….St Patrick’s day, cyclones and lots and lots of rain….
Tropical storm “Gamane”
So… weeks 11 &12 have been the busiest by far. Who knew that my emergency services experience would come into play also. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Sunday was St Patrick’s day, the second day in a row waking up in a double bed! What bliss! My beautiful crew mate brought me breakfast in bed, so spoilt! Lunch time I met 14 crew members [those who couldn’t make dinner] to once again celebrate my birthday! Did I mention how loved I felt this weekend! My favourite moment of the day was when my birthday cake was delivered to the table by four of the “Mercy Ships kids.”
Dinner Sunday night saw my Irish crew mate and I celebrating St Patrick’s day. I’m not sure how she managed it, but for the second night in a row, I had something embarrassing on my head! This time it was an Irish flag cowboy hat [did I tell you how skilled I am at avoiding the camera!], hers was a sparkly green top hat! The Malagasy restaurant staff were very curious and asked for an explanation. I’m sure they went back and commented on how crazy the Vazahas are.
Monday it was back to my onboarding course, while also still trying to manage to do my job at the same time. I also had to prepare a 4-minute presentation [due Friday]! I did make another crew member cry when I showed her my presentation so I’m calling that a win!
AFM onboarding March 2024
Taking photos of the guys who fell asleep during onboarding became quite the game.
Friday night I escaped the ship for a few hours for a farewell party. It was a little concerning when I worked out that our Tuk Tuk driver had obviously misunderstood our intended location and was heading in the complete opposite direction. I’m so glad no other French speakers were there to listen to my very poor directions. I have to say though, I was pretty chuffed with myself for recognising we were going in the wrong direction AND for knowing how to get back to the restaurant. And while I am nowhere close to being able to call myself a local, I am glad I now know enough to help out in those sorts of situations.
The weekend was spent catching up on sleep and life admin.
Monday night of week 12 a fellow crew mate and I had massages booked at the Calypso hotel. So, I should preface this story by saying that over the weekend we had been advised that a cyclone was heading towards Madagascar, and we were warned that the weather was going to deteriorate. It was only when I was standing at the top of the gangway did this start to sink in. After the week I had had though, nothing was going to stop me from getting to my massage…a burger and chips were also on the agenda.
By the time we had made it down the gangway and into the shuttle my legs were saturated. It was during our short shuttle drive that I realised the rain was actually horizontal!!!! We battled the wind, inside out umbrellas and rain to make it to where the tuk tuks usually wait. However, much to our dismay there were none! It was also at this point that I realised that my ship phone was no longer functional [we have this wonderful thing where our phone asks us for a code from an authenticator app, which needs to be on a different phone that also has access to Wi-Fi. In other words, it turns an expensive phone into something that is of no use to anyone until you can get back to the ship Wi-Fi].
After a few moments of discussion, it was agreed that we would start walking into town and hope to flag down a tuk tuk on the way. I was with a fellow Aussie, so of course we continued! I had already removed my poor choice of footwear [my long-suffering Birkenstocks], packed away my umbrella [that was spending the majority of the time inside out] and had given up on trying to keep my pant legs out of the water. It’s also fair to say that my outfit was no longer “Mercy Ships approved” in fact it was hard to tell the difference between if I had jumped in a pool with my clothes on to my current state of affairs.
After walking for about 5 minutes though we started to realise how futile this mission was becoming, when we noticed even large vehicles were hesitating to drive through the flooded street [Mada certainly don’t subscribe to the Aussie Emergency Services messaging of “If it’s flooded, forget it!!] I’m sorry to say that, at this point, I did convince my fellow crew mate, to hold out for another few minutes. In fact, I think my actual words were “let’s start walking back and if a tuk tuk comes in the next minute we’ll still go”, fully realising though that we would be sitting in a restaurant looking like drowned rats.
A tuk tuk did appear, however, there were also two port workers now trying to flag down a tuk tuk. Not wanting to be “those foreigners” we kept walking. We made it back through the port gate and waited under “an awning” [loose term] although I’m still not sure why given the state of us. We waited 15 minutes with no sign of our shuttle! We began the long walk back to the ship. I can’t tell you why, but I decided that we should start singing lines from songs relating to rain. You know like “Singing in the rain”, “rain drops keep falling on my head”, “it’s raining men”….Maybe it was my mind’s way of trying to ignore the horizontal rain that was starting to feel like pin pricks on our faces, the wind trying to blow us off course or the way my clothes were clinging in a “non HR approved way” to my body. We were quite the sight coming up the gangway and produced quite a few puddles on the floor walking to our cabins.
I am well aware that all of this could have been avoided if I hadn’t been so persistent in making my massage appointment. I’m putting it down to one of those life experiences I won’t soon forget….I’m also sure my fellow crew mate feels the same way. We did, however, console ourselves by making cheesy pasta and chocolate cake in a cup with custard! So grateful for the amazing friends I have made!
Week 12 consisted of trying to make sessions for week three of onboarding whilst also back to working full-time. I did have an exemption from most of it, however, there were some sessions I made an effort to attend. One of these was the session around “dating on ship”. I have to say it was quite the education! And while I’m not going to commit some of the questions to paper, I will say it was very entertaining! I admit to spending quite a lot of it laughing in shock at some of the things asked.
Early in the week the ship also went to “yellow” in our cyclone plan, however, it was only after a meeting midweek that I realised there were gaps in the evacuation plan. Given my history with Emergency Services, I found it difficult to stay quiet and……so……[I’m sure it will surprise no one] that long story short…. I’m now on the cyclone planning committee!
It was also midweek that Merryl and I had to make the difficult call to postpone our short getaway to Isle St Marie. We are hoping to be able to reschedule before surgeries start in May, given Merryl is Hospital Director, getting away after this date for 4 days will be a difficult task!
Still holding out hope that we will make it here!
Good Friday was also a ship holiday. A few of us booked out a ship vehicle [which helped with keeping the majority of our bodies dry] and drove to the local markets and a supermarket.
I still can’t say walking through the markets is my favourite thing. It is so overwhelming the packed stalls, having to duck all the time [the average Malagasy woman is 4ft11/151cm and the average man is 5ft3/161cm], the overwhelming smell from the open-air butchery and food stalls. There are, however, so many beautiful crafts in this country that you really must make an effort if are ever here. Sadly though, most wouldn’t make it through customs back into Australia.
Saturday was spent mostly catching up on sleep, again, and watching some tv shows/movies.
A big win for the week, my beautiful friend has now found [close enough to] the ingredients required to make a meat pie! So excited to see what it tastes like compare to one I make in Aus.
Observations from week 11 & 12:
Birkenstocks REALLY aren’t designed to be wet!
It was entertaining watching some of the adults become so invested in the ship easter egg hunt! One even requested a dance battle with the prize being the answer to where the golden egg was hidden.
I REALLY didn’t buy enough Lindt chocolate in South Africa to sustain me.
I’m in love with Scrubs!! So easy when you don’t have to choose, from a very limited number of outfits, what to wear each day!
I surprised myself with the lengths I would go to get a massage.
Slippers!! I’m grateful that slippers were on my packing list.