Update! Get your Update...!

[This post was written on Saturday the 4th of October - very shortly after we made berth in Albany...]

Wow, I am totally being blown away being on the ship right now. Well, that is an ironic statement, the only thing literally being blown away is [cold + nose = something nasty].
Yeah, as of today I’ve got a cold, and feel like trash. BUT I’ve probably had the most fun this entire trip thus far in the recent week of sailing we’ve just had.

Because our duration of the voyage from Geelong to Albany was for 5.5 days, taking into consideration that the previous two voyages of 2 or so days I’ve not had to work, this voyage I was pretty keen to actually do something. Even for 2 days I felt like I was wasting time and allowing others to work overtime while I fished off the back of the ship. So when our Barista team leader said in a saddened tone that we’d actually have to work, I wasn’t shy about hiding my excitement. Then she asked me if I had anywhere I’d like to actually work – and immediately I said “Deckie!” – because the idea of scrubbing the deck surprisingly appealed to me.

The first day of the voyage all Barista’s were given the day off – which was pretty groovy – though we also found out that the Deckies actually didn’t want us – or perhaps it was that they didn’t need us. Bam. Slam that one in the face. There’s a no-go zone for me. So slightly saddened I had a chat with a few people and it was suggested that I ask an Engineer about working in the Engine – cool but, how?

Well, God certainly provided opportunities because while walking through the Mess [the room that everyone whose a grommet can eat so they don’t get all the civilised chairs dirty] I passed 2 Engineers having a break – and after walking straight past them, turned back, picked up my courage off the floor and asked what they thought about me working in the Engine. “Come back at 8:50am before devotions and speak with the chief engineer”… al-righty-then!

To be honest I was actually really positive they would say I couldn’t do anything – but amazingly I got to join the team. The work wasn’t anything technical but it was work that helped out the Engine Department and it was good quality dirty work. No kidding, I went in the first day relatively clean and came out in cover-alls and boots covered head to toe with engine dust, oil grimey sludgey stuff [though this was helped by having a oily grimey sludgey fight while down by the PST tank [basically the place the sludge of the engine lands]], paint and rust converter – pretty much anything I touched ended up on me.

The jobs we’re the most mind boggling but they were really fun! First job – hack rust off pipes and metal, clean up, apply rust converter, primer, and then a finish coat. Twist was that you literally had to twist yourself around poles in order to get to all spots. 3 guys and a girl going hard at rust and painting was pretty hilarious. Job done, moved onto the adjoining room and put primer on the converter that the boys had previously put on. Can I just say B-E-A-YouTIFUL!

Jobs following this generally consisted of cleaning floors [that have a time span of 2 minutes being clean before a big ugly oily foot print was planted in the middle of it], cleaning sludge [as previously mentioned], painting tanks and generators, cleaning the tunnel where the propeller blade shaft resides [surreal because it was the coolest place on the ship and the closest to the ocean – trippy!], cleaning above the control area’s panels [so dirty and black!], vaccuming [psh!] but seriously my favourite job was wire brushing nuts and bolts with the electric brush. Oh my goodness I came out so black and with so many cuts from getting my fingers a little too close to the brush on too many occasions – but the joy I felt when the boys were impressed with how well I did with all my work – that was just another highlight.

Hah – and the first day I was in Engine I walked into the Mess with my lunch and I was thoroughly embarrassed by this LOUD thunderous roar from the Deckies and Engineers who were – cheering? – at me… ha! I haven’t been that red for a long time! [Insert that I got sunburnt a couple of days later and I was equally as burnt then too]. I enjoyed all the work I did in the Engine Department, enjoyed sitting in on the Department devotions with the Electricians and Plumbers, laughing at other people… don’t get me wrong, I love being a Barista but I felt like I had a purpose even if it was minor. I got nickname “Mathias” because that’s whose coveralls I was wearing, and just spent so much time laughing.

