Week Four! May 5-11

It's officially been one month of living on the AFM in Madagascar! This month has been full of fun times, adventures, and new experiences! I am so thankful to be in this place with these people. Praise the Lord! 

Ship Life
    During the week (Monday-Friday), I work from about 0800-1700. Breakfast is open from 0630-0745, and I've really enjoyed getting breakfast around 0715 and bringing it to the cafe area of the ship to eat and have my devotional time. The gym on the ship opens at 0600, so some mornings I will do a workout before going to breakfast/quiet time. While the days seem busy and full of activities, the pace of life feels slower and more relaxed here, in my opinion. It is so nice sitting and having 45 minutes of quiet time before the day begins and not rushing out the door to drive to work. That is one thing (of many) that I will try and better incorporate into my routine once I return to NC. 
 

    On Monday, our surgeries for the day finished early so some OR friends and I left the ship, explored the local market, and finished the afternoon with ice cream (surprise!). I have really enjoyed building friendships with our Malagasy co-workers (shoutout Fabrice, Isi and Esperelda!). It is so fun working alongside people who have become my friends. 


   There are almost always people playing games around the ship, so on Wednesday I played some rounds of a German version of "Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza." For those who have played that game before, you know it is already a hilarious game, and saying the words in German with different actions added a whole new level of silliness. We also played some rounds of ping pong... set up in the dining room of course! Use the space you have! 




    There has been a volunteer hair stylist on the ship for the past couple months for the crew and some patients. She is leaving in the next couple weeks though, so I was happy she had availability to give me a (free!!) hair cut. I love how there is a place for everyone to use their talents to serve others on the ship, medical field or not. 


    This weekend was a fun one! On Friday night, a group from the OR went out for pizza and gelato in town. I was on-call, but a co-worker kindly held the on-call pager for a couple hours so I could join the group for dinner. It is always fun spending time together outside of work and enjoying good food. I ordered a (surprisingly pink) Hawaiian pizza. Almost all restaurants here cook the food specifically to order, so it typically can take 1.5-2 hours to come out after ordering. Since pizza does not take that long to cook, it was a nice surprise when it came out to the table in less than an hour! 


    On Saturday, Heather and I joined some of our friends in town for the day. After hanging out at our friend Beha's apartment, the girls went to the salon and were pampered with facials and massages. We later met back up for a late lunch at a favorite local spot and then walked around town and saw the sunset. 
 







    After a busy Friday and Saturday, a veryyyyyy chill Sunday was welcome. I listened to an audiobook and worked on a puzzle with Heather for approximately seven hours, taking breaks to do some laundry. It has been raining off and on every day this week, so it was a perfect, relaxing Sunday. 

Surgery On Board
    This was my third week in the reconstructive plastics rotation. We had two new surgeons arrive this week, so we started to learn some of their preferences and get in the groove of working together! Most surgeons come for 2 weeks, so it has been a great learning experience needing to change and be flexible with different techniques and preferences every couple of weeks. This coming week is the last week of reconstructive plastic surgery (I believe), so the cases we've been doing have been smaller and less complex. If we continued to perform the complex skin grafts and "free flap" surgeries, there would not be another plastic surgeon coming to monitor the progress and it would not be safe for the patient. The cases we completed this week were still very interesting and definitely improved the quality of life for the Malagasy patients! One of my favorite things here is going to the hospital ward to check the patient in for surgery. After completing our pre-surgical checklist, we offer to pray with the patient, all of whom have said yes so far. Having surgery can be so scary, but I absolutely love those few moments with the patient where we can meet with God and ask Him for peace and healing. Everything we do here is ultimately for His glory! 












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