My Boy

So I visited the Hospital Ward this evening... and wow.... I wish words could express what I experienced... first of all, it is already hard just going to a normal hospital to visit someone... but even harder to visit a patient you have never met in Africa...and no one speaks your language... or even French... second, its hard to take in the sounds of crying, beeping, the smells of a normal hospital, African food, and seeing 10-12 beds full of faces that hurt...yet there was...joy.... hum... joy.... yes, as a matter of fact I believe that Joy would be a very good word to describe it. :) I felt like the whole room lit up when Danae and I walked in... a few of the children instantly took a hold of us, and wanted to play "Jenga"... so we stacked the tower very neatly... and soon realized that "our" rules were just suggestions..and just like any kid, they like to just have fun. So, we ended up just trying to build the tower as high as we could...until...Oh!! IT FELL! haha!! I dont care where in the world you are, when the Jenga tower falls...you literally laugh out loud! and instantly try to stack it right back up to play again! ...meanwhile... a little boy kept making eye contact with me...and smiling...and waving... so I waved him down to join us on the hospital floor... Another woman caught my eye and seconds later she joined in...we played another universal game: Disney Princesses Matching! ...except Sebastian, Belle, and Pocahontas were missing their matches...which added a whole 'nother element of its own... I was drawn to the little boy who had played the waving game with me a few times, and it was fun to get excited when he got a match! My heart filled with warmth when even I got a match, because he put both of his hands in the air and gave me the biggest "congrats high 5's" ive ever received! This young boy was not just any ordinary boy... for he obviously knows what it is like to have a difficult life... as he is in the process of having multiple surgeries for a facial deformity of some sort...yet he was excited, joyfilled and encouraging to the other children :) He made me smile. From the inside out. I feel filled with Joy because of him. I may never know this young boy's name, nor understand a word of his language, or ever understand what it is like to grow up in his shoes... but I can tell you this... He has touched my heart. I will keep him, and all of those children in my prayers, and will smile every time I think of them. Even though it was only an hour of "my time"... I think God's timing far succeeded anything I can ever put into words.

Thank you for sending me Lord. I love You. I pray that I continue to do Your work, in Your timing, and for Your kingdom! Use me. Break me. Mold me. I am YOURS.

Benin VS Mali

We went to the National Benin Football Match today!! Benin VS Mali! They tied 1-1! It was a great game!!! Definately a cultural experience, as they take Football VERY seriously! I witnessed a fight break out, but no worries, we just went to another entrance...haha! okay, so the tickets cost 5000cfa (5000 See-Fa...which is equivelent to $10 USD) ...but after we got there, we realized that to get into the stadium safely, the 5000cfa entrance was NOT going to be where we could enter...so we walked around...all the way almost to the MALI section, where 1000cfa ($2) seats were, and we were able to get right in, very easily.... AND we had great seats!! hehe! So we heard that Benin is playing Ghana soon...we may just have to splurge and buy $2 seats this next time ;) hehe!

Heres some pictures of our day's event!

YO-VO! YO-VO! (white person! white person!) ....hum... we kinda stuck out a little! A fun group to go with!! I love being able to meet and get to know new people :)

Benin Flag in the crowd! :)

Danae Sandwich! Go YELLOW!

Zimmie Jons... EVERYWHERE!

My favorite picture of the day! Benin vs Mali...September 6, 2009... Tie 1-1

Lots and lots and LOTS of Zimmies!! ...they are not safe though! no helmets and all need a smog check!

Wow! Im in Africa!.... I LIVE in AFRICA!! it kind of hit me today... but it made me smile :)

Um... well.... theres not really parking spots...its like just a parking area... where they quadruple park you! ...and we got a little stuck... but we remembered the hierarchy of vehicles... zimmie jon beats pedestrian--car beats zimmie jon--landrover beats car-- semitruck beats landrover -- tank beats ALL! (and weve encountered EVERYONE of these! lol!)

Benin vs Mali ....1-1

My roomate/bunkmate Megan! Shes amazing!! Such a sweet gal!! Our first Roomie adventure! :-D Im looking forward to the 80's dance party this saturday! She is the queen at throwing amazing parties on the ship! :)

Yes, I am in Africa!