Then the morning we arrive into Albany [oh my gosh! Pretty!] after a good 4 days of tiring work, it starts pouring down with rain via this nasty storm that decided to sit on top of Albany. Then I suddenly felt overcome with exhaustion and my body just ached. As the day went on I just kept going down hill and by 11:30am I was back in bed for 2 hours. I got up to go to work to set up the Café only to have the rain and the wind prevent this. I sat in the dining room with Gerard [Netherlands] who also has a cold and we stared out the windows. By 4pm it was clear we weren’t going to be doing anything outside for a good 2 hours so I managed to crawl back into bed to steal a few more hours sleep. And I’ve pretty much been here ever since. Totally knackered.

Albany day one hasn’t proved to be a big hit, but praying that Sunday will be glorious weather and that many people will take the opportunity to visit the ship while its here for 4 more days. Pray that I also can shake this cold just as fast as it came upon me. It really sucks to be so tired, I cant talk very much because my throat is really sore and my body is in a lot of pain. I will hopefully drag my sorry butt upstairs and post this onto my blog this evening before crawling back to bed and sleeping – again…

19 days to go…

Oh my giddy aunt…

Xxx

PS – on that note about sending this blog post tonight – I just saw an email that said that the time we’re in Albany we’ve no connection to out Satellite – and we’re using another one which is really low – so not incoming International Calls and no internet for now…The joys of living on a ship that moves around the world – hahahah!

PS - to get you a bit more up-to-date, pretty much the entire time we were in Albany -so, all 5 days, I was really really sick with this flu that's flying around the ship. I spent 5 days intensley ill and ate only 3 pieces of bread and a small amount of soup [a cup one day and a cup another]. I lost alot of water which wasn't pleasant and combined with the weight I've lost in the whole duration of my trip, ended up with none of my clothes actually fitting me anymore. Bah! One bad thing about loosing weight is you have to have clothes to keep up with it. And my first real shift after getting sick I sat in the sun in a jacket to soak up some Vitamin D and managed to soak up just a little too much and ended up with a slight case of heat stroke on top of that. Then the voyage to Fremantle we left at 8pm on a Wednesday night and arrived about 9am the Friday following. We had about 20 minutes watching a whale jumping around early afternoon on the Thursday and a pod of whales jumping around right on dusk that evening.

And now we're in Freo and I had the pleasure of seeing the Fraser's the day we arrived [we had to talk through the fence because we still weren't cleared to leave yet] and then the next day had breaky with Dave, Shae & Mia... that was soooo nice!

So - thats this small update! Its not very busy at work today and I have a huge urge to go swimming - at 4pm!

Love you all!

I am sailing...

Hey everyone! So sorry that the previous entry was really - abrupt. I'll try and fill in the spaces later. Its been really busy on the ship, not just because we've just left Geelong sailing to Albany, but the weather in Geelong wasn't as pleasant as we'd hoped. The day's often we're sunny but had some strong wind, causing us to close or relocate [certainly not my favourite choice of solution but for the information about the forcasts we had, we had no choice].

Some highlights in the past week or so...

• Getting to know the new 'Pre-Ship' has been a hoot - they are all nuts and its so nice to have fresh energy on the ship.
• Seeing familiar faces [though not some from my home church I was expecting - sad!]
• Being challenged with how I deal with situations of conflict [a highlight, i know!]
• Getting to know people for who they really are and not the label I've put on them before I knew them
• Oh - this should be number 1!! - but having a closer bond with God! I was challenged in the beginning and I put God on the back-berner but then realised that this was not something sensible for me to do and now I am trying to commit some time to God everyday!
• Laughing - I love it! I have missed it in the past week with being really tired and just a little down but love having it back!
• Fellowship with people: Simeon & Josephine [& David!], Luke & Rachel [& Winston!], Mandy, Hugh, the Follands and the Neohs... among many others.
• Sailing - and the longest voyage so far... [read on for more details]

We're currently about halfway through the voyage, south of about Ceduna at the moment. Its been a very gentle voyage so far which has been tremendous though many - including the new Pre-Ship - are ill. I was allocated the Deck Department but they had too many people to train and who weren't sick so was told that this was no longer an option. I then asked some Engineers if they'd like some help - and so that's now where I'm working! I'm an un-official Engineer - woohoo! I get to wear big blue coveralls and get dirty from chipping at rust and then dirty again from painting with Rust Converter, Primer & Finishing paint. I'm very proud of the work the lads and I have done! AND - i get to hang out with the Engine guys - pretty cool! Its hot working in the Engine roome but its unique and different!

