The Zoo!

On Monday we went to the zoo. And it was AMAZING!!!!!! We went with our friends from Logos Hope Han Teck and Su Ling with their two daughters Katelyn and Anna. And it was AMAZING (but I've said that once before).Well, what was sooooo AMAZING about the zoo?? Well, I guess the usual things you would expect in a zoo, more or less. I loved the polar bear (he does have an air conditioned space, the fellow), because he was catching and eating his fish RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY CAMERA!!!!

Cheers, mate!!! And I loved the white tigers and the cheetahs an

d the fragile forest which has mouse-deers running around and cheeky monkeys jumping around and beautiful butterflies fluttering around and l

azy sloths hanging around... well, you get the picture. The whole zoo is done up really nicely, not much obvious concrete but everything lush and green and trees and monkeys climbing around on top of you. Ned loved the animals, although some of them came a bit too close for his liking... one cheeky monkey (or whatever it was) tried to steal his raisins, but besides that he really enjoyed all those strange, exotic creatures.

But although I really loved the normal zoo part of the

zoo, what we really enjoyed as well was the..hmm... not so zoo-ish part of the zoo. There is a huge section for kids to play inclusive a awesome water play area with water slights and water guns and everything (not only great for the small kids, but also for the ... not so small ones) and a big playground. That was SO much fun, although I didn't bring my bathers (silly me!!!!), my two boys enjoyed it a lot!! :o))

Eye Openers In Singapore

I realized that my not even 1 1/2 year old toddler is so deprived!!!! I discovered that... here, in Singapore. Well, cruel mummy doesn't give him the chance to develop his golf playing skills because he's not in "TOTS GOLF" (golf for toddler). Neither will he have the skill of Ronaldo or Ronaldino by the time he is 5, because he isn't in "SOCATOTS" (soccer for toddlers), nor will he win Wimbledon in the year 2015 because he hasn't joint "TENNIS FOR TOTS" yet. Besides those different sport activities you can sign in your toddler at many different day care centers (e.g. "SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS".... what a name is THAT????) or Art Boot Camps (their slogan is: "The disciplines approach to creativity"... hmmm) or you can give your child a classical musical education as soon as your baby turns one. Poor, poor deprived little Ned, he has to PLAY with other children and even worse, his own PARENTS. No golf, football, tennis, art or not even a classical musical education, poor child!! But it seems that this is a reality for many children living in this area, which to be honest is rather on the posh side of life (by the way, did you know that the word POSH origins from those looooong voyages between mother England and India??? It stands for "Port side Out, Starboard side Home", those where the nicer cabins during the voyage,... thought you might wanna know :o) ). We see very young babies being dropped off at the day care center just opposite of our hotel. Okay, we neither know the circumstances of the parents nor how long and how often those babies go to day care, but it makes me sad.... hang on, Ned goes to Kindergarten as well, and he is only almost 17 months.... speaking about which, I should go and pick him up now, the one hour is over :o))) more about eye openers later

not only does he sleep in the shower....

... during the day, we just park him in the cupboard.... just kidding!!!!

Little guy grows up!!!

It's a weird moment the first time your kid goes to kindergarten (or fun deck in our case), and doesn't even look back or misses you in any apparent way... the same time I am very grateful that he isn't shy of people but rather loves them and interacts a lot with random strangers on the street, in the tube or anywhere else... but well, now our little fellow goes to kindergarten one hour a day, he's growing up so fast. But to be honest, I treasure that one hour for myself. I love him dearly, but sometimes I just need some none winching, none playing time for myself... how do those amazing mums do it with 3 or 4 or even more kids, does your ability to be stretched increase with every kid??

Teeth are something great, don't you think??? I think so!!! But getting them is pretty horrible... I mean I can't remember anymore when I got my first ones, but listening to my winching little boy it MUST be quite uncomfortable and painful. I don't know if it was teeth, but he also had a temperature for three days with up to 40 degree, poor fellow, but it strengthens the immune system, doesn't it?? But he's fine again, but still whining.

Well, I'll get him back from fun deck now, won't I and give him all the love I can give him, winching or not :o))

Family accommodations....

