Mercy Me

There was no road...

2010-06-21T15:17:00.069-05:00

'It wasn't your typical Thursday'

Thursday morning me and most of the PR team on the Africa Mercy jumped into a Mercy Ships Land Rover and took off for our own little African adventure. Excited we were, prepared we were not. The main goal being to get Abel back home to his family.

After three hours north on a highway we took a sudden right in Atkapme, onto a dirt road. Slowly the town gave way to bush as we travelled further and further away from civilization. For two hours we trucked along on this road, our bodies in a constant state of.... well bounce. There is no other word for it, we bounced left and right, up and down. We flew from our seats every other minute. There were times we went up so high we all smashed our heads on the roof (*Note we are in a huge land rover, this is no small car so we had to have bounced over a foot out of the seats).

When we weren't jumping canyons we were driving through small lakes with water that came over our tires and sliding, literally sliding, down parts of the road. See its rainy season here so the roads, or trail through the bush as we come to know it, get washed out and bumpy and floated. The whole time we are staring at the sky praying it won't rain because we wouldn't get back through there in the rain for sure.

This part of the road we just kinda slid down. It was really slippery

This is the bush and a random African lady chillin

After two hours and with aching bodies we arrived at the Abel's village. Now, I'm use to getting stared at here because white people aren't exactly common in Togo but I have never experienced anything like this... We were driving through the village as the residents stared in amazement and then I turned around to see the ENTIRE village was following our car. They wanted to see Abel's miracle and the Yovos ( A Yovo is what they call White people here) that did it.

Group shot of some of the kids that followed us

More kids that literally followed us everywhere

Driving through the village Abel was so cute. He dove under the seats and hid. Even tho these were his people and his home he had never been in front of so many people at once. I will never forget his laugh it is absolutley adorable. When he got out of the car he was so nervous amist all his neighbors so to cope he grabbed Liz's (AFM Photographer) point and shoot camera and started taking pictures of everyone. He is a true photographer because thats what we all do when we get shy is grab a camera. Lol.

Abel taking pictures of his crowd. Took from the top of the Mercy Ships vehicle.

Abel walking with straight legs, without crutches and casts, for all his village.

Abel and his father had been away from his family for three months. The entire family of aunts, uncles, gradparents and everyone else showed up for the occasion. His mother was by far the most excited person to see him. She swooped him up in her arms with a giant emotional hug, all the while carrying a small baby tied to her back. The last time she saw her son he had deformed and ugly legs, now three months later he looks normal and is healing by the grace of God.

Abel gets a huge hug from his beautiful mother.

Abel with his father (left) and his granfather (right). This was an incredibly emotional moment. I almost cried.

Inside Abel's hut his family greeted us and offered us water and liquor, which we drank in moderation of course. Lol. No they really did have a ton of liquor there for us but we couldn't sit there and get drunk considering we are Mercy Ships and we have to figure out how to maneuver our way back to town from this village. The problem was in Africa you have to eat or drink what you are offered, its really rude not too. So we decided we could take one shot. The family had only one shot glass so we all shared it, 7 Mercy Shippers and the 20 or so people of Abel's family. They chose to grace us with Sodabe, which is a homemade liquor, yes like moonshine. This stuff is potent let me tell ya. You can feel it go alll the wayy down. Whew. I felt sorry for Elaine, a writer for the ship, she isn't and never has been a drinker I don't think and shes a little bit older so yeah... it was funny

Some of Abel's distance relatives... I think they had too much Sodabi

Abel with family inside his house
Abels grandma and granpa

We were also invited to his pastors house for lunch. They fed us very well and just kept putting food on the table. The entire time I could see people gathering outside the house. A group of little kids climbed a tree so they could peak in the window at us eating.

The spread before we ate it all
The pastor and his family

After we ate we took off through the bush again. We went alot faster this time because it was getting dark out there. On the way back we had to stop twice to let some kids heard ox across the road. While we were waiting the guy that was with us, Alex, said ' Well it wasnt your typical Thursday' lol Ill never forget that.

Gotta wait for the cow lookin things to cross the road

Some of my favorite pictures from the day:

This is my absolute favorite. This lady wanted me to take her kid with me tho, that was sad
This is one of the first things I saw when we pulled in the villlage. They are getting water from the 'well'

There were alot of topless women in this village.

This is Abel's beautiful mother. :)

Abel before his surgery.. for those of you that didnt see my blog about him

TIA- This is Africa

2010-06-08T14:08:00.027-05:00

So, I guess Imma break down and write an actual blog lol. People want to know about Africa I guess. Well I have to say its pretty awesome. :) I really don't know where to start....

How I get around - Transport is usually interesting because its some of the best experiences I had in Africa. Getting anywhere in general is difficult unless you walk. The main two modes of transport are taxis and Zimis. But taxis aren't what you just imagined it to be. They are the smallest cars ever and they are falling apart! There is usually no interior, doors don't work or lock, air conditioner isn't even reasonable in the state 99% of these taxis are driving around in. On average a 5 seater sits 7 or 8 here, 2 people in the passenger seat and 5-6 in the back. So imagine sitting on someones lap you don't know with their arm around you (who prolly hasn't showered in a few days or even know what deodorant is lol). All the while the taxi is driving as fast as possible and hitting pot holes the size of a small pool... Its interesting to say the least.

Now Zimis, they are neat. They are basically motorbike taxis that take us everywhere. There are hundreds of them driving around. They are fun but very dangerous, the cars cant see them and the drivers usually top the bike out with every chance they get. My favorite moment on a Zimi was in Pkalime, which is a touristy town in north Togo. We rode the Zimis up and down the mountain. It was amazing.

On the zimis you get dirt in your teeth and eyes, you usually smell like exhaust and trash afterwards and there is a possibility of death or serious injury, but its so much more real than riding around in a car. I remember thinking 'I can feel the heartbeat'. The heartbeat of Africa. The music and people are right there with you and you can feel the pulse riding along the streets (usually at full speed lol). Not to mention, you are guaranteed at least one adrenaline rush with each ride.

Zimis are definitely the best way to get around despite the danger. Being in a Mercy Ships car, or even a regular taxi for that matter just kind of ruins the experience. You can see out of your window and all but on a Zimi you are IN Africa. You can see it, smell it and reach out to touch it if you want. My first ride on one of these motorbikes was with a friend on the ship that bought one to ride around on.

Zimis, streets of Lome
Jo and Eddie getting on Zimis in Kpalime (notice the mountains in the distance)

The things I've ate- I have eaten some pretty weird stuff. My first experience with really weird food was at a friend of ours, Jib, house. He is a Togolese friend that cooked for me and some friends on different occasions.