This has to been short because i'm totally bushwhacked and need sleep. Its amazing how when you do some physical work for 8 hours it makes so sleep so well at night! Don't get me wrong - I LOVE being a Barista - but its not a physically tiring job and I've been physically tired from not sleeping well for the past month or so. Thank God for voyages and for good work and beauty sleep...

Love you all - hope you're well! Have a blessedly FUNtastic day today/tomorrow...

xxx

Like sands through the hourglass, so is my life passing by...

Argh! 5 weeks to go! What is this!

Time is flying so fast right now. I cannot believe there's only 5 weeks to go. That is so extreme. I cannot believe how many people I have met in the past 7 weeks who have impacted my life so much. I cannot believe what an experience I've had in just such a small amount of time. I cannot believe how many places I have been to that i've never been before. I just cannot believe I'm really here I guess...



In the past week-ish I've had more people come visit - which has been just so awesome! It's also been a little sad because everyone I've personally know who has visited me thus far have been people who used to go to my church who have now moved away. Its still really awesome to see them though!



Thursday Tamra came to visit both the Folland family and myself, which was just awesome! We had a right old time drinking coffee and having a good old fashioned chin wag for a couple of hours! I got to make her a coffee aswell which was super, and she really enjoyed it!

... ack... sorry... I totally have forgotten to finish this email - and now don't have anything to add to this so I'll just make a new one...

Reminising... again

Okay the continued update.

The evening I returned back to the ship from my 'Overnight' I ended up going out with a couple of work friends to a really cool pub called 'The Argyle'. Now seriously, you don't even have to want to eat at the pub, just go for a look. It is set up in an old wine cellar and has very cool lights hanging from the ceiling and glass cabinets of objects also lit up... I could go on for hours.

Then, I got the special priviledge to watch a movie called "Welcome to the Sticks". This movie I recommend to EVERYONE! It's French, so there's subtitles, but its done so well and it's so random and you can believe me when I say that I was not the only one laughing through most of it. Fan-flaming-tastic!!!!

This now brings us to Monday, ah the 8th of September, the day before departure. Our Cap'n Ashley wanted to have a 'getting to know you' day out - also known as the BDO - Baristas Day Out. We had no idea where we were going which made it all exciting as we all made our way to the Info/lobby to meet. When we get there, Cap'n Ashley excitedly tells us that the manager of the Maritime Museum is going to let us in for free. Ah. Right. My first thoughts became,

"What kind of dude is Cap'n Ashley?? He wants to get to know us so he decides that taking us across to the other side of Darling Harbour to look a museum is a perfect idea... does he sleep with ships on his pj's too? This guy sure know's how to party - not!"

***Don't get me wrong, the museum I think would be cool... on a lazy Sunday afternoon when it's raining outside and stuff and things...

So were walking towards Darling Harbour central to the bridge to cross to the Maritime Museum, when Ashley walks down this boat ramp and I'm thinking "This dude is going to get a taxi across the harbour instead of walking over the bridge! Lame!" ....until this sweet sweet Sports Luxury Cruiser speed boat pulls into view heading to the boat ramp we just walked down.

No - way!

So - cheesy Cap'n Ashley is not so cheesy after all - infact he's quite a fun teaser and knows exactly how to party! We all jumped onboard for a few hours of speeding down the Sydney Harbour channels, eating delux dips and nibbles, fancy lunch and a nice glass or two, pulled into mini harbours and disembarked to walk around like up to 'The Gap', had running races about who would get back to certain spots first and just enjoyed the day.

That evening - I can't even remember what I did but I'm sure it was exciting...

