My first two days of work orientation - Monday and Tuesday

Monday:

Over the weekend, the ship was pretty quite since MS doesn't do any surgeries on the weekends. Then Monday came and the ship became lively. I had a moment at breakfast when I saw a ton of people in blue MS scrubs. I thought whoa, what we are doing is pretty cool. Dorky, I know.

A little later that day, I had a 6 hour orientation of what work is going to be like in the ward. We went over a lot of paper work, it was exhausting but I was excited to get started.

Later that evening we had more safety and security orientation. I learned about things I would have never thought of. For example, how we can never tell people when our official sail date is because of stowaways and if a stowaway makes it to the next country it cost MS $25,000. Also I heard stories what it was like when MS was in Liberia during their civil war. MS had the UN guarding the area they were around and often times the crew couldn't leave the ship at all for extended periods of time. So Benin is a very safe place.

Tuesday

I got up early and got ready for my first day of work. I was definitely nervous and thinking I have no clue what I am doing. I got even more nervous when heard report. All these surgeries that I have NO idea what they are or what they entail. Then on top of that dealing with paper charting, random supplies that are always changing because most of them are donated, and dealing with 10 patients per room and their family member, and all the translators and medical staff. It makes for a very cozy room to say the least.

After a couple of hours I started to settle in and got use to the flow of things. I had a very busy day but it is more dealing with social issues and educating. Some people are unable to read and write so you have to explain everything. Furthermore if you can't read or write they will sign consent forms with their finger prints, which was the case for one of my patient's mother today.

The nurses told me that I will eventually slow down to African time. Things are slower here and not rushed, as they probably should be. Today for example, we had a 3 year old boy who was the brother of a patient running around playing soccer in the ward. Kids who are able just roam and everyone plays with them. We had music playing in the ward today and all of us were dancing. What is amazing all this can happen and all the works still gets done.

Furthermore, the caretakers do everything that they possibly can. There are no complaints like the USA. Caretakers have to sleep on a mat on the floor, they have to share a bathroom with a lot of people but they never complain and are so happy to be here. Honestly it is going to be tough going back to the States to work when parents don't do the simple things for their child or they complain about being cold, which they always do.

I saw a girl today who had an infection on her face that was eating away her nose. The said thing about it is that MS doesn't know what the bug is. So we had to send her home for a week until we can get the results back. It is so sad, she has been here for a month and the IV drugs are not working and we are funning out. Also I saw a woman who had a tumor covering her eye. Another man who had a mass coming out of his chin so "his chin" was hanging down approximately 3 inches lower then normal. There are so many other crazy things I will see.

Tomorrow morning I am going to an orphanage, which I am very excited about!!

I have learned that MS is considering or wanting to buy 2 more ships: one to work in east Africa and the other in Asia. I would cost them $125 million per ship, which is crazy. I can see why they can't pay their volunteers. Their operation is huge here and they have to raise money in the millions, just to make the ship operate, let alone all the things they do outside the ship and in the field.

Church on the Ward

This morning I went to church on the ward, which is the hospital. Each ward is divided into two and has about 10 beds in each room. There are no dividers, each bed is very close to the other. Also the caregiver can stay under the bed like the hospitality center. So we had church in one of the wards. They woke up the patients, some of the local people who help on the ship - translating and other duties - ran the service. The room was packed. There were men playing drums and a couple of people leading the worship. Some of the Africans were dancing. There was such a great energy present there.

There were many patients who were there even though they were bandaged up and trying their hardest to worship. The sermon was lead by an African. He talked about faith and hope and how he use to not believe in God but he does know. It was a simple sermon but it was relevant to the people. They don't need a sermon about community or consumerism, because that is not their struggle like people in the States.

I have only been here for a few days and I begin to realize how much my mind set has changed when you are not bombarded by American advertisement or consumerism. You don't have media telling you what you should or shouldn't buy or what is in style. That doesn't exist here. It is amazing how much we are influenced by media in the States. People here have no clue about designers brands and they don't care.

Mercy Ships - Benin

Today is my first day on Mercy Ships in Contonou, Benin. I have been here a little less than 24 hours. When I landed in Benin I couldn't believe I had actually landed in Africa. The airport had only one lane. The airplane had to do a 360 degree turn to around. There was no other lane for the plane to turn around on. Once the plane was stopped we had to all exit through one exit onto stairs onto the runway. The air smelled different. A mixture of air by the sea and pollution. It was air that I have never smelt before. Then we had to take a bus to the airport. Let me tell you, people do not use deodorant in Benin.

