My trip here was relatively uneventful, though, as usual, I barely slept during the ~27 hours in airplanes and terminals. Weary-eyed as I was, seeing the gangway and the familiar blue lettering of the Africa Mercy was a welcome sight. The thought of lugging my duffel up said gangway was less exciting, but many hands make light work, and soon myself and the other new crew on my flight were aboard.
I am quite fortunate this year to have been placed in a two-berth cabin; most of these are reserved for couples, but there are a handful down on deck 2 with bunk-beds for singles. Deck 2 has a few drawbacks: there is a LOT of noise and heat from the engine room that it's nestled right up against, and the cabins are some of the oldest on board. There's a water pipe running from our floor to our ceiling. It's also the longest commute - a whole extra flight of stairs.
There are a lot more pros than cons, however, in my opinion. For starters, deck 2 is essentially ladies only. The ship's small gym and second-hand boutique are at the bottom of the stairs, but other than these rooms men don't really come down here. There are 2 women's washrooms with 3 bathroom and 3 shower stalls each - which are cleaned and stocked daily by housekeepers. Most of the short-term crew cabins are 6 berth, with all 6 people sharing one small bathroom/shower. As far as the noise goes, I would far rather hear the constant rumbling purr of the generators than the intermittent whoosh and clunk of the vacuum plumbing system.
All in all, I'm obviously quite lucky and pleased to have snagged this cabin. Considering how jet-lagged I was the last 2 days, I'm very, VERY glad to have such a restful space to acclimatize in. Today is the first day I haven't felt fog-brained, although I still keep waking up at 3 AM for some reason.
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| Terrible board game selfie with friends old and new. |
It has been lovely to catch up with some old friends, but there is also a LARGE group of us nurses who just arrived - some new, some alumni - that are gearing up for another round of surgeries in the new year. The hospital was mostly shut-down over Christmas & New Years, with just 2 patients remaining with (unfortunately) infected wounds. This week is the beginning of General and Maxillo-Facial surgery, and Plastics will be starting soon after. 70 crew arrived this past weekend, about 30 of them nurses. We've had a full day of orientation, but I got to opt out of day 2 as it's been less than a year since my last service.
One of the nurse educators mentioned how the influx of such a large group of new crew is a huge asset to the work being done. We are bringing new energy and enthusiasm, hopefully boosting the spirits of all who have been here since September, or longer! As a returning crew, it is always refreshing myself to see the genuine wonder on the faces of new nurses seeing for the first time how lives are transformed here.
Looking forward to my first shift when I be a fly on the wall during some of those transformations.
À la prochaine,
-D
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