fabric market

I am now almost 10 days into my 7 month trip and still never cease to be amazed that I am actually here. I have been working a lot so it has been very tiring. Still, there is so much to do in my free time. This afternoon I visited the fabric market in order to pick out fabric to have a skirt made. The market is just one street of vendor after vendor selling tons of fabrics. I found the one I wanted and was told it would be 5,000 CFAs for 6 yards, equal to $10. I was so overwhelmed by all the fabrics and all of the people and so stressed about trying to barter in French that I just took it at his price and left. Of course this was way over priced so the vendor was extremely happy. While I am somewhat upset I paid too much, I realize that a reasonable price of 3,500 CFAs is only $3 less, so it’s not really a big deal for me in the long run. I also received a marriage proposal. His name was Jean, and he absolutely did not understand why I did not want to marry him and bring him home to the states to meet Obama (the people here are obsessed with Obama).

Tomorrow morning I am going with a group to visit a local prison. We will get to talk with the prisoners and just get to know them and their stories. I am very excited because this is my first real opportunity for outreach. Most of the day trips take place on weekdays and because of my work schedule, I am not able to participate in any of these outings. One of the harder things to remember while working on the ship is that this ministry does not so much focus on having each individual on the ship work in outreach ministries, but instead to focus on the impact we provide altogether. As a whole, the ship is a fully running community and every job is necessary to make the ship run well. While not every job directly ministers to the people of Benin, as a whole the community has brought about a world of change for these people. While I would love to be directly interacting with the people of Benin every day, I know that this is not possible given my position on the ship. Still, I am able to see the profound impact Mercy Ships has provided among these people. Yesterday as I was walking through the streets with a friend, several people pointed and called out “Mercy Ship! Mercy Ship!” Just the people on the street knew who we were and how much we had helped their people, and they were all so excited to see us walking through town.