in love...

Trying not to bring too much confusion, I will just let you know I'm officially dating Kyle Hickey. I tried not to, tried to stop it and surely didn't plan for it, but I've fallen in love. He is honest, trustworthy, funny, crazy, respectful, open and I feel very at ease with him and I can be myself.

In early June I came back on board and a few days later Kyle arrived on board the Africa Mercy as a second mate. He will stay until the end of this month and will have a brief stopover in the Netherlands and then go back to the States to work on a ship.

It's really been a little gift from God that I was asked to stay on board for an extra week to help with the sail back from Gran Canaria to Tenrife. It was cool to do that, but it also gave a great opportunity for us to get to know each other a bit better.

During the last weekend we hit the road together in a rental car and we enjoyed the island, driving around surrounded by beautiful landscapes, deciding to take the smallest dirtroads and chatting and getting to know each other better.

All technical work in dry dock was completed and the ship looked very nice. We sailed back to Tenerife on Thursday and I returned home on Saturday morning

As far as future plans go, this relationship hasn't been very helpful to sort out my life, but I am very happy anyways
This week I just hope to go back to work at the hospital in Dordrecht and we'll take each day as it comes. I'm looking forward to Kyle's stop over in the Netherlands.

It is strange to share my love life so public, but I know that there are many who truly empathize and follow my life's adventures, so I want to share this exciting news with you.

Thanks for being involved and tahnks for all your prayers.

Big hugs &
Blessings
Maaike



some roadtrip pics Gran Canaria

dry-dock

Hi all!

So finally another update. I’m sorry it’s been a long time.

Currently the ship is in dry dock in Gran Canaria. That does sound like a horrible place to be, I know, but I’m managing ;-)

We sailed early in the morning of the 2^nd of July and arrived before noon around the port of Gran Canaria. From there on we were pushed in and pulled in onto the dock by the shipyard crew. During the time of biking the Camino in Spain with Christina I picked up a little bit of Spanish, which really comes in handy now. Besides that I’ve had loads of practice doing charades with patients in Africa J

During this shipyard period the deck department has done a lot of maintenance work and also the shipyard has been working hard on the maintenance of the ship’s hull. But the main reason for this dry dock has been the replacement of the air condition systems, as you can see on the photo’s being put in through the side of the ship.

On board it’s about 28 degrees Celsius, since the air condition doesn’t work. On the island itself it is nice and cool, because of the wind. During my days off I’ve been biking around and been to the beach.

The plan for me was to leave the ship this Friday the 13^th, but we will be sailing back to Tenerife soon. The Chief Mate asked me to stay for that voyage, so I decided to stay until the 20^th of July.

Other interesting news is that I met a very nice, fun & sweet guy, who likes me too…

It’s nice to have an extra week to spend time together and get to know each other better.

Big hug

& Blessings

Maaike

sailing...

Hey!!

Just a few images to give you a view on the voyage from Togo to Tenerife.
Next Monday the ship will sail to Gran Canaria to go into drydock. I'll keep you posted!

Big hug &
Blessings
Maaike




  

 

 

  

 






 





 

Tenerife

Photos will follow soon... (at least the internet is up and running again)

Dear all,

I’m writing this message on the 25th of June. Unfortunately the internet doesn’t work, so I’ll see when it’s back up again.

But the great good news is that we arrived safely in Tenerife today! This morning I had my last watch on the bridge from 08:00 till 12:00. It was very foggy, so we couldn’t see a lot, but just a few miles from the ship we could see the island. Since we are docked in Santa Cruz, which is in the Northeast corner of the island, we followed the coast till the pilot came on board around 14:00 and we started sailing into port.

The sail was really nice and smooth. We had a few days with some rough weather and even wind force 10 (55 knots), but somehow it didn’t make the ship move all that much. 

During the calm days we’ve seen a lot of sea life, which I enjoyed a lot! Even when we sailed out of Togo the crew on the bow was entertained by some dolphins, which I rather watched for a little while than work :-) But I did work! I don’t know why, but sailing really makes me sleepy. A lot of people did daytime naps or slept in, but I had to work, so it was early to bed for me…

I have to admit that I had quite some fun with the guys on the bridge. After that I was on day work, which means that I got paint a lot of things on deck from 13:00 till 17:00, which is a nice job with some headphones and the sun out… During our sailing out of port and docking in Tenerife I was stationed on the bow, which I do like. I start getting more and more of what we are supposed to do and when and why.

