He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.

Psalm 18:16

Million images alert! This week we had an African fashion show, so there’s a lot of photos to go through. Also, Trancy left, I went to the cinema to see Captain Marvel, and then spent the rest of the week sick in bed. So this update is really the update from the weekend because really most of the rest of the week was spent curled up on my bed in the dark. :(

~ P E A K . F A S H I O N ~

If there’s something that I feel like I haven’t been able to talk about enough during my time here, it’s the bright fabrics and fashion that is so amazing here in Guinea (and the region in general). It becomes an “addiction” to a lot of people on the ship, buying brightly patterned fabrics and making things out of them. A lot of the day crew came out to show us what real peak Guinea fashion was, and some even had things made just for the show!

The show was on the dock. The reason we even had a platform for it was because one of the white tents that usually houses the admissions department collapsed earlier in the field service and they got moved onto the ship. So now that space is used for big events outside! The outpatients department tent was used as the “entry” to the runway for all the models. By the time the show started, this whole area (including the tent behind the benches) was jam-packed with people.

I did a dumb and told my friends the show started at 19:00 but it actually started at 19:30. But that meant we got front row seats!

There was a lot of outfits! It’s really amazing to see the variety of fabrics, patterns, styles, and trims. It was also dark, people were moving all the time, and the iPhone doesn’t do so great in dim lighting. I tried to crop them at least so you can see each outfit, but a lot of them ended up being potatoes. :V

Before you ask where I am in the show, I didn’t have anything made :(

It was really awesome to see the people you know working the runway with a fierce cat walk or dancing to the music or posing to all sorts of cheering from the crew and day crew. We had so much music and cheering that the port workers got curious and came to peek over the fence and watch.

Something I wish I knew more about was more about origins of the fashion we saw. I’ve learned quite a bit of general stuff about the fabrics that are made here in Guinea vs. other countries or regions of Africa and their symbolism, but there is a bit of an itch to know more!

A lot of local Guinean fabrics are dyed and the different colors and patterns come from different regions in Guinea. Remember my photo from my trip to Madina market of the local fabrics:

You can find that our fashion show featured some local fabrics!

Rachel’s favorite was Mr. Shower Curtain. I personally loved his shoes.

Man do these people know how to work it! Whoever picked the music had great taste and got everyone in the mood. So many people ended up dancing their way down the runway in classic African fashion.

The winner of fiercest goes to Becca, though. Man the you can see the crowd going wild when she emerged.

Boom.

And in classic African tradition, we had a dance party after the show.

The next morning

I found out UNC beat Duke again. So I felt like I needed to support my university and wear the UNC hat. We have some UNC fans here on the ship too! And some quiet Duke people who also expressed their dissatisfaction by sulking.

Also, Trancy left Sunday.

Tears.

Trancy was like a big sister. Always watching out for me and taking care of me and asking me how I was going (because Australians say “how are you going?” rather than “how are you doing?” —still weird). She’s got some of the most distinct mannerisms, which mostly involve rapid repeats of the same action or word. One of the hardest working people I’ve met, which was really apparent when she was somewhat thrown under the bus when she arrived as a hand therapist in the middle of ortho season (???). Trancy. I miss your face.

We started this puzzle before she left and she was reaaaaally wanting to finish it but didn’t before she had to go. So I helped finish it after she went to the airport to help me grieve her departure.

And with that, my two Australasian sisters have left the ship. Soon it will be my turn, as well. :( April posted our super cute stack photo and wrote, “Of course I would travel all the way to West Africa, live with 400+ people from 42 different countries and still end up becoming seriously attached to the 2 other Asian girls on the ship. You continue to be. An answer to prayer. 👩🏻👩🏻👩🏻 I’m sorry not sorry for all the times people got us confused for each other. 🤦🏻‍♀️“

I share the sentiment. I didn’t mind getting called April or Trancy because it was just a reminder of how amazing they are and just how big of an impact that they have on other people on the ship. I think it’s a really weird feeling to know that both of them are gone and we’re all in different countries now. Trancy went to HK to visit family, and April continues her volunteering journey with Tenwek Hospital in Kenya. I’m definitely going to be visiting them sometime when I can make it to Australia!

Mercy Ships goes to the cinema

Just because we’re in West Africa doesn’t mean we don’t keep up with the times. We went to the English premiere of Captain Marvel on Sunday night (even though it was released on Friday, the first two days were on French showings lol).

It was quite a turnout! We filled half the theater almost. It was fun to nerd out with other people and get off the ship for a fun outing. And if you haven’t seen it, just know that TOBI STARS IN IT!!!

A thank you

This week this note from a taxi driver in Conakry popped up in the dining room for all of us to read.

With the aid of Google translate it roughly reads:

I congratulate the Mercy Ships teams for their transformational development efforts. Engaged in the vision of an African rebirth by its passion of bringing hope and healing. I salute the vision and dedication of Mercy Ships. And I ask you to join me in upholding their noble cause and contributing to the emergence of a better world.

