Sailing

We made it to Durban! We had a few mishaps at the beginning of our voyage and we are so grateful to God for his protection of people and of the ship in what could have been a very disastrous situation. The rest of our 5 day journey was pretty uneventful and we had 3 days of calm seas and sunshine which we enjoyed very much!

We will be in Durban for a week and then on June 22 we will leave for the States. We will be there until July 30. We are excited for some time home to rest and see family and friends! The kids are very excited to see everyone too!

Here are some pictures from our sail!

Bye bye Madagascar.

Sailing away!

Theme of the sail: Lovely skies!

Enjoying some sun on the bow.

 No whales or dolphins :(

They woke me up for a drill. At least I got a sucker!

Good to be prepared for any emergency. Thankful we didn't have any!!

One of the best sunrises I've ever seen.

Fist bumps all around.

Watching the sunset.

Cora wondered what the red ball was. :)

Pulling into our berth in Durban.

 

 

What a journey! We have so much to be thankful for. Thank you for all your prayers for safe and smooth sailing!

 

We would love your prayers for these next few months:

-Please pray for the time in shipyard/drydock that the repairs that need to be done on the ship would go smoothly and get repaired well.

-Please pray for the crew's safety in the port and around Durban.

-Please pray for our travels back to the States and our time there. We will be very busy seeing all the people we want to see. We are so excited and so thankful for all the people in our life but we also know that this time could be very draining. Please pray that it would be restful and refreshing.

-Please pray for some decisions that we need to make about our future. We continue to pray for God's guidance as we move forward and we ask for your prayers as well as we seek God's direction for our future.

 

Thank you for your faithful support and prayers. We hope to see many of you soon!



What is normal?

As I sat down to write this blog I realized that it's been over a month since our last post. It seems that time is flying by. Our lives have been full of really great things and we are feeling so grateful for all the opportunities we've had. Sometimes we get homesick--lately more often. Sometimes we wish we lived on land--lately more often. And sometimes we forget all the amazing blessings of living on this ship and "doing" life here. We are really looking forward to a stint home this summer to recharge but we are also continually reminded of the great things right here that are molding and shaping our lives and the lives of our children and we don't want to ever take those things for granted.

 

I've been reminded lately at how normal some of our life has become here. Some of it really is pretty "normal" but intermixed in the normal is some extraordinary opportunities.  I'd like to highlight some of our last month in pictures.

 

Normal

 

In April the girls and John went to the Daddy/Daughter dance on the ship. They had their hair, nails and make-up done by some great women and they got to dance and have dinner with Daddy. It was a highlight of this last month! I saw lots of pictures on Facebook from home of daddy/daughter dances, so this felt like a "normal" activity (though some extraordinary people here put in a lot of work to make it happen).

 

 

 

 

 

Not Normal

 

 

We have spent several nights over this last month down in the hospital visiting the VVF women. We love getting to connect with them and (hopefully) brighten their days.  The girls usually sit and color with them and Jack likes to give out stickers and shake their hands. He has gotten so comfortable with them and reaches out his hand to shake the hand of the next woman. They, of course, love it and can't get enough of his flirty smiles :).  We had our last dress ceremony this last week so now the women are all home, but we look forward to next year when we will have VVF surgeries for the entire year. Unfortunately it is a terrible problem in this country-affecting around 50,000 women. I am so thankful that Mercy Ships can begin to restore the lives of these individuals suffering from this terrible illness.  Visiting the hospital has become normal for us but when we stop and think about it we remember what an amazing privilege it is to be such an intimate part of the lives of the patients on this ship and not really so normal.

Some of the VVF woman at their dress ceremony.

 

 

One of the patients we spent time with on the wards.

 

 

Normal

 

Cora turned 3! A normal part of our lives. . .except for the fact that she has celebrated all three birthdays on this ship-a true ship kid! It was a great time with all her friends, though she wasn't too sure about being the center of attention on the ship all day long.

She got a "twirly dress" to match Adalynn's.

A fairy costume!!

It's so hard to believe that the 3 month old baby we walked onto the ship with for the first time is now a little girl. She is joyful and funny and a vital part of our family and this ship community.

 



 

Not normal

 

I (Tracey) had the opportunity to preach (not normal) at our church. I was not initially looking forward to it but it ended up being a good experience for me. I learned a lot preparing about setting up "stones of remembrance" in our lives to remember God's faithfulness to us.

Normal in a Not normal place

Last are some pictures from a really fun hotel we played at for the day this last weekend. A child's dream come true with a fountain you can play in, a pool, a bouncy slide, trampoline, swings and good food! It is so great to have some places like this near-by so that we don't get too much ship-fever. This place will be a normal part of our lives next year I think!! :)

 

 

Overnight

We took a brave step this weekend. We ventured off the ship overnight! With 3 children 4 and under, we haven't thought much about going anywhere for the night but since this was a 4 day weekend we decided it would be the time to try it out and still be back for Easter Sunday. There are some really amazing places to visit not far from the ship and most places are very affordable.

