I'm Here!

I'm in Africa? I'm in Africa!
After being a consumer of airtravel for 2 days and a night I arrived in Liberia Friday night (i'm in awe!). The plane travel was pretty boring until I hit Brussels. There I began to see more cultures and hear more languages making things more interesting for my eyes and ears. I also found two other nurses heading to the Africa Mercy and met a couple of interesting people. One person is working for the UN in the Food and Agriculture Dept; and the other is living in Israel coming to Liberia for his diamond company. Very interesting talking with them!

So all in all the trip was uneventful and I arrived on time for my connections.
I get the weekend off and start orientation Monday evening. Then I get two shifts to orient with a seasoned nurse (tues and weds) before I'm on my own. After having two weeks off I can't wait to start taking care of patients again!

I'm sharing a cabin with 5 other girls and met most of them late last night. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming! I was also able to tour the ship this morning. It's SO big! It used to be a Swedish Rail (as in train) ferry. Mercy ships obtained it in 1999 and started renovations until 2(?) years ago when the ship came into service as a working, floating hospital. So, everything looks new and bright! We even have a Starbucks cafe on board and air conditioning (although you can still tell it's very humid and hot!).

I'll post pictures as soon as I figure things out. But until then...

Much love,
Jodi