The following slideshow will take you through my experiences here on Mercy Ships. I hope you can get a picture of what I’ve done, and am doing! I will try to keep it updated! These are pictures taken by Mercy Ships photography!
Update 4
Where to start, I really don’t know…
I’m kind of getting into a routine, work, off, work, off. I’ve worked this past weekend, and yesterday and today are off. Yesterday I went to a water park with 3 others, was fun, some “scary” slides, as some people would call it…. but I didn’t find them scary, they were rather “awesome!” … it was beautiful weather, bright blue sky, nice and warm, and it all led to a slight sunburn, which is turning into a tan now!
As for friends, and people I’m meeting, since we are 2 weeks from sailing to Guinea, people are just “flooding” on board. Everyday there is a new face, and I’m really glad I came several weeks ago in the “not so busy time” because now I get to be the one who knows it all, and not feel awkward, or get lost, or whatever else can happen on a ship with 8 decks! I do pretty much everything with “Manon” .. she is also from Holland and she is staying till February … We work on the same team, have the same ideas about the food, and are trying to make some changes. Its very unorganized the kitchen, however, “Chef Ken”, left for vacation for 2 weeks now, so all of a sudden, the food has no “cream, mayonnaise, butter” in it anymore, its all healthy, and so many compliments are given by the people, its rather crazy! Its good to hear compliments… we are starting to work better and better as a team, although we have an “inexperienced” team leader now. He is from South Africa (not black) … 19 -Benjamin Goble, been working in the kitchen on our team the longest now, hence the leader, and well, all he does now is come up to me and asks me “what would you do…” “can I have your advice” “what do you want to make” .. .so really, as a team we all work together! The other day was lots of fun, from our team, we have 9 people (numbers always change) and after dinner at night, we still have to do the dishes, and clean up the rest of the kitchen such as the floor and stuff like that. But we split it into 2 teams, so the one team does dishes the one night, and the other team the next night of work. So on my team we have about 4 and its an American guy, 19 – Dill, and he is very immature.. he has “ADHD” (or something like that) .. full of energy and always has to do something different, he is actually fun to work with, lightens up the environment. Then we have Manon and I .. and another new person that came in! So to be honest, we do make a crazy bunch! Having said that, the other day, I made cream puffs with Manon, and we were going to serve them after church, (Sunday night) so having made them, we found out that there was still no church on Sundays (because we are in dry dock, so we can actually just go into Tenerife and go to church here… I haven’t had church ever since I was here on Sunday, because of dry dock, but they do, do “church” on Thursday nights yet, so its all different! By Thursday night church I mean, start with worship, people up front have drums, guitars, and piano, and we all sing gospel songs.. then announcements are made, and then there is a “Sermon” for 45 minutes or so -the whole service is about 2 hours, and then ice cream is served afterwards J ) Having said all that… finding out there was still no church Sunday night (people were saying there was, because we are back in Tenerife -Santa Cruz) ..we asked ourselves, what are we going to do with all these cream puffs? So we put them on a tray, walked around the ship, into the dining room (always people there) and into the cafe and so on, and they were gone within ½ an hour… it was pretty crazy actually, and we got so many compliments, so I know what I’m doing in a short time.. making more cream puffs!
