Life on Land

It's official

I am still here in Toronto, alive and well, despite the radio silence.
Although I rehearsals have been a breeze in reality, they have definitely been challenging on the personal side.  A 'humbling experience' seems the best way to describe the process.  As I've been told, I'm in an all-star cast that was hand chosen because of the desirability of this contract and itinerary.  Obviously this is very flattering, but it also means that the 2/3 of the cast of 32 who are rehires are the ones who are chosen for casting and opportunities.  I am keeping my head up and working to stay positive, knowing that in any job, the newbies will always have to prove themselves for the first go-round.
The bitter cold has come to an end, and spring flowers have begun to finally show their lovely faces.  I have enjoyed taking advantage of the occasional sunny days with long walks, ballet, Starbucks, used bookstores, and new friends.

 

Enjoying the first beautiful day with Kristine

The lovely ladies of Cuba

Although I haven't found that one person that I just "click" with, I have gotten to know my cast more with each passing week and have already made some fun memories with them.  Most recently we had an "Around the World" party.  Much like a progressive dinner within our apartment building, but with less emphasis on the eating and more solely on the, ahem, beverages.  I, with three others hosted the country of Cuba with Mojitos and Cuban sandwiches.  The party/event was such a success and one of the most fun I have ever participated in.  I will definitely be keeping this idea up my sleeve. 



19 days and counting until shipboard life begins.

I get to room with this cutie, Carissa!

Where To Find Me

Lizbeth Villavicencio...now Lizbeth Robinson!

Bria and Alejandra

After a whirlwind trip to California for my friend Lizbeth's wedding, I returned to Toronto feeling refreshed from the love and fellowship of being with people who know me  so, so well.   

The time with each friend was too short, but worth every second of traveling.

Here is my sailing schedule through the summer!  I'll post the fall itinerary another time.   

Transatlantic Cruise, May 18th - June 1st

May 18 - Galveston, Texas

19 - Sea Day

20 - Sea Day

21 - Castaway Cay (Disney's Private island in the Bahamas)

22 - Sea Day

23 - Sea Day

24 - Sea Day

25 - Sea Day

26 - Sea Day

27 - Sea Day

28 - Funchal (Madeira), Portugal

29 - Sea Day

30 - Gibraltar, UK

31 - Sea Day

7 Day Cruise, June 1st - June 8th

June 1 - Barcelona, Spain

2 - Sea Day

3 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

4 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy

5 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

6 - Naples (Pompeii) Italy

7 - Sea Day

7 Day Cruise, June 8th - June 15th

June 8 - Barcelona, Spain

9 - Sea Day

10 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

11 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy

12 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

13 - Naples (Pompeii) Italy

14 - Sea Day

12 Day Cruise, June 15th - June 27th

June 15 - Barcelona, Spain

16 -  Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

17 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

18 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

19 - Sea Day

20 - Sea Day

21 - Piraeus (Athens), Greece

22 - Kuşadası (Ephesus), Turkey

23 - Mykonos, Greece

24 - Valletta, Malta

25 - Sea Day

26 - Sea Day

12 Day Cruise, June 27th - July 9th

June 27 - Barcelona, Spain

28 -  Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

29 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

30 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

July 1 - Naples (Pompeii), Italy

2 - Sea Day

3 - Venice, Italy

4 - Venice, Italy

5 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

6 - Sea Day

7 - Valletta, Malta

8 - Sea Day

4 Day Cruise, July 9th - July 13th

 July 9 - Barcelona, Spain

10 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

11 - Sea Day

12 - Palma, Malorca, Spain

12 Day Cruise, July 13th - July 25th

July 13th - Barcelona, Spain

14 -  Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

15 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

16 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

17 - Sea Day

18 - Sea Day

19 -  Piraeus (Athens), Greece

20- Kuşadası (Ephesus), Turkey

21 - Mykonos, Greece

22 - Sea Day

23 - Valletta, Malta

24 - Sea Day

25 - Sea Day

12 Day Cruise, July 25th - August 6th

July 25 - Barcelona, Spain

26 -  Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

27 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

28 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

29 - Naples (Pompeii), Italy

30 - Sea Day

31 - Venice, Italy

August 1 - Venice, Italy

2 - Sea Day

3 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

4 - Valletta, Malta 

5 - Sea Day

4 Day Cruise, August 7th - August 10th

August 6 - Barcelona, Spain

7 -  Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

8 - Sea Day

9 - Palma, Mallorca, Spain

7 Day Cruise, August 10th - August 17th

August 10 - Barcelona, Spain

11 - Sea Day

12 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

13 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

14 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

15 - Naples (Pompeii), Italy

16 - Sea Day

7 Day Cruise, August 17th - August 24th

August 17 - Barcelona, Spain

18 - Sea Day

19 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

20 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

21 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

22 - Naples (Pompeii), Italy

23 - Sea Day

7 Day Cruise, August 24th - August 31st

August 24 - Barcelona, Spain

25 - Sea Day

26 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

27 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

28 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

29 - Naples (Pompeii), Italy

30 - Sea Day

7 Day Cruise, August 31th - September 7th

August 31 - Barcelona, Spain

September 1 - Sea Day

2 - Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice), France

3 - La Spezia (Florence, Pisa), Italy 

4 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 - Naples (Pompeii), Italy

