Ellen On Mission

Seven weeks down, seven to go!  Ship Life       This week felt pretty routine in a way, but was still a good one filled with lots of activities. On Monday night, "The Go Getters" put forth a strong attempt at trivia. On Tuesday morning, I enjoyed a run around town with Heather. Wednesday and Thursday were standard, busy work days in the OR.            Friday was a ship holiday, so we did not work! Every six weeks, the ship has a "holiday" where most of the office jobs are closed and there are no surgeries. One fun tradition for the ship holiday is a Day Crew vs. Crew soccer match at a local stadium. My friends Fabrice and Houssen were playing on the day crew team, so a group of us went to cheer and support. The crew did end up winning the game, but it was still a fun morning cheering on our friends and showing some team spirit!       To celebrate Heather's last weekend in Madagascar, we went out for dinner ...

 Six weeks down, eight to go!  Ship Life     I started the week with another surprise day off on Monday. After the Monday morning meeting, some of the OR crew were given the day off due to the new surgeons orienting and screening patients. As nice as a day off can be, I was ready to be back in the OR after also having Friday off. With the day ahead of us, Heather and I went to a new (to me) market Bazaar Kelly. It was an adventure getting there in the Monday morning traffic and our tuk tuk driver took us the loooong roundabout way there (aka we drove by the market twice before stopping). It had been a rainy weekend, so we dodged pond-sized puddles in the road as we attempted to find the fabric section of the market. We did not really have any luck, but it was still entertaining to see a different market and explore.      I enjoyed another Monday night trivia, Tuesday night volleyball, and Wednesday morning run.        On Thursday, t...

 Five weeks down, nine to go!  Ship Life      I have definitely settled into more of a routine and feel like I almost know my way around the ship. My dad would be proud of my use of "starboard, port, forward, & aft" to describe the location of something on the ship. This week included more games with friends, beautiful sunsets, and yummy food. We also had our first week of trivia on Monday night! We placed third (out of five teams), so not too shabby! I am hoping that is just the start of a successful international trivia career.          There are numerous restaurants to choose from in the area and I have yet to be disappointed with a meal! One common meal is some kind of "Zebu" which is a kind of cow and is very similar to the beef we are used to in the States. I have ordered Zebu brochette (skewers) a few times and it is always tasty! I also tried banana flambé at a restaurant this week, not putting two and two together that it wo...