Oh the joys...

...of community living.

I have often sat and wondered where all my time went. And, last night, it became clear to me...and in a way that I can actually explain in a blog!

One of the joys of community living (and some times, a frustration) is that there are always people around. I have a feeling that when I return to Calgary, I could be very lonely for awhile, as I will not be surrounded by so many people from so many different walks of life.

So, yesterday...started off like any other Tuesday...alarm goes off at 7:10 am, breakfast, followed by community meeting at 7:45 am. My work day began as usual at 8:30, with no real plans beyond work for the day, aside from maybe some time sitting in front of my computer...and possibly doing at least 20 minutes of exercise with Hannah.

However, by the end of my work day, I was signed up to go out for dinner with a group of people and had committed myself to helping Linda decorate the lab and cabin door in lieu of Naomi's birthday on Wednesday. We were set to meet at 9 pm in my cabin.

We left for dinner at 5:30 pm, and checked out a highly recommended burger joint, followed by ice cream. We got back to the ship just shy of 8 pm..."perfect", I thought. Just in time to maybe play on the internet, and sign up for a washer unit, so that I could have some clothes to pack to take to Ghana this weekend. Should be easy enough, I thought. A quick 5 minute stroll up to Deck 6 from Deck 3, and I could be back in my cabin, either reading my book or reading blogs on the internet, and I'd be there, ready and waiting for Linda in my cabin.

Not exactly how it played out. On my way up to the laundry room, I ran into a friend. He hailed me over, so I plopped down in the seat next to him, just intending to do some idle chat, and head right back on my mission. Fifty five minutes later, it is 8:55 pm, and I realize that I have to wrap up our conversation, sign up for that laundry unit like I originally intended to do, race down 3 flights of stairs, and be back in my cabin by 9 pm.

"Not a problem!", I thought...only to be proven wrong yet again. I did successfully sign up for my laundry spot for the next night. But, on my way to my cabin, I went through the dining room...only to encounter another friend...a friend that I remembered I wanted to bug about something. After my joshing ended, he and I chatted for a bit...until I looked up at the clock, and realized that it was 9:05 pm...and I was late to meet with Linda in my cabin!

I quickly excused myself and raced down the stairs and burst into my cabin...only to find out from one of my roommates that someone had come looking for me while she was in the shower. Bummer! I missed Linda! And, now it was my turn to seek her out.

Up and down the stairs I went, to midships through the hospital...I checked out the lab, the dining hall, her cabin, my cabin...and proceeded to do the loop again. On my second go around, I ran into another friend at the top of the stairs in midships. He asked what I was doing...I told him what had happened, talking at 150 miles per hour, none-the-less, and convinced him to walk and talk with me while I continued my search for Linda.

9:45 pm rolls around...and I have all but given up looking for Linda. However, the conversation I had with my friend while walking around turned a bit serious. But, it's really hard to find privacy on the ship to sit and chat. So, giving up on looking for Linda, my friend and I hunted for a quiet place to chat, where hopefully not too many people could eavesdrop on our conversation.

I knew of a few places that are typically quiet and people free. The first place was previously quiet, but by then, there were other people who knew it was a great place to chat...so we went to the next spot. And lo and behold...there was Linda!

We ended up helping Linda with the birthday decorations (she admitted that she was direly in need of it). Half way through it, my friend decided to leave and head to bed. Linda and I headed to the lab and started decorating...only to be interrupted by Ben, another lab technician (Did I mention that Linda is a lab tech, and so is Naomi? We are all a part of the hospital auxiliary team.). Apparently, Ben had been paged, as he was on-call, to find a B + blood donor for a patient that needed a unit of blood before his surgery the next day. Since Ben is fairly new to the ship, Linda started to help him out...only to discover that Ben himself will have to be the blood donor.

So, Linda and I put aside our decorating schemes to help collect the unit of blood. Well...let's be honest, Linda helped to collect the unit of blood, I just took pictures for Ben and provided some moral support. When the unit of Ben's blood was collected and delivered to the ward, Linda and I continued with our decorating schemes.

When all was said and done, it was past midnight by the time I finished all my tasks for a day that started off task-free. And, what should've taken maybe an hour to an hour and a half at most, somehow got drawn out to 4 hours!

I understand how this can be entirely frustrating. Something that shouldn't take so long, magically morphs into a never-ending task here on the ship. But, at the same time...how else would I have found out about someone's story in joining Mercy Ships? How else would I have learned that a friend who came here unsure of what he believed in, accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior over the weekend? Only in community living. And, only in being willing to participate and be a part of that community does it happen.