The first time I ate at Jibs he served Goat. Fair enough as alot of people eat goat in Africa right... Well see, here, people dont waste anything at all from the animals.. soo our plates consisted of goat meat and everyyyything else, i.e guts. Ugh we were like OMG and I just kept saying ' we have to eat it its the culture... we cant be rude... just do it' Lol so we ate it. Alot of the stuff I couldn't identify but I know for sure I had an ear, a kidney and the best of all..... a testicle. Yes, I had a goat ball on my plate. And I ate it.

Since then nothing else has really fazed me. We eat Fufu and goat on a regular basis at local restaurants (or a version of a restaurant), most the time it doesn't contain anything but meat (and the skin which is really chewy) but I just stopped looking at what I put in my mouth, its easier that way. Once, I somehow got an eyeball. I didn't eat it because in the process of playing with it it fell to the ground... Ooops. ;)

What I see and who I meet- I have seen some amazing things and some really sad things. Kpalime is a really cool town north of here. There are really pretty mountains there and the town has a really touristy but still African feel. Its a good mix. Me and some friends had alot of fun here one weekend. We hiked some mountains and camped at the very top of one. We played drums at a jimbay club, on stage, we danced around camp fires, rode Zimis through the mountains and managed to ride back to the hotel in the back of an ice cream truck, which ended up being the highlight of the trip lol.

I have also seen some aweful things. The one thing that sticks out in my mind the most happened just this weekend. I was at the beach with a friend and a man in rags walked up and started going through the trash and eating stuff. Mind you, the trash here is os a different variety of that at home. This was old goat and fish that had been in a pile on the beach for what looked like a long time. I think they just pile the trash up there and burn it. It was horrible, I dont think I have ever come so close to vomiting in public as right then. We see people sleeping on the streets with nothing in large multitudes, not just one here and there. They are everywhere.

I have met amazing people tho. I already mentioned Jib. Another good friend of mine is Meheza, my depts translator. She takes me everywhere I want to go and makes sure that no one bothers me lol. She is a wonderful and smart woman that I adore alot. I will miss her more than anyone else in Togo, or on this boat for that matter.

Meheza :)

Meheza, myself and Farouk Rufino's (a patient's) mom

We also met some amazing kids one Saturday. Some friends and myself stayed at a hostel on a Friday and that morning we were sitting on the terrance and kids started showing up looking at us ( which isnt unusual since most of them have never seen a white person before), so we started playing music and then there were like 20 kids around us dancing and jumping rope. We bought them cokes and juice and played with them for a few hours. By the time it was over we had them all nick named lol.

Even going back and reading this I can tell it doesnt do it justice. It just doesnt. I dont know how to explain the feeling you get being here and seeing this stuff. It is very humbling. To see what people do without and to see what they have to do to get what they have. Its good being with Mercy Ships too. Almost every white person here is with Mercy Ships so everyone knows who we are. There have been countless times walking down the street and a local would come and and say 'Mercy Ships? Thank You.' Probably the only English they knew. Its good to be appreciated especially since so many people back home don't understand or even care why we are here.

Here are some random pics for you guys.

Meet Abel

2010-06-07T11:31:00.005-05:00

Hey Everyone. I know I'm not good at blogging. I know I know. But when you sit down to write there is so much to say I can never figure out what should come out first. Hence, I am posting patient stories. These are about out patients here at Mercy Ships that either me or another writer has already written. I try and only post the Kids that really made an impact on me personally, not just anyone. So know that when you read these children's stories that they in some way changed or touched me in a profound way.

This one is about Abel, he is an ortho patient that Elaine, MS writer, wrote about. But to me he is so amazing because he is so happy all the time. He is one of the first people I encountered here that made me think that God put people in the world just so you know he is real. People so wonderful you cannot know them and not know that there is a God. When you look at his pictures and read his story below imagine how hard your life would have been if your legs looked like that. Because I know, I would have been so angry at the world and miserable, but he wasn't, he was happy and now hes even happier, I just saw him 20 minutes ago during his check up visit and I was like ' I have to go tell someone about this kid'. So here ya go:

Abel is an unusually happy eleven-year-old, who says his favorite thing to do is to make friends . His attitude is exceptional, considering the physical problem he has been living with for most of his life, and the reaction of most people to that problem.

His childhood was normal until a problem arose following an injection. The muscles in his legs stopped growing, but the bones didn’t. Because there was so little musculature to direct them, his legs did not grow as they should have. They began to bend backward at the knee, forcing his upper thighs out behind him. .His parents took him to three different doctors, but none of them knew what to do for him.

Despite this condition, the resolute Abel learned to correct his balance enough to walk, climb, and do about anything any other active boy could do. He’s even the goalkeeper on his football (soccer) team. The only thing he couldn’t do was ride a bicycle, since it requires sitting straight on the seat and pumping down on the pedals from the front.

His physical problem was so out of the ordinary, that the other children made him the object of ridicule, calling him terrible names and beating him. Yet, all of this never brought him to despair, never dampened his joyful spirit. His parents, however, were greatly concerned for his future.

One day, there was an announcement on the radio that a Mercy Ship was coming to Togo, offering surgeries without charge. Abel’s father was hopeful that this time maybe some-thing could be done for his son. He brought Abel to an orthopedic screening in Lome, where he received his appointment card for a surgery on the hospital ship Africa Mercy. Several days later, the volunteer surgeons straightened his left leg.

A wonderful surprise awaited Abel when he awoke after surgery. His left leg was straight out in front of him, wrapped in a cast. He sat in his bed admiring it. Then he asked his dad, seated beside his hospital bed, if his right leg would also be straight after the next surgery. His father assured him that it would. “If the other leg is going to be like this one, I am going to give a big thanks to the Lord,” said a jubilant Abel. In a few days, the second surgery straightened his right leg.

The surgeries have required a long period of recovery. During that time, he and his dad have been staying at the Hospitality Center a short distance from the ship. Here, Abel did, indeed, make many friends among the other children recovering from surgeries. Many times, Abel and his dad were transported to the ship for post operative care before the third procedure, plastic surgery on his knees. So, Abel has made many friends among the crew, also; flashing his brilliant smile in appreciation of all that is done for him.

With the World Cup approaching, Abel is intensely interested in watching his favorite sport, and especially his favorite player, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba on TV. After so many weeks of recuperation, he is eagerly looking to getting out on the field himself. But his long-term goal is to become a surgeon some day, like those on the Mercy Ships “because of the things they have done for me,” he said.

Written By:
Elaine Winn, PR Writer for Mercy Ships

Before Surgery

Before again

After surgery, walking to the Africa Mercy gangway

Abel Dalome! Happy Kiddo at the hospitality center in Lome

Abel walking during a video interview

Prayer Request :

On a personal note please everyone pray because I am trying to extend to go to South Africa with Mercy Ships but there are difficulties finding a position I could take as well as the funding.

