Hello Akis ~ is that you?!?

It has been 7 months since Akis and I have been together. I remember saying to him when I first met him that how could you date someone on another ship where you only saw each other once every 5 or 6 months ~ that you couldn't possibly have a relationship like that. Well ~ I was wrong. With the distance has come a lot of learning and growing I think for both of us. You need to learn to trust the other person, communicate well with them and constantly remind each other of what your goals are. It has been a tough go, many emails, instant messages and phone calls ~ but as our plans currently are, that will be the last of the long separations.

The strangest thing though when you are apart for that long is when you do get back together. Akis has always jokes with me after we have been apart that when we see each other it will be like a blind date ~ 'hello, I'm Carrie'. While it isn't always like that there is an element of 'newness' when you are back with the person. In order to survive, you have your own schedule, way of doing things and all of a sudden you now have this other person who is part of your life and you need to fit them into your world. I said to him the other day while we were talking, that I might need to close my eyes and pretend we are on the phone as it seemed to weird to be looking at him talking.

So I arrived on Sunday and brought some of my stuff. We are in a smaller cabin and while I have managed to make room for what we now have, I am not sure what we will do when the rest of my stuff arrives. I always knew I was a bit of a pack rat, but I think this just proves it.
Monday I spend time going around the ship, realizing that I CAN sit in the lounge chairs on the top deck, stand in line with everyone else without having to be 'wary' of how many passengers there are there, swim in the pool! So I have started myself out slowly...

There also happened to be some techs onboard that I had met on Constellation, so it was kinda neat to meet up with them again and see them in a slightly different context. We went out on Monday night which resulted in Tuesday morning being a bit rough for me. Now you need to remember that I am used to having my cabin to myself. So in the morning when the headache came and the tummy was a bit upset, poor Akis caught the brunt. I am used to being able to curse and moan to myself about how I will never drink like that, this time, I needed to remember that I was sharing the room with someone else who was TRYING to sleep. Needless to say, we are going to need to work on my recovery skills, either that, or learn to limit the consumption!

Part of Akis' schedule includes some gym time in the evening. When we first met, I was the 'Gym Rat' while he sat in the cabin and said, 'why are you going to the gym?!?'. Now it looks like the tables have been turned. I am hoping that he will motivate me and actually not put up with my excuses for not going to the gym, cause I could use a wee bit of time with that old treadmill.
Being onboard has been a bit strange in that the ship has exactly the same layout as the Constellation, so in that way it feels familiar. What isn't familiar is the faces that I see. There are some folks that I recognize and makes things a bit easier, but for the most part, I am still a stranger in a strange land. Next stop is Aruba...