Tuesday Morning

Nothing special. Its cooler today so far, that just means I haven't been in the sun yet! Its been a slow few days, as you can see I haven't been writing much. Saturday ended up being a lazy day, Rob and I walked to the Regatta Village to see the boats. Its was an open house so we could get up close to them. They are pretty cool looking! Much bigger up close. They were leaving as we got there and then Ben Charles and Ralf all showed up too. Once the boats were gone we walked up to the Saturday market but it was packed full of vendors selling cheap crap nothing really hand made or arty for sale. It was pretty weird! We did find one street that had yard sale type stuff. It was like people had just thrown a bunch of stuff into boxes and came down to the market and dumped it all out. What a mess! We decided to walk into the Placa Major and have a bite and so that was a challenging wander. Saturdays are packed in the old town!

We walked back and gathered ourselves up and went to the beach. Cala Major. The waves were alot bigger and they were breaking so it wasn't a leisurely float this time.

Saturday night we all got dressed up and headed to Corner Bar. It was full of people who had just come off the race boats (regatta boats) so that was fun. We met the crew of a few boats. They were all tan and wind blown. Apparently thats how you tell the difference, the rest of us are pale and done up hair! Ha!

Sunday morning I talked Ben, Charles (and Adam of course~the guy who's always there) into going north to find kite surfing for Charles. We caught the 11 am bus to Port de Pollenca. When we got there it was pretty early for wind so we had a meal and then went to the beach. Luciano called to say there was wind while we were laying in the sunshine but we were pretty happy to sit for a bit. We've started noticing we are always on the move, to bus stops to the next place its just really amazing how much extra walking we do!

We caught the bus to the stop where the kites were and I of course (becoming famous for bad navigating) missed the stop! As we drove past the kites we noticed there was no wind at all!! It had totally died! Which means that had we stopped we would have walked to the kites sat around adn then walked back and hoped we could stop a bus on the way by. Instead we kept going and went to the Port Alcudia stop and went and laid at the beach some more. Port Alcudia has the finest beach sand. We laid there for quite a while!

We caught the last bus home and then had to go find a bite to eat for dinner because we missed the kitchen being open.

Monday I hung around until I could catch up with mom. She was going into surgery for her back. I did manage to catch up with them at least. That was about 4pm for me here so after that I rounded up Charles, Ralf and Joel and we went to the beach. This time to Illetes beach. I've not been there before. Its really nice! We stayed there until there was shade on us and then we headed out for dinner.

It was a mellow night for sure. Ben and Rob came back and told us all about the big boat they have day work on. They had to get up early so it was a short night. Charles and I talked for a bit on teh roof and then went for a stroll along the water front. A short walk. It was the perfect temperature last night. Not too hot not too cold, a little breeze. It was about 11 pm. Its the strolling hour. The oldies are out and the young kids haven't moved in yet so you can walk along pretty peacefully.

Today who knows whats up! Not alot I imagine. Its just Charles and Ralf and I. Sarah and Joel are pretty seriously dock walking so they don't hang out much.

I found my ticket to England on Thomson air. Pretty cheap! I am finding it really hard to book it though I really like it here alot. It makes me sad to leave. I've been here now almost 3 weeks.

I think that going to England will be a good chance to catch my breath though so i am okay with it. I'll go to Bournemouth by plane then take the train to Basingstoke and regroup before I go up to visit Rob's family. His mom and grandma are big into Girl Guides (girl scouts) so they are going to give me the low down on that. Then hopefully his step dad will be around and can take me sailing! I'll also do a bit of "hiking" with Rob's dad. So it will be a productive visit. I'm excited to go back to England. I really like it there.

I'll upload some photos just to keep it interesting. Charles and I are renting a car tomorrow and exploring the east side of the island. He used to work in a place called Cala D'or and along that side there are lots of beaches!! That should be really fun! Thursday night is Rob's 23rd birthday. So Ralf is making a cheesecake for his birthday. Should be interesting!

The photos are: Charles, one of the gang (half of them at a tapas place) and then a beach at Port Alcudia, the beach at Illetes, and a Regatta boat.

K

Finding the wind in Port de Pollenca

I didn't realize I haven't been writing for some time now. I had my interview Thursday and that was really short and not sweet. She asked me a bunch of questions and then off I went. It was pretty annoying. So I walked the docks later on and had another look around. I think its time to get moving on from here.

Yesterday morning Rob and I got up early and caught the bus up to Port Alcudia for a walk around the marina and some really yummy sweet breads for breakfast. Then we headed over to Port de Polleca for some sunshine. Rob had found a guys number that rented kite surfing stuff so he was pretty thrilled when the wind picked up and he could go out and play. The people we met who were doing the rentals were really cool. There were a ton of kites out there! It amazes me they don't collide. Well I saw one collision. It was kinda funny too, one guy fell and the kite dropped to the water but it happened so fast that this guy coming full speed past him ran right into/over the kite and then he wiped out. Ha!

