*AfRiCa*

 My view every morning!!

Before I forget I want to update you all on my arm.  My arm is doing great.  I had a friend ask the other day and I said " It looks so good" she then said "Becca, good is not the word, it looks better but not good." So basically my aspirations of becoming an arm model are out but I could spokes person for why to wear Deet repellant.  hehe! 

Anyway so now on to what you all really want to hear about. 

 

First off my living quarters: I am in a 4 bunk room with a little bathroom which does include a shower.

  

Secondly the hospital.  THere are 3 wards in use right now which holds around 50 patients.  Currently all the wards are mixed with different ages and genders but it is actually kind of nice to see everyone communing together.  Infectious disease would probably freak out and HIPPA forget about it, but it works.  I usually have 4 patients for day shift, 5-6 for evenings, and 10 for night shifts.  I am still doing pediatrics but they are ALL post-op surgical patients and definitely keep us all running.  

Okay now for the ship.  The ship is great.  I continually got lost for about the first week i was here but now i pretty much can get my way around.  The food has been great and i am even getting use to the Milch (boxed milk) and have found my new favorite sweet is bagged ice cream -Fan-choco... yumm! Whenever new ships come in and out of port you can definitely feel the sway but besides that things are pretty steady.  And I am slowly getting down the ship lingo (thanks Leo and Jim S.)

Now that I am back to normal (stupid bug bite) i have been able to do a couple different day trips.  One day i was able to go to an orphanage to help care for 20 infants and toddlers so that the caregivers could get computer trained.  The yesterday i went to Oidah which is known as "the point of no return" which was the site where thousands of African slaves were shipped off to America, Brazil, and Haiti.  It was nice to be able to see and hear more about Benin and its history.

And last but not least, and actually maybe i should have put it first, is my God walk.  Now that I am feeling good i have to constantly remind myself of the lessons I learned during my infection.  It is so easy for me to go go go (ask my parents) but for me to stop and put time aside to rest and be in silence can be realllly hard.  BUT God definitely taught me a lot and now my prayer is that i will keep that in mind at all times.  

Psalm 118: 14 "The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation"

(This is a memorial site for all the slaves that were sent from Africa)