lotts of travel, then HOME!

Part 1
     I am currently sititng at JFK air port, I can't help but think how my life took a drastic change a little over four months ago when I emailed about this job but I am so happy that I emailed and even happier that I followed through with it. I have never felt more in my life like I am exactly where I am meant to be. That does not mean Appelsboch but in Mercy Ships leading a slightly different life then I would have thought five months ago. These past few weeks which were extremely busy and full I found myself not counting down the days before I went home but needing more time cause it is starting to feel like home. I am so thankful that it has happened where I miss people and the community that is also always there to complain about when we are sick of each other.
        These past few weeks I have been able to spend more time with my fellow teachers from agreeing and then regretting to make cookies for out entire Appelsboch crew or helping with the Christmas play and acting like fools in the back. It has been extremely fun! When things get tough and people get stressed, which happens we pull together. Not to say there is still not tension but it is amazing to see a group of people come together with one common goal in mind.
        But as I sit here going on my like fifth hour with another three till boarding I have nothing but time to think about how I got here. To this place in my life where I am comfortable doing what scares me, where I make a list of 100 things to do before I die, where I have 31 stamps in my passport. I don’t know how I got here really, I know it has to do with my family and my faith and I am sure countless other things that I can not think of but non the less I am grateful for. As I was flying from Johansburg to JFK and had lots of time to think (17 hours) I thought about the first time I flew internationally by myself. It was when I flew to London when I moved there in October. I remember trying not to cry saying good bye to mom and dad, and having to have Dennis talk me off the ledge of booking a ticket back home a week latter cause there was no way in hell I was ever going to be able to do it. I am so great full for those moments because they showed me that I can do it. Even with Mercy Ships there was a time where I emailed den to let him know I was going to possibly need a pep talk so to start preparing. As it turned out I did not need it but it was great to know it was there, practiced in case I did need it.
      All I can draw from these moments are that it is what is freaking scary as hell that will impact us, it is the moments where you want nothing more then to say just kidding and go home. But when you don’t it will change your life in ways you could never have imagined. It makes me happy for the risks I have taken and caused me to think what my life would have been like had I taken others that I was not brave enough to face. What are you facing in your life that will impact you greatly? Or maybe more importantly what are you turning from that is keeping you from living your life even more; even more full of adventure, laughs, and love.
With all this said I can not wait to get home it is 12:40 west coast time as I am writing this and I will get home at 10:00 west coast time tonight. I am so excited and just wish the time would go faster or even better that I could use a port-key!

Part 2
      I am actually home! I had two very busy days of travel and finally slept a little in a bed which was lovely. I have spent the day around running errands and having lunch with my family. It has been nice and already worth the time to travel home.

December, 14th 2010

HOME...

Home…

      There are so many things that come to mind when I think about home. I think of my parents and Padfoot, and my family and friends, I think of the beach. I think of all the things I want to do and the places I want to go. At this point I will be home in 13 days, I get in to Portland on Dec 13th at 10 pm. Which will be 8 am the 14th in my time so that will be fun. But man am I excited. When you are away from home you romanticize it. Everything is better at home then where ever you actually are, the people, the food, the weather everything. I am excited to get home I would be no matter what time of year it was but because it is Christmas time I am even more excited to go home. I have been playing Christmas music for about two weeks, we had a great Thanksgiving dinner and we are having advent service on Sundays. But it just does not feel like Christmas. Its hot outside, I don’t have Christmas movies, I am not baking cookies. Even in London when Christmas was getting close and I was not home, it felt like Christmas. It was cold; there where Christmas specials on, I baked with my flat mates it was nice. So needless to say I am having a hard time to geting in the Christmas spirit here and am desperately looking forward to being home. I am looking forward to landing at JFK and finding a Starbucks, getting a pumpkin spice latte in a Christmas cup. Even that makes me happy.
         I have to stop myself from making lists of all the things I want to do and the places I want to eat at when I get home. If I started to do that these next 13 days would drag forever and I would not be able to focus on what is happening here and there is a lot. We still have a field trip a sports day and then an entire week of Christmas play rehearsal, baking cookies for our whole crew of 150. We also have to pack up the entire academy for the move back to the ship. There is so much going on yet the time is going kinda slow. And man I want it to flash by! There is so much to do at home. I keep reminding my self that I will be home for almost a month but that too will fly by. I keep having to tell myself to appreciate this day, that I will never get it back and that as I am getting older, (my 25th birthday will be when I am home, when the hell did that happen?) that I have to make each day count. That is so much easier to say then do sometimes when all I want is to be home already, but I have to live in the present and live these next 13 days out and love them cause they are only coming once.
I know that when I get home I will feel rushed I will want to shop and cook and bake and see people and that it is easy to get over whelmed and lose track of the holidays and the reasons we celebrate. I just pray that as we celebrate the holidays we keep in mind the important things that we understand why we celebrate and that we keep those we love close to us and cherish the moments how ever fleeting they may be. With that I guess I should go live in the present and enjoy these last few weeks in the bosch.