... we are so blessed. Sometimes I think I'm almost blessed too much, which feels really weird. Us families are in a really nice hotel somewhere in Singapore. Our room looks really nice, is air conditioned and is bigger than our cabin on either Logos Hope or the Doulos. I can choose every day what and where I would like to eat. And every evening Ben is travelling from the ship yard to the Hotel. Besides that Ned can be quite a handful at times, my life is pretty comfortable and easy.... I don't even have to clean up because the Hotel staff is doing that (but actually I do it, because I feel uncomfortable to let other people clean up my mess.... and I have the tendency to be messy...unfortunately). And it makes me feel guilty. What am i doing here??? How can my being here promote the gospel??? How can I be of any use for his kingdom??? I struggle, not with the living conditions (because they are really nice) but because I can't see a result. So often we people from the western world define success in what we do, we get our sense of worth and achievement from things we've done. And I like DOING things, but I'm not. Then there are temptations like free internet access and TV... time wasters. And although I'm sleeping in the best bed I had in a VERY long time, I can't actually sleep. I LONG to go to bed at... like 9pm and just sleep, sleep, sleep. But I can't, without any apparent reason, which is very draining and frustrating, I just can't sleep properly!!!!! I would like to use that time for prayer, but my mind wanders. I'm also reading the book "Cat and dog theology", and am concerned that I'm a cat who tries to be a dog but can't really manage.... Dogs think: "You pet me, You feed me, You shelter me, You love me, You must be God" and Cats think: "you pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be god!" Dogs bring glory to God, cats try to bring glory to themselves. Ou how I hate being a cat, don't want to be a cat, want to be a dog, but can't do it... I guess only by the grace of God can he still use me... somehow, no idea how...

I'm not depressed or anything, don't worry, but all those thoughts are racing through my mind while studying that book...

But I don't wanna end sounding serious and depressed... lets finish with a funny incident, like when Ned managed to poo on the floor while still wearing nappy and pants, or that so many random people come up to me and wanna take a picture, not of ME of course but of offspring. I got asked several times the last week, if they could touch him or take a picture of him.... he must look quite cute :o))))

The bathroom... or bedroom??

creative parents, that's what I call us :o))))

Hello World!

We are in Singapore!!! Yay!!!

And actually we left the Doulos again (not permanently, no worries). Ned and I have moved on to family accommodations ashore while the the old Lady has an overhaul in dry dock.... for FIVE long weeks. Our accommodation though is really nice. We actually live in a hotel with really nice rooms. Ben will be staying with us for most nights and will travel back and forth to the dry docks together with the other husbands and us wives and the kids will stay here. We have one room with bathroom for us as a family which is bigger than our cabin aboard but as it is only one room we decided to put Ned's bed in the bathroom which gives us the freedom to do something in the room while he is sleeping :o)))) so we're all happy... it's jsut funny to stick your kid in the shower for his nap, haha!! (we take the bed out before they come to clean the room, it would look rather funny :o)

Arrived!!

Well, we are finally on the Doulos!! It is great to be here, but there are many things in need to get used to (and some I think, I will never like!!) For example: there is a DING DONG at 7:15am... how annoying!!,there are many, many cockroaches racing around the dinning room, you can't buy DIET coke (how will I survive), there is no Internet in the cabin only email (which would be enough for me, but unfortunately outlook doesn't really work for us yet, so i have to find a public computer if i wanna write an email), you can't give Ned a car toy to play with on our dinning room table, because the table is so crocked that the car rolls off the table as soon as you let go of the car, the doors are easy to open so I have to teach Ned, that he ISN'T ALLOWED to open them (it's not so nice if a random baby walks into a random cabin), the wall panels are very thin so everyone can hear it when Ned makes a fuss, and the cabin doesn't feel like a home yet..... but besides all of those things I need to get used to and that I'm really missing my old home and friends, besides that, the people are really, really friendly and Ned has already a new fan club and friends his own age. So we will survive and feel at home soon:o).
Today i was just thinking about how I was whining and winching the last couple of days..... I mean WHAT is my problem??? I can be grateful for so many things, like a loving husband, a gorgeous little boy, amazing family spread around the entire world, I have 3 meals a day, a bed to sleep in and our cabin is even bigger than our old cabin. there are so many people living who can't say that... I want to learn to be grateful in all circumstances and don't want to winch and whine about how much nicer living on the Logos Hope was.... I want to make new friends and try to be a blessing to the people here on this ship.
Well, I got to go as my Internet time on the public computer runs out :o)))))
Would love to hear from you guy how you are doing :o))) And hopefully soon i can upload some pictures somehow on out web album

