Farewell...

Friday was the longest day ever. I woke up early to get breakfast because my group was leaving at 11:45 and I knew I was going to get hungry today.
Then I triple-checked that I had packed everything and started to clean my cabin for my required final inspection. I put it off until after 9 because I wasn't feeling up to facing the fact that it wouldn't be my cabin anymore, but finally I got my clearance.

I hung around in midships until about 10:30 and then I went to back to my cabin to grab my luggage and turn in my cabin key and get my passport from reception. I was with a group of about 30 people leaving on that day so the reception was filled with bags waiting to go down to the cars. I had been told that the lunch line would be open early for those who were leaving (it normally didn't open until 12), but at 11:40 we were still waiting for them to let us in so I finally barged in the dining room since my old team was working that day and everyone else followed me. We all scarfed down our food and were pretty subdued...I hugged a couple of people goodbye and then it was time to go down to the dock.

The dock was madness, there were people everywhere since there was such a large group leaving. I really hate goodbyes so I had trying to stay aloof the whole day but then I some one else was crying and that started me crying and then everybody was crying! I stared at the gangway and said, "I really just want to run back up the stairs."
After a few sad moments we got corralled into a car and started off. My laptop bag almost got left behind since I was too busy eating and sobbing my eyes out to supervise the other people packing bags, but they found it right before the last car left so they threw it inside.

We actually made pretty good time to the ferry considering that it was the middle of the afternoon and we had a huge convoy of about eight cars. We got to the ferry at 1 but it didn't leave until 2 and it was just..sitting there right in front of us for a hour. We weren't even allowed to get the cars on early. (Oh, Africa) So I hung out with some people at a little cafe nearby. Once onboard I stayed inside the ferry because it passed right by the ship and I didn't think I could handle anymore sad thoughts for the moment.
We got to the other side and I squeezed into a taxi and we took off towards the airport.

Security in Sierra Leone is quite different from anywhere else I've been. My checked bags were opened but the security man looked at me and said, "Mercy Ships?" and I said yes. He smiled, kinda poked my stuff and quickly closed it again. (I saw some non-Mercy Shippers bags get examined much more closely). After my bag was checked I had to fill out my immigration paperwork. I apparently filled it our wrong and the lady behind the booth disgustedly shoved it back to me and pointed to the part I missed. I filled it out and then she stamped my passport without even looking to see if I had corrected it. (Oh, Africa!)

We arrived at the airport around 3:30 and by the time we had gone through the whole pre-boarding process it was only 4:00 and out flight didn't leave until 8:00. So we got to hand around the airport for four hours! the airport that had barley functioning air conditioning! So much fun!

When it was time to board the plane we had to have out carry-ons  looked at and then we had our body searched. When I was retrieving my bags a man and woman started to scream at the security personnel. I have no idea what the matter was except the man was yelling, "I am Salone too!" (Salone is Krio for Sierra Leone) and the woman was yelling about people being jealous and I was right between the man and the security officer so I wanted to get pout of there.

We had stop over in The Gambia for a hour which turned into two when the found some mechanical problem. Even though it was a overnight flight they wouldn't turn off the over head lights until after midnight, but luckily 'The Smurfs' movie was so horrible it put me to sleep.
Once in Brussels I said goodbye to even more people and left for my gate with another girl who was flying home through Chicago. My flight there was very uneventful. In fact, the plane was so empty I got my row to myself and I was able to lay down to sleep for a few hours. Very nice, especially compared to my flight TO Brussels. When we started to land I stared out my window and thought, "That's America!" and I got a little teary.

It turned out the girl and I both were leaving from gate C so we got to go through customs and security together. Our gate number were at opposite side of C so I said one last goodbye and I was alone. I guess I had some mental break down while waiting for my plane because I started to notice how many white people there were around me and all the advertising for unnecessary first-world stuff and it freaked me out.

I slept most of the way home smushed between two guys who seem to take advantage of the fact I'm a small person and invaded as much of my space as possible.

And then I was home.

Long day, long post

Yesterday was a pretty tiring affair. I met up with Roses from the Dental Team and we were supposed to meet a day worker down at the gate at 10. We ended up standing there for a hour (along with some little boys who thought my hair was a wig...) before she came.
Luckily there wasn't too much traffic (there is always SOME traffic in Freetown), and we made it to the wedding on time.