December, 1st 2010

Holiday Season

In South Africa it is spring going into summer. Where we are it changes a lot. It will be warm one day then really cold the next or even in the same day. So even thought Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is done the road it does not always feel like it. About half of the days it does so that is great, I put on some Christmas music have coco or cider and love it. Today is one of those days. It is cold and kind of wet and the wind makes it the kind of cold that can only be taking care of by laying in bed and reading a book. Preferably Harry Potter as the movie come out here next week and I ma re-reading them before it.
In science we are learning about the water cycle. I had told my class last time that maybe we would have a kettle and make coco and look at how the water evaporates. I now know what my momma felt on a very small scale of how kids do not forget anything you have ever promised or alluded to promise some time in the distant future. I was reminded today as we went to lunch that I had mentioned the possibility of coco. I decided that it would be fun but realized I should probably let parents know. Luckily we eat each meal with both our students and their parents here so I was able to check with the parents and they all were more then fine with it. More on the crazy community latter though.
During science the kids worked on their water cycle posters and we drank our coco and we listened and sang to Christmas music. There are times when I want nothing more then to be in a normal school where I do not see my students at every meal. Where I do know sit next to them in meetings, where I do not do every single thing with them. But you know when I think about the situation, its great. It is strange and different and perhaps one of a kind but great. I loved that we are able to play Christmas music and talk about holidays. I am still annoyed that this organizations does not celebrate Halloween but thanks to my momma I did.
Our internet has also been down today a pretty much weekly thing here. I had a planning period and no plans to make since last time the internet was down I was supper productive, I begin to look at my flip videos that are on my computer. I was given it last Christmas and saw that there were lots of videos from Christmas. I watched them all and loved them and missed my family so badly and wanted it to be Christmas every day and wished it was December 13th already so I would be home and be where it is Christmas. The videos are completely random and there for completely my family. One, ok I will be honest 4 of padfoot, but he is so stinking cute! There were some of my momma, Tessa, Misty and I cooking. My dad and brothers trying to fly the toy helicopters Santa brought them. It made me so happy! It made me love Christmas more which I was not sure was possible, but it was! It made me love my family so much. I then realized how we celebrated Christmas on like the 19th or something but it was Christmas because we were together. It made the prospect of Thanksgiving happy. I will be here for Thanksgiving and we are gonna make it one hell of a day! It helped me to realize that when you are with family even a created one from all over the world it will be great.
I hope that as the holidays approach you all surround your self with family weather that be the one you were born with or the one you have created and love and enjoy every strange funny moment that comes your way.

Back to my crazy community: I will leave you with this question. In what other school would it not be strange that at 8 at night I stand in a students hall way talking to his mother when he stands there holding a book in his PJ shorts, and this is all done as if it is the most normal thing in the world. I do love this place and the strange circumstances we live in.
Hope you are all well, love you lots.
ang

it makes a difference

In my life here there is such a routine that we get into. I wake up weekday around 6:30 and get ready for the day. I eat breakfast around 7:15 most days at the same table and with the same people, but I like that. Then there is school which as crazy as this year it is still packed with routine. We work till 5 and I will be honest I don’t always do that but if I don’t it is to normally go and read in my room or nap. We eat dinner at 5:00 every night and again at the same table and mostly with the same people, which I still enjoy. It is nice to feel that you have a family here that you eat with and talk with and know what is going on with in each other’s lives. Part of the group that I eat almost ever meal with is a family. I also baby-sit the kids a night a week for an hour. It is a grounding factor in this strange life. Amongst this day-to-day predictability there is also a large unknown that is common and something you have to learn to live in and if you can even thrive in it. Some of those changes are good like today when all the elementary teachers got the afternoon to go out to lunch as a treat but more of that latter. The changes that we deal with more often then not are not necessarily positive ones. Like we don’t know the exact date of when we will be back on the ship. Or when the accreditation team will come. Or that we might have to change vacation time because we will need people to help with the re-opening of the ship. It has taken time to get used to but I am getting used to the fact that everyday is different and that I should embrace those differences and the challenges because they are unique and will only happen once.
         These past two weeks have been semi un remarkable. School has passed crazy fast. We have like 16 teaching days left which is mind blowing and scary to think how you will get it all done but that is a fact. The past two weekends have been a bit more exciting. Two weekends ago a bunch of us went to a church in the area and had a bri with them. It was fun to hang out with other people and do something so normal like play football and eat. We then went to the beach and had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant right on the beach. On Sunday we went to a different church. To be honest we went because the shuttle for it was going to a craft market after and we wanted to go shopping. It was great to see a different church which solidified in me that I love the surfer church. It was still nice to walk around the craft stalls and walk along the beach. The next week passed with out to much notable happening with the expectation of Friday. On Friday we went on a field trip to the marine world it was really fun. The kids loved it and so did the teachers. It was a fun and long day, but always a treat to hang out with the kids in a different setting as well as the other teachers.
On Friday we were able to watch Toy Story 3 for the Friday night movie. It was really cute but definitely made me cry and I was not the only one. I had a hard time sitting there thinking the first one came out when I was in 4th grade. It made me happy. On Saturday I went back to the marine world with some friends. I had only been there the day before but it was good. We ate lunch at a restaurant where you are next to the shark tank it was pretty rad. It was a very different lunch experience compared to Friday which was PB and J’s on the grass with a kid in my lap and steak and wine with sharks. Both great but different. On Sunday we went to the surfer church and then went out to lunch/ brunch. It was a good day! This school week has been ok, I was sick on Monday with a stomach thing and then felt a cold coming on but am trying with lots of Airborne to not get really sick. As a treat for all our hard work our principle was very generous and has arranged for all of us take different afternoons off and go and have lunch. It was great! I am on the Social Studies curriculum team and it was our afternoon along with another teacher who is not on a team. It was much needed and much appreciated. I loved being able to hang out with these girls that I see everyday but rarely spend time with to talk about trivial things and just laugh and talk about anything and everything. It was great! We came back and where full of laughs and at least for myself more relaxed and less stressed about what needs to be done. It is amazing how just taking some time to not talk about work and hang out can make you have a fresh sense of why you are here. It was a great day and to top it off I got mail from home today. My mom is great about sending mail, and I am so grateful. We can get most of what we want here not like in West Africa but we cant get parts of home. And that is what mail is. My mom is so thoughtful there was candy a new Glee cd, US weekly and a picture of Padfoot, all my favorite things! I love it! Thanks Momma!
There is a new blog I have been reading it is called “ the small things” it is a great read. The writer makes a point about finding how it is the small things that create a life and build it full of happy memories. That is what these past experiences are for me small things a box from home and lunch with coworkers/ friends but they can greatly change your outlook on the situation, the day, and even life. It makes me think about what small things I can do for others to make their situation, day, life better? What can you do?