But from the cream puffs, we had left over “cream” (that goes inside) .. and I was just doing dishes, in my own world with the other guy “Sam -from Switzerland” and all of a sudden I get a hand in my face with all cream… and that was the start of the food fight (having not much food left, because we were at the end of the day, I grabbed Manon’s hand, and with my other hand I wiped it all off my face and I threw it all back at her, so we were pretty much covered with cream .. and then of course you have Dill yelling in the back, he had a hose in his hand, because he was cleaning the floor and said in his Texan voice “Hey y’all – Girl fight… NO WAIT.. FOOD FIGHT…awesome!!” …. so he makes a suggestion and says, I can clean you off, so before I knew it , water was coming our way, so I ran back in the dish room, and Dill (not such a genius) comes 5 minutes later, and he is like “that was fun” and I kind of turned around and threw a bucket of water on him, and got him soaking wet, and there started are water fight… It probably is more fun if you all would of been there to watch it, rather then read about it… But its what makes work fun, pull stuff off (which I’m kind of getting known for…) The dutch people are definitely a group that lighten up the ship, and no negativity towards the Canadians, but on the ship, you always see the dutchies laughing or pulling something off, while the Americans humour is just totally different(I have nothing against it – don’t worry! cultures vary just so much!) , so when we are together they kind of just say “Thats dutch sarcasm” .. and they don’t laugh, but when the Americans tell a joke the dutch people are like what… and of course me, the “Canadian dutch” .. has to translate it.. I’m so going to start charging for it! Although much of my days are spent talking dutch, so I’m definitely not loosing it, and they help me with words that I really don’t know anymore..! All in all, my dutch is improving and there English is improving… although, I’m realizing I should of paid better attention in English class because all they ask is well when can you use the “can’t …” or when can you use the “didn’t ” .. or what “there, their …” and they need to ask those questions to understand it better, but truth be told, I still have a hard time with all those little things, so to explain it to them .. hmmm! (I should of listened better to Jenn when I was in her class! She warned me… J )
Having said all that, today I slept in till about 11:30. ..everyday I’m off (if there is nothing to do) I sleep in till that time, just because work or not, I always go to bed around 1… last night I played ping pong with some people upstairs yet, (for the first time in a while) I came home from the water park, and kind of got ready for bed, and I always take a walk before I go to bed or work out (else I will be 2x the size when I get back) and I headed upstairs to the dining room and seen them playing, so I joined in..because someone wanted to stop, and I warned them I wasn’t good, but I ended up almost beating the Africans, and all I kept hearing them say was “wow, she is good” .. (there are lots of people watching especially Africans, because they are night hawks) so it was a lot of fun… I thought they were being sarcastic with “wow, she is good..” because they play every night, but apparently he was really trying and he beat me 21-18 … I think I’m going to do that every night.
With all that being said, and you all reading me playing with the Africans, and “oh no..she is going to come home with one” .. Don’t worry, it won’t happen. I will be honest with you, a lot of Africans want a relationship, they are all very open, and look for that, because they would love to come into “my” country… all of them are sponsored by someone around the world to be on the ship, because they have no money… thats why, for example, if I got married to one of them, he would want to come back with me. So yes, I do have to be very careful… but you just got to be straight up with them. I mean, I’ve had several (being generous) guys “interested” in me, but at a point, you just start to ignore them, and they realize it soon enough… They come up to you and wrap there arms around your shoulder (yes, its very much there culture… and to be honest, there culture is very neat to see, and experience) But you got to be honest with them and say “just friends, I don’t want anything” and then they accept it. Reason # 1 .. I don’t want a relationship with a guy from here, I would rather find one in Canada, close to home(maybe even dutch to please my parents! Reason # 2. I’m just not interested in a relationship yet, I’m 18, and this whole, being away from home and experiencing things, I’m really loving it. Reason # 3. Most of the guys on this ship, however young they might look, if you see them on my facebook the pictures, they are around 40. They look very young, but are older then you think (although they do not mind the age difference, I definitely do) I hope thise gives some relief for my parents!! I can give you an example. A few weeks ago, an African has asked me to go out for a drink with him, and I said no many times, so for once I said ya, and we just walked, talked about our cultures, and got a drink and went back (nothing happened!!) but .. he was saying that he was 36 and about relationships etc. And he definitely hinted at something with me, but I said “look, you are way too old for me” (I know, I’m starting to become straight up, makes life easier).. he didn’t think so… but you just got to be straight up. I mean, they can’t do anything because of all the security, guys are not allowed in girls rooms, if you go out and say you are going for a walk, you better be back in a short period of time, else they come look for you … so it keeps me at comfort, and they know, if they do anything, they will be kicked off the ship, which they definitely can’t afford. I don’t mean to be blunt – but really its true. Having said all of that. I’m not interested in any one here! So you can all relax… especially my family! J
You can probably all tell, that I’m really enjoying being on this ship, its an experience of a lifetime…. Its true, I love it, I love the people, I love just waking up, going for breakfast and there are 50 different people there and they are all open and saying goodmorning (except for me, because I’m not a morning person ..! Just kidding) …. but its just a great community to be apart of .. and the things you learn, see and especially experience are significant moments in my life…
Update # 3
How are things going back at home? Did it rain yet?
