Set Sail!

Today we finally set sail to Togo! Pretty rough seas so far. Still trying to find my sea legs. I am wearing a motion sickness patch behind my ear. I haven't decided if it's making me a little loopy or if I'm just tired. It was a nice departure. A man came and played us out with his trumpet. It was really nice. I'm looking forward to getting to Togo but at the same time just trying to enjoy this moment too. This week we will be having the new nurse orientation as we sail so we will still be busy. I will have more stories and more to share when we get to Togo and get the ward open!

Tenerife Pictures!

Here are a few pictures of my trip through Tenerife with Jolene. Ship life is going well. I have one roommate now in a cabin built for six. It's been nice. There isn't anything for us to do in the wards just yet. Everything is tied up and ready for the sail which is coming up. They put all of us new nurses in the galley. We are working from 1800-2300 waxing the floors of the dining room. It's actually been pretty fun. It's a great way to get to know everyone. We get our days off since we are working so late. Off to the beach today before work!

My new home!

I finally moved onto the ship today. I am living in a six person cabin, alone currently. I should be getting another roommate at some point today though. Jolene and I had a great time touring the island. We rented a car which was great. Some highlights from our trip... we went whale watching, climbed El Tiede, the volcano here on the island, visited many beaches with black sand, got car sick and sea sick but still had a great time. When we climbed El Tiede, we met two German navy officers going about the same pace as we were. We climbed together for a bit and the next night they gave us a tour of their ship. It was really cool. They were docked right behing the Africa Mercy even! Tomorrow we will start working. Nothing medical yet. Not until we get to Togo. We will be helping out in all the other areas of the ship until we make it to Togo. The plan is to set sail on the 31st and the sail should last about ten days. I will post pictures on here when I know that if I plug in my computer it won't blow up.

Tenerife and friends

Jolene and I made it to Tenerife last night! Pretty uneventual fights. I had to almost run to catch my flight in Chicago but made it there just in time. Now there is a crazy airport! We decided to rent a car instead of trying to figure out the bus system. This will be great. It gives us so much freedom to go and see what we want. We got the car not knowing what side of the road they drive on here. We asked the guy at the counter then played it off as a joke when he looked at us strange. It´s the right. I woke us this morning not feeling well. Please pray that my stomach stops going crazy! I hadn´t even eaten anything yet! Today we went to the ship to meet up with Anouchka. She is letting us leave our luggage with her while we travel which is great! It was so good to be back on the ship! I can´t wait to get there. They are putting in a pool. A real pool up on the upper deck. It´s huge. Lots of familar faces are still there. We loaded up our car with Anouchka and some friends and went to the beach. It´s winter here. This is their cold season... It´s stinkin´hot and humid! The beach was packed. Really beautiful here. I´m excited to go exploring!

Ten days...

Almost down to the single digits! Getting closer to the 15th... Departure for my next big adventure... It's all coming together so hopefully when the day comes I will feel relaxed and ready to go. I said goodbye to Sam and Lucy and Rebecca and Stephen two days ago. It's funny already starting my goodbyes.

I wanted to post some pictures on here of my last trip with Mercy Ships in Liberia so you will all have a better idea of what I will be doing and why.