Tuesday morning we were leaving Sydney by 9:30am, smooth sailing until we passed through 'the Heads'. Then - we had some awesome waves! Awesome for me, but many people were very sick from these awesome waves. Elliott [NZ] and I were down at one of our favourite fishing spots [right at the back of the ship] called the Aft Mooring Station and when the bow [front] of the ship was tilting down alot and the back of the ship was up a fair way in the air, as it was about to drop over the wave and back down again, Elliott and I would jump. AWESOME! Feels like your flying! But its just as awesome on the top levels of the ship too... love it!

The rough seas lasted most of the Tuesday, calming off considerably on the Wednesday - which was also awesome because we got to see a pod of 5 whales just cruising around next to us - and by Wednesday evening when we'd entered the Bass Straight, the seas were perfectly calm. Sitting on the bow of the ship right up the front-most spot is incredible - and even though its cheesy and most guests coming onto the ship attempt it on the Car Deck railing - you really have a desire to do the 'Titanic' pose... hhehehe! [by the way - I didn't do it :)].

Thursday midday-ish we started up the final leg of the sail to Geelong, arriving into the Geelong port at about 3pm to be greeted by an Army Band who gladly played a couple of songs to warm up the crowd.

This stop in Geelong is the most home-like port so far being smaller than Adelaide but very much a laid back big-country town. Brisbane brought us perfect weather and was right in posh-central so because there were resturants and cinemas, people were often coming onboard for a look. Sydney had terrible weather and only few nice days, but with no one walking near us because we were shut off from the public by large fences, we weren't very busy at all, but that did pick up on our last weekend. Geelong however has had the most people come onboard on our opening day, which is a huge blessing, especially as during the day has been blowy but the evenings have calmed right off.

HUGE exciting blessings have been that everyday so far I've had the priviledge of seeing someone I know. When we arrived, Simeon & Josephine Telfer [and little David] came onboard to visit the Follands - but was awesome to say hi to them and spend a little more time with them for the 2 days they stayed onboard.

Friday ended up being a very tearful day as P.Andy and Diedre came for a visit and spent about 5-ish hours with me both on the ship and off. We went out to have Mexican dinner [YUM!] and came back on the ship for a coffee, caught up with Yi-An and Yoke Mei, and then had a tearful farewell. Tearful because perhaps this would be the last time I'd see them for a fair while, and its going to be sad to go back to church and not see them there. I know where they are now is going to be most exciting and awesome and I'm so glad I did get that chance to catch up with them, especially to see photo's of Sarah's wedding - so BEAUTIFUL!

It was also extra exciting because it was the first of two of my best mates birthdays - today on September 12, its Happy Birthday Alex! I miss her so much and cannot wait to just talk randomness with her and her delightfully whack hubby, Tim, again [sorry to publicly say that, Alex! :)].

Saturday, Walburger and Heather popped down from Ballarat to spend a couple of hours, but I had to work at 4, so the hour-ish I got to spend with them was pretty awesome to catch up a little about whats happeneing with them.

Sunday I had an evening shift but the weather was so windy that it was uncertain if we would work. Our new recruits, Geelong Pre-Ship, also arrived today so it was a mixture of emotions from saying goodbye to so many people to welcoming the new recruits. Our welcome for the newbies was to stand on any available deck or Quayside and wave flags and scream and ya-hoo and make it all exciting for our newbies. Then I was halfway into eating my dinner when I got paged [which never happens!], and was told I had guest on the Quayside. Having no idea someone was coming I walked out to see James & Alexa Telfer standing there. If anyone reading knows Alexa, you know that when she's excited she gets a high-pitched squeal going. Weeooo!
I got to show them around the ship before handing them back to Simeon & Josephine to have a catch up with them, as the Geelong weather proved consistent and at 6pm we decided it would be calm enough to open for the evening [not like we had any customers]. James & Lex will come back next weekend to have a better catch up - which will rock!

Sunday was also extra exciting because it was the second of two of my best mates birthdays - September 14, its Happy Birthday Mozza! I also miss her dearly and extra miss her because shes just recently moved - but I hope her day was special and that she got my message of well-wishes! I can't wait to drop by and say hello to her wonderful self and to her lovely hubby, Pete, too!