Most of you might be aware that my mom is hosting a benefit softball turnament if not call her up! And I also added a donate button here on my page so you can use ur CC to donate if you feel called to do so. Funds are used to pay crew fees here on the ship and personal expenses, like toiletries and transport from one place to anther.

But most of all pray they can find me a spot to work. I'm not ready to leave Africa :(

Souleman Konde

2010-05-11T09:59:00.004-05:00

Souleman is a boy of few words. He attended the first Mercy Ships medical screening in Lome, Togo, along with his mother. While other children his age scramble about in boredom and agitation, he sat solemnly waiting in line for his turn. Souleman had been quieted by a deformity, a large keloid on his left ear. A keloid is a type of scar that is benign, non-contagious, and sometimes accompanied by severe itchiness and pain. In severe cases, it can affect movement of skin.

According to his mother, Souleman was not always so quiet. He use to play along with the rest of the children in his neighbourhood and enjoyed the company of his siblings. Because of the growth on his ear, Souleman adopted the unwanted nickname Big Ear. His parents even took him out of school to help avoid the ridiculehe endured everyday. This became his reason for silence and his shy nature.

Upon arrival to the Africa Mercy volunteer surgeons removed the keloid from Souleman’s ear. Over the next week in recovery the boys personality began to glow more everyday. He began to smile and play with the nurses and volunteers in the Africa Mercy ward. After seeing Souleman’s ear for the first time after the surgery his father shared his enthusiasm in the ward, “I am overjoyed about the surgery because we don’t have a lot of money for surgery but now we have the grace of God and we have Mercy Ships and all they have done for us.”

Slowly the boy of few words had something to say. Three weeks into his recovery Souleman visited the ship for a check up and bragged about all the people who can no longer call him Big Ear. “At school and in the house they use to call me Big Ear. Now everyone wants to come to see what happened to the Big Ear because it disappeared. I am no longer the Big Ear!”

Souleman can now live the life of a regular eight year old. He will begin school again this year in the second grade. Through the amazing care and love of volunteers on board the Africa Mercy Souleman is no long just Big Ear,and he managed to find his voice again.

Written By: Yours Truly

Souleman and his mother waiting in line at screenings

Photo By: Debra Bell

Souleman before surgery
Photo By: Debra Bell

Souleman after surgery and during his recovery; along with father

Photo By: Debra Bell

Souleman after surgery :)

Photo By: Debra Bell

Kossin Delou

2010-05-11T04:24:00.006-05:00

Hello Everyone! I know I havent blogged in a very long time so I am going to post some patient stories today. Then I promise I'll actually blog. SOON!

Kossin Delou:
Sixteen-year-old, Kossin Delou, spent four years of his life sheltered by his family and kept out of the public eye due to an enormous tumor that dominated the left side of his face. When the tumor first appeared, Kossin visited local hospitals in Lomé, Togo. But his family could not afford the necessary surgery.

So, the tumor, which started from Kossin's upper jaw, continued to grow. It soon covered his eye, hindering his vision.

As the insidious growth enlarged, Kossin's life became more difficult. Kossin's father is a local pastor, and the church is an important part of his family life. But people viewed the tumor as a curse, so Kossin's shame prevented him from attending church.

In fact, the children who were once his friends now ridiculed him on the streets and at school. He even felt like an outsider among his own siblings.

His emotional turmoil intensified as his dream for his future began to fade away. Kossin wanted to study at a university to become a teacher. He wanted to enrich the lives of children with knowledge and love. His grotesque facial deformity would prevent him from pursuing his education.

Then Kossin came to our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy . After many hours of surgery, he emerged with a newly constructed face.

Joy radiated from Kossin and his family. His father, Pastor Delou, says, "In this life each one of us need s help in some moments of our life. I can say that through Mercy S hips, we have found that help. Y ou can have a bad story - but, before the end of your life , God will open a door and smile deep into your heart. I know that God is working through Mercy Ships for the best in my life and in Kossi n 's life ."

Kossin is ecstatic about his new life. He can go to church with his family and friends. He's no longer an object of ridicule. And - best of all - in September of 2010, Kossin will be able to start school to fulfil his resurrected dream of becoming a teacher.

Patient Story Written By: Yours Truly

Kossi at screenings; he recieves appointment card

Photo By: Debra Bell

Kossi before surgery
Photo By: Debra Bell

Before Surgery; laughing

Photo By: Debra Bell

Kossi, his father and myself a few weeks after surgery

Photo By: Liz Cantu

Kossi a few weeks after surgery

Photo By Liz Cantu

2010-03-03T13:28:00.024-06:00

********Be advised that some of the following content is pretty graphic. I don't recommend you look at this post if you are of faint heart or have a weak stomach. Also, its probably not good for small children********

Yea so I'm not great at remembering to blog. Sorry Folks! But all is well here in Togo. I don't even know where to start. But we have been through a couple weeks of medical screenings and we started surgery last week as well. I have met some pretty great people.The communications team went to the entire first week of medical screenings, which is where the people line up and we go through and see who we can help. There were lots of people the last two days of screenings. But the whole week we saw crowds of over 3100 people. It was pretty intense.

People were there with every kind of illness you can think of from the common flu, cleft lips, and huge tumors. There are also tons and tons of kids there with orthopedic problems like bowed legs and clubbed feet.

Here are some pics from screening, once again some are pretty graphic: Photo By: JR Mercy Ships Photographer

Photo by Liz Cantu, Mercy Ships photographer

Photo By Debra Bell Mercy Ships photographer

Photo by Debra Bell Mercy Ships photographer

The hardest is the cleft lip tho because you all know my little brother had a cleft lip when he was born, well some of these kids are like 10. They aren't just babies. And it is especially hard to have a deformity here because some of the village people here will think they have demons of something weird like that. Well its weird for us but obviously not to some of these people.

For example, there was a lady in the ward and it was her day for surgery and she left because she thought there were demons in the ward. The night before she was telling the nurses to move the beds around because she saw demons in the beds... There aren't demons in our ward. Too much prayer is pored into that hospital everyday for any kind of evil anything to get anywhere close to our ward ;). So anyways, right before her surgery she packed up and left. And she had a goiter on her neck so she really needed surgery.

In other news, we are now officially confined to the ship for the next 48hrs due to the elections and our curfew was 6:30pm today. Tomorrow is the actual election day and we don't know what is going to happen. I've managed to get a little background from the locals, the guy currently in charge is the son of the last president, he died so now his son is in charge. His dad was president for 40 years so they don't want to turn over the power.