P.S.

one funny thing about ship's life is that often you share your name with other people..... but never before have I shared my name with 8 other girls (in one location)..... :o)))) so we asked our ship's photographer if he could take a picture for us: Rebekah (CAN), Becca (USA), Rebecca (Austria), Rebekah (UK), Rebecca (D), Becca (me), Becky (UK) and little Rebecca in the front (AUS/D) (one Rebecca had to leave earlier so isn't on the pic)

Preparing to leave...

It feels very strange! I haven't felt like I'd be leaving any time soon, and yesterday it hit home. We gave our farewell testimony, that made it all of a sudden very real and today almost something like panic struck me because i haven't started packing yet (but that feeling disappeared pretty quickly again and nothing of the packing had been done again). I was encouraged that many people came to me today during the day and told me that they were encouraged through my testimony.... and it's nice to know that people actually are listening :o) and that God can use me in that way as well.... I'm very grateful that I was able to encourage others.

And then this evening, Ben went out with his mates to see a movie and my "girls" came over to our cabin for a surprise party..... man I will miss you girls.... you make ship's life so much more colourful and exciting and joyful!! Thank you for being my friends... I WILL miss you so much and am looking forward seeing you again!!!!!! It makes me sad to leave, despise being excited about what God has in store for us on the Doulos

About ships and why we ended up being a "ship" hopper

Well, many people asked me: "Why are you going to the Doulos?" On their faces I can see a look of utter bewilderment, which my face would have shared up to about 3 months ago.

We were in a bit of a weird situation. Ben's job will be taken over by someone else end of September, which in itself was kind of strange, but additionally we had no idea what we as a family should do..... Well there were several options we were thinking about. For example,... invent something really cool and earn lots of money and buy an island in the West Indies and live there for the rest of our live spending money on fast cars, motor bikes and many other unnecessary things. But we abandon that option pretty quickly. First of all we don't have a clue how to invent things and secondly, the climate here kind of kills me. And lastly.... how boring a live would that be. I mean, where would those adventures of faith fit in such a lifestyle, eh??? Well, other thoughts, more realistic ones, were: Going to bible school, working with MAP in Sydney or with Turning Point in London (both ministries work with Muslims), go to Libya (definitely NOT my choice, as I don't like sand and desert and heat very much, although the people there are really great), go into the secular world again, but going back to the Doulos was NEVER an option for me. To be honest, I'm one of those people who likes it when things look nice (and new) and, well, the Doulos doesn't look, nor smell, very nice on the inside (although I do have to admit, she's much more beautiful than Logos Hope from the outside... LH is a big ugly box, whereas Doulos is a stylish old lady). It is also a scary thing joining another ship and you have to get to know another 320 new people and while you still miss your friends from the other ship. So i thought "ship hopping" is out of the question. We prayed that God would give us both peace in our hearts for what he wanted us to do next.

Well, God's plans are higher than our plans (and I'm mighty glad they are!!) and he can change people's hearts in a blink of an eye. About 2 1/2 months ago, we were in London at the time, one of our "big" guys in our organisation, but more important a very good friend of ours, had a quick chat with Ben: how about joining the Doulos as part of the leadership and going with her to the Arabian Golf. Well, Ben said he'd talk with me, but knew that I did NOT want to go to Doulos. Well, he told me and all of a sudden, there was peace and a feeling of "Yes, that's it"!!! As I said, it literally happened in a blink of an eye, crazy!!! The next day we had another chat with that guy and the same day the news spread, that we'd leave the Logos Hope and join the Doulos. We were.... stunned!!! It happened so fast, that our brains couldn't keep up with the speed. But God's peace was there. I'm convinced that the Doulos is the place God wants us to be for now, and it gives me a happy feeling to go with that conviction. It won't be easy, but the excitement is there, that God will use us in some way.... and I'm also excited to meet those 320 odd new faces...... if you'd like to, you could pray for me, as I really long to have a really close and challenging friend.

