What do you mean, he don't eat no MEAT!?!: Day 20 – May 19, 2010

Today we were back in Izmir and I was on my own to explore. I went out with only my wallet in hand so I wasn’t bogged down with a camera, travel books, etc… It was really nice! I had to find a grocery store to pick up a few things and I desperately needed some white shoes to go with my new white duds from H&M. It was a beautiful day out and it was so freeing to know exactly where I was going, as it was my second time there and I tend to have a great memory of locations. I found a street of the high fashion stores and it was nice to window shop a bit. I found some white shoes and headed to the grocery store where I tried to make out the Turkish writing on the snack bags. I stopped at a little bakery and had one of those amazing sesame seed covered pastries that are everywhere here. It was fantastic!

I hopped back onto the ship after picking up some more postcards at the port terminal and went to work on a t-shirt for Heather, one of our singers to wear for the White Hot Party tonight. It was also the debut of her cabaret show – Ballads and Broadway – that the singers have put together this week. Pieter, Eric and I grabbed some dinner and went to see the show before heading to White Hot. The singers were great and they were especially excited because they got to choose their own songs and introduce each with stories. It just made for a nice change from the impersonal production shows to the intimate and engaging style of a cabaret.

That's Heather (singer from Kansas City) and I and then Gina (dancer from UK) and I.
Then Andrew (singer from NY) and I and Anel (nail technician from South Africa) and I.

Afterwards, we headed upstairs to support the cast at White Hot and of course, debut my new white pants, haha. Being an officer, Pieter must always be in uniform in passenger areas, so he didn’t get to wear his new whites. :) I finally took some great pictures with the cast mates to show you all the very talented and wonderful people I get to work with!

That's Natalie (singer from NY) and Eric (dancer from Miami) and Pieter (doctor from South Africa) and I.