This evening we were cleared by customs around 17:30, so we could go off ship wherever we wanted. So I went out with a group of dear friends, ordered some tapas and had a mint ice-cream afterward and walked off my sea legs :-)

It’s weird to be back here with a whole different group of people. There are a lot of memories coming back and I’m sure missing lil’ C or D…. (aka Christina)

In the beginning of July we will sail to Gran Canaria to go in dry dock. I’ll write more about that later. In the coming days there will be a lot of nurses and good friends leaving the ship, so the time has come again for me to say some goodbyes. 

But there will also be some familiar faces coming on board during this ship yard period. It keeps on being an interesting and special time to be here. I am very grateful!

Big hug

& Blessings

Maaike

departure

Just some photos to give you an image of my recent activities on board

 

 

 

 



First week back

It’s been a week and I have had a great time with old friends. A big group has left the ship during this week, but it felt OK for me to say goodbye of farewell. It was a little reunion for me and I have very much enjoyed it and now we’re moving on.

Within this first week I have managed to get a cold! Thank you air conditioning!

Today four of us went diving, sipping some of the poopie water, so I might get some ‘fast fast’ as they call it in Sierra Leone (and I think you know what that means)

On deck we are working hard to get everything ready for the sail. The last few days we’ve been loading containers and started putting some cars on deck eight. That’s one of my favorite things to do! It just looks so cool when you see the landrovers hanging next to the ship and then have them come on board.

The moment of actually sailing out of the port of Lome is coming closer. Of course the actual time of departure is top secret, but I’ll inform you guys again once we’re sailing.

Besides the work, I also get some time to reflect and look back and forward. People on the ship ask how things were back home… To be honest I have to tell them it has been great to meet up with friends and family, but it also has been difficult… Trying to meet up with many people, getting used to life in Holland, getting registered, starting to work again, living out of a backpack all the time…

And some people want me to stay and settle and others want me to go and be a missionary and I… I don’t really know at the moment. I am willing to go if that is where I need to be, I would love to work in Africa, but where and what and how long…

But at the moment I don’t have any clarity. I would like to work on ships too or do projects in Dordrecht as I used to do or come to Mercy Ships every now and then… I just don’t know

So as I am doing my work and resting after work, I think, reflect, chat, write, ect. Maybe I haven’t taken my return back in society as seriously as I should have… and this time on board is a chance to pick up what I forgot to pay attention to…

Will keep you updated on sailing activities!

Big hug &

Blessings

Maaike

P.S. Tom Bradley has some nice shots of a nearby African country, the street view is very comparable to Togo. http://tombradley.wordpress.com/2012/06/10/cote-divoire-from-a-car/

first week back

Thank you all for the comments on the last blog post! Thanks also for your prayers and support!

I’ll have to start with a some confessions J I started working last Tuesday after ‘sleeping in’ till 9 am. After work I wanted to go the a nearby shop to get some mint syrup (as some of you know I really really like in about every drink). After some time walking out of the port, I realized that I was going alone… which would be normal back home, but not recommended (or forbidden by Mercy Ships) in West Africa. Besides that it was 5:30 pm, so it was getting a big dark already. Because I wanted to make sure I was back on the ship before dark, I took a motor-taxi. Euhm… going out at dusk is not recommended, as a woman alone very much not recommended and riding the motor-taxi’s without a helmet isn’t recommended either. (for the record, you may need to read ‘not recommended’ as 'not allowed'… :-S). I did get my bottle of mint syrup and got back on board safe and sound, but I realized that I might have sort of broken a few rules within the first 24 hours of my time back on the ship. I’m trying a little mantra; think first, then act or speak… not working that well yet :-D

The only 'obstacle' during that trip was the guy in the store. He did not want to let me go without giving me his phone number… just to boast the ego a bit ;-)

Last Wednesday we had to say goodbye to most of the dayworkers. Since I knew a lot of them from 2010 and from the start of this outreach it was so great to be present at this moment, where their service and commitment were celebrated.

Yesterday we had to say goodbyes to a lot of people. I feel blessed to get the change to wave them farewell and give them a last hug.

Afterwards there was a little ‘special goodbye’ for the hospital staff. Last year some nurses started a bit of a tradition in closing the outreach with a water fight. I love water fights!! The group would come together after community meeting and have some sort of end-of-the-outreach-talk until one of the masterminds would start throwing water balloons. I was asked to ‘help out’ from deck 7. Of course I wanted to share some love from above :-D

It is really nice to be able to help out on deck, assist in the hospital pack up and have some fun on the side.

Many blessings

& a big hug

Maaike