(This was written on Monday, but I couldn’t get on the internet until today…so when you read, think in terms of “Monday”)

The past couple days in the life of an honorable “Shellback” has been great. We arrived in Colombia on Saturday and things so far have been good. Yesterday was sort of a long day but I think it was well worth it! I woke up at 0530 and started getting ready for my day. Our boat to shore was supposed to leave at 0830 but we ended up leaving at about 0745 instead…luckily everyone was around to be able to muster for that. Last minute changes have become a part of my life….So we headed to the lifeboats to be lowered to the hospitality boat that waited for us in the water below. After 40 minutes, we arrived on shore and headed for our bus that was to take us to our performance site at Max Seidel Escuela. The performance for us yesterday was a very special one because we had a very special guest artist with us. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Latin Pop music, you may have never heard of Juanes…but I have and was very happy to share the stage with him yesterday. Juanes is a huge superstar in Colombia and is also very well known worldwide. Amongst his many #1 songs, “La Camisa Negra” is one of them. He flew into Tumaco yesterday so that he could see the medical sites and also play some songs with us and on his own. Yesterday afternoon we played his two songs and he played several by himself. One song that was very cool was one entitled “Fotografía”. He brought up a young girl from the audience, which I’m certain he picked out/auditioned before his arrival, and they sang together. It was sweet and beautiful and I’m sure he made her day! One thing I was concerned with going into the performance was his FANS! Man did they show up! And after he was done, we had to play security so that our stuff didn’t get trampled. Every female fan did what she could to try to get to him. And while there were Colombian guards around, I think they were awestruck also because instead of ensuring people stayed off the stage, they were snapping pictures and trying to get close to him too! It was funny…and a bit nerve wracking at the same time. So after the show, we packed up and palletized our gear that we would need to do yet another show with Juanes…except this time it was on the ship…for our folks. We loaded up our three pallets at the helicopter landing zone and then headed back to the boat landing zone just in enough time to see the boat we were supposed to be on…float away. BUMMER! While we waited for our next boat to scoop us up, I got some reading in…if you have read “THE SOLOIST” or seen the movie, I highly recommend one or the other. I haven’t yet seen the movie, but if it is anything like the book, you are guaranteed to enjoy it. Our transportation finally arrived and it wasn’t one of the hospitality boats…it was a host nation boat…a sort of speed boat. We all piled in and strapped on our life vests….which is a good thing, because we were flopping all over the place…hitting waves and skimming the top of the water. It was great! Normally I would have been so nauseous but I think since I had line of sight of the shoreline…I was G2G. We got back to the ship 15 minutes sooner than it would have taken had we been in the hospitality boat. Woo hoo! When we got back to the ship, we ate dinner and then waited for flight quarters to secure so that we could go and set up for our second concert. Finally at about 1830, they secured from flight quarters and we went out and put up our gear. Shortly afterward, we started our second set with Juanes but first we kicked things off with a little American flair….we played some of our songs before he came up. It was a lot of fun. We rocked the house…as did Juanes. I’m happy that there was a great turnout for him on the ship…because it would have been a total ‘dis’ if there hadn’t been very many people. I’m happy to say that I sang with Juanes…I wasn’t as star-struck as some but it was pretty awesome!

Today (Tuesday), we are going out for a school performance. Sort of a clinic but more show oriented. It should be fun. I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing so more music!

Thanks for stopping by….
Keisha