Life

A quick glance at a friend's new blog reminded me that I need to update everyone on just all the little things that have been going on here in Liberia.

Amazingly enough, the 10 month outreach for Mercy Ships is actually drawing to a close in the next few weeks. We will be sailing to the Canary Islands (about a 5 day sail) where the ship will be in dry-dock (out of the water) to be checked for anything the needs to be repaired. That hopfully will only take two weeks and then the ship will head to a different island to spend a few weeks of restocking and relaxing before headed off to the next outreach. During the time in dry-dock, there is actually no running water on the ship, so everyone is encouraged to take vacations during these weeks in December. School will also be having holidays from 7 December to 7 January, so I am taking that time to head to Germany and visit friends. Marcel and I have plans to fly to Basel together, spend a few days in Freiburg before he heads up to Solingen and then I will join him there sometime around Christmas. I am really looking forward to this time as a chance to catch up with friends, do some shopping and take showers for longer than 2 minutes :)

Before all that happens though, I need to get through the next five weeks of school :) Things have been going well up to know, so I have nothing to complain about. I have six girls in my nursery class and it has been fun to see them grow up over the last few months. The youngest turned one in July and the oldest just turned 3 a few weeks ago. I also have Miss Ellie helping me which has turned out to be an amazing blessing - having so many little ones around means an extra pair of hands really helps. Right now in nursery, we are learning colors - so far we have done a week of red and a week of yellow. Preschool is going well too - everyone seems to be settling in and Page (the head preschool teacher) is great at what she does. Not every day is perfect and there are still many things which are frustrating or always changing, but that is true anywhere :) I am seriously considering trying to continue teaching here Fall 2008, so things cannot be too bad. If you are interested in more weekly information about what we are doing in class and pictures, check out the blog that Page and I have - it is on my list of links on the right on this page.

Pictures: Preschool and Nursery at a pool party on the deck, Miss Page with the kids

Birthday Thoughts

First of all, let me say thank you to everyone reading this that sent me birthday wishes in one way or another - it made for a very special day.
This was my first birthday with a boyfriend, which also made it special :) He left a note for me in the morning and then picked me up after school, blindfolded me and tried to confuse me by having me walk around the ship before ending up in cafe where he had organized a little party. - Very nice, although I was not too keen on the blindfold idea. It was also nice to have a time with some of the people on the ship who have become special to me. There are so many people coming and going here and so many people get busy, it is easy to lose track of friends sometimes. The teacher I share the classroom with (preschool and nursery are together in one room) was also really great and had the kids make a card for me. Her birthday was on the 1st of October, so we had a little group celebration on Friday. Some of the older kids also came and sang to me and a couple of the high-schoolers whom I have never even really talked with wished me Happy Birthday. I don't if their teachers put them up to it or not, but I enjoyed it anyhow. A dinner out with friends to celebrate and a phone call from my mom capped off a great day.

Someone asked my what I was doing last year for my birthday, which put me in mind of all the different birthdays I have had over the last few years. Not that any one has been more special, but they have each been different. A late night party with a hastily made cake and a present of Kraft mac and cheese from the cupboard (remember that Becky?), a present of a sweatshirt three sizes too big (thank you Terry - it is still in my closet), a cookie cake with so much frosting it was almost inedible (thanks go to Kenio and Marik), dinner with mom, sister and brother for the first time in years, a surprise party given by a boyfriend -- each one has been unique - thank you all.