The campaigning is really cool to watch tho. I don't know exactly how it all works but on Saturday me and D and a few others went to town for lunch so we saw alot of 'campaigners'. I saw I think 3 parties, you can tell by the shirt color. There was people in white shirts, yellow shirts and a few in pink... They are alot more passionate than most of us, for sure. The people in yellow are really loud. Young guys pile onto these motorcycle/scooter looking things (a common form of transportation here) dressed in yellow and waving palm leaves and yellow bandannas and they lay on the horn and holler at fellow supporters and blow whistles really loud! It was such a sight. And then there are huge vans of people just driving around honking, its really funny to see one of the vans coming piled down with Africans all dressed alike, hanging out of windows and hollering. WTA.

Thats all I can say about that right now. But just pray for Togo. And I am personally praying that the current guy will win so there isnt much disturbance.

The poverty here is pretty bad. We have done alot of driving around to screenings or clinics and sometimes we end up taking the side roads. It is so hard to drive through and not stop and scoop up children. See from the main roads you see like markets or businesses, not so much slum looking places, but getting off the main drag is like WOW ok yeah so I'm in Africa. So many people live in shacks, literally.

Sometimes its all hard to take in. A couple of times at screenings I had to find a private corner and take deep breaths if you know what I mean. But all in all I think I am doing well taking it all in stride. I think its because most of these people don't feel sorry for themselves (as far as the poverty goes). Though there are tough times.

Its hard making good friends with a local and seeing how they live. For example, there is this guy that alot of us have made friends with, Uche, and he takes us around town and shows us where everything is. He is so nice, he will go get anything and bring it to the ship if you don't have time to leave. Everytime we go out to eat we take him. Well he is really loud and funny most of the time but sometimes if you watch while hes quiet you see the strain on his face, from the struggle of trying to hustle to live. Sometimes it makes me wanna cry. Or the translator that works in our dept. She is so nice and lovely and full of life. Well one day she was talking about where she lives. It is a shack like thing with one room, no kitchen or anything. I was like OMG! She has to go find somewhere else to cook if she wants to eat. Its just all so sad to us but to them its normal... which some to think of it might be even more sad.

Today I met the cutest little kid. He was probably like 4 and he was helping his mother take care of his little baby sister. He was adorable. He came up to our table and shook hands. He didn't speak English or French though because he wasn't in school. One of the guys with us gave him some money, which we aren't suppose to do really because then everyone wants money. But he couldn't help it ya know.

I have really waited too long to blog because now there is too much to talk about lol... but thats it for today.

Here are some more random pics for everyone. I don't have much because I don't have alot of time to take pictures so everything I do have was taken from a moving vehicle or taken by the ship photographers at screening days.

Photo By Debra Bell, Mercy Ships photographer

Photo By Debra Bell, Mercy Ships photographerPhoto By Debra Bell, Mercy Ships photographer

Photo By Debra Bell, Mercy Ships photographer

Me, Debra Bell (middle) and Misha (left)

Me with a Mercy Ships truck ( now imagine me driving it thru Africa, yeah its funny)

WTA- Welcome to Africa

2010-02-14T09:05:00.019-06:00

The Africa Mercy arrived in Togo, West Africa Wednesday. The arrival was great. When we were coming into the Lomé Port there was a large group of people waiting at the end of the dock for us. There was a brass band from a local church playing music and there were people dancing. The group followed our ship all the way down the dock just playing, dancing and clapping. It was a little over whelming. They were so happy to see us. It definitely made the arrival an emotional celebration. We felt really important lol.

These are the best pics I could get of the crowd because I was like on a ledge lol and security wouldn't let me get any closer to the edge :(

Following us down the dock

After we docked there was an official dockside welcoming from the Cabinet Director for the Ministry of Heath in Togo and the President of the Council of Churches in Togo. We also brought down like 5 or 6 of our officials from the ship. Cool thing is I am in the Public Relations/ Communications dept so we were allowed off the ship to cover the event and everyone else had to stay on (I was the second person to step into Africa from the ship)! Again making us feel oh so important lol.

Director of Cabinet of Ministry of Health for Togo
All our crew watching from above
Fellow East Texan, Lewis, playing body guard lol
D while setting up the sound system for the whole event

Clemetine, a Africa Mercy crew member from Togo, carrying her home flag down the gangway.

Wed night when everyone was settled a few of us were standing outside on the dock and I had the most overwhelming thought, "We are Africa, this is home for 6 months. I live here" Wow... Just sayin

So far Africa is as excepted in many ways but different as well. For one its hot and the smell is not great AT ALL. When its really hot it smells SOOOOO bad.

WTA- is Welcome to Africa it is what everyone says if you complain about something, like the heat, the smell, or my favorite “oh man that dude\chick just ripped me off…” lol.

Right around the corner from where we are docked there is a small open air market so it is an easy walk for us. Though its not a nice market at all, it is a local market so basically it is just food and ‘vendors’ selling junk. It is so funny walking around here though because people stare like you wouldn’t believe. Like EVERYONE. And the younger kids and teenagers yell ‘whitey’ in French or ‘American!’.Its really funny. Then random people will follow you forever trying to sell you stuff. No worries though everyone here is really nice. They say the Togolese really want peace so it isn’t scary.

Friday a couple of friends and I went to the Lomé city center, which is a little farther. It was so fun. The market there is enormous. It goes for miles and spills out into the streets. You can’t even walk! It is insane. It is really dirty tho. My feet were like black after we got done walking (I figured out why they said not to wear flip flops lol).

We also went to a Chinese restaurant too. I know that sounds funny but yeupp there is a really nice Chinese restaurant in downtown.

It is sooo Africa, like totally what you except to see. But, not totally what you except to feel, everything is pretty disturbing if you really think about it because the poverty is so in-your-face. Though we saw some stuff that was just really really sad and you won’t forget. For example, we were sitting at another place that was outside and there came a guy that was totally and completely naked walking around. Not a stitch of clothing. He was like in the street jumping around and stuff. He obviously had some kind of mental problem. But, what was really sad is that no one helped him. I guess all this time everyone just lets him walk around naked. Also he was covered in dirt and dust probably an inch thick. A friend that was with me that night said she saw him again Saturday so its not just a one time thing.

Saturday was nice because we all went out to hotels for swimming pools and the beach because we had a blackout on the ship. A blackout is where they turn off the electricity so that they can fix or clean something down there (idk exactly) so they arrange for shuttles to take us to different places. It was relaxing I guess. Expensive though, way too expensive. At the hotels everything is double prices than it is on the outside.

Being in the PR/ Communications dept I get to be a ship driver! There aren’t a lot of drivers and you are supposed to be 25 but they made an exception for me. It is really exciting. I can only drive for business purposes tho since I’m under age, oh and to church.

