while in Spain, let's do as the Spanish do...

This week has yet again been another busy week for me. Last Friday I got to fly to Madrid for 4 days in order to visit my high school friend Shelly Engelbart. Shelly is also taking a gap year this year, spending 12 months working at a dance studio in Madrid. When I found out that I would be spending over a month in Tenerife, I immediately hoped I would be able to visit her, but I didn't really think the trip would be possible. Thanks to my friend Ram and his ability to find cheap airline tickets, I found out that I could indeed take a weekend trip to Spain!
I woke up early Friday morning in order to walk to the bus station, which would then take me to the airport. My friends Kaylee and Johan were kind enough to wake up two hours earlier than usual in order to accompany me to the bus station, therefore putting my mother's nerves at ease (although I will admit that I, too, was a bit wary at the thought of walking through town alone so early). Within a couple of hours I was on the plane and headed for Madrid! Once the plane landed, I was able to navigate my way through the airport, only getting lost two or three times between my gate and the baggage claim...
After meeting up with Shelly, we caught the metro and headed back towards her apartment. It was amazing to be away from the ship and back with a friend from school. Being able to share all of my experiences and being able to hear about all of hers was very refreshing. At one point we were walking through the streets of Madrid and it occurred to me that the other 130 people that we graduated with are currently sitting in class at school, doing what is expected of the typical 19-year-old, but we are blessed with the opportunity to be wandering the streets of Madrid together, exploring the nooks and crannies of a beautiful European city! I am so thankful that this is where God has brought me, He is so cool!
Shelly told me from the beginning that we were not going to do the typical touristy things, but instead we were going to do the things the Spanish do. This of course involves a ton of eating, one of my favorite things in the world to do! Our schedule every day revolved around food, visiting different restaurants, cafes, and markets. I ate Spanish tortilla, croquettas, patatas bravas, paella, churros and chocolate, and plenty of cafe con leche. The food was incredible, and I think I ate more in just one day than I typically would in a full week!
While we did eat plenty, there were a few other things we did as well. On Friday evening we went to the dance school so that I could see where Shelly has been working and meet the people she has been working with. On Saturday, we walked around the mall and wandered a while through the city. Saturday night we went to a flamenco show that was absolutely incredible! The show was just on a small stage with two dancers and a small band. While the audience was petite, the dancing was phenomenal. As a dancer myself, I was able to appreciate the difficulty of their work. There is no way that I could move my feet the way they did! On Sunday we went to an outdoor market that wound its way through the streets. The vendors went on for miles, selling clothes, leather bags, souvenirs, and other interesting things. One vendor sold a huge assortment of beautiful scarves all for two euros. Thankfully RyanAir has major bag restrictions, so the lack of room to carry things home kept me from buying everything in sight. I picked out just one purple and green scarf to remember my trip by.
Monday morning I had to head to the airport at 4 o'clock, so rather than going to bed early Shelly and I decided to utilize our last hours together by staying up all night. Talking about home and friends was so refreshing, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed talking with someone who knows all of my friends back home! At 4 o'clock a taxi came to carry me to the airport and my long journey back to the ship began. At 10:30 I finally made it back into the ship, more than ready to go to bed.
While this weekend was a wonderful getaway and I absolutely loved every minute of it, I didn't realize how much I would miss the ship! Walking back up the gangway on Monday morning felt like I was coming back home. I'm beginning to realize how difficult it will be to leave the Ship for good. I now have less than nine weeks left till I head back to the States, two of which will be spent sailing to Togo. I am praying that the Lord will help me to feel closure as my time on the Ship begins to wind down. In only 5 weeks my close friend Kaylee will go home and from that point I know that it will really begin to feel like it is time to go. At this point, however, I know that I am not at all ready to go back!

monkeys, whales, and the engine room

This past week and a half has been busy yet again for me. Last Friday my sister Alyssa flew into Tenerife for a visit. Not only did this mean I got the immense pleasure of spending a full week with my dear sister, it also signaled seven nights in a luxurious guest cabin as well as 5 afternoons off of work in order to go explore the island. Needless to say, it was a wonderful week.