Sorry for the length, but that now brings you up to date!

So ahm yeah! Must depart or i'll end up spending all day writing updates! Hope your well and I hope that life is being delightful to you at this time!

Hugs & Kisses... Carola

Reminising...

Hi my beautiful readers! I'm so sorry for a delay in updates. When we were in Sydney we didn't have any land ADSL internet connection, which meant that only 7 computers were available with Satellite internet and they - were - sloooow....

Alot has been happening recently, which I'll try and fill you in on.

The weekend before we left Sydney, so the 5-7th of September, I went on a 2 night 'Overnight' to Bankstown Uniting Church. This church is located about an hour's drive from the City [in traffic] which provided a wonderful napping opportunity for a few of us in the group. Pastor Gaby is the new youth minister at this church, and since he's been there they went from having no kids to having about 20 - praise God.

The Uniting church here itself is very multicultural, with Gaby and his family originating from Lebanon while others spring from Asia, Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, India - and so on. Its a beautiful church and very open to anyone joining - a great attitude any church should have.

We were picked up from the ship on the Friday about 2:30pm - in pouring rain! - which for me joyously continued till Sunday morning. For our plans however this halted a number of things that had been planned - but that meant other things got to be done instead.

We went to a Uniting Church Conference - which was... interesting - but also had alot of good things said in it. We also had the priviledge of 3 dancers from Tonga and Samoa performing various Bollywood style Indian dancing and then wrapped it all up with some cultural Tongan & Samoan dancing - including 'The Dummies Guide' version for 9 awkward conference attendees. I would be awkward too if some greased up well built Tongan guy was trying to teach me their dances... hahahaha!

Saturday I woke up after a restless sleep thanks to giant drops of water falling from the 8-storey UnitingCare facility landing heavily on the office tin roof where we were sleeping. We had breakfast at 9am in the church hall with Pastor Gaby and Keith, an elderly gentleman who attends the church. He told us in great detail how Sydney got settled, where the name Bankstown came from, and other information the others found interesting. Don't get me wrong I find it interesting but most of it I knew from basic History classes in school - particularly the colonisation of Sydney.

Then we were treated to lunch at - McDonalds [bleh!] before we headed off to look at all the other churches in the Parish. We were dropped back off at our office where I laid down to rest only to end up sleeping for about 3 hours [exhausted much?] and being woken about 10 minutes before we had to start the Youth Program for the evening - unprepared. Argh! In the end though, it all worked out really good [of course!]. I managed to sing solo, share my testimony, do a magic trick, perform in a drama and make some really cool friends from the church. All in an evenings work!

Then we had dinner - at 9:30pm! -with Pastor Gaby and his wife, Mary, and their son Kevin. I have to say, my meals are so routine on the ship - usually breakfast 7-7:50, Lunch 12-1 and dinner 5:30-6pm - so I was starving every time we'd get to a meal as it would be about 2-4 hours later than i'm used to!

Sunday morning - early breakfast [yay!], before being at church by 8:30am ready for a 9am start. Some beautiful Samoan's [I think] sang a lovely song for the congregation before we got up the front and introduced ourselves again. We performed another drama and our married couple, Alfonso [Switzerland] and Marli [Brazil] shared their joint testimony. Akhan [India] was our group leader and he did the message for the service. As a group I think we really connected well with each other and the church - especially the youth. Then we were invited to join Pastor Gaby and his family for lunch - even with it being Father's Day. It was a nice day and they are a lovely family. They were very warm and welcoming, they often spoke in Arabic or French so I spent most of the time talking with Kevin about music and things. They even invited me back to holiday or to help out at the church - nice.

This concludes the 'Overnight' update, I'll let you rest your eyes while I go down to Quayside and say goodbye to more friends who are leaving the ship. 70 in all will be gone by Sunday and Sunday evening we welcome the 71 new Pre-Shippers. Sad AND happy times...

The concrete heart...

