And when the day comes I'll meet you here

We left Santa Cruz de Tenerife yesterday. I am feeling relieved and excited to be going back to Africa.
My time in Tenerife was wonderful yet extremely hard. There have been few times in my life where I felt more bleak. It was strange. We went to Tenerife to have the ship inspected, do maintenance, and have a bit of a vacation for the long-term people. It was a wonderful time of relaxation and respite for the people who had spent the prior 10 months in Benin. My role in this time was less clear. There were few people on the ship, so we were slow at work. My co-workers all had time off for varying reasons. I did not. Towards the end of our time here, I was getting discouraged and having a really hard time being civil towards people. Finally, I asked for two days off. The first day, I went to the mountains alone to have a date with God. It was so nice and relaxing. I realized then that I haven't been alone for a while. Here are some photos from my day alone with God:










As I am returning home in about four weeks, I have been thinking about my future a lot. I applied to Colorado State University for their Occupational Therapy grad school program. If I get in, I will move to Fort Collins over the summer to take my last two prerequisite classes and then start graduate school in the fall. If I don't get in, I am not sure what I'm going to do when I get back. It's a strange place of limbo, as I cannot make definite plans one way or the other, and I especially can not while I'm still here. Last year at this time, I was in almost the exact same place. I had applied to the same program. I was waiting, unable to make plans one way or the other. In the end, I did not get into the program. I got on the waiting list, which was encouraging, yet not because it was like they were saying I was almost good enough but not quite. It was frustrating. But had I made it in to grad school then, I would not be out somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean as I type this. God knew what He was doing, though I did not. So I'm trying to have faith that regardless of the results of my application, God will make the next chapter of my life His. I read this blog entry the other day, and I thought it expressed this truth quite well:

A lesson from the Garden of Eden: How God prepares for us

Posted by: elizabeth carmen in Untagged on Jan 14, 2010

In celebration of the new year, I went back to Genesis 1 to read: “In the beginning, God created…” I read through this chapter, noting the order he created things in and wondering about the significance, like how the birds and fish came before land animals.

Anyway, then God creates man and woman and gives them the command to live on this earth. “God said, ‘Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds and all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you.” (Gen. 1:29)

As I read that, I noted the significance of the fact that, even before he created this man and this woman, God had already prepared their environment for them. They didn’t have to ask for food or even know a world without provision--it was ready for them as soon as they stepped onto the scene.

And I realized how that’s still God’s nature: To go ahead of us, prepare the way for us, even before we ask or know what’s happening, he’s at work. What an encouraging reminder for me during this time, when my environment (at least job-wise) is rather bleak and hazy. I can trust that despite what my eyes may see, God is at work, prepping the landscape of my future that will get me through.

I have a month left here. It will go by so fast. I'm praying that I don't miss what God has to teach me in my final four weeks on the Africa Mercy.

Wanna get dirrty

This last weekend we Mercy Shippers had the opportunity to go to Loro Park for a discounted park. Loro park is like Sea World but on a smaller scale and with more land creatures. It was a lovely time, and my favorite show was the Sea Lions.


This is my favorite sea lion. It clapped a lot and seemed a little sneaky.


While we are in port, the engineering department has given the crew the opportunity to volunteer to help them. This is because other departments, like the hospital, are not doing much, while the engineering and deck department has more work than staff. We Sales staffers were signed up, but I had to miss one of my days, so Kendall gave me one of her days, which was yesterday (thanks Kendall! I love you!)


Me and Laura, who is typically a nurse. We are looking all hot.

In the morning, I got to help clean the tops of tanks. They were all crusted over with oil and rust, so I scraped them with my friend Johan. It was not too hard, but we did get dirty.


Our righteous acts. Isaiah 64:6


In the afternoon, I had the opportunity to help clean a fuel tank. It was really messy, but a very cool experience.


The entrance


The inside. Notice all the fumes.



The ladder in



The ventilation fan


Me working. Do you see the smear on my forehead? The guy bending over is Abraham.

Time after time

I'm so sorry that I've been MIA for a while. Tenerife is so beautiful and fun, and I've been trying to see and experience much of it while I'm here. Plus, having lost so much crew has made those of us who were here for the sail and before it much closer, so it has been wonderful to spend time with people.


I figure the easiest way to do this is to give the highlights of the past few weeks. I've done so much, mostly because it's so easy to go out here. In Africa it was so exhausting to make an expedition out of the ship. Even just walking in town was an ordeal of avoiding traffic, pushy sales people, and the stares of locals. The heat was intense, and the smell could be less than bearable. Tenerife is cool, clean, and nice. It's so different, and I am fully enjoying the time here, although I strangely miss Benin.





