At sea... in the Philippines

So we're back at sea now and originally we were to sail north of the Philippines and then drop down to Vietnam. However there is currently a storm north of the Philippines and in the interest of not having everyone get sea sick- the decision was made to sail through the Philippines. We changed course yesterday and then this morning saw the first of the islands. All day on both sides of the ship we have been watching the beautiful islands of the Philippines go by. I can't believe how many there are! The other thing that came out today was the big guns- since we are so close to land the "force protection" guys are out in force keeping an eye on all the little boats passing by making sure that none get too close to us. It's very comforting to know that the Navy takes the safety of this ship and all it's crew so seriously.

Otherwise it's been groundhog day as usually with the exception that there are more people around. We've been getting trained to death in anticipation of our arrival in Vietnam and I'm so excited to get there and actually start caring for patients.

One thing I am looking forward to is going to happen on Sunday. The Mercy is going to take part in a fairly rare maritime maneuver - that is the RAS or refuelling/restocking at sea. It was originally developed as a top secret WW2 drill to keep the carriers at sea for longer periods of time. Basically what is going to happen is another ship will pull up beside us, hook onto the ship with some sort of rope and then supplies etc will be shuttled from one ship to the other while both are still moving full steam ahead. Supposed to be very cool to watch, the helicopters will also be moving supplies between ships. I'm really excited to get to see it and will hopefully get some good pictures.

Amy J:)

Good-bye Guam

Wow Guam was great- but hot! I was totally a wilting Canadian by the end of the weekend- wish me luck in Vietnam- it's supposed to be even hotter. Thankfully God invented SPF 100 which I have found in a sweatproof/waterproof formula it has been and will continue to be a blessing.

We picked up a whole compliment of new people here- almost doubling our numbers and today you knew it. Suddenly there were lines for the mess deck and bathroom pile ups in the morning. It's a bit crazy but I guess we'll get used to it in a hurry. On the plus side more people on board means more people to share the workload- making beds on pediatrics (something that would have taken the old crew at least all day) took the new much bigger crew only about 30 minutes! Sweet!

One cool thing I got to see in Guam was our quiet protectors that have been watching over us so far this trip and will continue to watch over us as we proceed. We had heard rumors of their existence but once here we actually saw proof. I'm not allowed to really expand on them (or take pictures) but it is a great comfort to know that we are being watched over and protected. I am so grateful to those who are quietly doing that job with so little fanfare or even recognition.

I also got to talk to family on the phone this week and it was great to hear everyone's voices and that all are doing well. As much as I love my new "ship family" it's always good to hear from everyone back home.

It's back at sea this morning and this time I haven't even noticed the rocking at all. Some of the new people point it out and then I realize that it's happening- SO glad I haven't been sea sick! Here's hoping that the rest of the week will go quickly and be busy.

Amy J :)

This is me and Kent and Lizzy in Hawaii, a picture of the USS Arizona in Hawaii, one of Guam and also one of the band at our "Steel Beach Party" I have a slow internet connection so I apologize for not posting more!

Guam

Wow, so much going on! Thursday morning we woke up to the amazing site of the island of Guam emerging from the mists. I never knew that the site of land could be so emotional or exciting. By the time we finished breakfast we were docked. Guam is beautiful and green and SO hot and humid- you step outside and are immediately drenched in sweat.

We spent most of Thursday on board the ship working and sorting supplies. Then in the afternoon we were able to head off the ship and go to the beach! We road the shuttle into town and walked the short distance to the beach. It was gorgeous the surf broke far out on a reef and so you could walk waist deep in bath warm water for a long ways and it never got deeper. Once the sun went down it stayed hot and we headed off to eat supper and then it was back to the ship for the night. We had a huge check in of staff and some of them didn't get settled in until 0300 and so everyone is tired today but it's okay- more beach tomorrow.

Last week we had an amazing Asian/ Pacific Islander cultural celebration. They had dances, food for lunch and singing. One of the ship's surgeons shared her history of being born in Vietnam, leaving Vietnam when she was only 9 years old after the war and has since joined the Navy and gone on to become a surgeon. This trip is the first time in 35 years that she will return to her home country and be there to help. It was so inspiring to hear her share her experience.

More work today, more beach tomorrow, and church on Sunday it's going to be a busy week.

Amy:)

At Sea

So I've been without internet since leaving Hawaii mostly due to the fact that once you're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean there aren't all that many satelites pointing at you and therefore you have no internet. Oh well- makes me appreciate my grandmother's era when there were these things called "letters" and you had to use the "mail system"

Life at sea has been great if a little bit monotonous at times. It starts to be a bit like groundhog day- up at 0600, breakfast at 0645, muster at 0730, "sweepers" (I'll explain more later) at 0800, then it's getting whatever tasks done for the day, lunch at 1100, dinner at 1630 and bed by 2200. And if you have nothing else to do it's up to pharmacy to count pills, yes hand count pills. We have counted millions of pills in the last week but fortunately the pharmacy CO believes in movies, popcorn and gummy bears- so we show up. The weirdest thing of all was crossing the date line- I did not have Friday last week, it just ceased to exsist for us.