Good life

There has not been too much stuff going on here since I last posted. Last weekend I stayed here on Saturday and did some work. We had report cards due but then had technical problems and teachers out sick so they got pushed back to this week. On Sunday I went to the surfer church, which is where I go most weekends and is my favorite. After church we went to the beach area. A few of us brought our laptops because we had seen a café with free wifii, it took be an hour and like 20 min to download 1 song. Had I known I would just get one I would have picked better but what eve. Then we just hung out on the beach and read and played cards. This last school week had been a little stressful because of using a new computer program for reports and just not really being sure how we were meant to do them. But we made it through the week and it was fine. Report cards are still not done but hopefully today after our staff meeting we will get some final clarification.
This weekend was fun. On Friday I was so over the week and just wanted to take a nap, but then I saw that I had mail and it made my day sooooooo much better. So thanks mom and Nat!! Friday night we had a Brai a South African BBQ. Those are always fun. We all eat EVERY meal together but it is like we all have assigned seats for the most part. I pretty much eat my meals with the same people every day, but when we have Brai’s outside we all just sit on the steps and it is a bit more mixed up. We also had an Academy camp out Friday night. I did not have to stay out on the field I just got to enjoy the smores. The campfire was made so much better because in the package mom sent where glow in the dark hair bands! Who new there was such a thing! So a few of us had those in and it just kind of made everything funnier. Of course because of smores there was a lot of Sandlot quotes going on exclusively by the “ adults” and the kids had no idea what was going on. It was great! A lot of the kids had never had smores before because well they live on a ship that does not like fire and or are not American. So it was funny to see them trying to make a smore, well not really a smore because it was will biscuits/ cookies not graham crackers but almost. On Friday nights now we have been having movie nights. There is normally a kids movie at 6 and an adult-ish movie at 8. There is not loads going on so that is our Friday night activity!
On Saturday a group of us went wine tasting. So we, the girls decided to get dressed up, which makes everything classier. We first stopped at a cute shopping area that was nice and had an amazing chocolate store. I had a chi latte chocolate that was really good. Some other ones where curry flavored or chocolate covered bill tongue which is south African jerky. The wine tasting was fun and really relaxing. It was just nice to be away from the compound, screaming children and to have wine!
On Sunday we went to church, as soon as we got there the power went out. It was a good service and nice to feel settled by going to the same church every weekend. We went to the mall after the service in hopes of a nice brunch/ lunch. But, the power was out there as well. We went to the market which had generators and got snacky food and ate on the sidewalk since there are zero benches and it was one of the few places under cover from the rain. We got a lot of looks and I am sure everyone was thinking strange Americans. But it was food and dry! When we got back here I took a nap/ watched movies. Then the thunder and lighting started. Our power was surging every once in a while and then finally just went out. We were with out power for about an hour and it was right before dinner. We are so trained to eat that if it is 5:01 you are hungry. So we ate cereal and sandwich meets, the power came on about 10 minuets latter. So the galley team got back to us and we had our hot dinner of fish and chips at 6, or chips if you are me and hate fish.

