so, yesterday was thanksgiving day in america. not something you would think we would celebrate here on a multi-national ship in west africa. but you would be wrong. (we do attempt to celebrate many of the different cultures' holidays on the ship)
our cooks outdid themselves with limited items at their disposal. we had roast turkey with gravy, yams (they weren't yellow like at home but then oranges are green here), mashed potatoes (not real but pretty darn good anyways), wax bean casserole (decent substitution for green beans), stuffing, cranberry sauce (made with craisins and i'm not sure what else...pleasantly good) and pumpkin pie with cream for dessert. it was yummmy. i really had to work at finishing my plate but my mouth was soooo happy. =)
presendential dinner...a few weeks ago, the president of benin hosted a state dinner for the crew of the africa mercy. our founders and one of our surgeons received honors such as the equivalent of knighthood during the dinner. we all got dressed in our finest clothing and were ferried over on buses to the presedential palace, ushered in by armed guards through metal detectors, and then enjoyed a nice african dinner with the president. most of the talking was in french so i didn't understand a lot of it. my table was a fun group of people which was nice as i couldn't really see anything being at the far end of the room from the president and honorees. he had some dancers out to tell stories of benin in their native dress and dance styles which was a lot of fun to watch. and then, it was back home to the ship and to the real world of the day to day of finishing up surgeries and getting ready to sail.
etc...the last surgery was a week ago today and today the hospital closed. we said our farewells to the few remaining patients and to our many wonderful day volunteers (translators, housekeepers, deck and engineering assistants, etc) and although it was a time of rejoicing at the work that has been done this year, it was also a time of sadness and we say goodbye to people who have been part of our lives and hearts for the last 10 months. next week we will be finishing cleaning and packing up the hospital and soon we sail on to tenerife for the holiday season.
i'm sorry i haven't been good at posting lately. i'm tired and having a hard time knowing how to share the day to day of here with home. (though that is an excuse and not really a good one). i hope each of you reading this are doing well and i hope to get a chance to see you while i am home for a month in late december.
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