I haven’t seen rain for 3 weeks, late yesterday afternoon we arrived back here, in Tenerife… and as soon as the “gangway” was out .. we headed into town and found a nice place to sit, relax and eat (I ate a dessert, and it was delicious – chocolate mousse) – its all very cheap here. I have the weekend off, so I will be a tourist over here (its just like vacation really) .. but this week has gone so fast, next week will be a busy week with work again..! All the families came back on the ship yesterday, (they were off because of dry dock) .. so now there is lots of people again, lots of children so its all really gezellig! There are about 240 people on now, and more to come in the following weeks because we are preparing for field service in Guinea! Which we will most likely sail to half way through August, and it will be a 5 day sail, and then it will take a week to set everything up and then screening will take place, projects will take place, and it will all be very busy here!
As for me and my work, its going well … besides the fact that I burnt my arm quite bad the other day in the kitchen! A big part of it now is blue and red, and blistering. I was taking chicken out of the oven, and we put tin foil on it, so I was taking it off, and checking if it was ready with chef, and there were a couple there, but they were not ready yet, so we had to put them back in the oven, so whether chef, or myself .. either one did not put the tin foil back on right we don’t know (and it doesn’t really matter… ) But I was carrying the chicken back, and all the juices came pouring out over the top and onto my arm, and ya, it burned a little! It was not extreme pain, I just kept working and after a while it started to get really red, so I thought to myself “hmm.. maybe I should run my arm under some cold water” And ya, I did just that, and then my “Dutch friend” – Manon .. .she seen it and that was the end of my “keep working” – she told chef, and I had to go see the nurse … They say I’m stubborn… 🙂 Now, its just turning different colors, and it looks rather .. nice! It doesn’t really hurt .. so no worries! I’m fine!! Its quite visible, and its too hot to wear long sleeves, so I’ve got about a 100 remarks “WOW! Did you burn yourself?” .. and I like to be annoying and say “what, where?” .. and ya, I don’t need other people feeling sorry for me… I guess its a common tradition around here to say “I’m sorry that happened to you..” Especially the Africans, they all reply like that, and I just smile! It was rather funny, because I was pretty much dragged to reception where they would call the “duty nurse” .. ( I literally was dragged to it, because I thought it was nonsense) .. and we walked up to reception and the guy was like “what do you need?” and Manon replied: “Can you page the duty nurse for us?” – and he was like why? Whats the matter? – he couldn’t see anything because I was just being myself, and ya… so Manon was like “She burnt herself .. and she pulled up arm up over the counter .. and his face just changed right away and he picked up the phone and was like “we’ve got a big emergency up here … ” – and I had to laugh and I was like “Its not big, its tiny” and ya.. thats how the afternoon went! I don’t think its too bad!
Having said all that, I just thought to give you all an update! Its going really well, I’m enjoying my time, of course I would like to be back and say hi to everyone and ya, be home! But I’m keeping busy here, the days go by fast, the friendships I’m building is incredible, the stories, the different cultures, the ship itself, its such a big place of sharing your life story, sharing what you belief, struggle with … religion is not forced, but people are open about it, and if you don’t believe, you are just as welcome .. . my friend Manon, she does not believe, but she is not looked down on, its just another human being! The way things are run here, is just – amazing.
Yes, there is some difficulty for me, especially when it comes to the kitchen, but the rest, I don’t have a word against it!
When it comes to the kitchen, I disagree with how the food is made, whats being thrown in, and how we clean stuff… Its not sanitary whatsoever, and it goes against every rule I have ever learned at school. Now I don’t want to nag at it… but it needs to change, I feel like I have to do something about it. I have 2 other dutch people on my team, and we are on the same page, and we are going to do something about it, such as report whats going on, and try to change things. I mean to give you an example, the other team throws in approximately 250 litres of cream in the food each WEEK … now, that is very unhealthy, and people ask themselves? Why am I gaining weight on this ship? Its because of all the “garbage” that is thrown in … another thing that pulls at my heart, we are a mission ship, we help the poor, and there is so much leftovers in the fridge, and after a week its all thrown out! Chef always just cooks way to much, and its a waste, because adding all that food up .. its crazy how much is thrown out, and people are supporting us for what? Throwing food away?
The kitchen is always an area that people dont think of.. .For example, if you go to a restaurant and the food is not good? Who do you complain to.. the chef? No .. the chef is never seen, talked to, acknowledged. Its always the waiter that gets the compliments, the tips .. or the criticism, and then it goes on to the manager… but never does the chef hear from the people….