I know that this all sounds very trivial and not very exciting and well that’s cause it is. Sometimes I lose focus and start to wonder what and the hell I am doing here. I am volunteering in South Africa to teach. To be honest I teach 1 student most times. I love the people who are here and I love teaching. But I just think sometimes what is the purpose. But then I think about when we go to Sierra Leone in February. How there is so much need and so much that we can do. I will not be directly affecting the lives of Sierra Leon ions( Sp?) I will not be removing tumors, or helping VVF women who so badly need it. I will not be removing teeth that are rotting. So how am I helping? I am here so that the parents of my students can be here. I am here so these students can have a somewhat normal childhood where they can serve along with there parents and families can stay together. I have to remind myself of this sometimes cause it just seems strange. It is a weird time right now, we are not on the ship. But we are a hospital ship. We are meant to bring “hope and healing” to West Africa, but we are in South Africa and are only running the dental and eye teams. It is hard to keep the focus of what we are here for. I have found it really hard because I have never seen the hospital running. I got to the ship two days before we sailed, the hospital was closed and already packed for the sail. I can imagine what it is like with patients on the ship and being in a port where you are the hope for a healthy future. But I lose sight of that. It makes me so excited sometimes that I consider extending, the rumor is that the next outreach is going to be the Congo and well I want to go. I have not extended mom and have not committed to anything but I have to admit it can be tempting. This past weekend when we were driving back from the market a song called “ Good Life” by OneRebublic came on my iPod.

Woke up in London yesterday
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly
Don't really know how I got here
I got some pictures on my phone

New names and numbers that I don't know
Address to places like Abbey Road
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want
We're young enough to say

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

To my friends in New York, I say hello
My friends in L.A. they don't know
Where I've been for the past few years or so
Paris to China to Col-or-ado

Sometimes there's airplanes I can' t jump out
Sometimes there's bullshit that don't work now
We are god of stories but please tell me-e-e-e
What there is to complain about


When you're happy like a fool
Let it take you over
When everything is out
You gotta take it in

Hopelessly
I feel like there might be something that I'll miss
Hopelessly
I feel like the window closes oh so quick
Hopelessly
I'm taking a mental picture of you now
'Cuz hopelessly
The hope is we have so much to feel good about

I love this song and it makes me want to live a large life, doing what I love and seeing the world.