I got a few photos of the day but nothing really thrilling or new happened. We didn't lay on the beach much after all the bus rides we did. I like it up there. The town is smaller than Palma and the beach is right across the street. I can see why people like it there. Palma is really big and you have to travel a bit to find the beach.

When we got back everyone had split up and gone shopping or to the beach. Sarah and I have another new room mate. This one is staying a while, which is annoying. He is looking for work too and kind of a shady character. I'm really ready to get out of this place I think. Its time to go soon! I told the boys I was moving on and they were excited to having another bon voyage party. And since Ralf is still being mad at me he was especially excited.

We all sat around and talked until late and then Ben and Alicia went to Tito's I'm anxious to see how it went. Its expensive to get in there so no one went with them. I went to bed.

This morning is the open house for the Regatta so I may walk down that was pretty quick and have a look at the boats. Its the only time you get that close to them. They are massive too!

Today I think Rob and I have talked the rest of the bunch to go back up to Port de Pollenca (pronounced poyenca) Charles wants to kite surf and Ben wants to hit the beach. Kite surfing looks like alot of fun. I think I may try it!

So, plenty to do today. Most everyone is still sleeping. Joel and Sarah just went down to the Regatta so I'm going to get ready and go down there here pretty quick. I'm going to see if I can't wake some people up for it too.

In the photo of the group there are some new faces. Joel is the guy sitting at the back of the group and Alicia is in the orange top. She leaves today, she was just passing through. The long haired guy holding the kite is Luciano. He is the one with the kite rentals. Really cool guy and his girl friend is really nice too, she also teaches lessons etc.

K

interview coming up

I meet with an agency today at 11:30 am. Its almost 10 am here. I don't know why this blog clock is off like it is. Weird. The agency just sent away for my references so that is encouraging. Its the first encouraging thing about job hunting so far. Yesterday I sat down with 2 guys who are fairly new here (also looking for work) and they helped me rewrite my CV. It helps when people ask the right questions and it gets you thinking. So non of the information is fake, its just about how you word it and in what order. So I am really liking it right now.
After I get back a few of us are headed up to Bellver castle to see the super yachts power out to begin the race at 1pm. I can't wait to see it, it should be quite a spectacle. 18 huge yachts in the Bay of Palma. Oh boy!
It just finished raining here. Only rained about 5 minutes and now the sun is coming out so things will be steamy here for a little while.
I am hoping with this new spin on my CV that I could get a job as Chief Stewardess because I am really qualified for that type of position. And that position has more duties that are challenging enough to keep me busy and happy for a bit.
I am really pushing the deck hand/stewardess thing though. That is ultimately what I want to do. Rob seems to think if I want work on tall ships or just sailing in general I need to head up to the UK. If we end up crossing paths there he said he'd take me sailing and teach me everything he knows. His dad has a sail boat too (a little one) so I may be able to at least get some time on a boat to learn some stuff. That would be cool. It looks like a few have gathered up work around here for next week. I think I'm going to stay here longer and see if I can get work because the pay is good enough that I could travel europe after I'm finished (and the tourists may have gone home by then too) So we'll see! And if it were to really work out I'd be sailing back to the US and going to the caribbean for the winter, which wouldn't hurt my feelings.
Anyways, I've rambled on enough for now.
More later,
K

Summer Celebration Fireworks

After siesta a new girl came in to the room. My newest roommate. Looking for work, qualified stewardess etc. Her name is Sarah she is from New Zealand. Really cool girl. Ready to teach me stewardess stuff.

Anyways, we (ralf, ben, sarah, myself) went down to the big supermarket and bought some food for dinner. I had pasta with sauce and meat and spinach. We headed up to the roof after dinner and met up with the guys staying up in the crew house up there. They are Dave, Peter, Thomas, Jon. They were telling us about a big summer celebration they were going to down by the cathedral later on so we all dolled up for that and headed out.

Our first stop was to pick up Charlie and Rob on their boat. We kinda party crashed and had a beer there and some laughs and then headed on down the road. We got to the cathedral just in time for the fireworks! It was great timing! I got some amazing photos! You can walk right up to the fireworks here. And the band was insane! Drum beats and dancing! It was so awesome! We walked up to the front (or pretty close anyways) and the members of the band were walking around in the crowd lighting off these firework wand things and it was so amazing!! They were everywhere. You'd turn around and another one would light up and sparks were flying and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen! They would just appear too, you wouldn't see them and then one would stand up and light a firework and then the others, hidden around would do the same! It was insane! Sparks were flying everywhere, you could feel them hit you! We were all laughing hysterically about the whole thing! Once we gathered up our selves we decided to walk to Atlantico and have a pint and a chat and that was really fun. Great group we have here!