WOW! First of all, I want to apologize for not updating this sooner!!! I have sat down to update it many many times, and only gotten through the first or second sentence... so Im praying that I will get further with it this time! My goal really is to update this once a week, even if its a little blurb...and honestly, things are settling in a little better now, so I can manage my time better. I cannot believe that I have already completed FOUR weeks of school so far!! AND already been on the ship for about SIX weeks!! Time has FLOWN by! If I was to recap every event these last few weeks, I think the site would have to be renamed Christina's Book rather than Christina's Blog! haha! But I definately want to share with you some exciting pictures and adventures! Because you don't just live on a ship in West Africa for 6 weeks, and not have some adventures! haha! ...so where to begin... well at the beginning is good :)

After all of our orientations, and finally beginning the school year, Im finally beginning to get settled in :) I am teaching 6th grade Bible, Integrated Sciences (7-8th grade), Physics (9-10th grade), Math grade 5, Fundamentals of Science (grade 6), and 4th & 5th grade sciences, which leaves me one prep every other day...for a "first-year" teacher, it has been a wild ride, yet SOOOO much fun! The students are amazing! My largest class is 4th & 5th grade science which is 7 students! And my other classes average 5 per class, which makes for a very nice group---but they get their work done so quickly! I usually have to plan extra activities, because with so few students, we go through the material at a MUCH quicker pace! Its a lot of fun though! :) I usually work monday -friday 730am until 5pm (dinner is at 5!) and then usually end up going back for another hour or so...but hopefully that will ease up a little bit as the school year progresses. Then on weekends I usually go work for a good couple hours too... BUT! On the weekends, I also take some good ol' off time!!! :)

Some of my favorite events on the ship are weekly planned events, such as Thursday night community meetings- These meetings are kinda like a church service, which there is worship and a speaker. Then afterward there is fellowship time in Mid-Ships. Mid-Ships is actually where I am sitting right now, as Don Stevens would say, "it is the hub of the community"... and actually it is. Downstairs the starbucks and the Ship Shop (that Danae and I have named The Walmart...because it is litterally a mart with one wall! haha!) and there are also a lot of tables and chairs all gathered around that area, then upstairs (which looks down on the starbucks area) has an internet cafe, a bunch of couches (on which i am sitting on right now), and an open room area where chairs are gathered around, which easily converts into a game night area, or even a karaoke party area! Speaking of Karaoke... It was Danae's birthday last week, so I got a group together and we planned a surprize karaoke birthday party for her!!! It seriously was my favorite night so far!!! we combined two people's bdays, and almost EVERYONE on the ship (including the Captain & family) came!! It is very hard to plan a suprize birthday party for your best friend on the Ship, because 1, we're connected at the hip, and 2, its a SMALL ship and news travels fast! ...but "fortunately" last week, Danae caught the mean bug thats also been traveling fast around the ship, the stomach flu, and she was bed ridden for almost 2 days... and it made planning the party a little easier LOL!! (oops! there's me being too optimistic again ;) lol! The party was a hit! and she was SOOOOO surprized!!! and we ended up timing it perfect!...but she REALY wanted to know why I wanted to get my laundry out of the laundry room before it was dry! LOL! ;)

Last night, Friday night, is another new favorite :) As soon as 5:00 hits, I run and get changed into some sports clothing, grab a plate of food, beg the dining hall crew to store my food for when we get back, and hop into Land Rovers and all head out to the "Football Field" which is a sand field meant for soccer or ultimate frizbee!! but last night we got kicked out of the Police Academy field... so we hopped into the Landrovers again, and did a little off roading, through Cotonou, looking for the 40ish of us for a place where we could play....but we got stuck in the WORST traffic ive ever seen!! (which coming from So. Cal...that says alot!) So one of our friends Juan jumped of the jeep and literally started to direct traffic!! Zimmie Jons (motorcycles with 2-5 people AND cargo on it!), semi-trucks, cars, and landrovers!! there are no traffic signals, but everyone definitely has a HORN!! and it is the most important part of the vehicle! ...but we finally found a field! and all of a sudden a ton of people came out, and we could hear "Yo-Vo! Yo-Vo!" which means White person! White Person! and I think we provided the entertainment for the evening for that little village! hehe!! Then after we got to play Frisbee, we came back home to the ship, and had a "Gates Family" (the people from our training in Texas...which really have become like a family to me and for all of us! and we named ourselves the Gates Family!) worship night... Danae and Leah led worship on piano and guitar.... it was such a needed night for all of us...it amazing how when you get a group of believers together, who worship in a similar way, how God just really speaks to you :) Kelly and Jamie even made Red-Velvet cupcakes! with frosting and chocolate sprinkles! :) yummy!