A hour and a half later the wedding actually started. I should have guessed how the wedding would turn out when I saw that there were six officiating pastors. The wedding was long and I got really hungry so the ceremony was sort of a blur, but I'll try to write down what I remember.
Regina was supposed to walk down the aisle while we all sang a hymn, but the flower girls refused to budge and we had to sing the song twice while some adults herded the girls down the aisle. There was one little girl dressed in a little bridal outfit and the program listed her as 'Little Bride' but I never found out what exactly that was about.
The part I disliked the most was that Regina and Anthony (the groom) both sat facing the altar and the wedding party sat in a semi-circle around them so you never really were able to see them. This also meant the photographers were constantly walking around them trying to get good shots.
Then the main pastor gave a declaration of purpose, another pastor read the legal declaration, the main pastor led the vows and the giving of the rings. We sang another hymn, then they proclaimed them married and Anthony unveiled Regina, and everyone got up and danced and sang and came up to congratulate them. Then Francis, who works on the ship, sang a song.

Another pastor got up and gave a message. A long message. During this part it started to rain heavily outside. Even though we were inside the room had windows that couldn't close and the wind pushed the rain inside the church right on the side I was sitting. Everyone quickly packed themselves onto the other side and we stayed that way until the message was over, when the rain finally stopped and some bridesmaids mopped the floor with rags.
Then Regina and Anthony stood up by the altar and everyone got up and gave them money. Then they had another offering for the pastors. After this the bride and groom left briefly to go sign their marriage papers along with five of the pastors, various family members and other witnesses while Regina's nieces sang a song. A group from Anthony's new ministry then sang a song.

By this part I was ready to go, and so was Roses. When we got down to the road the wedding party came out so we stayed for a bit longer to take some pictures then we left to go back to the ship. And I scarfed down the sandwich I had stowed in my bag as I hadn't eaten in almost eight hours.
The wedding was about four hours long, later I found out that in Sierra Leone the wedding ceremony is very long while the reception is very short! We also passed by several other weddings that were happening on the way back to the ship.

I got back right before dinner, so I showered and ate then crashed for a hour. I got up and went to the library and saw Roses there. She showed me some of the pictures she had taken and then I went back to my cabin and went to sleep as I had to get up at 6 to work today.

I bet you are wondering how I spent the last couple of days, eh? Well, I'll tell you!

On Wednesday I went out to visit one of the agricultural farms that the Mercy Ship team helped set up.  We rode out there with a couple of the Academy classes. It was pretty impressive what they had accomplished in the 10 months that the ship has been here for. They had diverted part of the river to irrigate the plots. They had lots of plants growing already. And they did everything with only a few shovels and other hand tools. And, even more impressively, most of the workers were elderly women! On the way back to the cars we stopped by a school to say hello to the class and introduce the Academy kids briefly.
I am really glad I didn't have to work that day because the ship had a function with the 'important people' from Sierra Leone as a good bye. There were some ambassadors and the Minister of Health came as well. They had a special lunch set up and the galley and dining room were going crazy trying to make sure that everything went smoothly.


Thanksgiving was...odd. Maybe what I mean to say is the lack of build up to it was odd. No Black Friday commercials, no sales on turkeys, nothing. My cabin-mates are all Americans so we talked about it, but we all were pretty busy with other things so it wasn't a huge deal.
We had an ice cream party for the day workers since it was their last day. For dinner we had a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but I was feeling a bit down so I ate really quickly and didn't linger over it. Then I went on a engine room tour of the ship. It was pretty neat! The ship is a refitted train ferry, so it's not built like a normal ship. They also have all the water filtration equipment down there along with the sewage system.
Our water is  probably the safest not only in Africa, but pretty much any ship anywhere since it goes through three filtration systems and, according to the engineer who was giving us the tour, most ships only have one or two.
Right after the tour ended it was time for the Thursday community meeting, and then they had apple pie for everyone. I went to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas with a bunch of other people in the Queen's Lounge and ate pumpkin pie! (Pumpkins are not easy to find around here, just so you know) So at least the day ended well.

Yesterday we had the big farewell to our Sierra Leonean day workers. We had a big African lunch set up, and I did have to work that day so...We had 200 day workers come on top of our 250ish regular crew members eating. Pretty tiring. I managed to stay awake until 10 (which is the time I was going to call home) by watching The Office with one of my cabin-mates, Jenny. (SHE fell asleep though)

Today I am going to Regina's wedding. I'm pretty excited to see a African wedding. I'll have more to write about tomorrow!