On Sunday, Alyssa and I went with Kaylee to attempt to hike Mt. Teide (the volcano on the island). We set out around 6:45 am so that we could catch the right buses to the hiking location. We got off at what we thought was the correct spot, and began a trek to look for the beginning of the trail. After a few minutes of walking along the road, we spotted some signs pointing out 20 different trails in our general vicinity! We chose the one that looked most likely to lead up the mountain and began our long trek. After about 2 hours we realized that we had not started in the right place and there was no way we would be able to summit Teide by the end of the day. In fact, after a full day of hiking, we barely even reached the base of Teide, apparently there is another mountain in front of the volcano, and we had accidentally climbed it instead. Despite the disappointment of hiking the wrong mountain, we still had a fun, adventurous, and exhausting day.

The rest of the week we spent exploring Santa Cruz as well as other areas of the island. We spent an afternoon at the beach and another afternoon in the southern end of the island where we visited a monkey park. We were able to go into the cages with the monkeys which was loads of fun! I accidentally brought less money than I meant too, which we did not realized until AFTER we had taken the bus down south and caught a taxi to the park. At the entrance to the park I realized that I did not have enough money to buy my ticket to the park or to pay for the taxi ride back into town! Alyssa had just the right amount of money to pay for both of our entrance fees, but we still remained unsure as to how to pay the taxi driver. There was no ATM within walking distance so there was absolutely no way to get cash in order to get home! We prayed throughout our entire visit through the park that somehow we would find a way to get back. When it was time to leave, we got into the cab and attempted to explain that we needed to get to an ATM so that we could get cash because we did not have enough money to pay him to drive us to the bus station. He seemed to understand and headed on his way. After a brief stop at the bank, we carried on to the bus station. When Alyssa tried to pay him with the bill she had gotten from the ATM, he told us he didn't have any change so we could not pay with that bill! After all of the trouble of going to an ATM, he ended up taking the small amount of change I had left in my wallet, almost half the amount that the trip should have taken. Of course after we got out of the cab we thanked God for letting us get back without any real frustration or trouble!

The rest of the week flew by and by Friday evening it was time to drop Alyssa back off at the airport. Because her flight was at 2:45 am, we had to catch a late night bus to get down to the south end of the island where the airport was. After helping to carry her bags and everything into the airport and finding where she needed to go, Kaylee and I rushed back to the bus in order to catch the midnight bus back to Santa Cruz. Because the bus system is not very busy in the middle of the night, the buses only come by the airport every hour or so, so to miss the midnight bus would mean we would have to wait until 1 am. We sprinted to the station in order to not miss the bus, but the bus was no where to be found! We waited for about five minutes, then decided to look at the bus schedule posted at the station. Apparently, according the the station's schedule, the bus left at 11:45!! Alas, after all that hurrying, we still ended up having to wait until 1 o'clock in the morning to catch the bus back to Santa Cruz! After an hour long bus ride and a two mile walk from the station, Kaylee and I sauntered back into the ship at 2:45, exhausted, sore, and ready to fall into bed.

On Saturday the ship was offered half price tickets to Loro Parque, a park similar to Sea World. Of course we did not want to miss out on this offer, so Kaylee and I somehow managed to pull ourselves out of bed just 5 hours after we arrived back to the ship. The day at the park was so much fun, we made it to every show: dolphins, orkas, birds, and sea lions. We also saw several other animals and exhibits. Our friend Kim Anna invited us to stay at the park with her family later and to then go out to dinner with them. It was so much fun to go out and have dinner with a family, even though it was not my own. I had not realized before that night how much I missed going out to eat as a family! We had so much fun talking and laughing, but by the time we returned to the ship I was so incredibly exhausted that I went straight to bed and slept for 13 hours!

Sunday afternoon I went back to the beach with a few friends where we enjoyed the perfect weather. We have not experienced a day that sunny and warm since arriving in Tenerife so it was the perfect day to spend at the beach.