Wow! Okay, I will stop writing, and show some pictures for this next part!

We went to Ganvie (Gone-vee-yay) last Sunday, which is a village on stilts, because the whole village is basically built on the river! We had to take an hours boat ride to the village, and then we went to a few different little shops getting a soda-pop at, and we had to ride the boat to each place. They didn't have roads in this village, only waterways!

Africa!! I have made it!

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!!

Entrance to the Mercy Ships Academy
m/v Mercy Africa

My Room :) ...can you guess which bed is mine ;)

Our bathroomFront of the Ship's view! ...can you see how many fishing boats there are!!

On our flight... Cotonou, Benin... We made it!

A small village on the ocean

Pulling in the fishing lines

It takes a LOT of people and a lot of time to bring in the fishing nets!

Our Land Rover driving adventure on BUMPY roads!

9 of us were in the Land Rover! (Right to Left) Me, Amy (3rd grade teacher), Sam (her BF) and Ben (PE teacher)

The Land Rover we took on our Adventure!

Home Sweet Home!

Danae and I! Were always smiling about something! :) haha!

Me, Danae, Ben and Sam

History Lesson: The Gate of No Return (wow)

PARIS!!!

Wow!! Last day in Paris!! It has been such a fun trip! Danae and I have had to learn how to use the bus, train, subway and Metro systems here--and we have had fun just being two girls wandering around like little tourists, eating Panini's and Crepes hehe! We have seen all the "Paris" sights and wow they are really amazing! I cannot believe how BIG everything is!!! ..well...except for the Mona Lisa.. she's a little disappointing ;) haha! shes only about the size of a large piece of construction paper!! Which actually made us giggle :) The tour-de-france ends today in Paris, so we will be looking for Lance Armstrong and his crew ;) hehe!

We are staying with the most wonderful family here in France, that let us use their guest room in their European home about an hour outside of Paris, and it is amazing! they even cooked us a wonderful French Dinner of Duck, potatoes, green beans, salad and of coarse ice cream for dessert!

Paris has been wonderful! seeing all the sights, and of coarse doing handstands all over! But to tell you the truth, we are really ready to go to Africa! Tomorrow we leave, and I know that I am so ready! :) yay!! :) Please keep Danae and I in your prayers as we are about to pack up one last time, and travel down to Benin, Africa! We will start safety training and teaching training this week! I love you all and miss you too ;)

Here are some pictures of our Paris trip so far :)

Handstanding by ALL 300lbs of luggage we had to carry ALL over Paris! (getting from the airport to the family's house we are staying at) It was WAY harder than we anticipated! But we did it!

Gotta be cliche' and handstand in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Danae and I on the Eiffel Tower looking ALL around Paris! What a truly spectacular view!

And...in front of the Notre-Dame Church!! ...did you know that there is a crypt right in front of the church....that has ancient ruins of Paris??? Pretty cool eh? ;) (just for Danae!..my lil' Canadian!)

Are you getting tired of my handstand pictures??? ...well this one is in Versailles! which is only a 15 min train ride from where we are staying! (oh plus a 15 minute walk to the train station ;))

Famous Statue....

No wonder no one ever thinks to take a picture from her backside.... haha!

Gotta go...Gotta go...Gotta go.... haha!

A real castle!!! ...kinda like a mote around it! This is actually an island!

Told ya' she was small... haha!! (I look really funny in this pic lol!)