journey

Journey: an act or instance of travelling from one place to another.
0705 Run out the door into the English fog to try to find the bus stop
0712 Catch the bus for 2 pounds 20 while being referred to as "luv"
0725 Inquire of supposed Englishman which stop for the tram
0735 Board tram towards Meadowhall Interchange for 2 pounds 10
0755 Arrive at Bus stop to realize there are 55 minutes to spare, walk around aimlessly.
0850 Board bus, mentally prepare for 3 hour trip to Birmingham
0850-1150 Watch quaint english countryside pass by, enjoying the "scenic route"
1230 board bus to airport
1300 Check-in with Monarch airline
1500 Takeoff for Tenerife
1930 Arrive in Tenerife south
2010 Find and board bus to Santa Cruz
2100 Arrive Santa Cruz and begin 1 1/2 mile walk to Africa Mercy
2200 Home sweet home, what a day...

Next 3 days - listen to people tell me they didn't think I would make it back before the ship sailed. I did, and I'm so grateful!

Home sweet home

I've come home to Maine for a quick visit before we sail back to Benin, and I was met with quite a warm (as in cold) welcome. We Maine folks experienced a record low at -25 F a few days ago, and we all threw on our long underwear and an extra pair of socks if we even thought we might have to walk past a window...no seriously, it's really that cold. We went out for a walk on one of the coldest days, and as I blinked my eyes, I realized that my breath had been projected upward by my scarf, and my eyelashes had frozen into little icicles. A new phenomenon, for sure. Despite the cold, I relish the beauty, stillness, and newness of this remote world covered in snow and deprived of heat, and I go out for walks/cross-country ski trips to soak it all in. Tonight we had fresh snowfall, and I headed out just after dark with my ski goggles, headlamp, and some music to travel across our lake. It's strange to be gone away (in a rather tropical environment) during the freezing process, and then to come home and just trust that sheet below me with my life, instead of watching the process slowly occur, until I know it's ready for me.
My Maine visit was made nearly complete on Saturday, by taking a handgun safety course. I'm not really sure exactly why I was taking it, because the "everyone's doing it" logic seems rather ridiculous for such a subject, but that really was my reasoning. My mom and sisters took the class, along with some other women, and one, token man, so that someone's eyes could light up when a 44 was mentioned (for those of you who don't know guns, that's a big one with mucho power). Most of us were more concerned about what we had baked to snack on than which gun we would get to shoot, but it was a good day, which got much better (and much more hick-ish) when we actually did our shooting practice from inside our teacher's bedroom, through the window, to our target in their yard. It topped my list of hick experiences and kept us out of the cold. I'm no great shot, so don't worry.
Tomorrow I will hit the slopes on the fresh powder that fell today, and continue to enjoy my family's company. I could almost say I wished it was always winter, but I suppose I'd risk being called the white witch.

Hola Tenerife!

This island is strikingly beautiful. A few days after we arrived, a group of us went and hiked Mt. Teide, a volcanic mountain which is the highest point in all of Spain at over 3,700 meters. The hike meanders through lava fields, long stretches of pumice stone, and finally some larger boulders where you can actually see/feel the gases coming from the side of the mountain. The summit consists of a large crater reaking of sulfur, and gives an amazing view of the whole of Tenerife, and at least 3 of the other Canary Islands. Mom and Dad summitted last year when they came to visit, with a little help of a cable car, but the last 200 meters of elevation the earned all on their own!