Sailing... in the middle of the deep blue sea.

I'm sailing and today is day 9 of about a 11 or 12 day sail.  I can honestly say that I am enjoying the sail now, but the first few days were a little rough.  I have not experience sea sickness since I was a little child, but because the M/V Africa Mercy is a remodeled Railroad Ferry, it does not make for the smoothest of sails.  But I am happy to say (after much prayer) that my motion sickness is much better and although I am enjoying the sail more now than the begining, it's still pretty rocky at times, but I am being told this sail is much better than last year, the waters are considered calm.  The things that I have seen and experienced over the last week are absolutely incredible.  I have said this before and I'm sure I'll say it many more times... God's creation is breathtaking and just being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by nothing except water, dolphins, whales, the sky, sun and stars... the feeling of God's greatness is huge!

There have been several dolphin sightings.... Sea World just doesn't compare :)

The first night we saw a waterspout... tornado on the water... very fascinating.

The beautiful sunsets.

Hanging out on the bridge.

The bow of the ship.

Since we are sailing and there is no where to go, and it's Christmas time, the evenings have been filled with many festive events and activities:

Wednesday Night, part of my small group participated in the Christmas Story Telling night.  The crew were able to go around to 8 different groups that either were reading or acting out a story or drama.  We read and acted out The Candy Cane Legend, the evening was then made complete with everyone getting to make their very own candy cane.  We wish we had real candy canes to pass out as well, but after all, we're still in Africa.  The evening ended with a carol sing along.

Friday, Saint Lucia Day, a Scandinavian tradition.  The evening was put on by the crew from Norway and Sweden.  Lucia was a Christian and died for her faith.  December 13th is when she is honored with traditional candlelit processions.  We even enjoyed Lucia buns.  I love learning about other cultures traditions.

Firday Night we had Pirate Watch from 10:00-12:00am.  It was different than our swimmer's watch mainly for the fact that it was pitch black and you literally can't see a thing.  We were given the assignment to keep our eyes on another ship, but they never came near us.

Haley, Becca, and I "capturing" Kelly

Saturday, Winter Wonderland Party Pic!

Winter Wonderland was like a many bazaar, where crew sold crafts and delicious homemade treats.  Some of my favorites of the evening included: hot spicy apple cider, homemade cinnamon waffle cone with ice cream, and caramel popcorn.  I also bought some adorable homemade cards.

Starry Sky
Sunday night while on deck 8 (the top deck of the ship) we were able to experience the most beautiful star filled sky I have ever seen. The wind was strong and the breeze was actually cool (I felt cold for the first time since I have left for Africa).  It's was a nice feeling to be cold and not have sweat  dripping down... it's the little things :)  Both Saturday and Sunday night we were able to see the Geminids Meteor Shower. I saw my first falling star in South Africa this summer and last night in just a 30 minute peroid saw about 10 falling stars.  I have decided that the middle of the ocean and the middle of the bush are the 2 best places to star gaze.  I was reminded of my time in college where my roommates and I headed out to Shawnee Lake (because it was the darkest part of the city) to find and discover all the constellations, which required going during all different hours of the night.  I remember finding it to be a challenge at times, espeically when we were looking for Mars and really had no idea what we were looking for.  Well last night I saw Jupiter, the Milky Way, Gemini, and Pleiades no problem.  The key... a good sky and it doesn't hurt to have a very smart surgeon standing next to you educating you on the stars, constellations, positioning of the earth which determines astroids, etc... I love it and wish everyone could see and experience a sky full of stars and meteors.

Monday night Kelly, Beeca and I decided to sleep outside under the stars.  It started out as a nice evening, but got very windy, cold, and a steel ground just isn't as comfortable as my bed, so around 3:00am I went back down to my room.  But I loved singing Christmas carols and falling asleep looking at nothing but a blanket of stars.

Monday afternoon... Kelly and I during our fire drill at our muster station.