6 - Sea Day

7 - Barcelona, Spain

3-5 Week Dry Dock (Ship Maintenance)

Here Is Where It All Begins

• Character Training
• Snow in the cold, cold air
• Overwhelmingly large personalities
• New friends
• The National Ballet of Canada

Above are just a few things that have been occupying my time while I've been here in Toronto for the past two weeks.  Quite honestly, I haven't had the easiest time emotionally, these past two weeks which is why I haven't yet blogged about this exciting adventure I'm embarking on.  However, I'm determined to enjoy every bit of this experience for what it is.  I can already tell that I am, once again, going to change and grow so much through this experience.

Kristine and me embracing the Toronto weather.

It will take a bit of trial and error to figure out what I can and can't tell you here on Attraversiamo.  I can definitely tell you that I've spent a lot of time "getting to know" Chip and Dale and getting an "inside look" on their lives.  I've also become friends with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.  It seems as if I won't be "meeting" Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Tiana, Alice, Peter Pan, Captain Jack Sparrow or my closest friend, Aurora, until we board the ship in May.  That worries me just a little bit, but at least Aurora has given me a book about herself (signed and everything!) so I will know quite a bit about her by the time I "meet" her.  Do you see this game we are playing?  Are you amused?  Annoyed?  Have I lost you?

One last try...my roommate here in Toronto has beautiful brown hair and the most beautiful yellow gown hanging in the closet.  However, her taste in men is a bit questionable.  If I've lost you, well, you need to go to blockbuster, babysit little girls, or read The Disney Book of Classics to your child every night for the duration of my contract with Disney.

On another note, my suite-mate Kaleigh wrote out an itinerary for the duration of the time I will be cruising. The itinerary is to come in the next post for those of you who may want to reference it while I'm here, there, and everywhere the next few months.

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!

Well...I suppose that's not all, as my post a couple of months ago said!  I'll be leaving in March for two months of training in Toronto, Canada, before I embark on the Disney Magic cruise ship for seven months in the Mediterranean!  I never thought I'd be given this opportunity again when I turned down the Disney Dream contract in October.  I thought wrong!  I'm so glad I waited.  Not only to be able to have the past couple of months with my sister, Victoria, while she was in The States, but also for a much better cruise itinerary.  God always has a plan!

As Bugs Bunny would say, "That's All Folks!"

Across the street there...

I'm safe and sound at my new home in Greenville, North Carolina after an eventful end to my time in NYC.  The transition might take some 

                          getting used to...

across the street here.

Yep. That's my house. This is Greenville.

Until the next adventure! ...If this isn't one.

We Get Around

So the next chapter of our not-so-bad Hurricane Sandy story:

The George Washington Bridge. Only 3 miles to get out of the city from my apartment.

 










After the subways closed on Sunday at 7:00 pm, my mom and I waited at my apartment Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we decided to make a move.  Laguardia Airport was said to be scheduled to stay closed until Thursday morning at least.  Both of our flights were supposed to be Thursday afternoon.  We went with our gut and decided our flight would probably be canceled and rented a car to make the drive to North Carolina.  It turns out we got the last car for hours, and the place we got it from was also the only Hertz location open in all of NYC...and only 11 blocks from my apartment.  Blessed.  And the gas tank was full.  Blessed.

Our ironically beautiful drive through unaffected parts of New Jersey.

NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA, NC = $24 in tolls

Welcome to Maryland

Capitol Building view from the freeway.

With 2 1/2 hours of crawling traffic through D.C. rush hour, it was a very long day.  But we were blessed more than we even realized when we returned home where the was a TV to see the devastation across the Northeast Coast.  We had no idea just how bad it was while we were holed up in my apartment, safe in Washington Heights.  Thank goodness my mom was with me to rent a car since I'm not the legal car-renting-age of 25...or I might still be there waiting.

Yep, The Pentagon too

Oh Sandy...

Well as you might have guessed, my mom's trip ended up being extended due to the kind Hurricane Sandy.  Her flight was originally scheduled for Monday night, so she decided to play it safe and reschedule for Thursday.  This way we could go to the airport together too.  Here's how we spent the next few days at home while all public transit was down:

What can we say?  A girl's gotta have her chocolate chip cookies!

On Monday afternoon before the storm really hit, we attempted a trip to the store to satisfy our craving for chocolate chip cookies.  Needless to say, the storm was just getting worse and the store changed it's early close time from 6:00pm to 2:00pm.  Outta luck.

Instead we...

...did puzzles,

 

 

 

 

 

 

...read books

...and watched movies.

On Tuesday we decided to get some fresh air, go to the store, and check out the damage.

One of the trees down in the park across the street from my apartment.

That brick building across the street is my apartment.  Glad it didn't fall the other direction.

Another tree...

A spattering of leaves at my front door.

Thank you Jesus for keeping us safe.  Although we could hear the trees cracking across the street, Washington Heights did not even lose power.