I am typically an observer. I tend to notice the small things others might not see. I also pay attention to the structure of abandoned worn down buildings or the messages of graffiti. I see the impact of discarded rubbish or even the joy on the face of a child with poor living conditions. But I don't just see it - I feel it.

Today I had my 3rd E-day - or Evangelism day for those playing at home. In the past 2 E-days I've only left the ship once, and that was to walk around the nearby park in Brisbane and promote the ship to the community for a couple of hours. This wasn't very successful because out of all the people we talked to, the first 2 groups had already been on the Doulos, the 3rd were going to the Doulos already, a big group of people playing sports were actually families from the Doulos so we obviously didn't promote to them, and the very few people we spoke to after that didn't want to know.

So when I got told I'd be going to hang with kids with one of our crewmember's parents, I was overjoyed! I've missed the chilluns from HYPE where I was part of the leadership, so the opportunity to spend time with kids really excited me! So a meeting was set up with the 4 people doing the E-day and our group leader, Samuel [Switzerland] was asking about some of the creative ministries things we could do. I had no idea. The other team members have been on the ship for a longer time, some for up to a year, and have done many E-days so the skits and drama's they've done were things they could discuss. We decided that since we were so unsure about what we'd be doing anyway, we'd just let God really work in us.

Our pickup came at midday today, and 5 [gained one teamie overnight] climbed aboard. It had been mentioned to us in our prayer meeting at 11am that the term 'kids' was quite - broad. Not so many kids, more people. And we were going to be with Aboriginals or Muslims. When we arrived, the original plan Stanley [crewmate's Dad] had apparantly come with an unexpected surprise - something else was already happening.

Then we were kinda just followed Stanley around - which is something I utterly hate doing because I feel like I'm not allowing things to happen while I'm only following someone around - but he introduced us to people, and we handed out some flyers, and then we walked...

We walked past falling down houses that have bricked up or boarded up windows and doors to prevent people from squatting there, but mainly to stop people having some place to go to 'shoot up'. We walked past fenced off stairs and areas covered in broken glass. This apparantly is what it looks like when its 'clean' too. We walked past houses that had a horrid stench coming out of them and people still live there because there's no where else for them to go. We talked to people and said hello despite their consumption of alcohol and cigarettes that have almost burnt down to their fingers.

I looked, and tried not to stare. I tried particularly not to stare at a man who was wearing women's clothes. I tried not to stare at people who perhaps once were big drug users and now the drugs have taken their affect on their body. I tried not to stare at the people who find their clothes in Villi's bins. I tried not to stare at the ground expecting to see needles, and tried harder not to search for them.

But then, lyying on the ground I see a piece of broken concrete from a set of stairs that used to exist. I'm not sure if it fell or was brought down by choice from someone, but everything had been taken away and the ground sealed up, 'clean' is what it was called despite the broken glass lying around this piece of tarred concrete. It facinated me [who know's why, I don't find concrete particularly facinating] and I walked over to it. Surprisingly it was a concrete 'heart'. A broken piece of concrete that had its shape like a heart. And I felt compelled to pick it up.

The thing is, the moment I had grabbed that piece of broken concrete, I saw the whole situation of the day differently. Sure, most of those people were probably in poverty by some sort of choice, a choice that they made to put drugs, alcohol, or another form of 'abuse' before themselves. Sure, most didn't know God and don't know the freedom a person like myself knows. But among their 'shattered glass' life, there is still going to be hope. It might also not come from themselves. It might be someone foreign, like my team mates and myself, who have a hope for these people with 'shattered glass' lives that one day the life they live can change. My crewmate's parent's continue to work there in that area with those people hoping to help change their lives.

...just like the tree that was surrounded by brickwork, graffiti, torn posters, rubbish and glass, still growing tall reaching towards the sky...

I was confronted yet encouraged by my little adventure today. And then to make it all the more better, we have Security tonight. If you could please open your bag and place it in the tray there...

... please step over to the screening...

... and turn...

Thankyou...

