Popcorn, Cookies and Chips (Poker not Lays)

**Note: Post Date is August 5, 2009**

Semester at Sea’s  1st ever Casino Night! It was quite the night. The planning was so extensive with working out the logistics of chip distribution, currency in raffle tickets and gathering volunteers to be dealers. And I was at the head of it all. It was quite the stressful two days as I scrambled around the ship trying to get everything in order. Fifty deck of Cards, Thousands of chips and raffle tickets, $400 in prizes, Bingo Cards, and popcorn, all to satisfy the 700+ student body. I, of course, had help from the wonderful Living Learner Coordinator (LLC) Simon and other students sporadically lending a hand. Yet no matter how much assistance, I can’t escape my controlling and narcotic mind as I make sure everything is perfectly set to have a successful and bountiful Casino Night.

It was all kicked off with the Crew Talent Show, which everyone, and I mean everyone, crammed into the Union to catch an exciting glimpse of! The talent was off the charts and the audience’s excitement matched. I was still at wits end with concerns of the last minute touches of Casino Night, but I was able to sit back and enjoy some of the crazy, yet talented acts. Some of my favorites include a male reenactment of the ever popular Sister Act song “I will follow him,”! To add to the absurdity within the duration of the song he finger painted the face of Jesus Christ on a large piece of paper. The act was a hit and he was a star amongst the ship board community. There were many great singers, some dancers and two bottle jugglers who graced us with some bartending tricks. The crew makes up 19 different countries including many of our already visited ports. The show was fantastic and I fear the success of our own talent show.

Quickly after the conclusion of the “lounge act” everyone scurried out of the union to start gambling away some free raffle tickets, which would in return give them more chances to win some awesome prizes including, massages, internet minutes and ice cream cake! The flow was quite steady and so were my feet as I ran from room to room and deck to deck making sure things were running smoothly. I did have some luxury time to participate in the final round of bingo but besides that I was on surveillance duty as I ran the mock Casino. At the end of the night I was appreciative of the good words of “thanks” and “good job” in hopes that the night seemed better from the outside than it did on the inside. I had much help on the night of, that shall not go unnoticed, including some of my lovely friends such as Erika, Lauren and Nico. My night didn’t end until about 1:15 am though and I was pooped. And I couldn’t be anymore happy that the night was over, even though I had much fun while everything was in motion. But as much as I love the coordinator and producing hat, my true love lays in being a performer.

There were some bumps in the road. But it was all worth it when Erika won a free massage at the end of the night. She deserves it and maybe she’ll get some sleep now. Did I tell you? This girl never sleeps, much like my mother. It must be an epidemic. My heart truly goes out to all those poor souls. Because it takes the average person 8 minutes to fall asleep while it only takes me about three and Erika about four….hours.

In these two days A.B.A. has sat down to share some times together. We’ve played UNO, Scrabble, watched my favorite movie: My Bests Friend’s Wedding, some episodes of Weeds and indulged in many helpings of cookies. You can tell that boredom is kicking in when we start eating. But we really shouldn’t complain for we dread the moment the trip must end. We should be trying to hold to every precious second for as long as we can. I’m trying to.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

~Michael-Anthony


P.S. We gave Edwin the day off.