Missed Opportunity

The other day -that was how this post was supposed to start.


The other week I went off the ship. My mother always asks me if I get off the ship, I do. We are docked constantly, gangway down, with the exception of the very occasional refueling maneuver or dredging operation. Leaving the ship is easy, just go up (or down) to deck 5 and scan out, walk past the Gurkha and down the gangway, and you're off. There's not all that much to do in Cotonou, West Africa's premier port. I have been privy to the discovery of the best food in town; Bangkok Terrace is a Thai place, they've got the vermicelli I so like, I'll try the seafood next. You never order seafood the first time. I also play Ultimate Frisbee pretty much every week. We used to go to the sand field at the police academy, a pretty safe place to play I think. That got kyboshed recently, so we occasionally pay to play at another sand field, the local kids cheer us along. So yes, I get off the ship occasionally.


The other week when I went off the ship it was to the fabric market. I had just finished a shift, or was just about to finish, when a trio of new girls on their first day off work showed up at the desk asking James #1 for directions to the fabric market. He was very hesitant, telling them it wouldn't be safe for just the 3 of them to go alone for the first time. I hear like a fox, and I offered to accompany them for navigational and security reasons, as soon as my shift was over. They waited and we went.


I took them by a back way, it seems James #1 is not great at giving directions, lol. The fabric market is near the "big market", apparently West Africa's largest open market. You don't go down there with a ratio = or less then 1:1 My eyes weren't open well enough I don't think, or maybe it was my heart. I only thought about it on the way back really, so into the security detail I missed it, no excuses. I took a picture to show you. Here it is:



The dude in the foreground ducked out of sight when he saw my camera out. I am thinking that he was under the impression that I was trying to steal his soul. Voodoo is fairly widespread here, and seriously I haven't done much looking into it from a research perspective, so I'm going on hearsay, but I think that might be related.

We were in a shop that I had been in before with a different group of ladies, I had bought something that time, to make a dress for my beloved. Such a wonderful fabric ;) And the floor manager obviously recognized me at once, how many white guys with this much hair are there in Cotonou after all? We talked a bit, both of us with our accents, and he asked about Mercy Ships. I told him of the humanitarian effort, the improvements to peoples daily lives that we provide. He asked a lot of questions, and I think by the end I hadn't ever mentioned Jesus Christ. Bonnie-Jean, one of the girls that I was escorting commented "Do we ever get to tell people the good news?" and I knew I had missed an opportunity.


That got me thinking (finally) on my way back to the ship, the shops floor manager was an obvious (missed) opportunity. But going back to the dude who avoided the photograph, how I might have ministered to him, just walked up to him and told him that Jesus loves him? Maybe he would have understood english, maybe not. Maybe I would have thought I was speaking english and he might have heard Fon, I don't know, but I was in the wrong mindset and I missed an opportunity to save an eternal soul/plant a seed/water a seed/show Gods love :(

This experience has stayed with me for so long and I am only now writing it down, but it has definitely changed my thoughts on ministry and where I might feel called. Jesus is relational with us, and that is where He beats out any spirit or deity any human could imagine. We need, absolutely need, to be relational with those we seek to save, or at least with those we seek to share our own salvation with.

My thought, that's it.


I'll leave with a couple more pictures, another of the selection of prints in the market...



And to show dj kosmotronix that I did make Nanaimo bars at Tamaras suggestion... (I had no bakers chocolate, so I used 3 Ritter Sport bars)



And one shot of that fabric I am so happy with from that first trip to the market...

Tasty

I've been thinking of things to post about that end in "ty", as I've been challenged! :)
I've got pictures to go with it...


Ok, we get pretty good food here on the ship, it is brought from either Texas in a big container, or Holland in a slightly less big container (Texas, c'mon). Sometimes we start to run low on things and we don't get cheese or cinnamon for a while, but then a container will arrive and the wonderful cooks will run wild with their crazy ideas.



Today we had Tasty fish with a vegitable stir-fry and coconut rice. I always take pickles as a condiment when they are available, though they by no means rival my mothers. We normally have fish on fridays, but I think the new container bumped that off a few dayswith the endless possibilities it offered.
This meal is classified TASTY!