I have taken a couple of nice bus trips with friends to places in Tenerife. The public transportation is really good here and reasonably priced. This expedition was with my friends Aimee, Kendall, and Chelsea, (pictured above) and we got off the bus in a random town. It was fun to explore, and quite pretty as you can see from the picture below:





However, we had to walk a lot:





New Year's was a lot of fun, as my last post talked about. Here are some pictures. First, me with my friend Danae, who I am cabin sitting with:





Here are my friends celebrating with our lovely party favors:


They are, from left to right: Carmen, Bethany, Rachael, Lyndsay, Chelsea, and Kendall.


Chelsea's family came to see her and took us out for dinner. They were great, and we all had so much fun. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but if you want to see some, her blog is Leander's Meander, which has a link on the side of my blog.

We discovered a layered coffee that has truly captured my heart. It's called a barraquito, and it's a speciality of the Canary Islands. It has sweetened condensed milk, espresso, and milk froth. It's great, and quite attractive (I know, I know. It's the coffee equivalent of me):




We have also tried some Spanish food, such as Jamon Serrano, which is a kind of Spanish dry cured ham. It was very tasty, but the texture was odd, like raw bacon. Anyways, it was a good experience, and I hope that my brother-in-law Matt is proud of me! Matt, I did it for you!





We are docked next to many cruise ships. It is sad to see how boxy and small our ship looks compared to the sleek, pretty ships. However, it makes me proud, because our ship provides us with a place and means to help people. Here I am next to the aft of one of the biggest cruise ships I've seen so far:



Three King's Day is a HUGE deal here. It is when they give each other presents. There is a parade through town, which we went to, but didn't see much of because we decided to stand in what turned out to be a really bad location. However, Kendall and I ate the most amazing chocolate-covered, cream-filled churros:




Here is one of the herds of goats that got to be in the parade:





Kendall's sister Alyssa is visiting for a week. Yesterday the three of us attempted to hike Mount Teide, which is the highest elevation in Spain. While we didn't make it (we started too far away), we still hiked about 20 kilometers total during the day, which isn't too shabby. Plus, the views were phenomenal. We started off with cafe con leche, which is always amazing.




Mount Teide, from our starting point.


The landscape sort of looked like Mars in places:



There was a bank of clouds that was so amazing. I loved it and I loved being above it:



One of many "accretion eggs."


After the fact, with Teide in the background:

Me, Kendall, and Alyssa

My beautiful and amazing sister Emily has campaigned family and friends to send me cards. I have received many cards (I haven't counted, but it was a LOT), and then some gifts from friends. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me! It's been so nice!

Toothpaste for dinner shirt! Thanks Courtney, Cori, and whoever all contributed to it!

Socks from my old bunkmate Katie!

Cards cards cards! Thanks so much everyone! (There are a TON here but I had to overlap them so they would actually fit in the picture.):

Well, that sort of sums up my past few weeks during the non-work hours! It's been wonderful so far.

Let's hope it's a good one . . .

Happy Happy New Year! I have lived through many celebrations, some better than others, but none more exciting than last night!

We got all dressed up and headed into town around 9:30 pm. Nothing was open, because the party doesn't start until later. So we talked to fellow Mercy Shippers, took pictures (which I will post later), and sat at a cafe. Eventually we followed music to a HUGE outdoor concert. There were party bags being given out. They had a party hat (the pointy kind), a mask, noise makers, streamers, balloons, and a lea. We put on our stuff and joined the dancing throng.

Soon enough it was the countdown. The tradition is to eat a grape a second for the last 12 seconds of the year. Unfortunately, we forgot grapes, and I was a little jealous of the people participating in this interesting tradition. We all yelled and blew our noisemakers and hugged 2010 in. Then we got to watch the most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen. (Emily, you would have LOVED it!) After that, the party really got started.

We danced in a group towards the stage area. At one point, I put my purse on the ground in the middle of our group because it was annoying. Shortly thereafter, Chelsea stuck her hoodie on my purse. As more Mercy Shippers arrived and joined our group, more stuff was added to the pile until it was a huge traffic hazard that we were all dancing around. I did some Benin dancing (it's NEVER a bad time to Benin dance), I "caught" Chelsea (like I was fishing), she and I threw dice, Ram did crazy yet totally awesome dancing, people started dances that everyone else started doing, including some of the band members, Bowie danced like an Irish fellow (he's from Norway), I salsa danced (sans partner), and everyone had a wonderful time.

Around 2 am we decided to head back. It is about a 15 minute walk from where we were to the dock, at which point I realized that they were checking badges to get on to the dock and I had been carrying the badge of one of my roommates who was still dancing. After a moment of indecision, I headed back to search for her with my friend Chris.

