Bienbenidos a Miami

sun, moon, clouds, water

One of my favorite things on ship so far has been the sunrise and sunset. 

There are no windows on the ship, so the deck is the place to be. 

I love taking a sneak peak at the sunrise after breakfast and before muster at 07:00 with the DMS (department of medical services where I am stationed for the duration of the sail).

Then there's the night sky. I wasn't expecting much, but being at sea under a brilliant night sky of stars and moon is stunning and ominous and chilling and calming all at once.

Setting sail - Leaving Norfolk, VA

April 1, we left Norfolk, VA for Zimbabwe. April fools! We actually went to Miami. 

I was excited to get moving!

Here are the navy personnel manning in the rails. The dark blue (actually looks black to me) is their winter uniform. It was very windy and at least 1 sailor lost his hat to the water below. The navy band played and the tug boats pulled and a little crowd (probably families) waved from shore.

Posing with the camera man. I thought his outfit was pretty spiffy.

Here are the tug boats. They had 3. I was surprised at how small they were considering the size of our ship, but they did the trick. Notice the people on shore.

Arrival on the USNS Comfort

Monday, March 30th -
After leaving DC and putting my stuff in storage in NC, I arrived at USNS Comfort in Norfolk, VA, the grand white ship with the red crosses on it, more spectacular in person than on Wikipedia. Hauling 2 duffle bags + bag o' hygiene kits + backpack, I could barely make it up the stairs. After walking down 81 stairs (maybe 82), we arrived at our berthing area (aka: where you sleep and keep your stuff). We (the NGO's) are bunked on the bottom level of the ship. I picked the bottom bunk. We got 2 lockers, one approx 2 x2 feet right near my bed and the other a standard locker size around the corner from my my bed. Spent the evening unpacking and deciding which locker to put everything. I hung a few hooks over my bed to put a small laundry bag for my journal and scriptures and headlamp and, feeling resourceful, poked a hole in it to hang it. The mattress is firm, but could be worse. The pillow is firm and large with a coarse, abrasive pillowcase. I added new pillowcase to my final shopping list for our upcoming Walmart trip the following day.

Brother Crawford, one of our leaders on the LDS Charities NGO with whom I am working, gave us a tour of the ship. My favorite moment was standing nearby, my hand to my heart, the naval serviceman's eyes fixed on the horizon as the sun set, at which point he lowered the American flag.

Sleep came after a lot of tossing and turning and bumping into the ?aluminum? "wall" on the back side of my bunk. The bunks feel small, even for a girl whose slept on a little girl bed twin mattress her whole life.

 Set my alarm to military time for 05:20 the next morning. Thus began my time at sea.