I'll upload some photos of the whole event. It was definitely one for the books!

I have an interview tomorrow at 11:30 am with an agency here. That should be good. I think I may hang in here a little longer and just see what I can find. People are still being placed on boats around here so there may be hope for me yet! Though I am still dreading the idea of being a stewardess but I want to stay in Europe longer so that's the tradeoff. If I could get a job even for a bit I could extend my stay. Or hurry up and marry someone with a European Passport. Wouldn't break my heart considering I'm always surrounded by good looking men. :)

Tomorrow I'll get up early and walk down towards the Regatta Village, the boats start racing at 1pm tomorrow! Should be an awesome spectacle!

In the mean time I'll be applying for jobs here today and then maybe with the help of a ton of sunscreen I'll hit the beach for some swimming and then who knows what!

Last night was so amazing! I can't begin to describe how much fun I had! The pictures won't do it justice at all.

Later,

K

Deia and Valldemossa

Once again I wrote a big long story about my day and then it didn't upload correctly. So I walked away...just in case I felt like hurting my computer over it.

I went back to the end of Monday night, I went back to the docks with Rob again and the boat I was trying to have a look at was all buttoned up. A lady on a boat across the dock was there and suggested I just go put my CV on the table of the boat so off i went to do that. I got to the end of the walkway to the boat and realized I didn't know how to open the door. So I had to really fake it and act like I totally knew what was up and try to open it since she was watching me. Luckily it wasn't a latch is was just a glider door so I pulled it off!

I think they've hired a girl already though, They had interviewed already by the time I went back.

Tuesday morning found me on the terrace and I managed to talk Ralf into going to the beach with me. It was one that Noemi suggested I try so I said why not. Ralf and I managed to catch the 11 am bus out of Palma (which was lucky because all the buses going anywhere leave at 11am) The bus dropped us in the "city center" of Deia and then we found the sign for the beach which said 30 minute walk (down the mountain) This time it was a rocky trial not a road so it went pretty fast really.

When we got there we were greeted with big waves, muddy water and no sand. I think it must have been stormy enough to stir it all up. So other than scenery it was really a bummer! We decided just to walk out then catch the bus back to Valldemossa.

Valldemossa was packed with people! It was so busy! Lots of restaurants and shops and it was really a pretty place! A little too busy but it was okay. We sat down and had some tapas and Paella and then caught the bus back here. That was about the day. I'll blog again about the second half. The sun finally came out in Palma once we got back. It was pretty cloudy when we left. We weren't sure we'd find sun but we did manage it! Though we didn't enjoy it since there was no beach to lay on.

My sunburnt parts are all bubbly, like they are peeling. Its pretty weird looking. Mostly gone now but I am going to stay out of the sun for a little longer I think!!

I'll upload some photos of Deia and the beach and Valldemossa. It was a good day.

k

Dock Walk Today

I got up early today, it was struggle. Getting to bed early was a struggle too though since I've been out late each night.
My one room mate went through this whole process of going to bed then got up and did the whole thing again twice throughout the night. What in the world was he doing? Light was on forever, he showered, he banged around a bit sheesh. 7:45 came early today for sure!!
I wandered down to that boat I got the tip off about. Its called Champagne O'clock. They are looking to replace their stewardess. I couldn't find anyone out when I went by about 8:30 and as I wandered back out I ran into Rob and Charlie, they were headed to the Chandlery to buy life jackets. I can't believe they took their owners kids out on jet skis with no jackets on yesterday! Yikes!
I walked with them back to the dock and still couldn't find any one outside that boat. I did talk to a few people today. I asked them about where in the harbor the race boats are kept for the Super Yacht Cup. One really nice man said I should try STP its a dock that is guarded like a fortress, not easy to get in for sure!
So I wandered down there. About a 4 mile walk round trip.

No real luck yet today. Its cloudy here and not really warm~ kinda warm, I'm in my tank top, but not beach warm I don't think. I am going to nap a bit and then take a quick trip to the grocery store and then head south from here and see if I can find the sun.

I just noticed my noisy dorm mate is gone, thank goodness!! Too bad there are still 2 people in there. I may ask to be moved to another room. I'll see what they say. It would be quite a move though, since I've got so much stuff everywhere. Its ridiculous how I move into a place! Ha!

So, boring, quiet day so far. No one is about that terrace today. Its probably cool enough for the roof though! I may sun bathe up there instead. No sand in the cracks ya know!

Regatta registration starts Weds. I found the event location today so I'll know where to hang out. I got in that gate and asked if they needed help but I forgot to say volunteer. Even working in there for free would be a start because all the crew and owners are there for the rest of the week. Crap! Not thinking fast enough of my feet today. I think the man who sent me down there would have let me come aboard his boat IF I HAD ASKED HIM! Sheesh Karen, speak up!