Yesterday, I was given the opportunity to work in the engine room for the day! The engineers have needed help getting a lot of cleaning jobs done while in Tenerife, so several departments have allowed one or two of their staff to work in the engine room from time to time. The Sales department decided to let us all take turns working in the engines, so yesterday I finally got my chance! The day started out by going down to the engineers changing rooms on deck 2 where I had to search for coveralls and boots that would fit me. Of course, since most of the engineers are a bit taller than 5'2", that task proved to be quite difficult! My coveralls ended up being far to long and the shoes were about 5 sizes to big, but after rolling up the pants legs and tying the shoes as tight as possible, the outfit worked all right. I was ready to start working with all of the grease and oil and to get myself all dirtied up! Off I went for to receive my first assignment. My team leader mumbled something using all sorts of technical terms so I had no idea which job I agreed to do. As they led me and my partner Becca off to our job, it soon became clear that we would not get to work in all of the grime along with everyone else. Instead, we were given the task of hooking up hoses from a tank on deck 1 to a tank on deck 3 in order to transfer oil. It took about 2 hours to set up all of the hoses, so by the time we were ready to start pumping the oil, it was time for morning break! I headed up to Mid Ships to hang out with all of the other engineers as we enjoyed our break from work. It quickly became noticeable to all of my friends that Becca and I were not covered in grease and dirt like everybody else...it soon became pretty obvious that we were not doing any of the dirty work. No worries, I though, once we start pumping the oil my job will get messier and I'll get all greasy and gross! Once we got back to the engine room, I was given a radio and told to stand at my post on deck 3. My job, as the team leader explained to me, was to hold down a lever with my foot and watch as the level of oil in the tank rose. Once it reached the top, I was to radio down to the person on Deck 1 and he would stop the flow of oil. All right, I thought, this sounds like a job I can handle. I felt all important with my radio and everything, so I was excited about the task at hand. As he headed down to turn on the oil, I expected the job to go by quickly, I mean how long could it really take to fill an oil tank? I soon discovered that I had vastly underestimated the time. About 30 minutes into the process, I realized that the tank was less than a third full! Still, I could not step away from the lever, my foot had to keep pressing it down the entire time! After an hour and a half, I was told to head back downstairs for a lunch break and then we could finish the task after lunch. I walked up to the dining hall with my head hung low because I still was not covered in grease and dust like the rest of the engineers and I knew that right away my friends would joke about my cleanliness after working in the engine room. They all seemed to think it was quite hilarious that I ended up so free of grime. After lunch I went back to my post so that we could finish our task and move on to something else. We finished filling the tank and then, much to my disappointment, I was told we had to fill a second tank! Thankfully this one was already more than half full, so it would not take nearly as long. The downside, however, was that this tank did not have an easy little foot lever, instead it had two buttons that needed to be pressed in simultaneously, one at the top of the gauge and one and the bottom....of course since I am so short, I also have a short arm span, so pressing both of these buttons at the same time proved extremely difficult!! Finally, around 2:30, we finished transferring oil from tank to tank! Now I could get into the grease and grime! The next task was to scrape the rust from underneath the floor boards at the bottom of deck one. I was given a crowbar and a scraper and showed my spot to clean. Finally, I realized, this is the job I had been waiting for all day! I laid down on my stomach and ducked my head under the floor boards. Because the engines were so loud, we all had to wear ear protecters. The ear protectors blocked out all noise, so I was completely alone in my own little world while scraping up dirt, rust, and all other kinds of gunk off the ground. After an hour and a half of back-breaking work, we were done for the day. I went back to the changing room to take off my coveralls and I was thrilled...I was FINALLY covered in grease and dirt, now none of my friends could joke that I didn't do hard work. After scrubbing my arms down in the sink several times and after a shower, I still have not been able to get all of the grease off of my elbows. I'm quite proud of the grease stains because I view them as proof that I did spend a long hard day at work in the engine room. Although I am now perfectly content to go back to making coffee.

