More pics (I didn't take these either)

Hangin our on the dock with friends!

Here's Dr. Russ, my right hand man (maybe I'm on the
right hand side...) Anyway, he's gone home and I'm
mourning his departure. He's the ophthalmologist I've
worked with all this outreach.

Pictures

This is from our trip to the breakwater. You get an idea of
the mammoth proportions of our home sweet home.

Here's the lovely ship around sunset time. No, I didn't
take these pictures, but a friend did. Enjoy!

New pics

Sorry all! I'm trying to upload pictures, but am having difficulty. I will continue to attempt it in the near future!

A Sailing Hospital?

Hello everyone! I have so much to share, I almost don't know where to begin. If I did this every week, it would be so much easier to remember the things that are happening, etc. I could use a lesson in diligence.
First, I need to describe the opportunity I had to go out and hand out in "the bush", which I have realized just means the woods, or the rural areas of the country. Mercy Ships has an agriculture team who goes out and trains local people in organic farming, teaching about composting, soil enrichment, natural pesticides, realistic irrigation methods, etc. The general idea of the course is restoration to the way God intended the earth to produce food for its' inhabitants. We want to farm the way God made the earth to work, because that way it will flourish. My roommate and I had a chance to go out to a village and sit in on some lectures, and stay in the village for 2 nights. Even the process of getting there was quite an African event. We left about 2 1/2 hours late, stopped for many visits along the way, to pick up everybody and their mother, , loaded all the goods on the top of the vehicle, and then sat all squished into the Land Rover for 3 hours. We used our only spare tire about an hour down the dirt road. On ehad to wonder what we might do if another tire happened to find the stress unbearable. Anyway, we arrived in the village mid-afternoon, where we received a hearty, warm welcome by the class (who was supposed to have class that day). Life is so relaxed and unstructured here. Over the three days away we got to meet some of the local people, hang out by the river, see the garden beds (with organic matter 2 feet below) that the class had prepared, and do some classic rump-bumping down the local river. I think the escapade down the river was probably the most comical. 4 of us Mercy-shippers strapped on our hunter-orange ship life jackets and trapsed through town, quickly gathering a crowd of Liberian children. We hiked up the road for 20 minutes and then jumped in, while the kids ran along the shore watching this craziness, shouting about the alligators and river warnings. We all emerged with limbs intact, feeling a little relieved and thoroughly refreshed. Local women served us lovely African fare of fried plantains, rice and ocra, peppers, beans, etc. We ate like kings, and the days were precious, rich, and restoring.
Life on the ship has been incredibly busy as things have closed down and we have sought to finish out well, saying all our thank-you's and good-byes to the translators and the friends we have met. The ship is quickly emptying as the crew are returning home at the end of this outreach. We had 4 Celebration of Sight days to finish up all the patients we had done Cataract surgery on, then we tore down the dockside (army-style) tents that we use....which I now know how to do, since the job seemed to fall within my job description. I'm a little worried about the re-assembly in a few months, but that's a worry for another day. Too bad I'm mechanically challenged, our team may require a little mechanical assistance. Next we need to make sure that all our equipment in sail-worthy, meaning that it is well padded or bolted down, and will not be flying across the room/falling over upon turbulence (this may not be the proper nautical term). It's a funny concept, really, considering making a hospital sea-worthy, I mean, is there really a standard way this is done???
Anyway, hope things are well at home. Always love hearing from each one of you, and am so glad you enjoy reading the updates. I miss you all at home.

Breaking the Water

Hello family and friends! I'm truly missing you with a deep love, and I long, at times , to be at home with you, sharing your lives, preparing for the coming winter. The days are also getting shorter here, although not so drastically. Instead of the sun setting around 7, it now sets at about 6:27. Will I ever make it to the southern hemisphere? We were commenting on how the sun was setting earlier, and one of the kids said, "yeah, the days are supposed to be getting longer....", but then I realized he was from South Africa, and had not considered the fact that he had crossed over the great divide. Interesting.
Things are going well on the Liberian front. Surgery will be wrapping up soon. We have about two more weeks left, and then we'll be packing up the ship, and heading toward the canary islands for our dry dock and vacation time. Those of us who work in healthcare may receive some other kinds of jobs, like washing dishes, or cleaning....then we'll really learn the meaning of selfless servanthood. Should be good. I actually look forward to the change of pace.
This past weekend we had a cool opportunity to all pile into one of the 50-seater (although 25 felt just about right) lifeboats and take a little trip out to the breakwater. No, we didn't get to climb into it and then be lowered down the side, but we did get to climb through a little pilot entrance in the side of the ship. The day was beautiful, the water refreshing and calm, and waves pounding the rock dramatic, and the company pleasant. The boatride wasn't exactly rafting the dead, but it was great. Being on the water again brought me back home and made me feel like I was at camp on a beautiful summer day. I'll attach some pictures of the day a little later. Well, I have to go put on my African attire for church this morning. Love and miss you all, and always love to hear your comments.