So this morning I drove my cabin girls and D to church in the city. When I say city I mean a big village lol not a city. I was pretty nervous at first but it wasn’t so bad. The worst part was that it rained really bad last night so there was only half a road for both ways of traffic. We made it; we got the Land Rover a little bit muddy though.

Church was actually kind of boring. We were all geared up for the cultural dancing praise and worship they do. Well, we ended up at a Presbyterian church so it was really calm, no dancing no clapping and they sat to sing. Not only that most churches have an English translation, not this one so we sat through two hours of stuff we couldn’t understand.

After church we went to an actual market, like a grocery store, indoors lol like Kroger or Brookshire’s. Weird thing, their food and stuff isn’t a whole lot cheaper than stuff is back home. I was able to get a red bull. That was nice :)

I wrote my first story over the arrival ceremony. I don’t think it will be published online or anything because it was more like a report than a story.

Anyways, so that is the last couple of days in a nutshell. There still isn’t a whole lot going on. But the surgery screenings start on Tuesday and the our first surgery is the 25th so there won’t be any more slow days for me I don’t think

Everyone please pray for our first week of screenings. Thanks for reading and press the follow button people! :)

Africa here we come: Sailing

2010-02-05T08:00:00.013-06:00

We have been sailing for 5 days now. The first couple of days the waves were huge and seemingly full of anger so the boat was thrown back and forth all day and night. Trying to do anything on the sail is painful, moving about usually results in mashing into a wall or some other type of solid unforgiving object, like the floor lol. We all look drunk walking down the hallways and flip flops have been abandoned voluntarily for any shoe that has some kind of grip on the bottom. Sleeping was interesting because you slide from one end of the bed to the other. People are MIA as they are paralyzed with sea sickness, I’ve heard some pretty rough stories but I will spare you the details.

Things have settled down now and the water is really smooth. It hasn't felt like we were on the water for the last couple of days.

So far I've seen whales, dolphins and flying fish. The water out there is amazingly blue and you can see forever. The massiveness of the ocean is impressive each and every time I look out. I feel so small on the water. Like a tiny spot of nearly nothingness. I knew the ocean was big but the expansiveness is incredible first hand. I feel as if we are the only thing in existence sometimes, just cruising around in our own little world of a boat (ship).

And the stars… Its hard to explain the sky at night out here. The stars are brighter than you could begin to imagine. The contrast of the totally black horizon and the moonlight and stars is incredible. I would take a pic but its pointless because you won't be able to see anything lol. Just try to imagine the darkest night you’ve ever seen and the only light source for miles is the moon and stars. Its pretty amazing.

There is also a lot of “boring” to sailing. Like, there isn't anything to do really. After work people get together and play cards, watch movies, play games. Like today there are some activities going on because its Saturday. But most of the days after people get off work we are just kinda sittin around. I find myself having the same conversations with the same people at the same table in the dinning room everyday. lol. Its really funny. But, getting to know these people is a really good experience. Especially when we get the Africa, I bet we will need these close relationships to make it through the days.

Also, it keeps getting hotter. Like in Tenerife, Spain we had to take sweaters with us everywhere and sleep with two blankets. Not anymore. Every day I wake up and it’s hotter and more humid, and we aren't even there yet. They say this is cool compared to what it will be like in Africa. Ugh. I hope I brought enough sun block. Yesterday was the worse because the air conditioner was turned off. It was awful. In the dining room with like 100 other people, hot food and no air conditioner feels like your melting. I felt like a missionary yesterday lol. A hot dirty one. I kinda like it ;)

I am starting to get use to this life here on the Africa Mercy, it starts to feel normal after a while. But sometimes I'll just be sitting there and all of a sudden I think to myself. Dude we are on a boat in the middle of the ocean headed to Africa. Wow. The lifestyle was easy to get use to. That thought process is another thing. Living in Africa... I think its impossible to even begin to cope with that until I am actually there and my feet are firmly planted on African soil. Wow. We are getting close too. We will be in Africa on Wed. :)

So the sail out of Tenerife was kind of sad. I was there just long enough to get a little attached. The town was so amazing the weather was cool. It felt so much like vacation tho, too much like vacation, thats not what we are here for. It was amazing to me the number of young people here that were all on the same page. Like yeah we all are having a freakin blast, going to the beach, the mountains, out on the town every day and night but, when are we leaving again?. We all know what lies ahead of us in Africa (some of us more so than others) but no one could wait to leave paradise for it. I’m relieved to be in a place full of people who don’t think I am crazy for thinking like this.

Well I think that is it for now. I probably won’t blog again until I get to Africa. I am planning on a blog about a girl on the ship named Emma. She has basically grew up on this ship and I thought maybe ya’ll would like to hear about that. HOPEFULLY it’ll be a video blog. We will see!

Random pics of the sail so far:

Lil man playing songs while we sailed away

Everyone watching as we left

Keisha and Caitlin being silly one day during the sail

Goodbye Tenerife

I dont even know what to say about this one

Sailing

Told ya there was nothing for miles...

Keisha and Caitlin acting silly one day on the sail

Certified Adventurer Status.

2010-02-02T10:11:00.012-06:00

Saturday was an absolutely amazing day! Me and my new friend Daniel (aka D.) took a serious adventure into the mountains of Tenerife. Basically we took a bus into the mountains and just jumped off at a random stop kinda in the middle of no where! It was a-mazing. We just walked down this little road absorbing the breath taking views.

The bus ride there and back was a little insane because we were just getting higher and higher into the mountains and the road we were on was so tiny. It looked like the bus wasn't going to make it around some of those turns, and if you look down its straight cliff, there is no shoulder on the road just the side of a mountain! A couple times I thought I was going to lose my stomach. I didn't.

Walking through the mountains with my backpack and camera I really felt like an adventurer, lost in the wilderness type thing (We weren't lost though). There were little villages spread out through the mountains. Thankfully we jumped off the bus not far from one little village, I don't remember the name (it started with a T lol). The village had a cute little restaurant/ bar area. We were able to get something to drink here and some olives. Sitting outside surrounded by mountains and some of the most intriguing wilderness I've ever seen was surreal. I just kept thinking, "are we really here? like seriously?" lol :)

The most amazing-est olives EVER! No really they were soooo fresh

D's food. It was some kind of omelet w/ a mini salad

I have to admit though it was kind of scary being an adventurer because we didn't know if the bus was going to come back to the bus stop we ended up at and no one spoke English (imagine that) and we don't speak Spanish (oops) so we just weren't to sure. It was totally cool and a little funny until the sun started going down, I got cold and then the dogs started howling. Scary movie type stuff lol. We figured if worse came to worse we could hitch hike right?

