Life on board

Life on board –
This may be a long post as connecting to the internet is very sporadic so I will write in Word and cut and paste whenever I get connected.
July 6 – This is our second day out to sea. So far no seasickness for me, although others have succumbed. I am now a believer in the acupressure bands. I have found that standing on deck and looking out over the ocean to be very calming and liberating. I think I now get why some people become sailors.
So, life on board… The food is much better than I ever expected. Plenty of fresh fruit, salad, veges, good coffee. Sleeping quarters, well, that is taking some getting used to. First night I kept hitting the bunk above me. Imagine your bed is like a 3 sided coffin. Also,surrounded by snorers. Luckily got some great ear plugs last night and slept. I’ve been getting up at 430 to run on the treadmill. Also get much exercise going up and down the stairwells on the ship. Our days have been busy getting oriented to both the ship and our mission. So many fantastic people on board – naval personnel, civilian personnel, and all the various volunteers. It would take pages to describe just of a few of them and it is humbling to hear what many of them have done.
I was worried about the military atmosphere but turns out there are many great aspects to it. Military personnel are very polite and well mannered and respect for others is highly valued, not matter what your position or standing. Being here you understand the need for discipline and protocol. Gives me a totally new perspective and glad about that.
We arrive in Jakarta tomorrow to pick up interpreters, supplies, and a few patients. Don’t think we will be able to go ashore though. It will take another 6 days to get to Ternate so plenty of time to plan and get briefs on the different locales, etc. One interesting thing is when we cross back over the equator on the 10th. If you dare go through the initiation, you go from being a “pollywog” to being a “shellback”, a tradition among sailors. You will have to look that one up to see what it involves but I do plan on doing it.
I actually had to work today. Got sick call duty and saw patients. I felt a little rusty but it was good to be back doing clinical work. The real work though is when we go ashore. Will see 80-90 patients per day. Yep, you read that correctly. On those days you get up at 5 so you can take a transport boat to shore then catch transport to the clinical site. Days for them are long but sound really rewarding. Then there are the long haul trips where you can go to a site for 3-6 days and basically rough it in tents and port o pots. Hot, sweaty, hard work with no showers Hopefully will also get some liberty time but these locales are remote and very underdeveloped..