Highs and Lows of "Ship-Life"

AWESOME SIDE:

At work in the Galley last week, I leaned out the porthole as it begun to snow, and caught the little flakes on my tounge and nose! It was SO beautiful!

People get to see me 24/7...all my bad and good bits...and after two months, they still love me!! Amazing! Christians are so cool sometimes!

Each morning, I rise before the sun, and sit on the jetty listening to the birds wake up, the water lapping, the rigging snapping and groaning with the breeze...and slowly the sun starts to spread it's fingers over the horizon, gradually colouring the clouds, then bursting suddenly to life in all it's crazy-awesome glory! I love it!!

Surrounded by people from all over the globe. Amazing. Beautiful new friends and mentors.

"Sleeping hours" are unheard of for the Latino part of the crew...these hours are filled with the sounds of twanging guitars, harmonies, uproarious laughter, and chairs scraping back and forth over my ceiling...(otherwise known as the dining room!) But I love it! They have such a beautiful culture with real joy woven into everyday life...

Day off every week to sleep...and then explore the city! Meeting the locals-eating their strange foods, (Pickles, sour dough, sausages!)-discovering quaint little cafes, ally ways, shops, and resteraunts down narrow cobblestoned lanes; buildings towering either side with their many white silled windows and red roofs.

Meeting curious locals, and introducing them to my new home; having them to dinner; chatting about the meaning of life and life after death and all the important stuff that really matters...getting so many opportunities to share Jesus!



NOT-SO-AWESOME SIDE:

Sickness sweeps through the ship like wild fire; so teams may begin the week at full capacity, and end it with only one-man-standing! And being the sick person means you are quarentined to your cabin for minimum 2 days! (Darkness with yellow artificial lighting, 3 cabin mates to avoid, one tiny top bunk in the corner so small you can't even sit upright...and the smell of the everready disinfectant seeping through the whole cabin...not so fun!)

Some days, when the ocean gets moody, or a big ferry passes by, I find myself swaying as I work. It's kind of cool, but by the end of the day, you realise the constant movement around here makes your body really tired as it's always fighting to keep it's balance...

All waking hours are filled with the roar of metal pins grinding metal walls-needle guns-reverberating through the whole ship.

Germany is COLD!!! Us coastal Aussies aren't generally big fans of the cold! Me especially! (But the snow sure helps me feel ok about it. It's so beautiful!)

SO many visitors...some nights I just want to collapse in bed after work, when yet another of my local friends rocks up, and needs to be entertained. There is no curfew on board, so until I get the guts to be assertive, they generally stay well into the wee hours of the morning. I think I'm going to have to learn this "No" word!

BUT OVERALL:

I love this life! I feel well prepped for it. Living plenty of years in community. Loving people, life, adventure...yeah...it's an AWESOME opportunity God's blessed me with!