D hitchin a ride lol

The one thing I will always remember about being up there is the feeling of calm quietness that washes over you with every deep breath. Even though there were some cars and a few people it still seemed so quiet up there. People were relaxed and carefree. It seemed like a place were time stands still and everything is touched with beauty that is everlasting. It is very relaxing and made me feel like anything is possible.

So thats what we did Saturday. It was awesome. Below are more pictures. Be sure you press the follow button people. and subscribe by email. :)

Stairway to Heaven ;)

Some pretty flowers

This is one of my favorites all day. Needs some photoshop love tho lol

Lonely tree :(

Take note of the tiny roads :)

Wow!

One of the bus stops

The Ship and the town :)

2010-01-27T08:41:00.009-06:00

So I thought I should write a little more about the ship and our living conditions!
Well first off, its not as big on the inside as it looks, but it is still pretty big.

My cabin has 10 girls in it. I know your thinking Oh my thats horrible. But its really not because we have the biggest cabin. It is really big and it has a kitchen, a half like kitchen, two bathrooms a living room and two windows. Most cabins have no windows at all and some have no bathrooms I think. They use a community bathroom, from what I understand. When I say huge keep in mind I mean that the room is huge compared to the others lol. Our personal space is very small. The closet is like 6 ft high and 2 ft wide (something like that) so putting all your stuff in there is like putting together a puzzle. My camera and laptop dont fit anywhere so during the day its on my bed and at night I set it on the floor. The worse part is probably the shower. You can barely turn around in there. Its TINY!

living room for 10 people

My bed with alot of crap on it

My "closet"

The food is ok, better than I thought it would be. There are usually two choices of main course food, then there is salad stuff and sandwich stuff so even if you don't like the main course you can have a sandwich.

There is also a community area where there is a ship store, here you can buy shirts and sweaters, some snack food and just random stuff. There is also a post office, bank and starbucks. I don't know what all the starbucks offers because I have yet to catch it open (I sleep too late I guess). They call this area the town square. This section is two stories. Upstairs its a lounge like area and computer center. All the town square has wireless internet, which I havent gotten to work yet either. Hummm... IDK I bet I can figure it out somehow.

We have a laundry area to use as well, its free so thats good. One amazing thing the sip has is a school. They have 45 students in it and 7 teachers. It goes all the way from k-12th grade.

I know alot of people are wanting to know what it is like to live on the ship. So far it is hard to explain, mostly because I spent my first full day in town. It is like a very small town tho. So if you are from a small town imagine what high school was like. Everyone knows everyone. I keep getting stopped and asked "you must be new" it feels like my first week at Arp HS lol. And everyone asks the same questions, whats your name, where are you from, how long are you staying and what are you doing on the boat. As most of you already know I am a writer! A lot of people think that is really cool. Especially my roommates because most of them are really young, just out of high school so they are doing dining room staff and hospitality, we do have one dental assistant tho.

I guess I'll tell you a little bit more about the town. It is so pretty. The Canary Islands are part of Spain so the Spanish architecture is very prominent and palm treens line the sidewalks. Most everyone walks here so they are very skinny lol and very stylish. You very rarely see anyone in jeans and a t-shirt. They wear skinny jeans and oversized shirts with awesome looking boots, heels or some granny like shoes.
Everyone here smokes, everywhere. Even in alot of the stores. Every other person you pass has a cigarette in hand or is sitting on a bench smoking. The birds are funny, there is like a ton of pigeons and they are pretty tame so they don't move out of your way when your walking until you almost step on them. Right now there is a pigeon sitting on a lady's table (outside McDonalds)and she is feeding it. Now there are like 6 of them on her table lol.

Oh funny part, they siesta here. For like four hours. So everything shuts down from 1-5 (i think those are the times) except the restaurants and cafes of course. Oh and there is some really neat clothing stores here. We went into a few yesterday and they sell some really awesome emo looking clothes. There is also a Foot Locker, everything was so expensive in there tho. I wanted to get another pair of Chucks so we checked at the foot locker and they were 89 euros (so over 100 US dollars) so we left and went down the street. We found a small shoe store that had some off brands that look exactly like Chucks for 8 euros! thats only 12 dollars! So I bought some grey ones! Me and Catilin felt like we really accomplished something with that good of a deal! With all the walking we are doing I needed some walking shoes! I have two HUGE blisters on both feet from yesterday because I only wore my old lady shoes walking everywhere! It is terrible :(

*A pigeon just landed on my table. Ummm lol

Well I guess that is it for now. I have wrote two whole blogs now! I probably need to go back to the ship soon.

Oh and I will post pictures tomorrow probably! I am having an issue with getting it charged. If you dont plug stuff in right it blows so I'm waiting on charging it until I am sure it wont blow up! Lol.

Be sure to read "The Trip" I posted it right before this one!
Below are pictures of the town:

The Trip

2010-01-27T07:57:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for my absence. I am now in Tenerife, Spain, its an island in the Canary Islands. It is really nice here, but man it was a long trip.
I flew from Dallas to New York where I had a layover of like 9 hours! Ahhh it was crazy. I found a wifi spot so I entertained myself there lol. Then I met another family there that was joining Mercy Ships too. From New York we went to Madrid, Spain. Here the layer over was only 2 and a half hours. It was the longest 2 and a half hours of my life! First our baggage was suppose to come out and go through customs, well only one of my bags came out! and customs didn't even look at it! So I had to walk like 3 miles to get to the right gates to check the bag back in. Then when I got to the gate they didn't speak English so they sent me downstairs to security who then sent me back upstairs to the gate. Ugh long story short I finally found a gate person who spoke some English and I was able to check the bag and go through security! Then off to find the correct gate which changed three times on my journey because people kept telling me the wrong thing. lol

Finally we all got onto the plane heading toward Tenerife. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep before the plane even took off and woke up during the landing thinking "oh crap we're crashing" lol.

The first day here was pretty slow. I just checked into Mercy Ships and went to my room and unpacked. Then we had a HR meeting and security meeting, which I also ended up sleeping through most of, obviously most people do since we all just arrived! The time change is still bothering. I was going to call home this morning and realized its the middle of the night lol.

Yesterday me and some of my roommates went to town. Town is downtown Santa Cruz, Tenerife. It takes forever to get here because you have to walk all the way out of port which is like a mile in itself. Wow. But walking around town was so awesome. The people here are really friendly even though they dont understand anything we are saying! The landscape looks like Mexico but the infrastructure is way more modern and industrialized. Anyways, so we went on a hunt for a guitar because one of my roomies, Caitlin, plays and couldn't bring hers. After like walking from one end to the other we finally made it to the music store! It was seriously like a scavenger hunt except the clues were in Spanish! haha. But we had a good lunch at a local pizzeria everything we ordered had eggs on it tho. That was weird. Then we just headed back to the ship, by this time we were exhausted and still had a ship tour to do! Afterwards we all hung out and went to sleep.