Having said that, the people eat, the ship runs, but never is the kitchen looked at, how they operate or what they do… because its just apart of it “its normal” .. so noone really has an idea of what is put in there food, yes, it might taste good, but .. just don’t ask whats all in it! What I’m trying to say, is that if noone ever brings up the problems of the kitchen to anyone, nothing is going to get fixed, and people are going to be eating unhealthy food!
I have many examples to place down, but I don’t want to make it sound all negative! I love what I do, I love working in the kitchen, but some things just have to change! And it is a good challenge for me …
Anyways, my friend is pulling my arm (the one thats not burnt!! 🙂 ) and we are going to the beach!
I hope to hear from you all ..soon!
Have a fantastic day and a blessed Sabbath day.
Martine
P.S. – I didn’t get sea sick this time, I had to work when we were sailing – and that is another whole challenge – so much fun (at least, I thought so, some others would disagree!)
Update # 2
How are you doing? How is life back in Canada? Still warm/hot?
Its not much different here, outside its not, definitely not humid, but inside this ship! Its a different story, mainly because the A/C doesn’t work! So without that, you can just imagine, the other day it was 32! But some people have managed to get a “fan” to blow air around in the room, and we have that, but being in a 10 people berth! Its little help…! So Friday night, I came up with a brilliant idea! All the walls are magnetic on the ship, so if you have a magnet, you can hang anything up (just has to be strong enough magnet!) So on Thursday.. we had a community meeting (more or less church) So we started with worship songs, then “sermon”, and announcements! Since we are on dry dock, and not so many people on the ship, there are no Sunday meetings.. and every church here is Spanish so .. .difficult to follow along! However, what I wanted to say is that, sitting in the “International lounge” (where it was held) … I seen several fans blowing, and I didn’t really think about it… But Friday it was so warm in our room, and I was about to go to bed around 12, and I said to my bunkmate… “You know those vans upstairs lets take one” .. so we had to laugh and we ran up 2 decks and grabbed a fan, and it was magnetic, so we pulled it off, nicely hung it up in our room, and now… Its so nice! Everyone is just sweating away, and we’ve got one right by our bunk bed! Little selfish? No…! Just a brilliant idea J
Anyways, I’ve been working the whole week, and didn’t go out much when I worked, just hang around the ship, try to play some games, read… TALK!! … always people around .. and time goes really fast… After work you are tired, and its very American style foods around here so more or less just salads .. and pasta and rice.. .and there is so much “junk” in it.. I help cook with them, so I can see whats going in … and well “3 pots of mayonnaise, a couple litres of cream ..etc” The one team (which works the other days as us) uses 180 litres of cream/week! Crazy hey! Our team, well we try keep it more healthy(because we only have 5 people on the team, and 3 of us are dutch, so…you can make conclusions yourself!) chef is very much like the above since he is American, but we just keep it healthy, and then when he walks in to test before lunch/dinner… he might say its “good” or it needs, more.. and ya..! Its quite gross at times what you see go in, so its good to be in the kitchen, so when it comes time to eat, you can actually skip some food! Because otherwise I would come back 100 lbs more fat! Its a good thing that town is so far, because I can walk it all off… its about 4 km there! (and the worst part is coming back!)
Yesterday was my first day off(besides Friday, but I forget what I did that day, probably walk to town/beach) .. So I went with a guy from Switzerland, and an African guy to the mountains, and well… we left at 8:30 in the morning, packed lunch and we were walking there (it wasn’t supposed to be far) … so ya, as we were getting closer, there was a huge wall all around it.. so we decided to turn right, and keep walking until the wall ends… only problem, the wall never ended! We were at the end, and we finally asked.. why can’t we get to the mountain? And they replied “Its a military base!” – well great! So we walked all the way back, and walked all the way into the city, and asked around .. and found out it was all the way military base, but they said behind it was a mountain we could climb, so we walked there, and the whole way we were saying “We are not giving up, because we don’t want to go back to the ship and say we didn’t climb it” .. so standing on the bottom of the mountain, having walked for over 3 hours just to get there we were like “we can say we touched it!” .. we were quite exhausted, but no.. we had to go to the top, so its exactly what we did! Good thing we did to, because from there you could see the entire downtown city, the sea..! I will post pictures on facebook (just because through email it takes longer to upload for some reason!) So yes, I went mountain climbing yesterday!
