Another day in Durban

With each passing hour this ship is getting smaller and smaller. No doubt this has a lot to do with me not getting lost quite as much. ;) Nah... seriously though, I'm discovering that the ship really isn't that big. While quite sufficient for the purpose of a hospital, I've been told that it appears dwarfed when docked beside cruise ships.

So, this morning I was on deck 6 in the galley, today both galley crews worked together. We were all cleaning up for an inspection that should take place quite soon. I'm very well acquainted with the floor drains now and what they like to collect. yuck. Also got some great exercise going down tiny, steep, staircases and all the way down the gangway taking loads of stuff out to the dumpsters.

Anyhow, it's been a really good day. The air conditioning on a few decks, our cabin included, is back on -- a long-awaited blessing for the crew that never moved off the ship -- For the past months they've been trying not to sink the ship with their sweat... but now, well it looks like we're making up for all that time. The system works VERY WELL while the blankets on the other hand aren't keeping up with the A/C's efficiency!! My cabin is cold. Right now I'm on a deck that is hot hot hot... so, it all depends where you are. :)

This evening I attended the mandatory safety orientation to the ship... I know now exactly what I'm to do if someone falls overboard and how to try not to fall off myself.

For interest's sake -- the following is a bit of info about what type of a vessel this is...

Built differently than a regular passenger ship, the m/v Africa Mercy was first used as a rail ferry to transport train cars in Denmark. Since purchasing this ship there have been many vast renovations done in order to transform the old ferry into this incredible hospital community. Nevertheless, the basic shape of the ship remains the same. So, what's the shape? Well, in order to float as best as possibly with such heavy cargo the ship was built with a very flat base. I'm told this is unlike what you'd find underneath a passenger/cruise ship, whose primary goal is stability and calmness. Therefore the result of a having a flat base is a ship that sits sort of low in the water and won't tip over very easy. That being said, it also is a ship that "goes" with the waves, as opposed to "slicing" through them -- I'm sure it'll be an interesting ride to Sierra Leone. In such a small place, it is surprising how many things other than a hospital this ship includes... we have a library, laundry, bank, computer cafe, swimming pool, lounge, crew kitchen in addition to the galley kitchen, dining room, ship shop, academy and 126 cabins. I wish you could see it!! I'd take you for a tour... we might even not get lost this time!!

Moving Onboard!!

It has been quite awhile since my last post and for that I do apologize. I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath right??... haha, or not. Actually the reason for my absence stems from the other week when lightning struck some important internet connection somewhere at Appelsbosch, downing the system... since that day a lot has changed. The biggest change has been moving onboard the Africa Mercy. A huge process that came to an end in one big finale yesterday as we drove away for one last time from Appelsbosch. I am very happy to be onboard finally and looking forward to the hope of leaving port soon. But honestly, in some respects I'll miss the peace, spaciousness and all the intriguing nature that was found at Appelsbosch too. Here's a bit of what our moving day looked like...

The days leading up to leaving Appelsbosch were filled with lots of eating. We were very busy in the galley diving into the food storage and cooking it up. A vitally tasty and important task as we needed to use up the fresh food -- much of the fresh stuff wouldn't make the hot, long drive back down through the mountains.

When I heard that a truck was taking the luggage I did not have this in mind, as it turned out though, by the time everything was loaded the truck was full!! We have a lot of stuff!! 

The landrovers were driven back the ship by the families while the rest of us rode in two buses.  

Much excitement filled the buses as everyone was really happy to be moving back onboard. By the time we arrived at the shipyard our excitement had wilted somewhat -- the afternoon sun flooded through the windows as the bus desperately climbed over and down the hills. Even though the landrovers left almost an hour after us many of them caught up and passed us.    

Almost "home" ;)

Absolutely everything had to be lugged up this gangway!!! Certainly brought a bit of meaning to the saying "Many hands make light work" ... but even so... yeah, it was still heavy!!

The view outside has changed quite drastically from that at Appelsbosch.

And now to find my white duvet amongst all the other white duvets... this took awhile. 

The cafe area was jam packed with our stuff. Amazing how quickly a tidy location can become such a disaster. But within a few hours it was back to normal, surprisingly. 

So, this is it -- my home sweet home, the one and only ten-berth cabin, I'll be here for the remainder of my stay. It's actually quite nice and has two portholes to see out of, whereas many cabins have none... so I'm really happy!




