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.
Yay! I like this blog very much. Hope you're having fun in SPAIN!
ReplyDelete