Holidays to Remember

Early in the morning of December 19th, the Africa Mercy pulled into her spot in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. After a twelve day sail, all of the crew were more than ready to set foot on dry land. By noon, we recieved clearance to leave the ship. By 12:01 my friends and I were on our way into town.
After several months in Benin, we all knew exactly where we wanted to head as soon as we entered a first world country: McDonalds. Now I'm not exactly the biggest fan of plasticy hamburgers and greasy fries, but somehow that first taste of the All-American fast food was incredibly satisfying. After our thrilling McDonalds trip, we headed to the park. For the first ten minutes in the park, I was in such shock over seeing well maintained, green vegetation that I could harldy move! After recovering from the shock of seeing a well kept garden, I played on the swing sets and climbing apparatuses with my friends for the entire afternoon.
After a few days of exploring, then a couple days of work, we had a five day holiday for Christmas. The first night of holiday was a sad one as we had to say goodbye to two of our dear roomates, Michelle and Bonny Jean. Of all the goodbyes I have said over the past 4 months, that day was most definately the hardest.
On Christmas Eve, Aimee decided to make a giant brunch for all of the younger girls on board. After the majority of our close friends left, Aimee Chelsea and I realized the need to bond with the newer girls on board. Aimee did a wonderful job preparing an elaborate brunch and recruited Chelsea and I to help out with a little bit of cooking in the morning. We had a great, relaxing morning enjoying a delicious meal of pancakes (made in 3 different varieties), hash browns, eggs, and fruit with about twenty of our fellow crew members.
On the evening of Christmas Eve, it is a Mercy Ships tradition for everyone to put a shoe out in the hallway and in the night crew members go around and place their presents in friends' shoes. It was so fun to wake up Christmas morning to discover a shoe full of candy and other little treats!
Christmas day was another wonderful and relaxing day. While I missed my family more than I can say, my roomates and I had a wonderful time having our own "family" Christmas celebration. In the morning we woke up to a wonderful array of delicious breakfast foods served in the dining hall. Aimee and I chose to attend the Christmas morning brunch in our pajamas, mine being fleece footie pajamas covered in polar bears and snowflakes while Aimee's get up looked similar to an 80's workout instructor. We recieved several complements on our choice of attire then headed back to our room to open presents. The three of us took turns opening the presents from our shoes, each other, and our families. Michelle and Bonny Jean had filled our stockings before they left but had carefully instructed us not to open them before Christmas morning. To our surprise, they had filled it with candy coal! While typically coal is considered a bad present, I must say that this coal was probably the best coal I have ever recieved. After opening presents, Chelsea and I headed over to the cabin of our friends Elliot and Julle, our adopted parents for the day. A few other friends came over as well and we all spent the afternoon telling stories, opening presents, and playing games.
On Christmas evening the city held a giant symphony concert just a mile from our ship. The giant outdoor concert was free to attend and ended at midnight with a beautiful fireworks display and loads of fake snow being shot into the night sky. It was a beautiful ending to an already great Christmas day.
The rest of the weekend was spent doing more exploring around the island of Tenerife. Since we really dont know much of what there is in each city, we decided to explore by picking a random bus and seeing where it might take us. The first time we tried this, it turned out wonderfully! We ended up in the most picturesque little town where we sat at a cafe and drank coffee, then explored a giant garden overlooking the mountains. Our other attempts at random bus choices have not turned out quite as picturesque, but still ended up making for great afternoons.
On New Years Eve, everyone decided to get dressed up and go out for an evening in town. To our dismay, New Years Eve traditions dont start quite as early in the evening as they do in the States. When we headed out at 10 o'clock, the streets were completely empty! We wandered up and down the streets looking for something to do. Finally, around 11:30 we heard music in the streets. We followed the music and stumbled upon a street all lit up with colorful lights. At the front of the street a stage was set up and a live salsa band was playing. As the clock ticked closer and closer to midnight, the street slowly began to fill up, and by 11:55 it was so packed we could hardly move! As the countdown began, we tried counting along in English, but soon we realized their countdown had not begun at ten! Apparently there is a tradition here to eat on grape every second for the last twelve seconds of the year; therefore, the countdown had begun at twelve, not ten! We were so confused that right when the countdown hit zero, we still weren't sure if it was the new year yet! After a moment, however, we saw all of the fireworks and heard everyone cheering and knew that it was now the year 2010. The salsa band continued to play into the night and we danced for a few hours longer before heading back to the ship.
My time in Tenerife has been extremely enjoyable up to this point, I cannot believe its almost halfway over! These next few weeks will be extremely busy as well. On Friday, my sister Alyssa is flying up to visit for a week and in a couple of weeks I am flying up to Madrid to visit a friend for four days. While our time here has provided for a much needed break for all of the crew, I am also getting excited for heading to Togo in less than a month.