Mercy Ships thank you very much

Sylla Aboubacar

It’s really interesting to see the impact that Mercy Ships has while it’s in port. Sometimes random strangers will just yell “MERCY SHIPS MERCY SHIPS!” when we pass by and we have our water bottles or badges out. Some people will start bartering taxis for us or give us discounts. It’s really cool to see how the warm African culture has come to integrate us into their family and welcome us into their home or want strongly to share their lives with us without second thought. It makes the “Southern hospitality” I’m so used to look cold in comparison.

Speaking of African culture, this is how people catch taxis outside one of the popular Mercy Ships hangout spots in town, Le Special. Note how the car never reaaaally stops moving, but one by one the people just disappear while other people yell and make sure they get inside alright before it zooms off into traffic. Also the fact that there are cars just driving in whatever direction they want (see the yellow taxi at the end of the gif?).

It reminds me of this one time I was walking back from the HOPE center and a taxi pulled up from behind us and this entire children’s soccer team of like 15 kids maybe 8 or 9 years old just ran after it and clambered inside. it was like this but with fifteen kids in soccer jerseys and they did it twice as fast with twice as many people. They incredibly managed to fit almost everyone inside ONE taxi. It seemed like everyone but one kid would fit, and as soon the last boy jumped into the taxi one other kid would pop out the other side. It was awe inspiring and I REALLY wish I could have recorded it. Because I always want to tell people about it and wish I could just show them because it was so unbelievable.

0.5/5 stars

Ross-Boss’s bag finally came which also brought these heavenly treats from Australia called Tim Tams.

They’re just these chocolate biscuit things and they’re just really well done and well made. They’ve only got 0.5/5 “health stars” something something honest Australian packaging but then I took that as “you should eat 10 and then that’ll add up to 5/5 stars.”

Esther is my homegurl

Now that Esther’s in the ship shop I would go there in the evening when she was working for some good spirit-lifting company. She made me this peach slushie which just tasted like diluted canned peaches.

It wasn’t quite sweet enough so I bought a pack of Skittles to eat with it and then she brought out these colored espresso shot mugs that were in the café and without a word I naturally began sorting my Skittles by color.

It was just really nice sitting with her and then chatting with people that passed by. Nothing that required a lot of energy because Esther is a great conversationalist (and hilarious of course).

Then for lunch the next day we were having a conversation at lunch. She was eating ramen and of course at some point in the conversation she made some hilarious face and I was like, “What was that again?” and she responded with, “That was a one time show, mate. But you know what isn’t a one time show? RAY-MON NOOOOODLESSSSSSS!!!!!!” and pulled out a SECOND PACK OF NOODLES and started preparing it to eat. Oh Esther, you treasure.

We had another fire drill this week

And they changed it up by making us muster in the International Lounge instead of outside on the dock. Had us all fooled, I had my sunglasses and everything! Then all the muster team people for medical crew went to go do some other fire drill job like accounting for all the people and I had to hold both signs and I started getting tired of holding the signs so I was getting creative and managed to stick one in my hat so I only had to hold one but then it didn’t change the fact that I still had to hold one. I dunno man.

Then I got sick

I got some sort of terrible viral respiratory thing that just destroyed me for pretty much the whole week. Then it triggered this like other sinus problem and my ears were leaking some nasty bacteria fluid and it was just bad news bears all around. The nice thing about being a microbiologist is you can culture yourself with good technique and take the results to the doctor when you think you might need antibiotics. It saves a day! And then you know the physician will prescribe something that should work against it.

I was like super dead for so much of the week I was basically taking days and half days off left and right just to go back and sleep because I was just having the worst dazing headache from the sinus pressure I could barely stay upright for longer than a few hours without feeling like I’d have to pass out. On the random spurts of wellness I got to draw French-teacher Lisa’s blood and she WAS SO BRAVE she was all nervous and it was adorable but she did a good job!

Also, unrelated to Lisa, but look what we found guys! More amoebas!

You can see the little circle with the dot in the middle of it to gain your bearings in each photo. That’s a nucleus. It’s easiest to see in the first photo and then it kinda gets blobbier and blobbier with each subsequent photo. We reported it as Entamoeba histolytica. It was kind of this weird variant, but nothing else really fit the description. I’ve kind of learned to accept this “this is the best we got” reporting.

Anyway, everyone was super great when I was really sick… It was my week to be on call but the other labbies took the pager so many times so I could rest! And so many people came to check on me. I can’t even count the number of people who said, “Is there anything you need? Let me know if you need anything.” and people who just straight up brought me snacks and things when I was too weak to take care of myself. :’) It was really lovely and I’m really grateful.

We even went out for dinner at Avenue for a farewell and I started feeling really sick again. It’s quite far from the ship so I couldn’t walk back on my own, but Rachel and Esther went back early with me and got me a taxi and helped me home so I could get to bed early and sleep it off. I spent the whole week with so much gratitude for my friends and their care.

I’m doing a lot better (at time of writing), but still having a rocky recovery. Speak life over me, please.

Art show

The kindergarten and 1st grade classes put up some artwork in the dining room. It is precious please read their comments.

I love seeing art from young artists. Gotta keep encouraging them to practice their craft.

—Jasmin