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:)