It's 8:40pm and I'm sitting in the cafe, taking my first real breather for the day. The day was a whirlwind, and it all seems a blur now.

I woke up at 6am to go to the "Body Weight Exercise" class. It was actually really fun. For half an hour the instructor would lead us through multiple exercises like pushups, planks, squats, etc. It was very nice starting the day off feeling awake and alive. Today was also my first day "on duty," meaning I have to keep the pager with me till tomorrow morning at 8, and cannot leave the ship. But I think the most exciting/terrifying thing that I had to do today was serve lunch to the French Ambassador. Yes, the French Ambassador. I'm not sure I can describe how nervous I was. I think I got cornered into doing it. Susan, one of my coworkers, told me only one person would be serving when I asked her. Then she asked if I was willing. Well, I sure wasn't going to say "no." So I just said i was "willing." But I should have just said no. Anyways, I survived and it didn't go half bad. This morning we did a crash course on serving (serve from the right, when to take away things, etc.). There were six people to serve. I think I only made three mistakes. One, I didn't know what the French Ambassador looked like, so when I served the salad I served his guest first instead of him. Second, I forgot to serve the woman in the room third during the main course. And Lastly, I was supposed to put the sugar and cream on the table while they were eating dessert instead of after, because then I was trying to serve tea and coffee and sugar and cream at the same time.

In the end, it was fine. The captain told me good job and so did Brenda, the executive. And the French Ambassador shook my hand and said thank you, so I guess he wasn't entirely offended by my inexperienced presentation.

After this great event I went to my room to read for half an hour, but ended up falling asleep quite quickly. I have to go now. I'm still on duty and have arrivals coming in at 11, so I have to welcome them and show them their rooms. It's my first time, so please give a quick prayer if you think of it!