Once in the airport I had to fill out customs papers and go through immigrations. They didn't even really look at my papers, they just saw Mercy Ships and let me through. Then waiting for my luggage was a 45 minute ordeal of people pushing and bumping into you. Also it is not air conditioned room and it is humid here. Then there are police checking your bags, so I waited for that to happen because everyone else was doing it, but the police officer waived me through.

Then I came upon the crowd of Africans and I kept scanning for some white faces for Mercy Ships. I found them and 5 other women had arrived with me. We took the car to the ship. First seeing the ship, I was in amazement. It is huge. I knew it was going to be large but I have never seen a cruise ship or any ship of substantial size.

Once we arrived we got our badges and room assignments. They had dinner waiting for us. I was surprised to find that there was no rice. I thought I was going to be eating rice and beans for dinner all the time. However, I learned that corn is the main stable here. After dinner I met my roommates, who are all nurses and they are very nice. I unpacked and then went to bed.

The next day I had to wake up at 8am to get my day started. I had breakfast and then orientation. I was taken around the entire ship was pretty confusing. Then the hospital manager took us on a tour of the city. We just drove around the main streets. I got to see the craft market and the vegetable market. Also we stopped by a hotel where people from Mercy Ships people swim and it is so nice. That is where the wealthy stay when they come here.

The streets are filled with these motor bikes, which are called jimmy jons, and they are their form of taxis. Apparently they are not very safe at all. Besides not wearing helmets, apparently some of the drivers are partially blind and Mercy Ships has fixed their eyes and told them they are taxi drivers. The pollution is bad but not as bad as Korea.

We went by the hospitality center. This center is for people pre and post surgery who don't need to be the hospital but who don't have someone to stay with in Contonou. They house the people in this two rooms. The patient sleeps on top of the bed and the caregiver sleeps on the floor underneath the bed so there is no waste of space. They also have a room that is for physical therapy, school for adults and children. There is no wasted space here.

We went to another restaurant and ate pizza there. the pizza was good surprisingly. Bill, the hospital manager, told us some of his experiences which was incredible. He had worked in Liberia for 8 years and he ran the biggest hospital in Liberia during their war. He was also the liason to Clinton when he visited Liberia. He had so many more stories.

We returned to the ship and then me and three other girls walked around town for a little bit. Of course people wanted us to buy things from them.

It has been a good day but I am still tired from travel.

My last day in NYC

Today I leave for West Africa. It is crazy to think I will no longer be a New Yorker. I clearly remember my first day in NYC 4 years ago at the end of May. It was cold, raining and I thought what am I doing here. I thought I had made a horrible decision. 4 years later I have come to find out that my decision to be here was not a mistake.

I am going to miss many things about the city. I am going to miss my neighborhood - the WH.

I have grown to love this neighborhood. I know it so well, it is going to be strange to learn another one. I am going to miss the ability to order any type of food at any hour and it be delivered to your door in 30 minutes, unless you are 207 and that takes an hour but so worth it. I am going to miss the community that I have made here. I have made some life long friends here.

Yesterday I started taking my malaria pills. 1 day down and 101 more to go. I hope these pills work.

My last weekend

This past weekend was my last weekend in NYC as a New Yorker. It is weird saying good-bye to a city that I first wanted to leave everyday and now I am loathing to leave. NYC has forever changed me and I will never ever be the same. This city has seen me broken but I have also experienced my greatest highs here. I have made incredible friends and have been involved in a supportive community. I will miss all of them deeply.

This past Friday, Cindy and Lupe and I went to No Malice Palace in Alphabet City which was a lot of fun. The place reminds me of Nasty's in Austin. It is a little on the dirty side but has awesome old-school hip-hop and a lot of dancing.

Saturday, Cindy and I went to watch the UT vs TT game at Stout. It was fun but I realized that I am way passed the college stage. I don't love watching the games like I once did. UT won by the way.

Sunday, I went to my last TGC service and it was sad. TGC has been my home for some time and I am nervous to find another church like that in Chicago. Then I went to have lunch with Amna and Rafia at Cafeteria in Chelsea. It was great spending time with those two girls. Then I met Jenny for dinner and drinks. We ate and then we sat in Central park for 2 hours and just caught up on life. I love the conversations you can have with someone where you don't need to sensor anything and they know your heart so that you don't have to worry about judgement; so refreshing.

It is Monday and I have a lot to do these next four days because I am leaving for Benin on Thursday!

Last day at CHONY

I have 2.5 hours left of my last shift and I am thrilled. I can't believe it is almost over and I am heading to Africa next week!!!

First Post

This is a blog about my future travel adventures