Chris and I returned and searched for about 45 minutes before we talked to someone who said that she left. We headed back to the dock, and talked to the guard who said he had let her pass. I was greatly relieved. She was sitting with some people a ways down the dock and waiting for me. We got back and went to bed.

It was so much fun and such a nice way to celebrate the new year! Happy 2010 everyone!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As we've all noticed, Christmas has recently come and gone. We celebrate it on the ship in grand style. There are things leading up to it, and then the holiday itself.

Decorations in the midships area, during Winder Wonderland

There was Winter Wonderland, which was basically a ship wide craft show. People had booths and sold candy or food or crafts. It was cool.

Kendall manning her Winter Wonderland stand

There was story telling night, where people told Christmas related stories but made it more than just stories. They acted them out, or had us make crafts, or other things like that.

The ship shop decorations

The academy did their Christmas play, "Bethlehem Express." It was great, and everyone from preschool to high school had a part.

These are all the decorated dining hall

On Christmas Eve, one of my small group girls, Aimee, made us all a fantastic brunch. There were hash browns (courtesy of Chelsea), eggs (Kendall), and exotic pancakes made by Aimee herself. It was fantastic! That afternoon we had Christmas Eve service. I got to sing in the worship team, which was really fun. The whole crew dressed up, and we all ate together. The dining room was enchantingly decorated, and the food was fantastic. That evening we set out our shoes, for the tradition is that little Christmas elves will fill our shoes with gifts in the night.

The shoe elves came!

The 4418 Christmas tree

The current 4418 girls: Bethany, Rachel, Lyndsay, me, and Annie Lou

On Christmas day, I checked my shoe (the elves came!) and ate brunch with some friends, and then opened presents with them. It was a group of people all roughly in their 20s who are, obviously, all away from home. It was a lot of fun. After that, I hung out for a while, went over to the 8 berth to give them their presents, and then ate. I opened presents with my roommates after that, which was nice. The evening's activity was a massive free concert put on by the Tenerife Port and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. It was so close we could walk there, and it was AMAZING! I was so happy and excited, and it was worth it.

Waiting for the concert: Leah, Kendall, and me

Our view

Hooray for fireworks!

Thanks for all the cards, love, and prayers! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and lots of love from Tenerife!

When your friends are starting to leave

Sometime soon I will make a Tenerife blog. But first, sad times.

Michelle

Kendall and Michelle

My walking companion, my soundboard, and my friend! Thanks for all the wonderful talks, for listening to me, and for keeping me fit! I truly enjoyed getting to know you, and I think you will be a marvelous teacher. I miss you!

Bonny Jean

Walking in after saying goodbye to you was a sad, quiet affair! You are always such a light and your joy is contagious. I will miss singing show tunes with you, dancing with you, being silly with you, and naturally, having very deep conversations with you! Knock knock! Who's there? A sad Kaylee because her friend Bonny Jean left!

Esther

When I first saw that a Kiwi was going to live in our room, I was so excited to get to hear a lovely accent. But you are so much more than wonderfully pronounced words! You are fun and willing to jump in to whatever adventure comes your way! I'm so glad you came, and I'm so looking forward to visiting you in beautiful Wellington one day!

We'll search for tomorrow on every shore

It is said that dolphins bring good luck to ships. If that is the case, we will have much good fortune, as the dolphins have been coming in larger and larger numbers to swim with our ship. The day of the waterspout, I saw dolphins from afar. Every time since then, I haven't made it to the window in time to watch them swim by. But yesterday I was out on the bow when I heard the cry of "dolphins!" I hurried to the other side to join the people already staring into the water. I saw nothing. Then, just below me, one jumped. I had never seen one so close before.

Later we saw a pod of probably over 20, jumping and frolicking by the bow. There were at least four baby dolphins too, and that was really cute!

Thanks to Ali Chandra for the pictures!

That night, Kendall and I went to the bridge. We each had a turn steering the ship, which was not as complicated as I would have thought but still rather tricky. Then we went out on the catwalk in front of the bridge. The starry sky stretched out above us. In the sea below us there were constant flashes of light, probably belonging to bioluminescent fish. Then, we saw a sparkling path being made in the water. It was most likely a dolphin swimming through bioluminescent plankton, but to me, it was one of the most unearthly, amazing sights I've ever seen.

That night is when the ship started rocking in earnest. Few people on the ship slept, especially as a particularly steep swell caused stuff in pretty much the whole ship to come crashing down. The rocking itself was bad enough. The rocking continued for the last few days of the sail, making us all MORE than ready to get to Tenerife.

This morning we arrived! It is so beautiful and CLEAN! I will post pictures at some point, but for now, I'm just so happy to be still.