I have also found a few increadibly surreal moments on board. On Sunday we had a "Steel Beach Party" where we all headed up to the flight deck (aka: Helicopter landing pad) and had a BBQ- amazing food, water gun fights, the best live big band I've heard in years (yes we've got our very own LIVE band on board). It was a chance for people to wear shorts (I of course was dressed in my best "say no to skin cancer" outfit) and suddenly I stopped and looked around and thought "we're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean- eating barbeque like it's a normal day- the nearest land mass is China" and it just struck me as so bizarre.

Anyways I have so much more to share but must be brief since it's going to take an hour to upload and there are ten people behind me wanting to get online. So know that I am well- my legs hurt like crazy- some sadistic man decided it was a good idea to put female berthing on the bottem level and the mess deck on the top, and the rocking of the boat makes doing anything more challenging but all in all it's great- I have many new friends and will write more the weekend when we're in Guam.

Amy :)

Hawaii

So after flying for many hours- I ended up paying for an upgrade to first class which was SO worth it- I arrived in Hawaii. Best part of landing was seeing the Mercy from the air- I freaked out and my poor seat mate on the plane had to put up me for a few minutes. Stepped off the plane and my dry Canadian skin started soaking up the humidity- my hair is also loving it. I arrived on the same flight as a fellow LDSC member and we were greeted by a few more who are going on the trip. We ended up going into Waikiki (apologize for my misspelling of all Hawaii names). We walked the beach and ate supper on a patio- I'm pretty much in love with all of the tame pigeons that fly into the restaurants. After which we went to Walmart to stock up on a few remaining essentials and then headed to the boat (I mean SHIP!!!) I'm getting myself into lots of trouble with calling the ship a boat.

All I have to say about Mercy is that she's gorgeous! Bigger then I thought but at the same time the stairs aren't as bad as I thought they'd be although ask me that again in a week. I have a tiny bunk which is actually long enough for me to sleep on- yay! I ended up hitting that point of being so tired I couldn't sleep so was able to get unpacked and showered last night and then tried to go to bed. Didn't work so well- I was plenty comfortable but had "new house syndrome" all the different sounds and light levels and then wait is my bed moving? Why yes it is- swaying to the motion of the ocean- so I was awake for much of the night. Which was fine until I was in church today and had a massive headache so took some drugs and napped in the van and am now feeling much better.

I have to say that so far all the people I have met have been amazing!! I have already made a few new friends and can't wait to get to know people better and meet some of the navy personnel. So far they have all been very friendly- always saying hi in hallway and helping out with hauling our massive amounts of luggage when we first arrived on board. Anyways I'm currently sitting in the home of a lovely couple who invited us to church and then to their home for lunch afterward and the food is AMAZING and they have internet. So I'm going to sign off and go finish my lunch but just wanted to give a quick update and let everyone know that I arrived safely and am loving everything already.

Amy :)

Freaking out

So last night it finally dawned on me that it was my last in my own house and in my own bed. Needless to say I spent about 3 hours lounging in the tub (my last proper bath- it's Navy showers from here on out) and then this morning had a very hard time crawling out of my queen sized pillow top bed. I still don't think it's quite hit me yet what I'm about to do and I'm sure when it does I may start to hyperventilate.

Packing is done. I'm sure I've forgotten something important but can't figure out what it is... passport- check, toothbrusth-check... I was awake in bed at 0200 mentally reviewing what was in what bag and was it on the packing list and did I pack enough (or too much for that matter). And please oh please let the airport scales be the same as mine because my bags are perfectly proportioned in size and weight (according to my scale that is). My room is a tiny bit of a disaster- looks like a bomb has gone off but I really don't have time to make it clean and honestly right now- just don't care anymore.

My cousins took me for dinner and movie on Wednesday. Was so much fun to get to see them and have a proper girls night before leaving. We went to "The Back Up Plan" and I haven't laughed that hard about anything in a long time. My sister and I are planning on hitting a movie tonight before she drops me off at the airport- I want to try and get into "Iron Man 2" I'm such a movie lover that the idea of missing the entire summer blockbuster season is killing me. Oh well I'll have a massive rental night when I get home. And now I'm rambling so I'm going to go and finish packing, say goodbye to my shoes (practical ones only allowed on the boat) and then try to fit my box into the back seat of the Jetta- it may not happen so wish me luck.

Amy J:)