Getting back home, I was talking to a room mate, and it was Saturday night, and we are both dutch, so I was like “We doing anything tonight” .. and she was like.. we kind of have to hey! Its weekend.. So we decided to go back to town, walk to the beach, buy a drink, and we did just that! So at about 10 I thought I wasn’t tired… so I read a book in my bed.. but before I knew it I was knocked out and just woke up at 8:30 … it was a long but good day!
I guess this was an update for you all (as the Americans would say it “y’all”) – so many accents here, its funny, and I keep saying I don’t have one (of course I do) .. but yeah, I’m stubborn, and they all try to argue me, its kind of pointless, but fun! !, but if you think this update wasn’t that interesting.. wait until you read this!
So … if you have any idea how a “normal kitchen” runs.. Its the following(in simple): Executive chef – top, Sous chef , lines man, dishwasher person! Usually you do start at the bottom, and thats do dishes and the small stuff around the kitchen .. and that was my first day of work, the next day, I was as a “lines man” … then they put me on the other team (hence the 4 days of work this week) and the “sous chef” is leaving for vacation.. and Chef comes up to me and says “I have been taking it easy on you this week hey, I know the kind of education you had, so expect to get pushed next week” I was like? What.. I’m just starting, getting used to things around here… he is like “Ya, I know… but you can do more” .. he is like “you are going to be running the kitchen next week… think you can handle that” … I just said .. “I hope so” .. and he had to go… but it means more work, getting up a bit earlier, shorter breaks, organizing everyone and jobs… but also it means, try make the food more healthy, put in my education and use my talents/abilities more! I’m a little nervous, because for some people I’m 20 years younger (maybe even more) but … on the other hand I’m excited.. I mean, I’ve been working for a week and that gets thrown at me… it feels good!
Anyways, thats about all of the news for now! I was asked to go fishing today on a boat in(on) the ocean. . and at first I did say “yes” .. but I slept on it for a night, and something for on Sunday, just did not feel comfortable, so I declined the next day, and now today is just a relaxing day! As you can see… update some pictures, read.. and just take it easy! Feels good, because tomorrow I’m back to work!
Being here in the Canary Islands, its great.. When I get back I can say I’ve been to 4 different countries in 3 months… but now it feels more like vacation yet, I don’t know, mixed feelings I guess! Just because there is nothing to do (work wise) on days off.. so town is the place, to go.. when we sail from here, we go back to Tenerife for a few weeks! And by the end of August we will for sure be in Guinea, and thats when it all really starts… It is however good to have started like this, because it is not as busy, I can get used to my surroundings in a “relaxed” setting .. .Because coming to Guinea, its really going to be crazy, on my days off, I will have to go out and help with screening all the people, and those people stand in line for days upon days, just because they know mercy ships is coming, they are all sick, and they all want help! So much security is there .. and yeah! I will see what happens then.. but I’m really looking forward to it!
Also, there will be projects on land, which I can be apart of it all!
Email Update # 1
July 12, 2012
The first few days have been crazy, not crazy busy, but just the adjustments ,sleeping with 6 other people… figuring the ship out, getting sea sick, getting lost in the ship, visiting the Island… meeting people… its fun, but still a lot to remember, do .. get used to!
The nights are late, and the mornings are early… but I’m a night person, so to fall asleep is hard especially considering the circumstances, however… once I’m sleeping, I’m knocked out! It does get tiring to do work… I’m on for 2 days, off for 2 days, and every other weekend its work for me! So having said that.. .I need to be at a certain area at 8 where we start off with devotions, and then head to the kitchen, get informed by chef whats going on, what we need to do. .and we work till 8 at night.. with about 3 breaks – which include lunch and dinner! Having said that, I’m on tomorrow and the next day – and its 11:30 here!
Today we went out to visit the island again.. Its a 30 minute walk to the bus station and then 20 minutes with bus to really get downtown. It was so much fun! Two Africans, someone from Switzerland, and a girl from U.S.A. – the Africans really have a good sense of humour!
I’m kind of running out of things to say… Its just… there is much on my mind, but to type it all up, its nearly impossible? I hope when I get back that the pictures will explain it better! not to many have been taken, but once I get to Guinea things will really get hectic around here, and it will get more interesting…
Africa Mercy 