So...that's where all my time goes it seems. When I'm not being anti-social or overly task oriented...my time goes to into building and living in community. And, I'm perfectly okay with that. :-)

Wee Word Wednesday - Maison Bethel

Welcome to Maison Bethel, the orphanage that I got to every other Saturday with other Mercy Shippers involved in Mercy Ministries...

There are about 35 kids there, most within the age range of 3-8 years, although there are a few who are younger and a few who are older.

This is the big room, where we usually have story time, share a bible story or a bible verse and do activities...

This is what the inside of one of the rooms the kids live in look like.

After our indoor activities, we usually head outside for free play.

Jenga and Memory are popular games to play.

Playing with bubbles seems to be an endless favorite...

Here's a few of the kids with the bears that we gave out to them last Saturday.

The group of Mercy Shippers and the kids at Maison Bethel from two Saturdays ago.

Bonus pic...

I know that it is Thursday, and I usually post picture(s) on Wednesday.

This picture was going to be my Wee Word Wednesday for this week...

until Micah had his noodle idea.

And, since I am very thankful for what I received, I thought that I would share anyways.

This little guy come to me all the way from Calgary, Alberta.

The kitty is still nameless...and ideas?

Wee Word Wednesday - Noodle Fun?

This week's photos aren't really for those who have great gag reflexes...

Going in one way...

The interim...

And coming out...

Micah tried to get others to do it too...but they weren't successful.

We chalked it up to the ramen noodles being too soft...

Maybe next week...spaghetti noodles!

It's all downhill from here...

As it has been pointed out more than a few times to me...I have reached the half-way mark of my time here with Mercy Ships. Pretty crazy to think about how the time has gone. Most times, I still don't know where it went. Yet, looking back, time seems to be doing this impossible thing in my head, where it feels like the days are passing by fast, yet I also feel like I've been at this for a lot longer than it has been...all at once. I realize that the hospital has been open for less than 2 months. But some days, it doesn't seem that way.

Thankfully, a schedule of sorts had been hammered out for me in the last few months (those of you who know me, know that I like structure.). Work is from 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Hospital devotions at 7:30 am on Monday mornings, Community devotions at 7:45 on Tuesday mornings, and Auxiliary team devotions at 8 am on Wednesday mornings. We have Community meetings every Thursday night at 7:30 pm, followed by ice cream and fellowship. Monday and Wednesday nights at 5:15 pm, there is soccer (or fútbol), which I normally play. Not to mention ultimate frisbee on Friday nights, also at 5:15 pm. Breakfast ends at 7:30 am (please note that I don't know when it starts.), lunch is from 12 pm to 1 pm, and dinner is served between the hours of 5 pm and 6:30 pm.

Weekends, I am usually left to my own devices...but, since I'm on call every other weekend, what I do varies. I usually try to get off the ship just for a change of scenery, even if it's just to the Seamen's Mission (When on call, I can leave the ship, as long as I can get back there within 30 minutes if needed. I just have to carry a cell phone with me.).

People still ask me and want to know what it's like living here on the Africa Mercy. And, still after all this time, words fail me. I feel like I cannot adequately portray this life for you...it's something that you need to experience. Yet, I recognize that for the most part, people are trying to live this experience through me. So - what can I say for it? I usually say, "It's a weird life, this ship life.", and most of my friends here agree.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that it's bad...but for the most part, it's not the way we would normally live in North America. We are a living, breathing community...with members from 40+ different countries. In essence, I feel like we are a village in a metal box. We are like any other community you may think of, be it your church community, your network of friends, your co-workers...here on the Africa Mercy, we are all that in one.

Where else would I willingly choose to share a bedroom with 3 strangers? Please note, that I don't willingly share a bedroom with my little sister, Neysa. Where else is your work place less than a minute walk away...at any time...from either where you lay your head, eat your meals, or take your leisure time? Where else would you learn so much about other cultures...and realize the culture that has been engraved in you without you really noticing it?

There have been lots of things that I have learned. I have found that often times, I can be really quiet (contrary to my stepdad's nickname for me, "Crash, Boom, Bang".) in efforts to be considerate of my roommates. I have also learnt, that it's usually when you are making the effort to be quiet, that gravity takes hold and noise is unavoidable. I have also learnt how to sleep with ear plugs (which is great, because I am a light sleeper)...although, most mornings I find that I somehow managed to take them out in the middle of the night. Sometimes, my bunkmate, Bernice, is picking my earplugs up off the floor for me (usually when I can't find them in my bed sheets). Other mornings, I remember how I took them out, thinking in my sleep fog that holding them in my hand is the best way to prevent Bernice from having to pick them up off the floor (which, is not always true...and also better than waking up from dreaming that they are croissants, as Hannah has once pointed out to me).