So, we have 1 1/2 week left on Logos Hope and I don't feel like we'll leave so soon. While we were still in Europe we had the chance to pack most of our stuff in boxes and have them taken down to Mosbach (those boxes are now in a container from Mosbach on their way to Singapore... I hope at least that's where they are) so the bulk of my packing is thankfully done already, but there are still so many things to be done to close our time here on board, but i feel a bit like an ostrich and stick my head in the ground instead of tackling those things still need to be done..... ou well, I'll run around like a headless chick the last couple days (I guess I need the pressure of having to do things)

We will leave LH on the 24th, fly to the States, stay with my relatives there for a couple days and fly out to Singapore on the 28th (LOOOOOONG FLIGHT!!!) We arrive in Singapore some time on the 30th, then we have to get a Taxi or bus or something to get from the air port to the Singaporean/Malaysian boarder and we'll be picked up there (hopefully) by some Doulos people to bring us to the Doulos. If i think about all that travelling, especially all that travelling with a toddler, I feel something like panic bubbling up.... I tell myself that others have done it before me and survived, and so will we, but still, doesn't sound so..... restful. Hmmm, maybe I invent a beamer which can beam people from place A to place be in a couple of seconds than we could go back to option 1 and live happily ever after on that island, hahaha!!:o)

About sand, and sand and other dislikes

Lately I discovered that there are quite a few things I very strongly DISLIKE... (HATE sounds so...passionate, emotional, bad..... but it's easier to say, because it's shorter). For example I hate.. ahm, dislike TUNA VERY much. I hate mosquitoes and mosquito bites. And I hate being wet, damp and sandy... which often brings me into a conflict. Around here in the Caribbean there aren't really any places to go to with children just for playing, so you go to the beach. I theory I love beaches, but practically, there is too much sand. I love swimming, snorkeling and diving but then, when you have to get back to your dry towel there is this mass of nasty sand in between me and my towel. Big conflict. But so far I always survived walking over the sand to my towel, but still I greatly DISLIKE the sand on my feet. Especially, if there is a wet toddler involved who LOVES playing in the sand and also THROWING with the sand...grrrrrrr.... big conflict, big, big, BIG conflict.

Well, today another dislike was added to my sand/towel challenge: We went to a lovely spot here on the island of Tobago called Englishman's Bay. It was our day off and we went with our friends Mel (AUS), Isabel and Daniel (CH) with their baby daughter Sofia (Ned's SPECIAL girl friend). Well, us mums stayed with the kids and played in the (yucky) sand (I got sandy all over, grrr) and Mel and the boys went snorkeling. They hadn't been gone 5 minutes and it started raining. And when it rains it pours, I tell you, that ain't no fun if with a toddler who slowly starts shivering. So here I was, sandy (YAY) wet from swimming as well as getting constantly showered for I don't know how long, waiting for the others to return, holding a cold kid on my arm, trying to keep him warm with a rather damp towel, snuggling under a tree to keep the rain off us as good as possible and praying that no coconut would drop on our heads When the others finally came back we re-located ourselves under a little shelter thing which had so many holes in the roof that it would have been better to snug up to my tree again. And additional there was this guy selling ice cream, he had his truck parked around 10m away from the shelter so we could hear lovely ice-cream-truck-music playing "jingle bells", "O Tannenbaum" and "Stille Nacht". Writing all this, sound pretty ...um... negative, but to be honest, despise carrying a little wet boy on my arm and being wet and sandy, i had to laugh so hard... I mean, look at us... we are at the beach and listening to Christmas music... in September :o)))))

And it really was a nice outing..... with all the sand and water and rain and everything

Boom, boom music

Well, there is one thing in the world I DON'T like...actually, if I'm honest there are MANY things I don't like, but this one thing annoys me immensely RIGHT NOW: LOUD BOOM BOOM MUSIC!!!! The music source is about 200m away from the ship but everything vibrates inside because of that awful music. It is a national holiday today and they celebrate it BIG and LOUD time.

