Excited as I was, flying for the first time out of the country, after months of preparation, paperwork, interviews, passports, visas, I was in the US, specifically, in San Francisco! A dream come true. Once at the hotel, I checked in and since it was early morning, and didn't have to be ready to joing the ship until the next morning I called Sofia, and old friend that lives in San Francisco that made me promis her that if I ever go there I would let her know. That was ages before I would even think about travelling that far out of Argentina. But that part of the story will be subject of a future entry.
The fact is that when getting into the shuttle with all the embarking crew she was there, TGIL. I have to say, I was nervous and happy, and tired and jet lagged, and taking pictures, so I didn't see her at that moment. She was embarking at that same time, she was Cruise Staff, and was starting her first contract after her training in another ship.
My training was intense, and very stressful, my adaptation skill at that moment were extremely challenged, and many times I thought about quitting, those were the times I was calling my parents at home asking for strength. The only moment I got to relax was when we had time to go ashore. We were in Alaska, so everything was new, and exciting. In one of the ports, Skagway, the whole team of trainees went out to explore, it was ten of us plus some other guys that wanted to go along the train tracks to the old Gold Rush Cemetery... And as we're were walking, someone started singing "Stand By Me" and we all sung along. As usual, I was taking pictures, registering the whole adventure, and posting all the pictures in Picasa (Facebook was popular yet) and she was there, she even was in the short video of singing. I didn't pay much attention to her, between the stress, the amazing Alaskan scenery, and certain Brazilian fellow that was acting like a dog, peeing around marking the territory around her, I didn't focus much on her, but she was there.
She also was around on board, in fact we have another couple of pictures together, she, with her yellow, table-clothe-like western-country style dress.
And the, when we went out in Juno, the capital of Alaska, again, with whole group, her, and this Brazilian fellow. The funny thing about this day, is that there is a picture of the three of us with an American flag in a salute fashion... An Aussie, an Argentinean and a Brazilian saluting the American flag... I never dared to show the picture to anyone, only many years after, to her...
Of course she was there on the farewell night when I left the ship to go to the Sapphire Princess for my first contract, that actually took me to her country, and where I bought a traditional Ausralian Bush Hat and a Dryzabone, that brown neck-to-ankle riding coat the the bushmen wear in the outback, and so many laughs and jokes brought to us in the next years.
So that is how I met The Girl I Love and Refuses To Be Called My GirlFriend.
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