Well today is day 8 of our 10 day sail to Tenerife!
These past few days have been almost to good to be true. The ocean is beyond pretty and I keep having to remind myself that this is actually real, and its not just a big dream. The water goes on for miles and miles, the sun is so warm and comforting.
The first few days of sailing were not that bad, a bit of rocking and getting used to the ships movement. But of course when you finally get used to something, it changes. Last night the rocking changed from side to side, to up and down. It almost feels like you are in an airplane, with air tuber lance.
This past week i received my acceptance letter to St Stephan's University, into the Bachelor of Arts program, with my major being psychology. Not only was this my top choice school, but i didn't even know i wanted to go to it the most, until i was reading the letter. The school offers two travel terms, one in 2nd year, and one in 3rd year. I will be starting in January 2013, and still be able to go on the travel term in September 2013. I have been blessed with this decision, as just a couple weeks ago, i was beyond stressed about which school to pick, when to start, if i could travel. But now, by little things, it has all come together :)
Being on the ship while sailing, has really put into view, the amazing beauty of God's amazing creation. He made all of this for us! What did we do to deserve this? Really there is no answer. I am so glad and blessed with being able to see the amazing view from Deck 8, and also not be sea sick at all.
Working with the kids this past week, was amazing of course. This weeks theme was m..mm..m.. good :) Food Themed :) the kids seemed to really enjoy it, we played games, scavenger hunts, relay races with marshmallows and jello. We also played capture the flag up on deck 8, so pretty :)
We only have one week left with the kiddos! Time sure has gone by way to fast, next week, with our planned arrival sometime on Monday, we are hoping to do many field trips to end the summer program, going to a beach, and a beautiful pool. Then there is a group of us planning to climb a volcano Saturday, after i say goodbye to my two roomies, they are the remaining two that have been here since i arrived.
Time is going, nothings stopping it. I still have over 100 days in Africa, and don't even want to think of the count down yet..
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| Roomies on the Bow :) |
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| Beautiful View |
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| Africa Mercy in Togo |
I am onto my next step in this 7 month long adventure! We officially left the port in Lome, Togo, Friday morning. Our sail to the Canary Islands, will be roughly 10 days, so only 8 more days!
The last week in Togo was a busy one, we had many drills, many goodbyes, and many other required things before we sailed. On June 11, we had over 40 people leave the ship, including my girl, Tori. It was a long day, but in the end, i was at peace, because i will see all of these people again, maybe not here, but in the next world.
Second week of the summer program is now complete, this past week, the theme was hoodwinked holidays. So we did, St Patricks Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter! We also headed to the Seamens Center twice, it is a local place with a pool. On Christmas, we had a fire drill at 840am, so we pushed everything back a little. We had hot coco in our PJ's! They had a ton of scavenger hunts, and a treasure hunt. Since we set sail friday morning, we went up to deck 7, and watched the gangway be pulled up, and all the lines taken off from the dock.
Many of these kids have sailed many times before, but for us newbies, the rocky was an interesting sight, haha. Not many of the kids felt sea sick, but alot of our staff did! The first night of sailing, because of the way my bed is, i was literally rocked right to sleep.
When we arrive in tenerife, many crew, including families will stay there, as they are not allowed to be onboard during dry dock, and we will sail to another port for our dry dock. We should be iun dry dock forn about a month, and then we will sail back to pick up the families and sail to Guniea!
The next two weeks are the final weeks of the summer program, and then i will be going back into hospitallty.
The past few days, ive begun to realize, why im here, at first i thought it was to figure out where i should be headed in my life, but now it makes sense to me, that i cant figure that out here. being here can only help me, and guide me in the direction i should head. I got into at least 4 universities and will end up having to pick just one, but im taking my time, and being out on the ocean i can really take in the beauty and am truly amazed at God's beauty.
The first day of sail, we saw about 100 dolpihns off the side of the ship, and we also got to be out on the bow, its so pretty and peaceful. My friend said she would just coem back for the sail.
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| Aussie day! |
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| Till next time Togo! |
Well, its the middle of June already, friend back home graduating, and going to prom! Where has the time gone? 4 and half months, left here in Africa. Im loving it, and am so glad im here! :)
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| i miss her! |
Well this past couple weeks have gone by so fast, Ive gotten a bit behind on blog posting! Since the last post Ive said good bye to a good friend, got a new roommate, and started a new job!
My last week in Hospitality was a busy one! We have a mass exit of crew members, and we also had our "Thank You" reception for all of our local partners and NGO's while in Togo. We had the US ambassador, and many other very important people!
June the 1st, was an interesting day! It was my first day of summer program, but it was also a day that i got to head on down to the radiology department, and kinda of observe what they do! We have one x-ray machine and one CT scanner, one of three in all of West Africa! Now with it being very close to the end of our field service in Togo, they didn't have any patients in, but i was able to see how each machine worked and Fumi, the technician, showed me some interesting scans from January till now! One of them i got to see was, a little boy, who i saw when i visited at the pediatric ward in Lome. He had a very large head, and it turned out to be fluid, but this procedure is even quite risky in the US, so there was nothing they could do for him! :( He was the cutest! I hope that someday something can be done for him, and at least some of his pain and suffering will be taken away.
The was my morning, in the afternoon, i officially started the summer program, with Ioan, Bekah, Michelle, Margo, and Matt. We met for about 4 hours, starting to plan, get to know each other, and learn information about the Academy. We also met for the majority of the next day, planning our first weeks schedule. I have the amazing pleasure to work with Michelle from the US. We are the leaders for the 5th- 8th grade group!
We have about 8 kids, and they are all amazing!
This past Sunday, i got to go to the fishermen village church again! It truly is a blessing, they worship so freely, and really love God with EVERYTHING! It has started to challenge me to live for loving God, and not loving myself. This Sunday, i had the privilege to hold the cutest baby ever! He kept blowing me kisses, and almost fell asleep on my shoulder. They also love dancing! Which makes me so happy, they don't care who looks or what they dance like! Us North Americans should take some lessons....
Monday morning was Summer Program Day 1! :)
Started off the first day with some lovely music, done by Michelle and I :) We did some funny camp songs, such as Baby Shark....or The Great Big Moose! Then we played our theme song for the week, it was called Fly! :) The kids seemed to enjoy it! We have 24 kids, from age 3 to 8th grade :)
Each day we start off with music, and then spilt into younger and older for our devotions. We are doing a bible study on the Psalms, and the older kids are starting to really enjoy it, we have them read the psalm from two different versions, and then ask some questions, and the we have them re-write it in their own words! :)
Now for some very exciting news....I GOT MY PASSPORT!!!!!! On Thursday morning, i once again headed off to the Canadian Consulate, and signed a few papers, and voila i have it! The picture of course looks horrible! But don't they all?
This past week has been a long one! Got my passport, said goodbye to a few close friends, and finished week one the summer program! This week at bible study, my fellow Canadian led, Derek, who will be leaving me on Monday! :(
Monday...June 11....MASS exit day. We have over 40 crew members leaving us! My own bunk mate Tori...I'm not sure how I'm gonna react, its gonna be a long and tough day. I am also getting two new roommates that same night.
My flight is officially booked for home! I leave the ship October 30th, and will arrive back in Canada on Halloween, Spookkyyy. So I better see some costumes at the airport! :)
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| Fishing Village! |
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| Derek! He can't leave :( |
5 more months in Africa! :) God Bless!