The girls were so excited to stay in a "new cabin" at the hotel.  We went to a place called Manda Beach Hotel in Foulpointe, about 1 1/2 hours from the ship. It is a hotel that is mostly frequented by the local Malagasy middle class. We were struck while there that we notice much more of a middle class in this country than we have in other places we've been. We hope it is a picture of continued growth for this country.

We chose this hotel because it has a pool and is walking distance from an amazing beach with very shallow water and no current due to a coral reef about a mile out from the beach. 

The girls loved that they got to sleep under a "tent". Thankfully there were not many mosquitos!

Pool fun!

Adalynn learned how to swim while we were there!

Finding shells.

Adalynn got her hair braided. The women loved her hair.

Cora playing while Adalynn got her hair done.

Meeting the local kids.

We took a boat ride to a coral reef just a little distance from the beach.

 

Trying to take a selfie with an old fashion camera, over water, with lots of waves. Not the best :)

 

 

Poor Jack had to wear the pink life jacket :)

Holding a sea urchin our driver found.

This clear water was probably 1/2 mile out from the beach. It was still only knee deep. Our boat driver crushed a sea urchin so the fish would come. The girls could see them from the side of the boat. So cool!

John and I got to get in a snorkel for a bit. It was really spectacular!

Jack loved that he could sit in the ocean and play. Such a great beach for kids since it was so shallow for such a long distance out.

The highlight  of the trip fort the girls was a rickety old carousel. It cost 1000 areary a ride (less than $0.50) The girls probably rode it 6 times while we were there.

It was powered by these guys running in circles pushing them. So fun. They could actually get it going pretty fast. I was glad for soft sand underneath just in case it broke.

 

 

Headed back to the hotel after a long day at the beach.

 

Coloring on our porch.

 

 

We had a fabulous 2 days but we were glad to be back in our own beds last night. The kids did great but they were worn out at the end. This country has some amazing places to visit and we are so thankful for the chance to explore one of them.  Looking forward to more adventures in the future.

 

The market

Yesterday we decided to take a family trip to the market and the grocery store. Jack and Cora had been to the grocery store with me before but none of them had been to the local market. The girls had been begging to go as they saw me come home with yummy fruit and talk of my adventures there.  I wasn't really sure how they would do. We thought it might be interesting for you to see a bit of what daily life is like here for the people of Tamatave and for us!

The market itself is in a big warehouse-type building with open breezeways. It was build by Ambatovy, the nickel mine in town. It is very nice and as clean as a market of this type can be. They sell a variety of yummy fruits and veggies along with pretty much anything else you would need. The prices can't be beat. It is only a short distance from the ship, too!

It turns out that the best part of the day for the kids was the journey to and from the market.

Mercy ships purchased 2 tuk tuks to transport people in and out of the port. You can buy a tuk tuk pass for $2/month but kids are free! The girls were so excited to ride on them.

Our whole family can fit!

 

 

Once at the port gate we catch a pousse-pousse to take us the rest of the way to the market. We pay 1,000 ariary (less than $0.50) for the ride.

 

S.P.A.T sign in the background is the entrance to the port gate. The girls climbed in the pousse-pousse with daddy.

 Jack and I rode together. Here's our view.

 

 

The journey is about 1 1/2 miles. I'm amazed that the drivers earn a living only charging such a small price. There are usually many of them lined up at the port gate waiting for people to catch a ride. This town has many more pousse-pousse's than cars.

 

It is frowned upon to take pictures in the market. I wish I could give you a picture of it. It is lovely, but also quite crowded and smelly (at times).  The fruit is beautiful and super cheap. The girls liked seeing it all but were just a bit overwhelmed by the entire scene.  We stayed long enough to get some bananas, avocados, green onions, limes, honey and peanuts. In total we spent 18,000 ariary (around $7).

 

Here's a picture my friend took of the meat section. We try to walk fast through this part. I think I'll stick to our ship-meat that hasn't been hanging out in the heat with flies all over it :)

 

 

After the market we went to the grocery store to pick up a few more items. It is so nice to have a few really nice grocery stores that are close. Many of the products are from South Africa so they are in English!! In other countries I was always guessing about what I was buying. Prices are really reasonable as well.  We picked up some yogurt and canned tomatoes, beans and corn for a tortilla soup I'm making.

 

The ride back was just as entertaining for the kids!

 

Though it doesn't look like it in this picture. . .Jack enjoyed himself too!

 

Cora and Daddy. . .and all our purchases.

A street corner on the way back. Everything is so green right now with all the rain we've been getting.

The view from the road to the beach. You can see the blue funnel of the ship in the distance.

 

 

We had a great morning and felt thankful for the ease of doing these things that needed much more effort in other countries we've been to. What a beautiful little city!