Back in South Africa

After all the excitement of Thanksgiving (with Grover as my guest!), Christmas (cookie tour, the Costas B&B, Amy and Larry home!, great family time in Wisconsin!), and New Year's (bonfire at the Herold's and a trip to Charleston to see amazing friends and my MUSC family) it was hard to believe I was heading back to the ship for another full year!  

Mom and Dad drove me to Dulles... again.  They're getting pretty good at it!   hee hee.  After a cup of coffee and an apple fritter, we said our goodbye's. :( The plane took off just as the sun set.     

I arrived in Durban, South Africa on January 15th. About half the current crew are still living at Applesbosch in the beautiful greenness of KwaZulu Natal.  It's mostly farmland and Zulu huts scattered over the vast hills. 

Several of us take shuttles to and from the ship Monday-Friday to work on cleaning up the ship and preparing for our next outreach in Sierra Leone. The other half of the crew live on board and are working hard to get the ship ready to sail with her new generators!  

Applesbosch Campus

The shuttles leave at 0800. 

Getting the ship in ship-shape!

We were planning to begin the voyage to Sierra Leone on the 19th of January.  Because the ship isn't quite ready to sail, we'll be staying here in Durban a bit longer.  I'll keep you posted!  



It's been nice to see lots of familiar faces and fun to meet new Mercy Shippers, too!  I hadn't seen Alex and Sharon since their wedding day back in September!  It's also summertime in the southern hemisphere.  This was a nice change from the constant freezing temperatures and snow of West Virginia and Wisconsin!

KwaZulu Natal

                                      

Thanks for following this blog!  I'm excited to share thoughts, pictures, & stories here throughout 2011.