Breaking the Silence

I'm still alive out here in the deep blue!

In the desert, United Arab Emirates 

Speaking of which, why do we speak of the ocean being blue? On occasion it is blue. Sometimes it's grey, other times, inky black. Often it is navy or a huge range of green. In some places we experience the beautiful light blue that you see in tropical island pictures. Do you know the lovely grey shade of the water that goes down your shower drain? We get that too. The smell is pretty much how you imagine it would be. The variety in God's creation is something that never ceases to amaze me.

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Since I last wrote we have had crew changeover in Colombo, Sri Lanka, visited the Arabian Peninsula and Maldive islands, had Christmas celebrations on board and now, are back in Sri Lanka.

Colombo was a very difficult port for me. Twice a year we have a changeover of crew. It varies but usually 60-90 people come and go at these times. I had to say goodbye to a number of good friends but now am getting to know new ones. Colombo was also an extremely busy port in number of people visiting the ship as well as quantity of events that worked at. The long hours and emotional stress caused me to become very downcast. Fortunately we had a long voyage which I could rest on after this port.

Dumping 'nuclear waste' during a poverty simulation

This leads onto our next period of time where we visited the Arabian Peninsula. We traveled to Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. I really enjoyed learning and experiencing these cultures.

In Qatar, in October I was asked to take on the role of AV Team Leader. This I accepted but with some reservations. I thought ship life was busy before. It got pushed up to a whole new level.

Museum in Abu Dhabi

For our last port in the Arabian Peninsula, we had a huge cultural event. This took place in a mall in Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK). Although this event went well, the tremendous workload on our small team to bring it together, the stress of leading and some other stresses in my personal life caused me to nearly burn out. Fortunately I, and some friends who I am so thankful for, recognized the symptoms and I took some badly needed rest.

The long voyage from RAK was a great opportunity to rest and recuperate. On the 23^rd we arrived in Galle, Sri Lanka. Christmas on board is a very special time. I hope to write a separate post on the subject. Soon after New Year celebrations we sailed over night to Trincomalee, also in Sri Lanka where we are currently.

Thank you for remembering me in your prayers despite my silence. I am very sorry that I have been negligent in my communication. Over the last few months I feel I lost my focus. Only recently have I realized this and reconsidered why I came and what I'm doing here.

As always, please feel free to email me. I would love to hear from you!

A Traditional Arab Dance