-lous! So, as of now, I have old swimsuits to wear on the cruise. They should be fine...although on Day 5 I promise nothing :)

dogs and children alike

I was going to write about how difficult it is searching for a swimsuit when a) it's not swimsuit season and b) when the $3 clearance suits are the wrong size/style/color, but instead I'll tell about my afternoon adventure.


I was turning onto 7th from MoPac when this tan lab mix dog ran in front of me. I pulled over to see if he would come to me. He wagged his tail, but wouldn't come near me. I could tell he didn't have a collar on, so I called 311 to see if animal control would come. The idea was that they could pick him up, and I would put fliers up around the area to see if someone claimed him. Anyway, some neighbors came out, but nobody recognized the dog, but they had seen him wandering around earlier. Basically, Animal Control said my option was to wait up to 24 hours for them to come (which is a viable option because as we know, animals typically like to stay in one place for several hours at a time), or to take the doggie to the shelter myself. So I decided I would try to get him (it was definitely a him) in the car and take him to the shelter, but after much luring with treats (kindly provided by a neighbor across the street!), he would come close to me, but refused to get in or near the car. Then a woman came out of her apartment (she wasn't familiar with this k-9, either) and went for a run, and he ran next to her. So, in short, dog. rescue. fail. This whole thing went on for about 20 minutes. Hopefully he will return to his irresponsible owners before he gets run over, and hopefully his irresponsible owners will learn their lesson and get him some tags!

All baby cows are lost

Happy New Year! We started the new year off with some friends - Camden had a party at his apartment. It was lots of fun!

From the party, I said: Seriously, did you hear that?! 'You might have to take it out and blow on it and put it back in!' Really?! Did anybody else hear that? THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!!!