End of the outreach

I survived my first outreach here in Monrovia. The hospital is shut down and all the patients have returned home. We've said good-bye to all of our palliative care patients and their families. The dock is looking more and more bare as all of the containers are being loaded onto the ship. The dockside medical tents have been packed up and loaded. The entire ship's crew is in the process of cleaning and securing equipment so that it doesn't end up on the floor damaged during the sail.

We will leave sometime this week but I can't give the official date because we have to be careful of stowaways. If people know the date we leave, they will try to board the ship for a free ride to the Canary Islands so we're not allowed to give the date. I guess all of the crew will go through a pretty extensive search of the ship looking for stowaways.

We've already had our first abandon ship drill and we'll have at least two more before we leave, I think. I'm responsible for handing out lifejackets so at least I'll be one of the first to get one!! But I'll be one of the last to actually get on a lifeboat if we really had to abandon ship. Obviously I don't expect to have any problems but you never know, considering that ship in Antarctica just sank and all the passengers had to abandon ship. Anyways, the leadership on the ship takes this very seriously and we will be prepared in case of emergency.

The sail to Las Palmas, Canary Islands will take about 6 days and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access or not so I may be out of touch during the sail. Once we're in Las Palmas, we'll be in dry dock for approximately four days. That means the ship will actually be lifted out of the water so that it can be inspected and any repairs made. During this time, we're told it will be like camping. We won't have running water so no toilets or showers. There will be portable toilets/showers available somewhere (out on the dock possibly). Once any repairs to the lower half of the ship are made, the ship will go back into the water and other inspections/repairs will occur. We then will sail to Tenerife, Canary Islands around December 23 where we will stay until the end of January. We'll then sail to Sierra Leone and stay for just a few days, then back to Monrovia.

On another high note, I'm cabinsitting for someone who is on vacation for two months so I am in a three-berth cabin with my own space and a porthole! I actually got to wake up this morning to natural light. In my usual cabin, there are no windows so every morning when I wake up, it's pitch black and feels like three in the morning. I've discovered I really don't need much space but it's nice to have your own little area that is only yours (even if it is only about a 7x8 space).

I looked up the weather in the Canary Islands and it is in the 70s year round. I can hardly wait for the cooler temps. Plus I'm looking forward to the snow when I get home for Christmas!

Peace,
Michele