Enough for now.
Karen

Photos from my Saturday Stroll

Here are a few photos I took. This one right above the writing is the Cathedral, The yellow square is the top of that big mall I talked about. Really pretty there. There are some street shots for the rest. The flowers were really cool!

I'm going to make a sandwich and then who knows what. Its been a lazy day. All the boys are feeling pretty mellow today. Ben is hard at work job hunting and Charles and Ralf are napping. Not bad really.

K

Slow Sunday

Late night (early morning) again for me. Saturday afternoon found us all sitting around waiting for the clock to tick by until we could hit the town. I wandered to the cathedral earlier yesterday and also around the "old town" its a really terrific part of Palma, lots of little alley ways! I'll put some photos on of the trek. It was about 3 hours of walking. We do alot of walking in this place! The way I figure it the Cathedral is about 1.5 miles and then from there you just circle your way across the streets. I found the most gigantic mall, right in the city. Its 7 floors and from the square on top it goes down not up. Pretty amazing!!
I found a shop full of clothes that I fit into. It was alot of fun to finally find some. They were out of my price range though so it was really window shopping. Noemi had to teach me how to ask how big a size they carry because most stores don't sell over a size --. I think I've mentioned that before but it bugs me, oops I just mentioned my size too! wait I just took it out! :) Cual es la talla mas grande. Supersize me! Ha!
Anyways it was a nice walk around and then I got hungry and tired so I caught the #3 bus back to my part of town. for 1.25 euro its not a bad way to move 3-4 miles.
It was a smaller group of us last night. Kinda. Charles went out with some of his friends before us and then we all got ready and met up with them. I wore the red dress last night. It was pretty fun. Still no competing with the Spanish ladies though. That is frustrating! :) Especially because I'm with a group of really handsome men! Thats okay, I'll be moving on soon anyways.
Last night it was Ben, Ralf (I've been spelling his name wrong), Adam, Matt and myself. We went to the SohoBar first and had just missed Charles so we headed to Atlantico next. There we met up with Sofie, Amy, JP, Sam and Erin and Charles. That was like party crashing because they'd all been hanging out together the whole night already. But they turned out to be really alot of fun! All of that group had jobs on boats. They had all been here for a long time already. Like early May.
Marc came by the table and said hi. Its really a small world when you see a familiar face out! ha! There are so many bars here.
We went to a Rock and Roll bar next but it was pretty dead so we moved onto a place I can't remember. Right next to SohoBar. It was really cool, a big cave for the dancefloor. And it was packed. That was alot of fun for sure.
From there (who knows why we kept moving) we decided to take a taxi to this place called King Kemamah or something. It costed 12 euro to get in. So I decided to walk home. Its right around the corner from the hostel so off I went. I was the first one home. The boys came shortly after that.
At around 3:45am I decided to call home. Since I was up and had the room to myself I figured why not.
My roommate is from Sweden~ he went out to the bars about 3 am so thats why I was alone in there.
He came back in about 6 am. I think he went to Tito's, that place is more expensive than I thought but he said he came here to party so whatever. He snored all night long so I am a little bit tired today. Its 12:30 right now. Every one has just finished breakfast and now we'll make a plan of attack for the day. Hopefully to a beach somewhere. Its cloudy today but still warm. I am not sure that the beach will be busy or not. It rained pretty hard this morning already. But the clouds don't seem heavy still so we'll see!
I'll upload some photos and then I'm going to have a look around.
Rob came by yesterday and his story is pretty wild these days. Something to do with replacing the skipper and the Bulgarians were sending their kids down for the weekend so Rob and Charlie have had to manage the group this whole time. Who knows how that went! Rob will loose his job on Tuesday. Charlie will stay on long enough to train the new skipper then he heads back home to England for work there. Rob is pretty bummed. But I imagine he'll find a job straight away. He is pretty dedicated and qualified.
I'll be here until the end of the month I've decided, so it should be a good week. Hopefully something will happen. We'll see. I really want to stay in Europe! I love it here.
I didn't upload my photos off my camera so they will have to wait. I'll do it here after a bit.
K

Weekend in Palma Part 2 (of how many parts?)

Hello again. I am just getting up today its sprinkling outside and I think the sun will shine very soon. Its still really warm here anyways.

I wanted to upload the photos of our farewell to Noemi so they were on here.

She said goodbye yesterday. It was kinda sad actually!! I got to spend alot of time with her and she is such a neat person. Very laid back and carefree.

Last night after naps and dinner and a last goodbye to Noemi the gang decided to launch an assault on the city and have a regular Friday night out. It was alot of fun! Rob, Charlie (robs boss) new guy Matt (from California) Adam, Ralph, Ben and Juan and lucky me. The girl with the body guards! It was pretty funny.