...But that was all yesterday. Today is Sunday and I've just spent the whole afternoon acquainting myself with the ship's galley and trying to make myself useful in the process -- probably appearing quite bewildered and lost looking to be honest. The galley here is quite different actually than the one we just left. Though drastically smaller it is very functional. A long, hot, low-ceilinged room filled to the brim all sorts of kitchen stuff. It's going to take some time to get used to the layout, but I'm sure the time to do so will be found in abundance. 

A hike up the hill.

Surprisingly the rain seems rather distant this week, making for a lovely day to hike up the hill behind Appelsbosch yesterday. Well, if the truth be told I was a bit hessitant to hike through the grass and rocks, and did so while instinctively listening for rattles. That of course was silly, in my mind I knew that if a deadly snake came my way there would be no rattles at all. But habits are hard to break, so I kept listening. It was a beautiful day. On the top of the hill we came across some cows that were staked out in the grass eating for all they were worth.

 The bugs are incredible. The one above was huge and looked like an oversized yellow wasp. They were jumping all throughout the grass. We also came across some fairly smooth boulders (or so I thought), but a closer look revealed that they were actually homes to busy communities of ants swarming everywhere.



The view from the top of the hill was lovely, truly a birdseye view of the surrounding area. Many many farms. Pretty much all the roads up here in the mountains are dirt ones, most people walk everywhere. The pace of life is therefore quite relaxed, a lot of singing can be heard as people walk from place to place so it's a happy place. 



 



SA Shipyard

Spent the day away from the galley at the one and only South Africa Shipyard, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning... and exploring a bit.



A neighboring little boat, incredible to see all sorts of boats and ships in the shipyard... it is a huge place!! Three entire warehouses devoted to the export locations for sugar sugar and sugar. Not to mention all the other warehouses scattered everywhere. It's a rather stinky place, salty fuel fumes fill the humid air.  





Not going anywhere!!




April (my roommate), Selvanus (the new chef) and I took our day off from work to work. An hours drive away from Appelsbosch found us on the ship doing just that, working. We totally cleaned and moved the HR offices from floors to ceilings and lugged file cabinets from deck to deck.




This wall was sparkling clean by the time I was done attacking it with clorox.





All the signs I've seen so far have running people on them (Hmm, what is this supposed to mean?). 





Trucks parked up on top of the ship.






Lifeboats, all ready for us.

 


Every deck is extremely full and busy with people getting the ship ready for sail, there's an amazing amount of work needing completion but everyone is on the same page and working together as fast as possible to make it happen.

 

Ballito Beach



 Ballito Beach





Awesome waves!!





 





Three happy friends.

 



A lovely warm afternoon for everyone!!



Appelsbosch, South Africa

After traveling for more than thirty hours I can happily say, YES I did arrive and I'm still alive!! Made it here with not a problem... though jet lag is taking its own merry time to leave (or should I say 'stay') either way though, all is well. I'm in awe of how beautiful it is here in South Africa!!! Just breathtaking!!   

For the past few months and on into the first few weeks in January the crew of Mercy Ships has and will be staying off ship in the rural community of Appelsbosch -- located here is a vacant college of education that was built and used by the local South Africans and then closed down at the end of the terrible apartheid. It's a pleasant and unique place. Almost everything inside is grey. Grey floors, walls, doors, beds, chairs you name it, it'll no doubt be grey. Extremely high ceilings and lots of cement... the acoustics are incredible!! That being said, I of course was looking for the first opportunity to get out my flute and let the rafters ring... but, that was a bad idea. When I did so the other afternoon I almost went deaf in the process. In fact, a whisper will echo if you're not careful. I'm living on the third floor of the building above. Currently there's two of us living on that floor. Over the next week about seventy new and returning people will be arriving filling all the many empty spots. Our noise level is sure to reach new heights. Surprisingly with so much rain around the place, water is still a scarce necessity and often absent. Hot water, a rare luxury at best. The dampness in the air means that clothing takes about four days to dry hanging inside... so it's a bit tricky. I won't say much about the spiders, other than they are many and love to live as close as possible.   
               

Here are a couple of the views from outside my building. Look close to the road in the photo at left and you'll see a farmer with his cows, they go right by our building just outside the fence every day. The fence is not wood, it's cement! I only realized that myself the other day.         Appelsbosch is located about an hour up into the mountains outside Durban. The higher elevation results in a lot of rain and therefore, absolutely gorgeous landscape. With all these new things -- new people, new situations, new environments, new foods, and new responsibilities it's a lot to adjust to in a short time; however, I feel most blessed to be a part of this incredible opportunity to play a small part in helping create a dramatic impact in the lives of others.