Cause I gotta have faith...faith... faith

Since being in Sydney, we’ve certainly begun experiencing more of our Australian winter. Most people on the ship are ‘suffering’ from the cold – particularly when they arrived in New Zealand – as they had predominantly been living in mostly ‘summer’ weather for a year – or had arrived while travelling in countries like the Philliphines where its often warm. Mum has been informing me of her ‘puddle’ status – currently I believe she still has some puddles existing – which make her glad. And Dad has informed me that they’ve been having a reassuring stint of rain to keep them hopefull that perhaps this is the year the drought will change. I hope wherever you are your lawns and gardens are getting a well deserved watering.

I have appreciated the cool weather as I more than understand we’re in a drought, but have ashamedly found it frustrating as our Café is exposed to the elements being on the ‘Car Deck’ which is practically the bow of the ship. Because we also haven’t had efficient weather proofing – particularly from the wind and rain, [having it open gives people much more picturesque views not obstructed by shelter], so we have been braving the bitter chilling cold instead. Our demands really are not many. We want something to stop the rain getting to us, and we’d like a couple of those heaters that café’s with outdoor areas have. Having the heaters would trick us to believe the wind isn’t as chilling, and with the shelter the rain wouldn’t affect our entire area like it does. But it might take us all getting sick before that happens…

Saturday I spent my first money in what feels like months by going to my first IMAX experience with Timothy [UK], Mikaela [USA], Tomas [Sweden], Naveen [India], Jeff [Paraguay] & Christian [Paraguay], dude and dude [Naveen’s friends]. Oh-my-goodness. I’m not even gasping bout the slightly pricey cost to watch a movie there [only a sweet $25]. No, I’m talking about the overly impressive screen we got to eyeball. This was such a MASSIVE screen! I joked to my Jeff & Christian [picture me jammed between 2 well-over 6ft guys] that it would be hilariously nasty if IMAX tease us with this massive screen and show the movie with black defining top & bottom lines. We laughed, but I think we were all thinking how low that would be if we cough out that much money for half an awesome screen. Luckily after previews and really bad advertising [seriously, Sydney, I am appalled in your terrible graphics and advertising in cinemas!] the movie started and we were comforted to see that the screen disappears in front of the people in the front row and goes all the way to the ceiling, and wide enough that you have to slightly turn your head to keep up with the action. Amazing… so worth it!

I also went to the Hillsong City church – which was a lovely way to spend Sunday. A group of 5 of us walked about 45 minutes through the city to a stop where a ‘courtesy’ bus collects attendees and drives them the 5 minutes to the campus. The group was Noelle [USA], Jen [Canada], Timothy [UK], Tersius [SA] and myself. When we arrived I was honestly truly surprised that we had people recognise we were new. Our first greeter was really informative and encouraging – and upon hearing that we all live on a ship and are from all nationalities in the world – informed one of the head Pastors about us and soon we were talking to him too. They really found the whole idea fascinating, which isn’t really a surprise. They also had never heard of OM – which also did not surprise me. And for Hillsong City – it was tiny. I had imagined a humungous venue – but it was so small. And I was expecting to be bored of the message because I wouldn’t find anything of value in it – when infact Robert Fergusson actually preached the Word. He was reading verses from all over the bible and actually using them. He said don’t come to church and focus on the speaker, the singer, or the place. Focus on the message, the worship and completely on Jesus. I was encouraged greatly by his sermon.

When we had finished we caught the courtesy bus back into the city [it almost felt like a wasted drive when we could’ve walked that distance rather easily], and had a really awesome lunch in Darling Harbour for under $10. Shock. I really didn’t think there would be anywhere to get food there for less than $25 – so I was impressed – particularly as my chicken, avocado & salad sanga was a great size in price comparison.

Life otherwise is exciting. I worked my longest shift on Monday, working from 12:30pm till 10pm. It was meant to be 1-11pm but the Bookshop closed early from having less than 100 people come through all day. But Mondays on the ship tend to be quiet anyway as most people have Monday as their day off, which means to keep departments running, whoever’s on shift that day works ALL day.