We headed out pretty early, which is around 10:30 or 11pm. Every place is empty and its like having an entire bar to yourself. Its really weird that it works that way. I mean, where do all the Spanish people go? Because about 11:30 pm they start showing up in droves!

Our first stop was Atlantico over near Corner Bar (which is a walk for sure!) Really cool bar, though it looked pretty american to me, not sure what the deal was. To get there we wandered some alleyways that were so amazing! I mean the colors and architecture. Little hidden gems around every corner!!! LOVE IT!

We wandered to another place called Agua (the bar that has ladies night Thurs) and on the way there we found another alley right by the cathedral and it had the most amazing restaurants and everyone was out having fun and it was all lit up! Oh what a picture! (I didn't take my camera though...sorry) Agua was empty too but we sat and talked and had a beer. I met the owners of that place. Two american guys from New York who relocated to Palma. Lee was the guys name. Really nice.

From there we all grabbed cabs and headed back to Garitos, which is becoming our favorite bar. We got there around 1pm and it was nearly as packed as on Thursday night. But we bought some drinks and danced anyways. As it got later people kept dropping off. We lost Charlie first and then Juan (he was catching the early ferry to Ibiza today) Ralph and Matt and then Adam and Rob so it was just Kiwi Ben and I left dancing. The DJ there is really good! I love it. It mixes his own beat and everyone dances like mad! About 3:30 am we decided to call it quits. I was crashing for sure! So tired!! At that time of morning its still really warm out!! Its not like cooling off when you go outside or anything! So we came home and I went and changed and ran to the roof and then Ben showed up with the same idea, there is a really great breeze that blows there and it cools you off before going to bed. So we chatted a bit and then headed off.

I have another new room mate already. A boy again. He was fast asleep when I got into bed. So I'll meet him today. He is still sleeping right now. I am sitting out of the veranda writing and Ben and Ralph just showed up with a feast for breakfast. Pancakes and eggs I think! Yummy!

So, I'll go now.

Uncle Stan and Aunt Maureen are in Cornwall now, so we'll be out of touch for a bit. I am planning to stay here another week I think. the big Regatta is coming Friday!! Yeah!

K

Thursday Formentor Adventure

I missed a whole day of writing and I have so much to say. Yesterday I decided to go along with Noemi one more time to see a new part of the island. I really debated too because I had just finished my CV and was ready to go with that.

We got up early and caught the 10:15 bus to Formentor. Its a northern point of this island. The bus ride was an hour and half which really flies by because its scenic and we drive through small towns to get there.

Once we reached Port de Pollenca which is really pretty by the way. Lots of fun in the sun. Wind sailing, sailing etc. we drove up a windy road up and up and up and then came to the top and drove all teh way back down the windy road again. This time in a huge bus loaded with people. You should see the switchbacks this bus had to take! Wow! When he comes to the end of the road he drops us all off and we walked to the beach which was by far the most amazing beach we've seen! It was beautiful. The water was amazing and blue and it was awesome!

The beach was called Platja de Formentor (Platja is Catalan for Playa which means beach)I learned yesterday that this whole island really speaks alot of Catalan instead of Spanish. That's why alot of the places have X's in the name I guess. Neat huh?!

We walked up and down the beach and took in teh views for a few hours. It was pretty spectacular. I of course slept in the shade of a tree so as to not burn myself any more. My sunburn is still pretty tender.

The bus took us from the beach there back to Port Pollenca and we caught another bus to the city of Pollenca to explore. The city was really quiet and clean and beautiful as you can imagine. I liked it there alot. We found the main square which had a church in it and we went inside. It was so cool! Very ornate! Every little "chapel" along the side was neatly done. It was really terrific. And it smelled like old musty church too. Just like the ones in England.

We had tapas for lunch there too. It was good food. We ate alot because the food at Formentor was really expensive! There is like a 4 star hotel there so the food on the beach was 4 star as well. Ouch! The same icecream was .80 cents here at the shop and 3.5euro there. Wow!

Noemi and I shopped a bit along teh streets and then ran back to catch teh bus home to Palma. The group of us staying here decided to go out for farewell to Noemi who is leaving today.

Once we managed to nap a little we all headed out that door. That was around 11:30pm we went back to Garito's again. It was pretty empty but filled up fast. They had dance music and all sorts of people it was great fun! Noemi and Charles and Adam didn't dance but I talked Ben and Juan (our new roomie) and Ralph into going with me. So fun!

We had a bit of a walk around looking for another bar adn then we all decided we were too tired to manage staying out any later, that was around 1:30 ish. Most of these guys had to get up early to work today too...ouch!

This morning Noemi and I walked to the "mall" at Porto Pi and shopped! Turns out that most stores here don't make any larger (in pants) than a size 10 or sometimes 8 so I was pretty much out of luck. Really frustrating!! I need to walk off about 15 more pounds to make it into any of the fun stuff around there.

