10 years in the making

In 1998 I felt called to join the Africa Mercy as a nurse in Africa (which they had just bought and hadn't even started renovating). Little did I know this dream would be realized 10 years later. In those 10 years I went to nursing school, worked at many hospitals in many different specialties, worked on the Caribbean Mercy, got married, and moved many, many times. So here I am, on board the Africa Mercy, out in the middle of the ocean, on our way to Liberia. In some ways I feel so prepared for the next 10 months, but mostly I know that I will need to depend on God more than ever. I will see things and experience things that I never have before. The nurses that have been here for the last outreach talk about how the nursing care is so basic, but the emotional stress is very complex and strenuous. So please pray for our crew, we will need it.

To Clarify...

My original Current State of Equipment post (the very first one) has caused some questions about how the equipment is running...the equipment in the kitchen is running fine except for oven number 3 seems to have a mind of its own and is real loud (But I posted 2 days later to also say the 3rd oven had been fixed on the 21st of January)...Peter (my boss) told me that the right side braising pan did not work (when I first came) but there was a work order in for it, BUT apparently it was fixed some time back and Peter was not aware of it, so neither was I.

 

These posts are just made as general knowledge and to let the crew know where we stand when we are trying hard to put out quality meals that everyone enjoys, or at least most people enjoy. hahaha!

 

And I have enjoyed Glen L. checking up with us several times to make sure things are running right.  Thanks to Glen we can steam the vegetables again! (that post was on the 29th, the part came in!)  Kevin was fixing the tilt feature on braising pan number 1 when I first started working.

 

Arthur, Kevin, Glen have all been great and have a lot more to do on the ship than serve the galley...but make sure and appreciate them as they have been a great service to us in Food Service! 

Deja Vu Dinner? (this Sunday night)

What is that you may ask?  Its when after a few days you come to Dinner/Supper thinking, 'where have I seen this food recently?' then it hits you like Deja Vu...Oh!  Thats what our dinners have been the last couple of days!  (leftovers, repeats, play-it-again...whatever you call them at home)

Flip Flops... They flip and they flop

Today we had our presale briefing and our captain was giving us the rundown on the rules for sailing. My favorite thing the captain said was about proper footwear during the sail, "Flip flops, they are nothing, they flip and they flop". He has the dryest humor ever and is practically hilarious without even knowing it.

Today was our last day to get off the ship and go into town before we sail to Liberia. SO I went out twice. First I went out with some friends and went shopping and ate a bunch of last minutes snacks that will soon be unavailable. Then I came back to the ship, cleaned up a bit, and went out with some other girls for Mojitos and Sushi. Both were fantastic. When we were leaving the restaurant I heard a bunch of people yelling and realized it was a group of guys from Mercy Ships, one of which was my husband. Tyrone wasn't yelling though, he was busy ducking in his chair. I suppose he didn't want me to suggest he come home early, not that he would have anyway.

CSE

Thanks to Glen for fixing the steam option on #2 oven, he was just waiting on the part to come in!