Also excited to: take showers longer than 2 mins, sleep in a room without other people in it, be able to drive myself places

You may remember I mentioned that our containers were delayed back in October...well they finally arrived this week. Apparently our frozen container (which holds important stuff like: all of our meat!) has been held hostage in the hopes that some bribe money could get squeezed out of us. The Purser's department has been trying for the past month to get the containers out and finally they used their smooth negotiating skills and now we can eat some other meat besides tuna.

The end of the field service is looming.
The Hope Center closes tomorrow, along with the Dental Clinic. The final surgeries have been scheduled for the last week of November. The day worker's last day is Thanksgiving.

The end my time here is looming as well.
A list of arrivals and departures hangs next to the Purser's office and the other day I looked and saw that I will be leaving with a bunch of other people. I dread walking up to my cabin door, afraid I will find the departure paperwork attached to the door that means I will have to really start thinking about leaving. I am not exactly upset to go home because I really do miss the family and I'm REALLY excited to spend Christmas at home, but that also means that I will have to go back to 'real' things. This ship is a world unto itself. It is a bubble both from the West and Africa. It will take me some time to get my mind back into that other kind of mode.

On Friday I watched a Dutch reality tv show that was filmed on the Africa Mercy back in May. The gist of the show is people get picked to go somewhere, but they aren't told where. They think that they are getting a free vacation, but they end up working in some third-world country. The show was pretty interesting because the two guys they sent were pretty much the Dutch versions of guys from 'The Jersey Shore', but they actually worked really hard in the Hope Center and they ended up being really touched by the work that they did in the end.
After the show we were told the guys actually singed up to do some other mission work next year! Apparently the show runs on a Christian channel too.

This month is just flying by! How can I only have 17 more days left??

Remember, remember the 5th of November

As of right now there is a Guy Fawkes Day celebration happening across the room from me, and a very ornate fireworks display is being played on the BBC. Those Brits really know how to turn a failed assassination plot into a party!
For dinner we had a barbecue on the dock, which feels really weird to do in November. I am so happy that I didn't have to work today because it looked really hard to manage. There were dining room staff going up and down the gangway pretty much constantly.

Yesterday night I went out to help with the Jesus film. It travels around to different parts of Freetown and shows every Tuesday and Friday. I ended up in a place that was only about 15 minuets from the docks. When we got there we set up the sound system and attached some hooks to the roof rack of the car to hang a cloth, then they projected the movie from the back of the car.
The movie was quite long, about two and a half hours and in Krio. I managed to follow along pretty well since it follows the book of Luke and I learned a few extra Krio words.
There was a pretty big turn out with lots of little kids and it was fun to hear the crowd's reactions to the movie. There was a lot of cheering at the Resurrection!

Welcome to Africa

There is one thing that every person on the entire ship has a fear of. It's not pirates, or malaria or even the wireless network going down.

It's the Mango fly.

Mango flies maybe the most creepiest creature in all of West Africa. I noticed that the Wikipedia article doesn't include a picture so let me paint one for you: imagine a horsefly with bright red eyes and white stripes. Imagine this thing laying eggs on your bathing suit or towel when you are hanging out at the beach. Then think about those eggs hatching and maggots burrowing into your skin. Awesome, right?

I don't know of anyone personally who has gotten Mango fly'd (as I like to call it), but I know that it's happened. Mango fly maggots are now my group of friends answer for every physical ailment. It's even replaced malaria as our go-to medical answer.
Your foot itches? It's a maggot. You have a cough? A maggot. That's not a sunburn, it's a maggot.

A couple weeks ago I was in the dining room having just finished my last shift of work when I saw Matt sitting in a chair. He was twisting around trying to look at the side of his foot; when I walked up to him he immediately said, "I've got something stuck under my skin in my foot." He lifted it to show me a little black spot and said, "It's either a rock or a maggot." I wasn't very interested in looking too closely at it.
Luckily, Rhoda, who is a nurse, came by and helped him extract the object (which did turn out to be a rock). I was both disappointed and relieved that it wasn't really a maggot. I seem to be lucky in the fact that the Mango flies aren't as attracted to me as bees are.

I still have 27 days left and every day that goes by brings another chance of  Mango flies getting me or someone I know, so we'll see what happens!