its the small things

Compared to my Safari weekend trip this last weekend has been slow and quite. Last weekend I went to the mall on Saturday and saw A- Team. I don’t know if it is the lack of new movies I have seen, missing home or loving Bradley Copper so much, but I really liked it. I thought it was funny and just made me feel good just to go to a movie with a few friends. On Sunday I decided to not go to church and just stay at the compound. It is funny we all complain about being stuck out here, myself included but then it sometimes just feels really nice to stay for the day with out any type of a plan and just relax. I layed out in the sun before it got to hot, I actually even got sunburned a little so it was nice to have something to show for the time outside. It got kind of gross out so I went in and took a nap. I know that this is really exciting stuff but it was needed. It just felt so good to lay in bed on a rainy afternoon watch a movie and take a little nap before dinner.
This last week was a pretty good one. Monday we had a staff meeting after school, we have one every Monday and they are usually good for a laugh. This one was no exception. It just makes me feel good when I sit in my staff meeting with other academy staff and laugh, and can be my self- with out all the swearing (mom you should be happy). On Tuesday we went on a field trip with the Nursery and Elementary school. Sometimes it can be strange cause I don’t have a class of my own really, I have students that I pull out from other classes, but Amy the third grade teacher is always great about having me with them as they are the 2/3 class so that is great. We went to the tidal pools at a beach about an hour away. It is the beach we all go to after church so we all knew it but it was far less crowded on a Tuesday and a rainy one for that matter. It was not warm but definitely not as cold as the Oregon coast so I thought it was great. The kids all had a lot of fun playing and looking for different creatures. It was nice to be part of that and show them my love for it. I have the reputation here and rightfully so as not liking bugs. So it was nice to show that I love animals and nature just not spiders and other bugs that they all catch and shove in your face to look at. After we left the tide pools we went and got ice cream at Steers the South African equivalent of Burger king with out the creepy king himself. Of course the kids loved that treat.
We left and went to the Sharks Board. The Sharks Board is the organization that is in charge of maintaining the shark nets around this province. The shark nets are a little confusing because they don’t go to the ocean floor, or the surface or actually enclose the beach. So I am still a little fuzzy how that keeps sharks out. They could easily go over, under, or around and come eat swimmers, but they have not had any fatal attacks since they went in around the 1950’s so they most work somehow. There are sharks that get caught in the nets, the Sharks Board has teams that go out everyday and try and release these sharks with out any injury or harm. When sharks are not able to move they are not able to get water running through their gills and they die. That is not the hope of the nets but it does happen. When the shark board finds dead sharks they take them back to their research facility. In hopes of educating the public they perform shark dissection four times a week. It was gross but fun.
The rest of the week has passed with out too much going on, which I guess is good in the no news is good news way. On Saturday we had an opportunity to help in the community just outside our gates. A bunch of us went and painted a house that the local church owns in hopes that if they fix it up they will be able to attract an associate pastor. It was nice to help the community. We live here in our little bubble and do not have to much chance for interaction so it was great to get that time. We were able to work along side locals and meet some of the children in the area. After painting there was going to be a braai, a South African BBQ. The church a bunch of us have been to Balito Bible church was coming up to see where we were staying and to hang out. It was kind of a great day. A lot more people stayed then normal because of the Braai and it felt like a normal BBQ we were all playing games and hanging out. A bunch of us played catch phrase for about 2 hours. It was nice and felt like home, people yelling really loud and being to competitive, myself included. The braai was great and it was nice to talk with the people from the church.
On Sunday the plan was to go to church and leave at 7:30 then go to the beach for the day after. This sounded great but my door had other plans. Our doors lock from the inside and outside with the key, and you have to have the key to unlock them even from the inside. I had a problem about the first weekend here of not being able to unlock my door from the inside. I was finally able to get it when I took the handle off from the inside. I have not really had to many problems since then, until Sunday morning. I got up and was not able to unlock my door. I tried for a few minuets then took the door handle off thinking, that although it is annoying it would allow me out to run to the bathroom since I was about to pee myself. But of course no luck. At this point I got up on a chair and opened the window above my door to listen for anyone in the hall. I am at the very end of the hall though with no one across from me so I knew there was little hope. I started to look around for a water bottle to use as a make shift bathroom because it was getting pretty bad. I decided instead to wake up my neighbor. I started yelling out the window above the door saying I was locked in. She did come and let me out and I quickly ran to the bathroom as I said thank you over my shoulder. But I am happy to report I did not need to use the water bottle and made it to the bathroom in time!
Church was good, it was a new one for me and everyone was very welcoming. We went to the beach after ward and had lunch as a big group. It is so nice when we go out to have the whole menu to chose from instead of what is cooked for you. It was a great day at the beach and was nice to be there. I always just feel relaxed at the beach. When we got back we had dinner and hung out. I tried to call my parents which with them is always a little complicated. My mom was in a bad service area so she kept dropping the calls. I ended up calling my brother Dennis, it was nice to talk to him. About three minuets into that conversation my mom called him so Dennis made it a conference call. It was funny that mom hijacked the call but then she just kept saying it’s a three-way and I could not stop laughing. It was good to talk to them even though it was brief and with lots of interruptions.

November, 11th 2010

Safari!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is funny here, time goes by really fast but also drags on. It seems super busy all the time, but also as if there is nothing to do once work is done. I guess it depends on the day, your mood and your outlook. In the past few weeks it has been all of these things. We have had one wedding, ran out of water about five times and been reminded of how great it is to have so much space out here numerous times.
Like I said we had a wedding here. It was for to Mercy Shippers whom met at Gateway in Texas. Gateway is a six week training for coming to Mercy Ships that most people over nine months take part in. (I did not because of the fact that school was starting in a week and Gateway would not be again until January.) The wedding was here in the court yard and everyone was involved some way. We had teams of people going to pick wild flowers for decorations and setting up tables and chairs. We only had a half day at school so that we could all attend. The wedding was on a Tuesday because it was an exact year to the day that they had meet. It was fun to see so many people pitching in to do what they could. I took photos of the bride and bridesmaids’ getting ready, it was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful and the day was lots of fun. Everyone got dressed up and relaxed it was what we all needed.
The rest of the week went by as normal. I stayed here on Saturday and just hung out and read and did a whole lot of nothing. On Sunday I went to a local church. We call it the surfer church it is about an hour away. That is one of the closer English speaking churches in the area. It is really relaxed and has made us all feel very welcome. After we went to a local shopping center for a couple of hours. On Sunday night my one-second-grade student fell from a tree about 8 feet up. He was taken to the hospital and was told that he had a minor concussion and a fracture in his arm. So he stayed home on Monday so I had a lot of planning to do. It was sad that he got hurt but really lucky that he was not hurt more and that the fracture was not on his writing hand. The rest of the week was pretty low key because of his fall. It was also just a four day week because Friday was a National and Ship holiday.
For the long weekend I arranged for a group of 10 of us to go on a safari. I had found this company in Lonely Planet and it sounded great. About a week after I started to organize it they told us that there was a different company who would do tours from Appelbosh as well. We stuck with ours and were glad for the chance to have a break from the larger community that is 24/7. There where two couples in our group, five girls and one guy. So a true Mercy Ship experience 5 girls – 1 guy.
We had been having a little trouble communicating with the company the last few days before we went so we were all a little unsure if it would even happen, but it did and was fantastic!
We started our trip at a very dark but warm start of 4:30 am on Friday morning. It was the most amazing drive, the sun was starting to rise and the moon was still shinning and lighting our path down the windy country roads. It was a very quite drive because we were all so sleepy. We got to the game park at about 9 and as soon as we where in the park we saw a giraffe walk across the road, warthogs running and impala (deer things) running around. We all already felt that it was worth it!
We switched to a Safari vehicle. It is really a little Toyota pick up with seats in the truck bed and a canopy from the sun or rain. It was the most beautiful day for a safari, it was warm and sunny but breezy from the open 4x4 that kept us nice and comfortable. We saw lots of animals right off the bat. We stumbled upon a mom and baby white rhino. It was crazy how close we were it was scary at first because the mom is so large and we are in an open truck so that was kind of alarming. Of course it was fine but you were constantly thinking this is a wild animal it could do whatever it wants. Through out the course of the day we saw 4 of the 5 Big 5, water buffalo, rhino, elephants and lions. We where in the park for about six or seven hours and had a great time. We kept singing lion king songs, which I am sure the guide, really appreciated.
We then drove the 45 minuets to our hotel in our Safari vehicle but with a plastic cover on the front. The whole time we were driving I kept thinking if we stop I will fly out of this car (I was in the front row) and nothing will stop me, my parents are gonna kill me. But we got to our hotel safe had a good dinner and much needed sleep. On Saturday we got up had a nice breakfast then went on a boat cruise where we saw hippos and crocodiles. We also saw other Mercy Shippers, which was not surprising considering all the different travel companies have the same itinerary. We then had lunch and went to a craft fair then went to a rare cat-feeding center. We were able to watch the cats get fed. After the cheetahs were fed they opened up the gate and we where able to go in with them for a bit more money. I did decide to go in because I new that I would never have this opportunity again. I did not pet it but I sat close-ish to it and its tail touched me and that was good enough. We drove back and all crashed from the long weekend.
On Sunday we went back to the surfer church and then went to the beach. I love the beach and just fell home at the beach no matter what beach. It was a very relaxing day with my feet in the sand and waves, I felt at home. This next week will be short as well because today ( Monday) is a planning day which means just four days with students. I am still really enjoying my time here and teaching again it makes me want to teach when I get home and that is good because before I was wavering about teaching.

