Where in the World is Christina???: August 2009

Its very interesting... I have made it! I have traveled thousands of miles (or as I am trying to now convert and call "them" ..Kilometers) to a far away land called: Africa! I honestly cannot explain in words what kind of an experience this has been so far. However, I will try the best I can.

The week started off with a bang. When Danae and I arrived in the Benin Airport, Ben approached us and asked if we were part of Mercy Ships, in which to our surprise he had been on our flight, and is the PE teacher for the Academy. Our flight took off over an hour late in Paris, and thus landed over an hour late in Benin....and we quickly adapted to what we call "African Time". We waited at least another hour for all of our luggage to arrive, and then had to go through security, where we were greeted by our Principal Nikki Aldum. After we loaded our 400 pounds of luggage (haha!) we again waited to back out of our parking spot in the airport... for another hour... when we finally got on the road, it was only a ten to fifteen minute drive to the port, where we drove up to our new home. Its funny, I never would have never imagined calling a port home...let alone a 200 roomed ship my "House" haha! I decided I have a very valuable piece of property...i mean come on.. who in California doesn't want a 360 degree ocean front view!!! hehe! :)

We arrived Monday night, and early Tuesday morning we beganour endless meeting after meeting after meeting... a lot of the meetings were review of safety and information from our Texas Gateway training, and then we got to the good stuff!! We got to meet and greet our teaching staff!! Woot woot! Whom are amazing! Its a great combination of veteran teachers, long-termers, newbies, and ages. Several times we have all found ourselves looking around the table and thanking the Lord for the members of this team :) We have definitely had our struggles and Spiritual Warfare already, but we know that the Lord is in control, and above all else, HIS will, WILL be done! One of our teachers has not arrived on the ship yet, as she has not been able to sell or rent her apartment back home...so there are many decisions that are being made, and prayfully this evening we will find out the outcome. Please keep our whole team (and me personally) in prayer during this time. ...sorry to be discreet, after decisions have been made I will be able to explain more in detail. Right now the best is to just pray for the Lords will. :) And we are excited for what ever outcome the Lord has planned!! :)

Living on a 500foot long ship sounds VERY big!! Especially when you say that there are 8 decks, a cafeteria, crew galley, laundry rooms, a "great room", Internet cafe, lounging areas, a bank, a ship shop, a swimming pool, a pre K-12th grade school, a hospital, a workout gym, 500+ beds AND a STARBUCKS on board! HOWEVER, I can tell you...it gets smaller every day! haha! although, Danae, Ben and I could win the awards for getting the most confused and lost in the ship...if there were awards to give! haha! We decided we only really need to know where we eat, sleep and go to work at... okay so some caffeine is pretty important too ;)

It has been a great experience being able to have Danae and Ben to hang out with and having 'insta-friends' as my mom called it. Danae has been a true blessing! We seem to always be thinking the same things at the same time! HAHA! ...some may think we're a bit crazy...but we agree ;) hehe! Its a big ship, and there are a lot of people, but keeping close friends is difficult since there is a huge turn over rate all the time. Think about it this way, there are about 450 beds, but over 1,100 people are coming and going on the ship every year. Many people are only here for 2 weeks, while others stay for up to 3 months. Many people come for the length of a service (10 months on average in any particular country) and leave afterward. So just when you are starting to develop a friendship, they leave. Not to say I have already enjoyed getting to know the "short-termers" too!! :) However, our teaching staff, 90% of us are committed for 2 years! Which is a true blessing! A great example of hanging out with everyone was last night's "Birthday-Dance Party!" Seriously! I did not know how much fun (and how "High School-ish") we could have on the ship! haha!!! We had someone "DJing" with Christmas lights flashing and a double deckered cake that our awesome Chef Jesse baked! It was fun :)

Already, though, sometimes it doesn't feel like "Africa".... yes we are ported in an African port, with colorful fishing boats casting their nets in the early morning, and yes, nothing resembles good ole California... but since we have such an unique community living situation on the ship its completely different than I expected...yet very similar. When being on the ship, there are definitely inconveniences that I have already faced: different foods, 2 minute showers, not being able to sit up in my top bunk bed, always having a dark room (due to different people sleeping at different hours depending on their shifts), and having the toilets back up...4 out of the 5 days I have been here... haha! but there are joys too, especially the fact that there is always something to do, or go!

Friday night I got my first taste of Africa, while walking with some friends to a local outdoor restaurant...and even more so when our teaching staff took an adventure to a pool and beach area about a 2 hour drive on the bumpiest road you can imagine! I think we only hit our heads 4 or 5 times on the top of the Land Rover's roof! haha!! We fit 9 people into one Land Rover, with 4 of us sitting in little bench seats in the back...and we fastened our seat belts as tight as we could just to keep us in our seats and not hitting our heads on the roof! haha! What a true African experience! :) We got to drive through the villages and see the lines of people pulling in their fishing nets from the sea, while others carried their babies on their backs and bowls on their heads.

I know I have only had a taste of this adventure, and I cannot wait for what is to come!
Please continue to keep our Academy in your prayers, as a week from tomorrow is our first day of school! :) Thank you for all of your love and support and prayers!

I love you guys and miss you so much!!