There was also a parade earlier in the day. It finished almost right outside the ship, which almost caused a problem for us, as we had a Logos van booked to go out in the morning to see a bit of the island. Our friends the Colenbranders came with us and we left the car park only minutes before the whole street was blocked off. Another group wanted to leave with another Logos van just a couple minutes later and they had to wait an hour or so until the parade was finished. I was VERY grateful we were still able to leave because waiting with 3 little kids is ain't no fun :o)))

We decided to go to a waterfall and then on to the beach. This little road trip brings me to something else I REALLY DON'T like: motion sickness.... and I got it big times!!! After 10 minutes or so on the road I had to say good bye to my breakfast but felt much better after that.

The waterfall was nice but a little bit disappointing as it was really small, but hey, it isn't about the size, it is about a creator who designed all of this beauty around us!!!!

Tobago

We have arrived in Scarborough, Tobago. Time flies so fast, it's crazy. This is our second last port with the Logos Hope, next port we will be leaving. Although we still don't have our tickets we plan to leave the 24th, fly to the states, visit my realitives in Huntsville, Alabama for 3 days and fly out of Atlanta the 28thto arrive in Singapore the 29th around noon time. Then hopefully someone from the Doulos will pick us up and drive us down to Malaysia where we'll totally exhausted will fall in our (hopefully bed-bug-free) beds. Ben will start working the very next day... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH sometimes live happens a bit to fast for me, somehow my brain can't really keep up with thinking!!! The good thing is that Ben and I both feel and know that it is the right next step to take to join the Doulos. What a new adventure... on an old ship..... that's where it all started, ahhh, sigh.... :o)))))

AUTSCH!!!

When I was little I loved play-fighting with my dad. And I can clearly remember one of my mum's memorable sentences: "Stop fighting, or someone will cry!!" I always presumes that she meant me, when she said someone would cry, but today I discovered, that she actually might have meant my dad.

Well, today I was peacefully sitting in our only easy chair in our cabin and had Ned on my lap. We were playing around a bit and at one point he was standing on my lap and I was holding his legs. All of a sudden he "folded" over and banged his head into my nose. He didn't mind at all, I was in tears and was happy that the fridge was next to me, so that I could get the cool pack immediately!!!

Then, after dinner we were still chatting around the table and he was playing with a 10cm big wooden toy bee. All of a sudden that said bee came flying my way and hit me with full force, yes you guessed it right, on my nose (again)!!! So, here I'm sitting, trying to type and cool my nose the same time, and coming to the conclusion that my mother all those years back wasn't so much worried about me, but about my father and that all those things you are suppose to have in your first aid cupboard aren't for the children but for the abused parents.

bizzzzzzarrrre!!!!

Well, which pictures comes to your mind when you hear the word CARIBBEAN???? Beaches?? Beautiful blue water??? Warm (or better hot!!) climate??? Reggae music??? At least those are some of the stereotype things which pop up in my mind (and they're actually quite true) but today I had this little bizarre thing happening which destroyed that stereotype picture. Well, in absence of a playground to walk to we went to a beach in the morning (it isn't toooooo hot in the morning). We took one of those thousands of little van-buses-things to get there and had a great 2h at the beach (Ned dug through the sand like a little wombat, not that I've actually ever seen a wombat digging through anything) and then we took one of those van-bus-public-transport-thing back to town. And there it happened: We had this wonderful Caribbean scenery (blue sky, palm trees and everything) and were sitting in this van with a picture of Jesus spray-painted on the ceiling and the driver was listening NOT to Reggae music, but American COUNTRY music!!!YAY!!!! It just did NOT fit together :o)))) But ou well, it made me laugh and made my day :o))

Well, I'm off to work as Ned is peacefully sleeping now

eye poker

Well, today was a special day. Today I was able to finish my diving course, YAY!!!!! I had 3 dives in total, while leaving Ned with the babysitter in the morning. The plan was, that Ben would take Ned back at noon, have lunch, stick him in bed and then after a nap another babysitter would cover until I was back from finishing my course.My diving was really great fun. It took my breath away (thankfully not literaturelly, that would be bad under water)!!!!!! My highlight was diving to a wreck which was down at only 12m. Words can't describe the wonderful world under water. WOW!!! And just to think, that God created all of this, and for thousands of years no one could enjoy it, except God alone, amazing!

