Finally!

So, I have no idea if anyone is actually even reading this anymore, but thought it was finally time to write again. I think my blog is one of those things that I think about alot, just never end up getting around to doing - sorry . . . So much has happened, I think I'm just going to have to start and spread it out over a couple of entries.

I guess I can start with leaving Liberia last November. After spending six months helping thousands of people in Liberia, the Africa Mercy sailed out of Monrovia's freeport on November 30th and headed to the Canary Islands. It took us about 5 and a half days to get to Las Palmas, but the sail was pretty calm - especially compared to the Bay of Biscay last May.

For the month before we sailed, people were working to get things safe and secure for the sail. After 6 months of just sitting, it is hard to remember sometimes that we are actually a ship that sails and things tend to pile up a bit. For sailing, you need to have everything laying on the floor or attached to the walls - which is difficult when they are trying to keep people from putting holes in the walls. It was also hard because we had to find a way to put things on the floor but still have space to keep teaching. School continued through the sail, which was exciting and hard at the same time. The first couple days were hard as my body adjusted to the rocking motion of the boat. Sometimes that meant sitting through most of the lesson :) I discovered last May that the motion sickness pills actually make me feel worse, so I am on my own with motion sickness. Luckily I have not had too much trouble. Some people hear the world sailing and head to their cabin until the trip is over.

We arrived at Gran Canaria in the morning and sailed around to the north end of the island until lunch. When we finally got to the harbor, we waited for the pilot for an hour and then sailed in. By the time we got to the berth they had open for us, most of the crew were either standing on Deck 7 or 8 watching and excited that we had made it and ready to get off the ship after almost a week. Then, the ship began to turn around - some people had thought the berth looked a little small, but we figured maybe, somehow, we had to back in like parallel parking a car. -- Nope. It turns out that the berth that they had given us was 150 meters long and the AFM is 152 meters. Ooops. So, with most of us wondering what in the world was going on, we sailed back to just outside the port. Luckily, God is in control and has a plan for everything. Although we had to wait another couple hours, the berth that they found for us later made it easier to get on and off the ship and was 3 kilometers closer to the center of town. For that weekend, we were about a 15 minute walk from the shops and about 20-30 minutes from a beach. It was a little cold for swimming, but just to walk along the beach was wonderful. It was a nice break between sailing and dry dock and a chance just to relax and catch out breath.

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.