Tuesday was then my official Off day I left the ship [you have to – or you’d go nuts from never leaving] and wandered the city with Cara [Brisbane]. She’s a Salvo, so we were actually in the city for her to do some Salvo things at the head office, and I tagged along because I was free and we have rules about how many people have to go with you if you leave the ship. When I got back I changed and ended up at work [it’s the hang out place for Douloids that just happens to come with AWESOME coffee or hot chocolates!] and ended up in this great DnM with Crystal [USA], Liza [SA] and Tomas [Sweden] about knights in shining armour, do they exist, that most women want a manly man, that even though Tomas isn’t that much a blokey bloke we’re sure he’ll fight for the chick he loves when he finds her, and other really random but interesting things like that which drinking coffee’s and eating chocolate in the sun. Then to randomise the afternoon, I hung out with John-Lee [SA] who really is like my brother [kinda annoying] but he’s cool and we just laugh a whole bunch, the tripper. And last night I got to hang out with some of the Bookshop Douloids, particularly Semih [like Sammy] [Turkey]. He is SOOO funny! And random! He reminds me a lot of Monty – we can just say a whole bunch of whack stuff and laugh about it and its all fun and fancy free but totally random. Nothing from ‘Lilo & Stitch’ has been mentioned [personal joke with Monty & Ali…]… hahhahaha!

Today I have had the pleasure of just doing random things that appeal to me till I have to go to work @ 3pm – earlier than normal because I was REALLY late to our Barista devotions [completely had forgotten them actually so I totally missed them] and therefore get to go to work early – haha! Then I watch the drills take place which today meant all the lifeboats on starboard side were lowered with crew and drills were practiced. This evening I work till close and that basically will mean just hanging out with Elliott [NZ] and telling him I can’t understand what he’s saying… hahah so funny! One example is that he says “Chux” when speaking about “Chicks” – which puts me into giggles. We’ve not been able to hang out as much as with the rest of the Barista’s and STEPpers – so it’ll be nice to just muck around with him.

Tomorrow I swapped a shift to work early because Silvan [Switzerland] came and asked me if I would sing with him at Prayer Night – which was really cool! I think he only asked because for one of our programs in Brisbane they were playing “Hosanna” by Brooke Fraser/Hillsong and I’d offered to do harmony as I knew it from Church but due to time restraints they decided to go ahead without – which was fine. But it seems I opened the door to sing on the Doulos. Lucky I’ve done it a few times back home J.

So - that’s really the latest update that I can give! A couple of weeks more and I’ll be only 1 state away! I have no idea exactly how many Adelaidians are coming to see the ship [and me?], and I can’t wait to see whoever does arrive!!!! I think Pandy & Dee Dee might make an appearance which might make some spontaneous precipitation occur from my eyes… but we’ll laugh it off! Note to them if they read this: txt message me when coming if you know – then I can see if I’ll be around! That goes for anyone really…

But please pray for 2 ‘incidents’ that have happened in the past week, particularly that they be resolved quickly…

One of our van’s was involved in a car accident with a Jeep on Sunday evening going to Hillsong Church – Hills campus. Out of the three vans and one car that were going, the third van was hit. Please pray that the shock of the accident wont affect the children who were in the car particularly as well as the other Douloids involved. Pray also that the driver of the Jeep could realise that it was an accident and not carry out the threats she has made.

Pray also for one of the STEPpers [Karl] who today was involved in a car/bike accident. He was with 2 other STEPpers [Samantha [Brisbane] & Elliott [NZ]] when he and the car collided. It seems that neither parties saw the other, and because we have no fixed address on the ship, the driver took Karl’s camera as security and is expecting a call back from us [the ship]. Karl by the way is okay.

Just to add to all the excitement already happening.
Please pray for me for patience with a couple of other Douloids who require more energy and patience to work with. Pray also for the right words when speaking to these people and to remember that God loves them and the person they are so I too should give them that grace.
Pray for energy to work and for enthusiasm to do my studies everyday. Pray also for my relationship with God as I’ve been so busy and then tired, or consumed by life that I’ve started to not be as consistant in my talks with God.

Thankyou sooo much!
Kisses…
Carola