Anyway, after arriving back on the Logos Hope (pretty exhausted but very happy..... I still have that odd feeling as if I was still in the water) I expected to see Ned and babysitter #2 in our cabin. I was rather a bit surprised when I found Ned and Ben instead, because Ben was

supposed to be busy picking someone up from the air port. My surprise grew when I noticed the biiiig white patch over Ben's left eye. To be honest, before I felt compassion for my poor, suffreing husband, I had to laugh, as he looked really misserable and rather a wee bit pathetic (sorry Ben).

The innocent looking offender of the crime played peacefully at the victims feet, before storming over to me and not wanting to let me go again for quite some time (mother's heart melting away, off course!!!!) What happened??? At lunch time Ned was "conducting" an invisible orcetra when Ben happened to get his head in the way and Ned's finger nail cut out a piece of Ben's cornea, so he had to go to the clinic and

have it patched up. Poor husband. Hopefully good rest, pain killers and an early night will help heal it.

P.S. Although I wrote the reason for the eye patch ON the eye patch still many people would not believe it and ask:"Is is true????"

P.P.S. He did get TLC after all, so not to worry :o))))

cruise liner

well, for the first time here in the Caribbean, we have a cruise liner parked (I should better say moored, because that the right word) next to us. And I'm shocked!!!!! I really don't want to be associated with a cruise liner and the guests aboard a cruise liner. I watched them invade Grenada. Sorry if i generalize a bit, I'm sure that there are many really nice people who are going on a cruise. Many of the men display their big (fat) beer bellies without bothering wearing a shirt and many of the ladies wear bikinis and maybe some short over them or a bikini and just atiny, little blouse. I mean hello... do you run around like that at home????? Somehow, behaviour like that doesn't show any respect to the cultures you're visiting with a cruise liner. I also saw behaviour like that from tourists in other places, and I am ashamed that many of those people are Germans. That's the picture many people in the Caribbean or other tourist places around the world have of Germans. Great!! I do like to see the nature and culture of the different places we have the privilege to visit with the Logos Hope, but I also want to respect them and not only "abuse" them for their nice beaches or other nice things... after all, we are ambassadors of Christ first of all!!!! That's WHY we are here and do what we are doing.... do I make any sense??? I'm not so sure if I was able to capture my feelings in words.... but it just upsets me. I guess that's one of the reasons why I strongly object if locals call us a cruise ship. Off course first of all we are NO cruise ship(but a GOSPEL and a book ship) but I also don't want to be associated with obnoxious tourist behaviour (maybe that word is a bit strong.... but well, I'm upset!!!) And i try my best to show love and respect to the people I meet (unfortunately I don't always succeed)

About monkey(s?), telefons and other interesting things

Well, our cabin really isn't big (it REALLY isn't... only if you consider 15 square meters plus 1.5m2 bathroom and 4m2 kid's room BIG, then our cabin would be big... anyway...). One would think it is small enough to keep ones eye on ones kid. I was proved wrong today!!!! Well, I sat at the computer and behind me Ned was busy playing. He threw a book here and houled a toy over there, threw his new book over the "Ned-stop" in the door... well, he was a busy as a 14 months old can be. I wasn't watching for maybe.... 1,5 minutes and suddenly I hear this metallic noise behind me. Well, sometimes it is very hard to be a disciplined parent and NOT laugh at the ingenious ideas offspring comes up with. Well, what need did was, he moved the almost only movable piece of furniture, an IKEA easy chair, to the sink, and quickly climbed on the easy chair, pulled himself up with one hand on the backrest , so that his feet were like 20 cm off the chair's seating part, and with the other hand he threw down the cutlery on the sink (happily I intervened before he reach the crockery!!!)Well, I decided it's time for bed (for him, not for me)... but despite being not very happy with him, I'm amazed how smart and ingenious he is :0)

Telephones!!!! Although I do admit that they are quite useful, nonetheless I don't really like them... much (as most of my friends, work colleges and family know). Unlike offspring!!! He is intrigued with telephones!!! EVERYTHING is a telephone in his eyes... the remote control in the TV room, the computer mouse in the office, mum's hair brush, even the string on his pull-along-toy-thing goes straight up to the ear (I'm hardly ever on the phone, so I don't even know how he knows what a phone is). Well, he knows the phone goes to the ear, but up until yesterday he didn't really know what to do with it besides putting it next to his ear. Every time some grandparents called and we passed the receiver on to him he was dead silent and fascinated by the phone itself. Well, last night he got hold of our phone and he was talking and laughing away.... but maybe best I show you a little video, that's easier than explaining.