Noemi shopped though, she fits into everything.

I just finished my super yummy sandwich and am now headed off for a nap! Then this afternoon I'll begin my email assault on all the crew agencys I have info for. Why not try!?

I'll upload a few pictures from yesterday.

K

Serious Business Today

not really. But I do feel more productive than I have so far. I applied for some jobs online. I emailed everyone I've met so far to keep in touch. I walked to the print shop (well, started to and got lost and suddenly Marc appeared to show me the way) I printed CV's and business cards. I walked along the water front a little bit this morning and then had a nice chat with the lady who runs the print shop. She thinks if I want work as a deck hand I need to pay for some sailing experience. Tony's boats allow people to do that. I think it would be so awesome! But it could very well mean I'd have to come home early because its a bit of a budget blower.

Last night after Noemi and I got home Rob called and invited us down to the boat (where he is now living). They were making potatoes and pork chops etc. So we headed down there and had dinner on a multi million dollar yacht...ain't no thang.

Pretty neat boat though, amazing that people buy them and they sit for so long without being enjoyed. How do you justify that!? It was a good vision of how life as a stewardess on that boat would be. I'd have to really really like the crew and owners because its so close quarters. I am glad I went and had a look around though. We had a very nice dinner, probably the best and most round meal I've had since I've been here. Yummy! Lots of good conversation with Charlie, that is the captains name.

Today on my way home from the print shop I stopped by the market to attempt shopping again. So far I've had no appetite at all! Its too hot during the day to even think about eating. Blech! But I wanted to try again so I bought some Provolone with Oregano (I'm guessing because it was in spanish) I bought some salami (once again, a guess~ a good one too) and an avocado. And drinks of course.

They sell rum here from Cuba and Dominican Republic. I've never seen it before but its good stuff. I had a rum and coke at this place we all went the other night. One is all you need. They serve them in these huge goblet type things.

Anyways, back to the picnic once I got back to Terramar I had the challenge and frustration of finding things like cups, a sharp knife etc. It really hit me just now that there are a few things I miss about the US. the best word I use to describe it is convenience. The US makes everything so convenient. Around here you make do or go without. Which works just fine don't get me wrong but when you are used to it being easy it can be disheartening.

So, its now 3:45 pm for me. I am skipping the beach for the next day or two since I'm red as a lobster on certain parts. Really the whole front of me (tip to ta-tas) (I was going to say tip to tail but it wasn't really accurate)

This afternoon I'll siesta and continue my hunt for work online. The lady that was just sitting here has been doing that very thing. She says for stewardess jobs you look online but for cash in hand you go to the docks. I guess day work is all about cleaning the boat up or things like that. So anyone can do it. They pay over 100 euro a day for that type of work. Sheesh! Now that I am armed with CV and business cards I'll head down there and just see what its like. The boys who were doing it said there aren't even people out on the boats at all. Who knows. Can you believe I haven't even been here a week yet?! I can't! It seems like forever. When you lose track of time and fall into such a relaxing atmosphere time just comes to a stop. I love it here alot. I will be sad to leave here I think. It also makes me want to find another place similar to this to land next. Like Greece or Turkey I'm thinking. We'll see.

Enough for now. Been a long day and I haven't done a whole lot. Did you Boise people see that news about the cyclist killed? I worked with him at IMT. He had worked there for a long time. I bet it hit them really hard. Kevin Pavic or something? He had a wife and kid too. Really sad!

I'll upload a pic or two from the boat last night. I didn't take any interior pictures. It was so new (only out of the factory 10 days ago) it smelled like new millions (I mean, new car) it was delux!! In one picture Rob is attempting to do the cooking since they fired their stewardess already. The other is a closer look at the cathedral from the front of the boat.

Karen

Estellences

I got a sun burn today. Noemi and i went on a bus ride to a village and hiked down to this terrific little beach. The village was called Estellences. It was 1.5K down to the water. Well worth the walk too! Once we got there we found the waves were pretty huge and there was a really nice little restaurant sticking out right over the water. It was pretty rough for swimming. I didn't end up giving it a go but Noemi did.

We walked down to the water and found a perch and layed in the sun all afternoon. the bus ride took us about an hour. Its all switchbacks etc and so it was a really wild bus ride down. We passed a village called Banyalbufar, it looked amazing!!

I'll attach some photos so you can see it. It was really steep there and so pretty!

Since there were so few of us at this beach we all decided to go topless. Thats Noemi and I and the two other girls that were there. I got a sun burn.

After a while this French couple showed up and the man jumped right off this cliff. It was a little scary because it was pretty rocky there and everything.

On our walk back up we were picked up by the French couple and they offered us a ride to Palma so we were able to save about 5 euro doing it that way. Nice!