Right now I am sitting in downtown at McDonalds (they have free wifi here) by myself because everyone else had to work. I won't have much work to do until we get to Togo. I feel kind of bad because everyone is getting up at like 6 am and working all day but I slept till 11 had lunch and took off!

I have to tell you how great the guy at the music store was tho. Because the guitar Caitlin wanted to buy was more than she budgeted for so I asked for a missionary rate lol. And he knocked some of the price off ( like 60 euros) and gave her the picks and extra strings for free! I thought that was awesome!

Funny story, the roads here are really narrow and on either side of the road there are these huge balls of concrete, like literally balls lol. They are probably 2 feet high and 3 feet in diameter, well this SUV comes zooming down the road and ran up on one! haha he is still there for like the last hour! The car is literally sitting on top of one, and all the liquid in his car came out everywhere, it wasn't gas but something else brown. Now the policia are here and everyone is just standing there looking because he can't get it off the top of the ball! It is funny lol.

I am having a hard time navigating right now because when I am hooked up to this internet everything is in Spanish. :( and facebook isn't working right now. It wouldn't really work last night either. Everyone says it has to do with the internet here because it usually works. IDK tho.

Well really that's all that has happened since I've been here. The last 3 days have gone by so fast! It feels like just hours. Me and Caitlin (my roomie that arrived the same day as me) kept saying yesterday "wow can you believe we are really here!" Its pretty crazy to think we are actually here! Everyone is enjoying Tenerife because it is like a vacation but everyone is also anxious about getting to Africa. Especially me. I have waited for Africa for a long time and 2 weeks seems so far away! Plus it is kinda cold here so I am ready to be warmer! :)

Thats it for now!

Buenos Dias

This is It

2010-01-05T15:09:00.006-06:00

Today is the 5th. 19 days. That doesn't sound like a long time huh. My life has officially begun. The life that I was meant to live. But, I have a confession, I've been paralyzed for like a week now. By fear? Maybe. Doubt? Maybe that too.
Don't get me wrong, I am not afraid to go to Africa or being away from what I know. Change doesn't bother me, more accurately I crave it. I am afraid to come back. What then?

Some may say it is only 7 months. True. But this marks the beginning of forever for me. I cannot come back to the life I am living now. When I walk away from the life I built in Dallas. It is gone. I can come back to my job and I could get another fancy apartment, and my friends will still be around. Forgive me I am having a hard time putting this into words. Let me try again....

A couple years ago I got to a point where I was doing exactly everything I wanted to do, exactly how I wanted to do it. I was a photographer, going to school at UTA, had an apartment and a man. Then it hit me. I don't like this. So long story short I had one of my well-known epiphany moments and I knew that I wouldn't be happy until I started living the life I always knew I was meant for.

Still I fought it and I have found myself in the same position again, with everything but nothing at all. I fought it because I knew that it meant giving up everything that I knew. Everything that life was suppose to be. The cars, clothes, the money and houses (or at least the dream of these things). That was the hardest part. Making the conscience decision that I am letting these things go for good. Try to fathom that.

Try to understand this is not a journey guys. Or an adventure. Not to me. This is the rest of my life. This is It. I am not giving up 7 months. I am giving up forever. Not for nothing. For everything.

So... what happens when I come back in August? In the recent past I have struggled with a feeling of emptyness, feeling like I was living a life I built for someone else. On many nights I found myself sitting in my amazing $1000 a mo apartment in designer jeans and basically everything that would satisfy so many people, feeling like a poser, an imposter on my own self. The worst part was knowing exactly why I felt this way. God gave me a path and more importantly I saw it and ignored it, intentionally, for a long time. I am scared I will be coming back to the same thing after Mercy Ships, and it will be a 100000 times worse this time, for obvious reasons.

So today I pray for peace. Not strength, I was born with strength, it is innate. Not a path, for I am no longer lost. Not purpose or wealth or even happiness. But for peace of tomorrow. Peace knowing that my faith in what God is to bring me is enough. Peace in the fact that I can walk away and God will provide the rest. I ask for your prayers as well.

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19-20.

*On another note. I realize that I havent provided much information on my preparation for leaving. Which was the point of this whole blog. It seems to be going in another direction.
Also, I notice that people are reading this! So hello! Press the follow button you do not want to miss what comes next!

Randomness while fighting Bloggers Block

2010-01-01T19:14:00.005-06:00

So I am having a serious case of what is probably called bloggers block. Ugh. Its not because I dont have anything to say. I think it is more that I have too much to say and don't know where to start. That, and I have been reading so many other blogs it confuses me lol.

*Random* So, I just now heard of PostSecret, how this escaped me IDK but if you havent checked it out do so now.

Mexico- was awesome, warm and beautiful. No I dont have any pictures yet. I havent even loaded pics since I've been back. Maybe in a couple days.

I love scuba diving but I was very disappointed in the location the dive shop drug us to. The visibility at the location was very bad and there was way too many people around. Like a hundred snorklers and tons of divers. We found better locations after our dive trip :( oh well... We also went riding around the mountains on 4 wheelers. That was pretty awesome. :)

The best part of the whole trip was enjoying the culture and food of Puerto Vallarta. I would live there just for the food. The seafood was so fresh! We literally ate raw fish on the dive boat. Like when we were on the boat the guys were catching fish and cleaning them. Then they soaked it in lime and made some really hot pico and mixed it all up. OMG! It was amazing I could live off it. They called it ceviche, but it you order it at a restaurant it is cooked fish.
I'll add pictures later.

The Mexico trip really put a hold on the planning for my Africa trip. I still have so much to do it is crazy. I made this huge to do list before we left and I have only got to check off one item on the list the last week.. I've also been sick all week. Which sucks. I should post the to-do list. umm maybe.

I also met my soulmate in Mexico, hahahaha. He didn't speak English so when his friend (our personal translator) got tired and wanted to go home I had to break it off :(

This is what our typical convo sounded like for like the whole hour and a half
me: "Do you understand what I am saying?"
soulmate: "Si."
me: "You dont understand a word I am saying do you?"
soulmate: "Si"
and so forth with me talking alot and soulmate repeating "Si" every few minutes. umph.. oh well.

Ok so I am going to get really serious about this blogging business. I have come to realize there is a whole blogger community out there... crazzy. I actually have alot of half written blogs. Lol. So I am going to get those done. I am also working on a 101 list about me (by working on I mean thinking about working on lol) and one of those 101 things to do in 1001 days. Yay!