Now we just need to try this with a person on the other end, if he's still as talkative as just conversing with a "PEEP".

Well, what else could be interesting... maybe my frustration with the English language???? Well... I tried to figure out the plural form for MONKEY. So I go to a rather useful web page called www.leo.org, I type in the German word for plural monkey: "Affen" and what does the silly thing show me??? It translated it to "simian". NEVER heard of that word.... what in the world is simian???? I just want to have the plural of monkey. So I try to guess what it could be..monkeies, monkeys, monkies... to be honest, I really thought they all looked wrong (that's why I started a search to begin with), but well, after a while it dawned on me that the plural might just be monkey... just like sheep... or donkey....!!! Did those people who decided to invent English do it with the purpose to frustrate us poor foreigners who try to learn the language??? I mean, how in the world am I to know if "monkey" means one monkey or 5000 monkey. One small little, humble, beautiful "S" at the end of the word would help immensely!!! And it doesn't hurt anyone, I'm sure of it!!! So my proposal is, that from now on it is sheepS, monkeyS and donkeyS

P.S. I'm utterly confused!!! I'm a smart girl now and then, so I just started a little spell check program. And this smart thing did NOT consider the words monkeys or donkeys for wrong... so does that mean my proposition for the change was really, really quickly dealt with or or did the leo.org translation machine just made a fool out of me and put me in utter confusion about monkeys and donkeys for nothing??? I don't get it... i should spend my time more useful than writing and thinking and contemplating about donkeys and monkeys and other similarly silly things... anyway... if there is a English speaker out there who could enlighten me I would be very thankful..... gotta go..... seeya... over and out

swin flu thoughts

somehow, I really can't stand the word swine flu anymore. Yes it IS a pandemic influenza, YES, but they come and they go and then a different one comes and goes again and yet another one.... we live in a fallen world. Here, in Grenada (we arrived today) they are a bit.... how to say... over careful . We all had to fill in little health update forms, we have little signs up on important places around the ship how to prevent spreading a flu and at the bottom of the gangway we have a disinfectant dispenser for ship's visitors to disinfect their hands before they walk up the gnagway. I still remember the panic about the bird flu a couple of years ago, and now it's all forgotten. I am sorry for those who lost loved ones, but I hate the panic making about it. A bit of balance would be nice........

Kid's ministry!!!

Today I had the chance to go  out and help in a vocational bible school!! To be honest, doing kid's ministry REALLY is NOT my "thing", but still I was glad I had the chance to go. The bible camp today was outside and it wasn't raining, which was good, but it was extremy hot and sunny, which wasn't so good for me personally, because I felt like melting away. 

When the program eventually started they began with worship and singing. It was rather interesing, that they (the church running the vocational bible school) had prizes for the kids who praised God the best. Someone told me, that they also threatend the kids with some kind of punishment for those who didn't praise God good enough (I hope that wasn't true, as I didn't really praise God good enough in the Caribbean styl, which is... rather outgoing, loud and expressive... and slightly off key) It's a weird thought to get awarded if you praise God good enough on the outside and punished if you don't. Isn't it about a heart's attitude????

I know I'm a pediatric nurse and yesssss, I AM a mum, but still I feel very awkward with foreign kids. Others do it rather natural, just hang out with them, love them, have fun with them..... it isn't natural for me. I was happy I had a "job". I made balloon animals :o)))) and the kids loved them. My "speciality" was a laybird or a little turtle which you can attach to your wrist..... and it made me happy to see them happy this way (although there were those lovely little comments like:"NOOOO!! I don't want a blue one. I want a RED one", "Can I have pink one???? I don't want a green one!!!")

