Five Walls at Sea: First Days on the Africa Mercy

Yay!! We arrived on the ship late Thursday night after a very long 24 hours of traveling. The girls really did an amazing job and we were thankful for answered prayers about the travel. On our flight from London to Denver we had 2 extra seats next to us and so Adalynn was able to lie down and sleep for 4-5 hours! Cora slept most of the time when she wasn't eating. People around us were pretty amazed at how well they did. We were so thankful for the Lord's traveling mercies!

We have now been on board for 1 1/2 days. It is so exciting to finally be home. We were able to get all of our stuff unpacked and put away yesterday so our cabin feels a little more like home. We have some more things that we sent on the contanier to get here but we won't get them until we arrive in Guinea. We are now in Tenerife on the Canary Islands just off the coast of Africa. It is a group of islands that belongs to Spain. It is ruggedly beautiful from what we have seen so far.

Life on the ship has been pretty good so far. We got a tour of the ship yesterday and were able to see most of it in about an hour. Adalynn got to play on the swings that are hanging from the deck. There is a good railing and netting so there is no fear of her being to close to the edge! People have been very welcoming and really love the girls! Our cabin location is really great--near the laundry, ice maching (Adalynn is especially glad about this), the cafe and the internet! It feels a little smaller than the pictures made it look but it seems to be plenty of space. Adalynn is really excited that all the walls are magnetic so she has been playing with magnets a lot. She is not sleeping real well yet, which may be partially due to jet lag and partially due to the fact that our AC is not working. It is VERY hot. It is supposed to be fixed in the next couple weeks sometime so we are hopeful for that. Cora hasn't missed a beat and seems to be adjusting fine.

It's a bit overwhelming and surreal to be here but also so great to finally be settled. We are glad it is the weekend and we can relax a little. John will start his job on Monday. The ship is pretty quiet right now as the hospital will not be operational again until Guinea. We are thankful that we can transition onto the ship during this quieter time but we are also excited to see how the hospital functions. Thank you for your continued prayers!