I just had an epiphany like moment.. this is my last weekend in Dallas! OMG. Sad. Overwhelming.{hyperventilation here}. I kept thinking to myself "we are going to do it big my last weekend here...", "I'm having so much fun the last weekend I'm here" or "I am going to have a huge goodbye party my last weekend here" and such and such... And I just realized OMG this IS my last weekend here. I have no plans. I work tomorrow (sat). Oh. Uh. I'm sick :( I guess next week will have to be a long stretched out weekend. hahaha.

I had to rename this post since it kinda just turned to crap on me. It had a purpose like the first two sentences... Oh well.

This one is for Brandy

2009-12-30T23:37:00.001-06:00

I found this on a random guys blog today that I ran across on 20sb. I believe in the power or prayer and ask everyone who read this to pray for Brandy and her love.

My name is Brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

I Like Old Lady Shoes

2009-12-18T17:45:00.011-06:00

So, I've made enough people cry with all these life altering revelations goings on so I want to talk about what I did today! I went shopping! Aha. It made my whole day better because I got some really great old lady shoes. I love these shoes so much that I am wearing them even tho they are a whole size too big. I have blisters already and I've been wearing them a whole 3 hrs... mostly sitting.

And yes I'm going to post a picture:

~*~In love? Yes I know, me too~*~

I really like old lady shoes and Reebok's, the old kind. I don't really know why cause I don't do the whole dress in vintage thing. Maybe in some way I will never let go of the fashion from my HS years. I still have a soft spot for mismatched socks and Dickie's jumpsuits. If you knew me in HS you'd understand...does anyone have some pics of the Dickie's suit?

Anyways, So I went shopping for bathing suits for the upcoming trip to Mexico. And ended up with skinny jeans an incredible sweater, these killer shoes and like 4 bathing suits hahahaha. I am so indecisive I can never make up my mind so VOILA(???) I bought it all. hahaha sry electric bill maybe next time :(

Another reason I am totally stoked about not only my shoes but the whole ensemble... my pimp glasses look really good with this outfit :) For those of you who haven't had some kind of run in with THE glasses then take a look at my profile pic and take note of the unusually large nerdy but yet totally sexxy pimp glasses (with no lenses) and yes they were 3D glasses at some point. ("Hey Chels look I'm playing dress up bahhahaha).

Just to prove my point about the pimp~ness:

So, today was a good day. I am in an unusually good mood (gimme a break it does happen...sometimes). Even without the clothes I think I would be in an O.K. mood. probably has something to do with this is my last day of work for 9 days. And haha, get this, my job is paying me for my days off... Imma be sitting on the beach and gettin paid a butt load of money to do it! Bahahaha. LoVe It! *Ketchup* Me and the family are going to Puerto Vallarta, MX for the vay~cay... lots of scuba diving hOpEfUlLy! (insert happy dance here).

Cant wait till lunch. We get treats today since its payday and get to go to Chinese place YES!

So, this is my last post till I get back! I will have alot of totally awesome pictures!!!! :)

Je vous manquerai

Acceptance

2009-12-11T21:57:00.010-06:00

Friday I got my acceptance letter from Mercy Ships so its 100% official (insert here a happy dance). I just realized I'm not going to Benin, going to Togo. Togo is the next door neighbor tho so same thing really (I think...wonder if they speak French there too, probably).

I'm more excited today than I have been in a very long time. Even though I am extremely stressed since I leave in a month and a half, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted.

Some days a little doubt likes to enter the back of my head (you know which one I'm talking about). Especially when people say stuff like "wow thats crazzy" or "that takes alot of courage". I kind of feel like ummm hello am I missing something? I guess because I'm not really that scared of anything except the flying part. lol. I dont like to fly. At all.

But, I found this scripture on the Mercy Ships facebook, and it makes me feel better.
And the Lord said, "whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I answered, "Here am I, send me." Isaiah 6:8

I like it because it's so simple and says so much. I'm into that kinda thing. But I really like it because God says "whom shall I send, and who will go for us", and theres not like some kind of struggle or an answer, "ill go if..." or "I'll go but...", its just "Here am I, send me." And thats kinda how I felt when I saw the Mercy Ships position open, "well I'm going to Africa to live on a ship". It wasnt a decision that I made, it is a purpose that I knew it was time to fulfill. I didn't think about it and haggle myself to death. I just KNEW its time to go and this is where you are going.

So I don't know how many people actually are going to read this, but FYI we are working on getting a benefit concert together featuring Travis Mitchell (travismitchellmusic.com) So if anyone wants to come then send me an email, Facebook or comment on here and I will get you the details. :) Once we have details to give that is.

Well I guess that is all for now :)

A toi pour la vie!

L'Afrique

2009-12-10T19:07:00.010-06:00

So, looks like I'm going to Benin, Africa for 7 months! Wow. Thats a long time. ah. But, this is the reason for my blogging, I will be traveling with Mercy Ships (mercyships.org) as a photojournalist. Hummm nervous, yeupp. I will tryin to update this thing a couple times a week or something and talk about what I see and do and experience :) And I will probably post alot of pictures

Blogging. So I have never had a blog before, I guess the closest thing to a blog that I've written is facebook status updates. Aha! I think this takes practice!

So this whole moving to Africa thing has me really stressed right now as you can imagine. I leave Jan 25 until August 2010. And best part I just found out 2 weeks ago :( oh. When I applied, I applied for a position starting May of 2010. Planning to leave in May was stressin me enough and then they come and say Jan? Oh Lord, what am I doing! Uh.

About me, So I'm 21, mainly a photographer, tho, I have a real job. lol. And a writer? Hummm I guess we will see since I am also the writer on that ship. I bet I figure it out! Hopefully.

I've always known I'd end up in Africa. But thats another post....
The title is L'Afrique because in Benin they speak French so, thats Africa in French FYI.

The last couple of weeks have been insane. Finding out that I need to leave in Jan. My mom and I are trying to get together some fundraisers to raise the money for me to go (its ridic expensive) ugh. Then making list on what I need to bring. For some reason I like to pack.. IDK something about checking list and packing everything into duffel bags and seeing how much you can cram. I dont know really, kinda weird. But I am actually looking forward to my post about what I packed.

Oh and I have to quit smoking :( 28 hours and I've only had 3 cigs. I feel like slapping someone. Driving in Dallas is the worst time of the day tho. I started screamin at some chick on my way to work today, just randomly i dont remember what she did... lols. I also have to learn French in a month. French, extreme stress, airplanes and no cigs... NOT a good combination! :(

Ok so it looks like I hit all the basics, I'm a photographer (and all of a sudden a writer lmao), my name is Joy and I'm moving to Africa for 7 months. I'm terribly excited about this adventure btw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have to watch this video: Journey by Jah Cure

Thats it for now!

Un amour