September, 27th 2010

Safari?

This past week a lot has happened but at the same time not a lot. On Monday and Tuesday we did not have school but had curriculum planning. The days went fine and there was not too much going on. School started on Wednesday and it was nice to get in the hang of things again. I have a classroom here and three days a week I only ever have one student in it. It feels enormous, it echoes but it is nice to have a room to set up in and spread out to plan in. I stayed here on Saturday, I decided against going back to the mall. For 1 I don’t need anything and would just spend money 2 even though I only have one student I still have to plan just as many lessons. So I stayed and worked then hung around researching stuff to do in the area. It was bitter cold yesterday. It is spring here but many days it has been so cold, because it gets dark so early here we often just watch movies because our rooms are the only warm places to be.
Today a few others and myself went to Albert Falls. Which is about an hour away. It was a little hard to find but we made it. We first ended up at the lake created by the dam. It was a beautiful lake and is a place people go to fish, water ski and go tubing. We thought it would be a good plan to make friends with people who have boats just to go out on the water. Today was warm on the verge of hot. It is a lot like home it can be cold in the morning, hot in the afternoon and cold again at night. So we were pretty happy that today was so beautiful and warm. The park has a game park as well. It does not have the BIG 5 but still Zebras, Giraffes a white rhino and others. Those where the three we really wanted to see. We saw Zebras , monkeys, warthogs, antelope and loads of birds. It was our own safari, since we in a rover it really felt like a safari. Unfortunately the roads where pretty bumpy and Dulce and I where in the back of the rover, we hit a pretty big bump we both bounced and hit our heads on the ceiling of the car a few times. We are both fine, with just a headache, but the rest of the trip we sat on the ground our with our arms pressed to the ceiling so it would not happen again.
We left the park and wanted to find the water falls. We had read on line that it was an hour hike to the falls. Either we hike really fast or we did not find the main falls. It was only about a 5 minute walk and we were there. It was still pretty and nice to see a different part of this area besides the mall. It has been a good week, everyone is starting to get settled in here and come to terms with the fact that we have a six o’clock curfew because of how dark it is and how bad the roads are. We are all finding different ways to entertain ourselves. We have also started to go to bead a lot earlier because of it, it does not help either that we are getting up earlier either because of all the sun in our windows or the rosters who are all around. It feels like camping but with out the campfire and smores.

Our home for four months....