I know that a few of my friends were concerned about me coming here...and for 6 months. Which, at one time seemed like a long time. Now, it seems like just a small snippet of my life. Some voiced selfish concerns...about them not wanting me to be so far away from them or so far away for so long. And, others were concerned that I wouldn't make friends so readily...and some were concerned that since I am so community/relationship oriented (in their minds)...that being away from the community that I had set up in Canada wouldn't suit me. However, being here...it's just a matter of finding a space for yourself in this ever changing community, and making friends isn't as hard as it once seemed.

Everyday, it seems there is something new to learn about living in community. There are pros and cons, but for the most part - it's been thoroughly enjoyable, and I think that I am learning fast... ;-)

Wee Word Wednesday - Parcels

Last week, I received two parcels!!!
One from my grandparents back in Hawai'i,
and another from a dear friend in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
I got lots of goodies and a homemade video, too!
Pretty sure I was grinning from ear-to-ear all day.
:-)

P.S. My friend, Hannah, does a Wordless Wednesday...

This week, Miriam and I were featured...hard at work, of course!

This blog sucks, and I know it...

I must admit that I am in one of these moods again. Where I don't really want to bother with technical communication. I don't really want to respond to e-mails...and I know that I should blog, seeing as how my last two blogs were Wee Word Wednesdays...but, I also don't know what to blog about. As I type out this little diddy, I know that I have two blog drafts left unfinished. The words that once were coming to me to complete them I feel aren't there, or only make the blog sound hollow and empty, so uncompleted they remain.

I could tell you that the founder and president of Mercy Ships, Don Stephens, was just here. And in perfect time to meet the president of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, as he came on board to see the hospital and get a first hand experience of what we do here on the ship.

I could tell you about the trip that I took to the northern most part of Benin (the country just to the east of Togo) over the Easter weekend. I could talk about the craziness of traveling in Africa on a whim, the complications of communicating (not only with others who don't speak the same language as you, but also those within the group), or the animals that we saw while on safari in Pendjari National Park.

Somehow, none of these are stories that I find interesting and in part, don't really want to spend an entire blog on. I mean, if I don't want to blog about it, why would you want to read it?

I am finding...that even while here...there is still the desire for something...more.

Perhaps it's because I haven't been using my time here in a way that is going to be fulfilling in the long run. For myself...or for the people that I hoped to help beyond a medical standpoint.

While I was away for Easter weekend, on the safari, sitting in the 4x4, watching the animals run around in the wild...I couldn't help but sit there, and feel like I wanted more to my Mercy Ships experience than this...than what I was doing right there in that moment.

I had taken the introduction course to get involved with patients here on the ward outside of work. I took the first step, and then kind of just dropped the ball...since I hadn't taken any of the opportunities to get involved. And, as I sat there...I decided that if I wanted more, than I needed to do more. This experience is only going to be what I make the effort for it to be. And, so it has begun.

This weekend, I spent my Saturday morning at an orphanage, Maison Bethel, here in Lomé. The house itself was beautiful, clean and cool. And the enclosed property was awesome, with gardens and places for the kids to run and play. The children there were all very cute...and very shy to start. One of the other Mercy Shippers pointed out that the kids here aren't all over you once you walk through the doors, like they can be at other places. And, it's a reflection of how they are treated in the orphanage. Since they aren't all over you asking and begging for attention and touch...it means that they are getting enough of that as it is without us giving extra love to them. That made my heart happy instead of heavy. It means that when the ship leaves and takes the Yovos away with it...those kids are still going to be loved on.

We spent some time going over a bible story with them (with the help of a translator, a lawyer who spends his weekends helping out at the orphanage), then doing some activities inside the house and then free play outside of the house. Most of the children there are about 3-8 years old, a few of them are older (in their teens). I've discovered that bubbles are a great way to interact and engage these little ones, as well as jump rope and soccer. I'm looking forward to having them warm up even more to me as the weeks go on and I continue to go.

I also went to ward church again this morning. It's awesome. I know that I've said that before. But, it warms my heart to see our nurses on shift, other Mercy Shippers, patients, caregivers, translators and day workers all get together with a single goal in mind. To worship God. For all He is, for all that He has done, and for all that He has yet to do. It's inspiring to see the patients singing their hearts out, clapping and dancing. African worship is so alive. To me, they seem like David, unashamed to dance and sing for their King. Perhaps, I have more to learn from them, than they from me...

Wee Word Wednesday - Easter Card

front...

inside...

and back...

Josh told me that it says,
"To Tatiana. From Josh."
What a cutie.
:-)

I was told that he was insistent on making a card for me, even though his brother could do four cards in the time that it took him to do one.
His insistence has made me feel very special indeed.
Thanks, Josh!