Good 2 be back in NYC!!

Got home Saturday around dinner time, the Tin Man picked me up from LaGaurdia ariport and whisked me back to my apt right below Harlem. It was great to see him, I was exhausted from only getting a few hours of sleep the night before and also traveling in all three transportation modes (ship, plane and car) was tiring as well.

Yesterday I was a LAZeeeeee bum. Woke up super late to my Sweetie who went and brought me a blueberry muffin :) I did some unpacking and a lot of snoozing. I will write about my trip in details later on when I get the photos on my computer (not sure how to do that yet.) Overall the vacation was a great experience. There were only 2 complaints I had about the cruise,
1- not many deafies (a total of 31 in all.. not like the 400 they originally said) so while those who went were nice, I was disappointed by the lack of deafies in all.
2-the cruise itself (ship activities) were very limitied in terms of things to do. For example most of the activities require additional money such as bingo, gambling, drinks *sodas and alcoholic*, spa, etc etc. I enjoyed going to the Islands and sight seeing more than the activities on the ship itself.

The other thing about going on a cruise is you do get cabin fever big time by the 4th day there. When you first board the ship, it seems so overwhelming like a small city but once you get around, you see how small it really is. Cruises are for people who like to eat!!! I was astonished at the amount of roly poly sized American's onboard. I felt skinny on the ship, unlike NYC where I am average. I got annoyed when people would ride the elevator for one stinking floor! Hello, the stairs are not that long or hard to walk and I often would walk anywhere from 2 to 7 flights of stairs because they were very easy to do. I've decided in the future if I go on another cruise it would have to be 4-5 days max. I want to try a different cruise line than Carnival, to see if the others have better activities??

My favorite island was Jamica! And the Cayman Island the least *too touristy and expensive*, Cozumel, Mexico was my more historical visit (seeing the Mayan Ruins). The whole week was full of sunshine and I did get burned once but after that I made sure to slather on the sunblock lotion and stay in the shade. The water was magnificant, I have never seen such clear, blue waters before. I tried snorkeling for the first time and got to touch Sting Rays at the Grand Caymnan Island.

I didnt touch a computer for a week, except during the Grand Cayman visit where I logged on for 15 mins to check emails. It was good to be "unplugged" and I realize the break served to clear my head up. I hadnt realized how stressed I was till the end of the cruise and how much more carefree and optomistic I felt. Knowing I didnt feel that way on Friday the 13th, worrying about this and that before leaving for Miami proves to me how much I did in fact need a vacation.

My Mom's friend Rich sent me the joke below which I thought was pretty funny;

Football FINALLY makes sense..........
A guy took his blonde girlfriend to her first football game. They had great seats right behind their team's bench. After the game, he asked her how she liked the experience. "Oh, I really liked it," she replied, "especially the tight pants and all the big muscles, but I just couldn't understand why they were killing each other over 25 cents."
Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, they flipped a coin, one team got it and then for the rest of
the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the quarterback! Get the quarterback!' I'm like...Helloooooo? It's only 25 cents!!!!

Cute huh?

Also from my Sweetie's blog, I copied and pasted for your enjoyment on hearies perspectives on deafies *grins*

Seen but not heard...

So I woke up this morning and decided to go to the drug store since My Girl had not yet awakened. Before I left, I decided to remove her hearing aid battery and obtain a new one since it had been dying all last night. When I got to the store I went to the seperate hearing-aid battery section (which is usually right next to the pharmacy) and all they had were batteries half the size. A little 30-something year old white guy came up to me and said in a pleasant voice "May I help you?". I noted the fact that he got right in my face, but couldn't make out why just yet. I told him that I was looking for a larger battery and immediately he jumped back and said "You don't wear a hearing aid..." I replied that I didn't and never actually said that I did. The way he looked at the battery in my hand was as if I had robbed it from a deaf person and it was a piece of forensic evidence. He curtly stated that he didn't know where the proper battery was located and walked away. I realized that he had wanted to play the hero to some poor deaf guy and when he realized that he wouldn't have that opportunity, he couldn't care less.

One thing I've noticed about some "hearing" people is that they take a paternalistic attitude toward deaf people. They get some kind of silly sense of heroism and self-approval from doing so. Some of them will explain to me how they are trusted and known in the (capital D) Deaf world. And how they have "mastered signing" - which usually means they know less than me over my few months of picking it up at random. They explain how deaf individuals inspire them and how they are so wonderful. It actually reminds me of how people talk about their cats and dogs because they refer to all of the tricks and neat things that signing has within it. "They're so lucky that they can talk in loud environments! - It must be great to sleep during a thunderstorm - Wow, it's cool how they can turn their hearing on and off with the flick of a switch - Watch them sign, even though you can't understand doesn't it look lovely?!" This is the point where I just sit there nodding my head until they realize that I don't really give a damn about anyone's trust or approval, whether they are deaf, hearing, short, tall, black, white, have wings or can shoot laser beams from their eyes. I could really see myself a couple of years in the future and knowing how to sign in a basic capacity. Also have more knowledge of deaf people and be asked by one of these "hearing trustees" how I've "come so far in this wonderful world". I'd then make up a statement; perhaps that I met a deaf girl and wanted to get in good with her and then "kept it up with the deaf bullshit". Anything to get a do-gooder's jaw to drop on the floor ;) I thought this was HILARIOUS!!!