And despised the weird praising God rewards/punishments and feeling awkward, melting hot and sticky sweaty, I had a really awesome time. I loved those smiles on those pretty little faces and the sparkles in their eyes...... but best of all I loved the smile and sparkle of Ned's little face when i came back to the ship. Being a mum really makes you all weird and a wee bit guey inside :o))))

...but we are not here for a holiday

Sometimes it's so easy to only think in terms of nice beaches, tropical fruits and beautifully clear water.  It is God's wonderful creation and if we have the chance we will go and enjoy it, but we are here for and with a purpose, which is to share the good news of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins with people. Most people here know the "Christian" things and know what Chrsitans ought to do or not do, but many of those do not live the knowledge (and to be honest, I also struggle in areas... who doesn't??). 

Most of my time abaord though I spend with Ned and trying to be a good mum, but there are opportunities to go out as well, and to b honest, sometimes those opportunity freak me out. For example next Saturday a couple of mums are helping out in a vocational  bible camp. WE'll be making balloon animals for around 200 kids. My ballooning skill unfortunaltey are VERY rusty, so we had a freshening up today which was great fun (but I'm always afraid those balloon-sausages pop on me while I create amazing wildlife like a giraffe or dog (depending how long the neck is it's either a giraffe or a dog). But all in all it's great fun doing and I'm looking forward to Saturday, although I'm not very much into children's ministries.... and talking baout kids, I guess I should stop waffling now and get my kid of the stools he just climbed and save him from any damage

Living aboard ship does something to you....

... especially to the kids ( I mean that's the only kinda life they know). Well, the other day one of our girls on board came over to me with a water filled balloon. she told me: "this is a water bomb and it shall be my pet and I shall name him Bob!!" (Reminds me of a scene in "Finding Nemo... hmm, something with a Squishy) weeeeeeellllllll... I told you, ship's live affects you in a weird way at times. But then again it is also really great for kids. Yesterday we had the opportunity to catch a ferry from St. Vincent to one of the Grenadine islands, Bequia (but but strangely you pronounce it "beck-way"). it was kind off the first time for Ned to be on a beach. At first he was scared of the sand, than he was scared of the water but after he while he got used to both of them. In fact he enjoyed the sand so much, that his scalp had a thick sand crust (it almost looked like a Schnitzel) and the rest of him was also almost entirely covered up with sand. at the end of the day we had a very happy but also a EXTREMELY exhausted little bloke. It was great fun. But to be honest, I think I prefer Western Australian beaches over Caribbean beaches (sorry, but that's how it is!!!), because the sand is so much finer and whiter :o). 

rain rain rain rain rain... did I mention rain already???

you might get the point! It IS raining, quite a lot. which is not only bad for going out, it's also bad fr people to come to the ship. Understandably you don't want to walk through down pours of rain. So it's kinda sad that not so many people are actually coming to the ship. But still, there are many people who brave the floodgates of heaven and come. Yesterday Ned and I walked though our public space DECK 4 and it was encouraging to see some area crowded with people looking for good literature and other people having conversations with crew. I wished I was better in small talks, so just to be able to start a conversation, but I just feel extremely awkward.

autsch!!!

well, I have to admit, I HAVE been a very lazy bum the last 6 months.
Unfortunately ship's life does that to us unfortunate people who are not very disciplined. Well, I've given it another go!!! I started running again!! YAY!! Good girl!! (Unfortunately)I joined a running group for ALL fitness levels. Off course I went in the SLOW group but was very discouraged that I couldn't even do that for long. Okay, there are a couple excuses like "my body isn't used to 29 degree celsius and like 80% humidity". Neither is it used to functioning at 6am nor running uphill (I was never good at THAT). But I don't want those excuses rule my life and make me a even lazier bum.
Well, and here I am now... walking like an old woman because I'm so sore, BUT I went running again this morning (good girl!!!) anyone struggling with the same issue out there????

Anybody out there????

I don't have a clue what I am doing here, but somehow my wonderful brain thought today: "Lets join the blogging world and create one yourself"... and here I am! No idea what I'm doing but obviously it is working... somehow.... Well, congratulations, you did it Becca, aren't you proud of me????

And just to let you know where in the world the wyatts are, it's Kingstown, St. Vincent and The Grenadines. And if you don't know where in the world Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is, check out wikipedia :o)))

well, have a great day, whoever you are