There is a level 3 gangway (for commercial goods and workers) and a level 5 gangway for normal entry and visitors. First, you would see the Visitor's/Registration desk. It's emply in the photo because it's late at night. Turning back, you can see the doorway where visitors enter. You can also see the night lights of Durban over Tom's shoulder.
All entries to the ship are guarded 24 hrs/day by nice, polite yet apparently highly trained military mean from another country. So don't try anything sinister. Below is the level 3 which is also the level (sorry, deck) that my new room is on. The gangways are open during operation hours so at least there is a bit of a breeze in the hallway of the deck where I now live.
If, after entering the main entrance, you make a right turn, you will find the dining room.
I was working here last week, but I am now back in the kitchen which is upstairs from here. Breakfast is simple cereals & such all mornings except Sunday, when we have eggs, (incredibly thick) bacon and either pancakes or french toast or something special like that! Lunch is very busy and takes 2 lanes to function because of all the workers on board to fix the ship. There are quite a number of locals who come on board M-F just to work here, in addition to all the people who reside here. Dinner is smaller but still busy. In addition to a hot dish or two there are always fresh lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, cheese slices, deli slices, bread and multiple condiments available in case you want something fast or just don't want what's hot. These extras are offered at lunch and dinner.
Saturday & Sunday lunch, you are on your own, however the deli stuff is offered in the morning (during breakfast) for you to make yourself a 'sack lunch' if you wish. Sat & Sun dinners are usually much less busy because people are off doing things, but it's about to get crowded again soon, as we get closer to leaving. When we arrive in Sierra Leone, we will be more crowded still (average above 300) as the rest of the crew comes to meet the ship and get to the actual mission itself. I've heard that, when it gets like that, there will probably be 2 shifts of both lunch and dinner each!
During a couple hours of the day (except weekends) the cafe will open, usually during morning & afternoon break time, for an hour or so at a time, and then in the evening. It is actually a real Starbuck's Cafe, with all kinds of drinks, sodas, cold water and treats like candy bars, chips & assorted nuts, all for sale (way cheaper than a real starbuck's however). No homemade muffins or anything like that, sorry. The cafe is also home to wi-fi.
There's also a little "ship shop" but it will not be open until we set sale. It's like one of those tiny mom & pop stores that has some basics in addition to a few treats. I understand it will also have Mercy Ship T-shirts, hats and memorabilia, so if anyone wants anything from the ship or the organization, let me know!
Down the hall from the shop is the library, which will have an actual librarian just before we take off from Durban. In the meantime, it's dimly lit (because of the generators) and under 'on your own/we trust you to check out the books & DVDs' situation. Many people who bring or buy books end up donating them to the library when they are finished reading, as I have.
Above the library is the laundry room which is reserved during several hours every day for the laundry of the ship. Other times, you must reserve a washer and its coordinating dryer in 1-hour periods. Laundry is apparently very cutthroat and you'd better not have your stuff in someone's w or d when it's someone else's reserved time and you'd better not take someone's stuff out of their w or d when they are in their time! As you can see only 3 of each are available until the generators are all up and running.
Obviously, there is much more to the ship and I have not even discussed the hospital area or the engine area. I will learn more about those and get back to you on those. In the meantime, I'll work on an idea of my daily schedule and tell you about some of the wonderful people on board with me!
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment