Wed, Dec 13 – Learning Romanian

My keyboard player, Vasile, is from Romania. Over dinner, he was teaching me some phrases in Romanian! Here they are, along with their pronunciations, so you can try them too:

Ce face - /chay FAHtch/: How are you?

Fac bine - /fahk BEE-nuh/: I am good (well).
(or, to avoid the awkward feeling the first word gives you, just ‘bine’) /BEE-nay/: Good

Doi zece - /doy ZEH-che/: Two-ten. (the common phrase used at a mic check)

Proba de microfon - /PRO-bah deh MEEK-rro-FONE/: Microphone check

Yes, I have used the latter two a few times. Also, some of the girls in the casino, and our new Lido manager are Romanian, so I get to use the “how are you” bits here and there.

Other than this, the week has been fairly uneventful. Bad weather has caused several arrival delays, which cuts off a lot of our in-port time. I haven’t even bothered to go out in Belize or Guatemala, which is quite a shame, since we’ll only be there a few more times before the itineraries change again.

But the good news is: the two new band members, Seth and Robert, are settling in quite nicely! We’re all working hard to get them caught up, we’re playing a lot more jazz in general, and we’ve had fewer sets to make way for more rehearsals. The flipside of this is: these two guys are only here for four weeks, then we’ll get a new pianist and bass player and start the rehearsal process all over again! Then two weeks later, we’ll do the same with the guitarist and drummer, and two weeks later the percussionist. Well, that’s one way of “keeping it fresh!”

As for me, I’m currently in negotiations with Stiletto Entertainment and Holland America Lines about the extension of my contract past January. We should come to an official agreement soon, so stay tuned to the website, the fan club e-mail newsletter and this blog for the latest news when it comes available!