This couple is from Paris so I got the girls email before they dropped us off so I could contact them in Paris when I get there. That was really nice! They had this cute little car and were playing classical music so it was a scenic ride back home. We drove through this place called Andratx. I'd like to go back and have a look at it. It has a port, which sits on a little half moon shape. It was great fun today! Very relaxing.

Still not sure what to do with myself from here on out. I just can't seem to decide. I called Rob Grandma and she told me who to call with the Girl Guides so I will pursue that tomorrow. She said just to give them a call and see what they can help me with. She sounded encouraging.

I guess Charles found day work on a yacht for today and tomorrow. He is pretty happy. Rob started his job too so they are thinning out here.

Charles heard a report from one of the guys who's already gone to Antibes and the report is that there is work there, most people went home already so stuff is still available! So its likely the ones without work will fly out of here on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I may too! We'll see.

So, not sure whats up for tonight. Probably not alot since these guys are all tired and I kinda am to.

Tomorrow~ who knows what I'll do.

Karen

What day is it?

I have lost track of time all together. The days and times have all meshed together now. I got up and did my laundry today. It was time for sure, I almost ran out of clean undies. It was not too bad. A little sink laundry. Reminds me that I have to take care of the usual day to day things at some point. Its easy to neglect stuff when there is so much to see and do. Though people around here seem to think its a boring place to be. We all have yet to be bored. Its funny. The blog website was not working yesterday so I'll write about my Monday. Or I'll start with Sunday night. We all sat on the roof adn discussed how it was too hot to sleep and that was pretty true. We bought a mosquito fighting plug in for our room and decided to close up the windows. So around 4 am I woke up not being able to breath it was so stuffy in there!! So I took my sleep sheet and went to the roof adn slept in a chair until teh sun came up. At least there was a breeze. So after all of that I was so tired I couldn't even function. I walked to the "mall" Porto Pi and bought a shirt for yacht work, which now that I reflect on that may have been a silly notion. The more I talk to people about not having a real desire to be a stewardess on a ship they all encourage me to find something I'll like better. Most people have said you really have to be in the mood for it or it can be pretty miserable. So thats about where I am with that.
After the mall I came back and sat on one of the shady terraces with a group of people and they decided to walk to a new beach so I joined them. Charles said it was a stroll to this beach. We walked 2 miles to get there. Its all the way past the cathedral, its a huge stretch of beach and the water was really stirred up from all the wind etc so we mostly laid out on the beach. That was Ralph and Charles and this kid JP who is a chef on a really sweet boat here.
We got back in plenty of time for dinner (usually we hustle to make dinner before they close that kitchen at 8) so we ate and talked and had drinks as usual. Then Sylvia decided she wanted to go out for her farewell (she got a job interview in Antibes France) so after we waited until about 11 or so we headed out. You can't go out too early or you are the only ones in the bars etc. Its pretty amazing how it works. We went to a really cool place called Garillo's it has great atmosphere and a dance floor and everything. Very nice. It was dead of course so we just chilled out and talked. We had th entire place to ourselves inside. Most people were sitting outside.
We decided to try this Brazilian place next and it was teh same story. No body around.
Monday night was a weird night basically. All the people out seemed to be under 18 and all drunk as skunks. It was pretty amazing. The amount of the tolerance the adults adn police have is amazing. One girl got taken by ambulance because she had drank too much. Sheesh!
We all gave up adn came home.
Noemi was able to grab a fan for our room so we all slept alot better last night! Thank goodness!
Rob started his job today so he's moved out this morning. Olga (she was here on vacation from London) left just now. Sylvia flew out of Palma about 8am. Its pretty amazing to be here just long enough to see people come and go.
I think today Noemi and I will head by bus to a small town somewhere and find a quiet beach to hang out on! Should be really fun! Noemi speaks Spanish and a bunch of other languages too. She is really cool.
Rob gave me his grandmas phone number so I could call her and ask about the Girl Guides in England. I will do that here pretty quick.
What else did I miss? Not quite sure. There was a real haze over the city yesterday. It appears to be here again today. We couldn't even see across the harbor from the beach we were at yesterday.
the Cathedral is amazing! I can't wait to get inside it and look around. Its massive from the outside! I'll walk there tomorrow or Thursday and have a look inside.
I sorted out my clothes etc thsi morning. I'm getting all my stuff put here and there so its easy to shuffle through. There is alot of going, changing, showering, going again. So I've gotten quite a system for the quick change. Its amazing the schedule. Sleep in a bit, eat, do an activity or internet then its siesta time, then eat again, gather the group and go wander a bit, come back hang out and then late at night go out again...whoever has the energy for that. Its so hot here adn getting hotter so its tough to stay up late after having been active all day. I walked about 6 miles yesterday. Probably more since we walked to the clubs last night too.
I'm going to go call the Girl Guide lady and see what she has to say.
Later dudes,
Karen
ps~ my Uncle was saying if you click on the photos you can get them to enlarge and see the detail.
pss~ I want emails....tell me whats going on in your lives. I'm out of touch.