A couple days ago we had this meal, pulled pork with beans on a bun. Eddie, the baker, from Vancouver, bakes our bread and buns, and these were ever so Tasty. I'm not exactly sure what the pasta was for, but I took some anyway and put beans on it. That is also fresh pineapple that is sooo good. Obviously there were no pickles that day. This meal is also classified TASTY! (And I'm not even a pork fan)








I sometimes miss meals, due to my irregular shifts and subsequent sleeping patterns. I don't mind so much, I'm rarely hungry, and I've gained a few pounds since being here. But it has been really nice to not be tied to the galleys strict schedule. I sometimes enjoy some 25 cent ramen noodles when I am in the mood for something salty. I would say that in a way these noodles are Tasty.








Ok, seriously, do you wonder why I've gained weight. Look at this burger, crafted based off of a fine Canadian's recipe, this is not your traditional slab of slapped together American ground beef. This thing is thick, it's got all the flavour a cow never even dreams of, spices, herbs, even onions built right in, mmmm. The freedom fries ain't bad either, actually deep fried for that fast food TASTE-Y!! You may note the pickles I added to the meal ;)






The galley staff are not the only ones who dabble in the realm of Tastilicious, there are other brave souls who spurn the limitations of the snack shop and buy mixes for things, some even venture to the "from scratch" nebula! I made this TASTY cake for Ryans birthday (Happy Birthday Ryan!) and Deb made the icing. No pickles, but note the bear and shark locked in mortal combat on his shirt.

For those ever so not-very-hot African days (seriously, it's the rainy season) there is FanMilk. Vendors with little push carts and old fashioned rubber ball horns, wearing bright blue, ply their TASTY wares wherever there may be folk who sweat or could do with some refreshing. There are even a few with bicycle carts!! This is a FanChoco, my favorite, other flavours include FanIce, FanMilk, and FanYogo.

And lastly we come to my favorite, something I crafted from scratch, Apple Perishky, mmmmm. I tried blueberry first, but due to the terrible state of either the Texan or Dutch blueberries available to me, I gave up. The little yellow apples we get locally are great for baking, I don't even peel them. I've made em 3 times so far, from a recipe at www.Mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com and they have been a hit.

This last time I tried something new, I grabed a handful of bananas, local and ripe, and blended them with some whipped cream and sugar, making a runny, but TASTY banana cream filling. I then used a few mini marshmallows to give it form and packed it all up together inside the pastry. The marshmallows expanded, breaking the seal, but they also bowned nicely giving the Perishky a little crown with a banana core, mmmm.

Ok, I'm done, let's see if this works this time...

Until we meet again, eat hearty!

Hilarity

I just have to chuckle. I don't think I can laugh today, but I can manage a soft chuckle.

I just got off a series of night shifts, just woke up in fact, in time for supper, which they insist is called dinner. I digress. During my last night shift, 9:00pm to 7:00am, I was told that I needed to wear my uniform. I had not previously known we didn't have to wear our uniforms during night shifts, so this didn't change anything for me immediately. The reason why I had to wear my uniform in the darkest hours of the night was that Don Stpehens, the founder of Mercy Ships was coming for a visit and was arriving then. The reason, or part of the reason, why Mr. Stephens was coming for a visit is that we, the crew of this vessel, were invited by the President of Benin to dinner at the presidental mansion on Friday. This is pretty cool.

News that I heard when I got up: The dinner was cancelled.

LOL

On a side note; I hadn't thought one person could grate on me so much that my day would be near ruined. Skillz.

Recently

There has been food, like tasty ham! With good friends to share. Movies too, some good some not so good. I would recommend: "Everything is Illuminated" and "Eastern Promises", but not "Shoot 'em Up" or "Donnie Brasco".

I perfected my pancake recipe, but I ran out of maple syrup. But I've been using the plum-pear jam my brother and sister-in-law gave me! It is better by leaps and bounds. I also found my Peter Gabriel CD, I looked for it so many times.

I like going for walks, and spring is starting too. The weather was nice for a while, but I forsee much rain, I need to get away. So many things to get away from.

I am looking for another job, they keep cutting down my hours, they hate me, I do not know why. It sucks cause I really like working with most of the people I work with, I probably won't miss them, I'm good at forgetting people, usually.

Sometimes I feel like a stranded starfish.

I Am Skillz

I had to go home from work today cause I was sick. My belly was just in knots from 10 am onward. It hurt quite a bit, enough that I could barely focus on my job, so I did what needed to be done from my pov, and called it a day, kinda. The rest of the afternoon, from 2:00 on, was spent lying in bed or kneeling in front of the porcelain throne, I never did throw up though. Can't rightly place what it was that caused it. Could've been the seafood spaghetti leftovers I ate yesterday, which when I ingested them primarily, ran through me like a surfer riding a wave of molten lava. Or it might have been the fact I missed breakfast again, though it's never felt anything at all like this. It might have been that since I didn't have breakfast and was feeling a bit peckish I scrounged in my drawer and found an expired Mon Cheri bar and ate it. Chocolate doesn't really go bad, but this particular type has hazelnuts in it, I love hazelnuts, hazelnuts will go bad, they tasted fine though. Or the last thought of mine this evening was that I could have been fairly severely dehydrated, I rarely drink water or anything at meals, when I have meals, and for some time now my only liquid has been the milk in my cereal in the mornings, which I have not had the last few days. Anyway I feel better now, now that I have your sympathy, or apathy, I'll take what I can get. I actually was worrying that i wouldn't be able to eat supper like I had been unable to eat lunch, but I was better by then.

It is a good thing too, this is the meal that I prepared, I Am Skillz! It is Wednesday and it was my turn to cook. I've never done a roast chicken before, nor baked yams, or even Yorkshire puddings, but I think I am happy with how everything turned out. Mark liked it too, but sadly Kim couldn't make it, see that third spot set, that was for her.

I know I am tooting my own horn here, but for a first try I think I did well. Yorkshire puddings are going to be my new staple now that I know exactly how to make them. And I love pickles, and yams, yams and sweet potatoes, I really have no clue about the difference. I think if I had done carrots and green beans it would have been as close to a perfect meal as I am capable of, oh, and grape juice too.

I am now stuffed, and re hydrated, and I even snuck upstairs to check the fridge, but alas Young-sun did eat the Yorkshire I had left for her. I hope she enjoyed it.

Next target: HAM!

I love ham.

Yummy Squiddy

Been a while I know.

OK, so yesterday, Wednesday, I went over to Marks for dinner, my turn to cook so I brought over all the appropriate ingredients for chili. I like chili. I like it with a mixture of beans, a melange some might say. Extra lean ground beef, red, and jalapeno peppers both, super-secret spice ;) All was set for a great meal.

We went to Vi-La Palace, I love Vi-La Palace! Lol, chili can wait. Vi-La is Vietnamese food, and Laotian too, with a bit of Thai for good measure. We normally order #27 ::mouth watering:: but this time since Kim was with us we decided to get a fondu. Not just any fondu mind you, we went straight for the bottom and got the most best fondu there, the Thai fondu!!!

Instead of being cooked in oil like a north-american fondu the pot is filled with a spicy Thai broth that you can eat as soup with the vermicelli they provide on plates. The pot is separated into two sections by a metal partition, one section for the meat, the other for the vegetables. Ahh the meat, mmmm, so it was chicken and beef meatballs, prawns, crab, mussels, SQUID, and finely sliced beef, mmmm. The vegetable was good, kinda looked like spinach without the gross taste and smell (spinach = yucky), but I can't remember the name of it. Apparently it was really expensive and normally wouldn't be included in the fondu except it is in season right now, we felt bad that we didn't eat all of it :(

So the meal was an ordeal, we got the explanation about what everything was and how to eat it, and were constantly putting more meat in and adding more of the spicy black bean-chili sauce to our noodles, and talking. It was great!

The best part about it was that I tried everything, I knew I would, I'm not chicken, but I found that I really like squid, and the mussels weren't bad either, not as fishy as oysters and delectable with the black bean sauce. Of course I already knew I liked crab and prawns, but the squid... it reminds me of duk-ramyun, I like duk too :p

I guess I posted about food cause I'm hungry right now, I only had breakfast this morning and was too full from that and the fondu to bother eating lunch or supper. I know, I'll go eat a pickle!!