Cultural Differences, Good Byes, and a Snap Shots of the Week

It's a Cultural Thing:

On the Africa Mercy, 30 plus nationalities come together. Coming with there own points of view and ideas. As you get to know people the cultural differences become apparent. For instance physical contact. some of my friends give me a hug every time they see me even if it was just an hour ago, and there is others who shy away from hugs.

After Christmas Willeke, was feeling like she had eaten way to much, she was debating if she should go on a diet. Then a couple days later one of the Malagasy day crew came up to her and said you look fat. Willeke decided yes she needed to go on this diet. So a few weeks into this diet, yet again one of the day crew told her she looks fat yet again, and here she had been eating salads, and passing up on pasta and sweets. Later on, what we learned was that telling someone that they are fat is a compliment. We chatted with some other ladies on the ship they had also heard this comment and were also asked how they were becoming fat. This idea is just crazy for us from the western world as we try to stay in shape, slim down and not gain extra weight.


Veloma - Good Bye

In less than 3 weeks I will have said hugged, cried, waved goodbye, drove 8 hours, spent the night in Tana, boarded multiple flights, arrived in frigid Vancouver, hugged my family, and slept in my own bed for the first time in months. My time in Madagascar is quickly coming to an end the past 3 months have flown by and the next 2.5 weeks are going to pass in a flash. With so little time left I feel like I am already starting to say goodbye as I know that somethings I am doing will be for the last time.

Am I sad to leave? Hmm...a couple weeks ago I was honestly considering staying longer as  I was not ready to say good bye. Whether I leave at my original departure date or extend 2 months either way I have to say good bye. Sunday evening, I FaceTimed my family and realized it is time for me to come home. Being on this ship tucked away off the coast of Madagascar you are totally separated from the rest of the world, so when I chatted with my family I realized time for me to come home and connect with my family and the rest of the world. Now I am not focusing on saying goodbye to my Mercy Ship Family, but seeing my family's faces in the airpot.

I am at peace about leaving as my adventure here is ending, and for a new one will start back home.


The Past Week

Typically I have been posting about twice a week, but I realize that it has been more than a week since wrote about visiting the Hope Centre. Since I have been lacking I will give you a recap of my last week, mostly in picture form.

Last week Wednesday, I had a bad day so I got two of my roommates to join me while I made cookies, it was a great way to end a bad day. It was nice to have there company we made these white chocolate chip cookies, and then passed them out to our roommates and people we just met in the hallway. People love fresh cookies, you can buy cookies in the Ship Shop but they have been sitting in a container for far to long and are a tad stale! 

Shanna proving she is Canadian strong!

I just happened to run into Pedro as he was on duty for the evening, he gave me his hard hat and pager. I have now switched departments to deck, well just for 20 minutes. :) I was surprised how quickly he handed over his pager and hard hat, I guess being on duty for the night you are more than happy to pass the pager to someone else.

These are all my roommates! Yes, there is 10 of us! Katrin, on the bottom left left on Saturday so that was another sad goodbye. People come and go here so quickly but the goodbyes don't get any easier.

I spent Saturday at Ocean 501 with 3 of my friends. I however didn't go swimming as my past beach adventures have ended up with terrible sunburns. Instead I slathered myself in sunscreen and sat in the sand with my book. It was great to get off the ship for the day grab some pizza at a local restaurant, relax on the beach with a book, and visit the local markets. 

Sunday, I worked for Willeke it was one of the best days of work I have had here. Fredric made a cloth into a smiling face, he refused to be in the picture. 

In the picture above, I am a "prisoner". Gino locked me in the dish pit he made a wall with jugs of soap and trolley, he told me I was not allowed to leave until all the dishes in the galley had been cleaned. If I finished washing all the dishes before he was back from the market I could start scrubbing the floor with a tooth brush. Moments like these are what break up the day, and the day crew are just a joy to work with, and help the time to pass quickly!

Eunice (left) and Shanna (right) where going on a biking adventure in the downpour last night. Shanna happens to be from Chilliwack and lives just 10 mins away from me. What are the chances that we would meet in Africa and not only that be end up in the same room as bunk mates! 

Just a glimpse of my life the past few days! Life on the ship is never dull, and there is always people milling around inviting you to join in on there fun. I am sorry if you find this post a little to all over the map, but I thought I would give you an update on what my life has been like the past week.