Week #2

Wednesday of week 2 and still no air conditioning BUT I finally have the internet on my laptop and can upload photos that I have so far. The computers open to everyone not only didn't have a fan anywhere near them, but I couldn't find a way of getting photos from my camera to the computer. Now I can - YAY.

Still, we are in Durban, S. Africa, docked while many things are being fixed, updated or replaced. The traffic of engineers, electricians, plumbers, painters etc, is phenomenal and every one of them is volunteering their time, service, sweat and experience. It never ceases to amaze me what people continue to do here.

The port of Durban is in a cove of sorts so neither side has a view of the ocean. There is a lot of work being done all over the ship and we won't be leaving Durban until it's all finished. In the meantime, the wonderful workers need to be fed.  I am part of the Hospitality staff, which contains the kitchen, galley and housekeeping departments. My first week, I worked in the kitchen:

These photos are from 2 directions of a long kitchen with Carmen posing for all during lunch. There are several kitchen areas, for different reasons & events. This is the main kitchen on Deck 6, where most of the cooking is done for everyone. It's long but gets very busy, as you can imagine when mealtime is close.

First, that's Carol cooking pancakes on Sunday morning; Sunday is the only hot breakfast day of the week, so it's worth getting up for even if you have that day off and would not normally bother coming up for breakfast. The bacon is thick and killer! There is no lunch served on Saturday or Sunday, so I sneaked a couple of extra bacon slices for a BLT later on Sunday. When breakfast is out on those mornings, so are items for people to make a 'sack' lunch for themselves. You can wrap up whatever you want to take away and save for later on, like I did with the BLT. Every day has a hot dinner. Also shown above are Carol, Alice and Oretha cooking the rest of the meal for last Sunday.

That's Makro, S. Africa's version of Sam's Club, where we get most of the food supplies for the ship kitchen. Makro is visited several times a week based on what's planned for meals and what's missing. The meat comes from a different store because we buy so much at a time.

Most breakfasts are selections of cereals, some yogurts and fruits if in season here. Lunches are the busiest during the week because all the workers are here. Thursday night is always ice cream night after the all-hands meeting. Also, during limited hours (while in dry dock) the Starbuck's Cafe is open: coffees, sodas, candies, nuts, but no muffins or anything like that right now. When we are in Sierra Leone, the cafe will be open more hours and the store will be open & staffed.

When not working, this is my abode for now:

It's not that bad, but it would be a lot better if there was air conditioning! Over the bed is another bunk that comes down and will be occupied when we fill up with more service people in Sierra Leone. That will mean 2 people living in this area, and there are 2 of these little 'areas' for each cabin. There's also a tiny living room, in case your roommate is sleeping and you are not, but there's no air in that area so there's no spending much time there, if you get my drift.

Right now, I'm working in the galley, which is a smaller kitchen and the dining room where everyone eats all the meals, unless there's a special event in one of the grand rooms and it's catered from the big kitchen. Since meals must be prepared and served at different times, our work days are spread out into 2 or 3 shifts, depending on preparing, serving or cleaning. I'm usually so sweaty after a shift I take a shower and rest until the next kitchen shift. I had Tuesday off and slept in, then wandered around the ship to check out more things I had not seen before. There's a library and an area for people to sit and visit, read or play on their laptops (like I'm doing now). I also started walking on deck 7 for an hour or so on my days off, before dinner, because it's outside and fairly open. Most of the ship is a mess of pipes, tubes and hoses from one end to the other, but all of that will be gone before we sail.

There are 'trips' into town for shopping or going to the beaches and movies but I haven't been on one of those trips yet. I have this weekend off and so will go into town to check out the mall and the town...

I'll have more photos and info about the ship and the experience here in a couple of days!