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.