    Since my last post we have moved 150 people and all of there belongings off the ship. As well as all departments including the Academy which had 210 boxes all on its own. It was amazing how much everyone pitched in and help each other. It all started on Wednesday when we got into port in Durban. When ships go into ports the ports have a pilot who is familiar with the port and how to steer the ship, and he comes aboard. This is normal procedure but this time the pilot came aboard via helicopter. The Africa Mercy has never taken a pilot on via helicopter before. It all went very smothly, the helicopter did not land on the ship but lowered the pilot down in a harness. We got into port around lunch time but where not able to get off the ship until latter that night. We had not cleared customs yet so latter that night we were allowed off the ship on to the dock but not beyond the dock fence.
Thursday morning we all moved our personal belongings into the mid ship area of the ship. It was a huge pile of stuff at that point I think we all believed we all had way to much stuff and probably did not need it all. We then took a break and then moved all the offices with all the people helping it only took us 20 minuets to move all the Academy boxes. We had so may people helping out it was amazing to see what can happen when people pitch in and help one another out. We then broke for lunch and  packed up the moving vans. It was a lot of walking and steps because we had to walk down two decks and then back up two decks to get more stuff to do it all over again. We had the trucks all loaded in about an hour. We had to take brakes to let the moving company catch up with all the stuff we had already brought down.

At about 1:30 we all packed into the two buses and 24 land rovers to move to Appelbosh which is an hour and half outside of the countryside. We drove though the port and it took so long to get out. They had asked that we stay as a caravan and not split up. That means that if four cars don't make it through the stop light that the rest would pull over and wait. Luckily the busses where just allowed to go on because they would take so long anyway. As we drove we got lots of curious stares but also lots of friendly waves. We made our way through the winding twisting road of the African countryside. There are amazing valleys with houses built clinging to the side. There where large homes on the top of a hill with shacks towns occupying the rest of the hill. We thought we had lost the rovers but when we would take some sharp turns we could see the convoy of all the land rovers. It was a really cool site to see all theses rovers driving threw the mist and rain.

When we arrived we walked around and took in our new home. It was more then we could hope for. It was a teachers college that had been abandoned for 6 years. It is a little run down but it is going to be great and the team working on it is doing really well to make it all we want it to be. We unloaded the moving vans of all boxes and personal bags. We had chains going one for heavy boxes and one for light boxes. We were not sure if it was faster but it was less walking for sure. I do have to say that my Servpro life did aid well in this move. I new how to pack a box, do inventory (for customs) and how to do a pack out and pack back.
On friday we moved all the boxes to their offices and started to set up our classrooms. But first they needs lots of cleaning. Again Servpro days came in handy. I kept thinking to myself if the ladies were here how would they clean this and would they think this is clean enough. Well finally when my class room looked clean enough I started to unpack, but when you only have one student there is not much to unpack. Once that was done I tried to think of lots of ways to decorate the classroom to give it some much needed color. Friday night after dinner we played basketball. Although it has been a long time since I played it was fun. All those lay up drills definitely paid off beacuse that is my only shot but I make it 99 % of the time. On Saturday we went to the mall, it is the largest mall in the Southern Hemisphere. It was nice to eat fast food but the shops where a little less then what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a H & M but there is not one. We spent the day walking around and having the chance to shop a bit.
On Sunday we went to a church service in the local church, I know I have not been to church in a while but this was definitely different then I remember. It was nice and they made us feel very welcome.

oh the places you will go

      Today after I had breakfest and packed my lunch, lunch is not served on weekends so you pack one at breakfest. There was a carnival hosted by the Chaplancy and the Academy I ended up sitting outside on deck 8. It is the higest deck, with the exceptions of the pool deck, yes we have a pool but it is not in working order  at the moment. While I sat there in a borrowed camp chair I was able to see the coast line of South Africa. We are still about 10 miles off shore so it is a hazy blurry coastal mountain outline, but beutiful none the less.

I was thinking about how at this time at home I would be excited becuase pumpkin spice would be available at Starbucks and that means it is Fall. I pondered how I ended up here, on this floating hospital ship, teaching one student floating in the Altantic/ Indian Ocean I am not sure our position at the moment but in one of those two oceans. I was trying to figure out why in my head it made sense to email about a "job" and then three weeks latter step onto a plane to fly to West Africa. I dont know what possesed me exactly but I do know that it was meant to be.
There is no other way to explane how smothly and quickly it all went. I know I could be more usefull other places but I have come to know and trust that I am not necessarily here to teach but to learn. So that is what I am trying to do, learn. While I learn to live in a dorm setting again.  To work along Laura Ingalls with my one student in my makeshift class room of two small white baords and a zip lock bag full of pens. To love what ever comes my way.
As a sea life update I have seen whales twice and dolphins twice. It is so funny when there is an announcment  from the bridge or in a room where someone spots them becuase every one runs to a window or a deck. When  I say run I mean walk fast because we are not able to run on board. In the next week we will transistion off the ship to our country compund when the ship, my new found home is being fitted with new generators. I have large travel plans in South Africa or at least a long wish list. I dont know if I will have the time or means to see it all but I am excited for what is to come.

disapointments

There is a quote by Mark Twain I saw last week that really struck me and I wanted to share it with you all. Or really mom cause I dont belive anyone else reads this but here goes.

" Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do then by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream."

I read this quote and right away wanted to live my life this way. Do what makes you scared go to the unknown. I love that it speaks of sailing as my current home is a floating ship somehwere in the Southern Hempisphere of the Atlantic. I want to live by this and can not imagine why anyone would not want to also. So to do what you want and have no regrets!

I think I will stay

Today was my second day of teaching and I have to say I like it and think I will stay. It is four weeks tomorrow since I wrote to Mercy Ships that I was interested. When I tell people my "Mercy Ships" story and I tell them it was three weeks to the day from the first email to when I got on the flight, people are amazed at the speed.
Since my last update we have began our sail, we are heading to South Africa. On the first day of sailing I saw four whales breaching and putting their tails in the air. It was so cool to think that as I sit here talking about English with a fellow teacher that I am
               1) on a ship in the atlantic
               2) just saw whales swim by!

We had mexican tonight for dinner which was fantastic! After dinner we started playing a crew wide game of assissins so that should be fun. I am starting to feel more comertable here and starting to know my way around. I am starting to understand the ship better and how it all works. I dont have to stop and think about where I am as often as I did before so that is nice.

day one down...

       I got into Togo last night around 6:30pm, 11:30 am at home. When I was checking into my flight to Togo there was a man in a Mercy Ships polo so I introduced myself to him; that came in handy latter. The flight was fine but the airport was a little bit more rough then I am used to. I did not know what passport line to get into so I just followed around the man in the polo. Which I also then did through customes. We were meet by four people from Mercy Ships at the airport, two of whom are fellow teachers, Christian and Ben. It was so nice to have people waiting for me who new my name, offered hugs after a LONG day of travel and knew how to navigate a very forgin airport. When we got to the dock and I saw the Africa Mercy it really sunk in that I was in Africa and will be on this ship for the better part of a year.When we got onboard everyone was very welcoming and nice, I was able to meet other teachers whom I had emailed with and there was a meeting that was getting over as I got there so I meet all the other teachers at once who were serving ice cream after community meeting.
        I was able to sleep most of the night wich was a pleasent suprise. I went to breakfest and meet someone in line and ate with her. We had a meeting after about the sail and what to excpect. After the meeting I went and spent the day in the Academy. Ten minutes in we had a fire drill, I have to say those life vests are very fashionable! After the drill I was given a tour of the ship and through all the Academy rooms, and was introduced to each of the 50 kids on board. It was a very overwhelming day but enjoyable. After lunch I went back to the Academy and started to help pack up the office. Since we are moving off the ship everythings has to be packed that we are briging with us. Then by the end of the school day I was able to sit with some of the other teachers who I am taking subjects over for. This was the first time I knew excatly what I was going to be teaching. I was asked if I was the french teacher about 5 times today, which as any of you who know me know there is no way in hell that is a good idea. I am teaching grade 2 (one boy) Math and English and am teaching grade 5 math (one boy, grade 2's brother) , grade 4/5 Science. I am really excited for it and know it will be crazy expecially during the sail and set up on land.
          I had dinner with one of my roomates. I am in a four person cabin and the girls all seem really nice. After dinner there was a new crew member oriantation tour, it was a little but more detatiled then my earlier tour so that was nice. I am starting to get tiered but really want to get on the right time zone as soon as possible and am making my self stay up, hence the post and I am sure many spelling errors and typos.

the day has finally come.

I am sitting at PDX early for my flight (of course as I am on Linderman time which means to be at the airport 3 hours early). Mom and I did well not to many water works. I am sitting and thinking about what a great last weekend I had at home and how three weeks from today I was only just looking into Mercy Ship and emailing saying that I was interested in the position and wanted more info. I wanted to post some pics from my last few weeks at home, they were lots of fun and more importantly full of people I love.

Its Official!

         Today I received my official acceptance letter from Mercy Ships. Which means I am going!!!!!!! I even bought my ticket today so I am pretty stocked.
            A week from tomorrow I leave Portland at 6:05 am and get into Lome, Togo the next day at 6:05 pm. I am really excited and tons less stressed and nervous then I was went I went to London. I feel so much better knowing there will people meeting me at the airport. The school principle Nikki will even be meeting me so it is so much less stressful. I had lots of lonely experiences in London along with many, many amazing ones and I hope this experience will have less lonely ones and even more amazing ones.

August, 3rd 2010

That was fast

So this time last week I was just looking into a position on Mercy Ship and the open teaching job. It has all happened to fast but today I had a phone interview with the principle and after an hour and lots of questions answered by both parties I have committed to teach on the Mercy Ship Africa Mercy for this school year. I will be teaching the children of the staff on the boat. Africa Mercy is the largest non government hospital ship in the world. I will be teaching grade two with a total of 1 student. So I will also be teaching other subjects to different grade levels.

I am really excited for all the possibilities, I am a lot less scared then I was when I went to London so I am taking that as a good thing. If all goes to plan I will be leaving around August 12.