….Quarantine and “AT SEA” drills….
My roommate & I [Andrea] - AT SEA drill
So….my first week onboard didn’t get off to a great start. My second night onboard I came down with a vomiting bug. I wouldn’t recommend it when you’re sharing a cabin and the toilet is one of those low-to-the-ground, airplane style. Not wanting to make a bad impression on my new roommate I managed to make my way to reception and asked for the on-duty Crew Nurse be called. The receptionist, a very lovely Swiss woman was struggling to understand my Aussie accent. Thankfully, I remembered enough French words to explain. Quite a feat considering it is some 20 years since I worked in Switzerland as a nanny. [She was excited to discover that her home is 10mins from where I used to work].
Unfortunately for me, I spent the next 48 hours in mandatory quarantine. One of my new co-workers from the hospital [whom I had never met], an amazing South African lady, spent the next 2 days delivering food to my cabin 3 times a day. Good thing I don’t have an issue with small spaces! I certainly got to know the 3 walls of my room very well!
I was finally released from my cabin on Wednesday! It was great to finally meet my new boss face-to-face, Merry [the new Hospital Director] and fellow Aussie. In another of life’s small life moments, Merry is from Toowoomba, Queensland [where I lived for many years while growing up].
The tour of the hospital…was an incredible experience. There are 5 wards containing 50 patient beds that have been designed specifically for Mercy ships [they look almost like a bunk bed. The lower part is where the carer for our pediatric patients or a vulnerable adult sleep while onboard]. 5 operating rooms, a 3 bed ICU, CT scanner, X-ray machine, pharmacy, sterilizing room, bio-medical department etc. As the ship is currently being secured for sail, we spent most of the day noting maintenance still to be completed and creating ‘to do’ lists. My first workday started at 08:00 and finished at 22:00 [It’s maybe not such a good thing that both Merryl and I can be workaholics!]
One important activity relating to preparing for sail is the participation of all crew in a planned fire drill for an “AT SEA Fire/Abandon ship”. Given my propensity for still getting lost, I made my way to my designated muster station early to avoid any dramas. The drill requires all hands [everyone on board] be at their assigned muster station within 30 mins, don their life jackets, participate in roll call and report back to the bridge. Unfortunately, due to a few people not knowing where they were supposed to be, we failed the test! The captain’s announcement of “we will keep running this as many times as required until we pass” really felt like we were back at school being called into the principal’s office. Thirty minutes later, without lifejackets this time, we reported a time of 15mins and were finally allowed to leave.
The remainder of the day was spent carrying boxes of scrubs [theatre uniforms] up the gangway, down 2 flights stairs, then back to the dock for the next round. My poor knees!! Spent Friday evening off the ship at the “yacht club” [a small building on the opposite side of the port to where we’re docked]. Some of the crew made pizzas [ingredients were supplied by the ship] in a woodfired oven. There was a cash bar for drinks and a speaker that you could connect to a phone for music. Abba and Queen featured heavily in the playlist for the night. Music really is universal.
Saturday morning Merryl and I ventured off ship to wander through a local shopping mall. 3 hours and one overflowing shopping trolly later, we made it back to the ship provided shuttle. I only had a couple of things; the rest was for Merryl’s cabin and our office! I did manage to score a new office chair which required a separate trip back to the shops with one of the ship drivers to retrieve it.
One big ongoing problem for me is that I’m only managing 4-4½hrs sleep each night. The bed is so narrow that I keep waking myself up. Hopefully we’ll work out a solution for this. My Dad has been coming up with ideas and this week I meet Chad, a PCG* who is also a carpenter [his wife is the crew Doctor].
*PCG [Primary Care Giver]: Families onboard need to have one parent delegated as the Primary Care Giver. They are allowed to volunteer onboard, however it can’t be in a full-time role.
Dad’s design for my bed
Observations from week 1:
For an introvert being constantly surrounded by people is a daunting thing
Even after a week it’s still very easy to get lost, I sometimes have to go back to a place I know and try again.
It’s very disorientating when there are no portholes to work out which side of the ship is starboard, and which is portside.
The coffee in the dining room is terrible but somehow still necessary to wake me up in the morning.
It’s interesting to listen to people talk about Australia when they don’t know you’re Australia.
I now make a clanking noise everywhere I go due to the keys I have to keep on me at all times.