Lovely day at Castle Bellver

Hello all, having a slendid time here these days. Today it was really really hot, like 90's finally. I woke up early and got my picture for my CV sorted out and then Rob helped me write my CV. I think its a really good one. Its totally specific to boats though so if I look for other jobs I'll have to rewrite it. I did talk to that guy on the yacht but his hiring company had already found someone.

A group of us walked up to Castle Bellver which is just up the hill from us. Up a bunch of stairs!! Oh man! There are stairs everywhere around here!

Once we got back we gathered up a few more people and headed to the beach again. This time I led the way to Illetes to the Comtesa beach. It was PACKED!! we swam a bit them moved around the bend to another less crowded beach. It was a really relaxing afternoon. We came back and ate a quick bite and then hung out on the terrace upstairs. Its great up there on the roof. A nice breeze and we just mellowed out. Everyone is getting up early to go dock walking and so it was an early night. though right now as I'm writing this its 12:30pm and I am wide awake. Its hard to get to bed early around here now that I've stayed up late for days!

I'll upload some beach photos. Excuse the nakedness if there is any. Shouldn't be, I tried to watch out for that. I'll attach some of the boys Ben, Charles, Ralph and Rob. They are a hoot. My buddies here. All of them will be gone by this weekend. A few headed to Antibes France for job hunting there. We'll see.

Okay, I'll upload then we are all going to bed. My dorm room is full now. Dan, Noemi, Sylvia and myself. wow!

Karen

The fun stops here

I am walking to the dock today to hand my CV to a captain looking for a steward. I am really hopeful it could turn into a job. The boat has an amazing itinerary. He wants someone who can cook at least. It was a pretty funny question. I met him the other night.
I've missed a whole day of writing. Yesterday there was alot of coming and going for some reason and since everyone was around we were always going somewhere. I did manage to get a phone set up. So I have a spanish number now. Its a cute little phone. A bunch of us also went to the beach again. It was packed with people. The beach part was packed but they don't hang out in the water much so there is alot of room to swim. Cala Major is a big beach though!!
I got a ton of walking done yesterday. This guy Rob walked with me to the phone store in the "mall" at a place call Porto Pi (pronounced pee) we got there and I didn't have my passport with me so I had to go back again later and get signed up. Sheesh!
After a late return from the beach a bunch of us got locked out of teh kitchen, which closes at 8 pm, so we all walked the waterfront to find some cheap eats. We found this place (we were looking for tapas mind you) this place served all american food. Ugh! Good food but not what I was expecting. The old man who watied on us was hilarious too. It was fun.
That was a group of people looking for boat work as usual. Charles, Ben, Rob, Ralph.
We got another couple of girls here that will be here this week. Olga from Estonia and Noemi from Hungary. Both very nice. Should be alot of fun this week! Unless I get a job which will mean, all this changes for me anyways!
Its been hard to sit and write, as you can tell. Its so nice here. The "hot" weather is only mid 80's each day and the humidity isn't horrible either. The sun just seems to be really really bright! :) I'm getting a nice tan though...still not going topless thank you very much! I'll upload some more photos soon. I had them to download and then my computer battery was low.
Yesterday they opened the roof up and there is a great view of the harbor up there. Its really nice just to sit and relax up there late at night. It stays warm all night long. And since my room is loaded with mosquitos I have to sleep covered up. Hmmm...I have so many bug bites. I'll really have to watch myself! Though I mentioned West Nile Virus adn got alot of blank stares, so either it means its not here or they call it something different.
I do have a new traveling pet though. Not really mine but something that keeps showing up at each hostel I've been at. A giant cockroach. Wow, I don't know how to spell that. Probably because its the must disgusting bug ever! So far not in the rooms but just one guy down in the entry. Blech!!!
So, busy day today. Fingers crossed I can get on to this boat. Its called the Topaz. Its fresh out of the factory. I'll keep you posted on that.
We'll be doing a bit of running around today so should be plenty of great photos!
Karen

Cala Major

Back to the beach this afternoon. We went to Cala Major. We being Sylvia, Rob, Angela and we met Marc there. It was a busier beach and had much bigger waves. It was alot of fun! I love swimming in the ocean!

We came back just in time to clean up and have a dinner made by "chef" Ralph. We all pitched in and he cooked us some food! Inspired by Paella.

Tonight we go again to Corner Bar. I'll go with a different group this time. And Marc has been here for a long time and we'll meet him there so I may meet some people. Everyone is pretty gung ho about jobs. They come home and talk about Joy or no Joy. Its pretty funny. I am loving this place so much!

So, we will mellow out a bit and then off we go. I'll upload some pictures. There are a bunch of pictures on facebook for you people on there.

K