Swedish Aerobics

"Von an doo an dree an foor; juse jour bum!"

These are words that were shouted at me during my aerobics class on Wednesday night. One of the dining room staff teaches aerobics once a week to the crew who are stupid enough to put themselves through the agony. The class is rumored to be quite rigorous. I, however, thought, "I've been a dancer most of my life, how difficult can it be?" It was like Jane Fonda and Billy Blank on crack, not to mention that I was laughing for half of it because I kept picturing "Hans & Franz" yelling at me and trying to "pump me up!" Two days later, I am still a little sore. I do think I'll be going back for two reasons: 1. sheer entertainment and 2. with it being Liberia's rainy season, it is easy to go several days without getting outside of the ship. So it's nice doing something to stretch my sea legs.

There was finally a break in the rain today. The sun came out this afternoon and evening. I officially stepped off the ship for the first time since arriving! I took my camera and got some great pictures of the ship and the view from the ship. (I'll be posting those soon.) As I was wandering around the outside decks and the dock, I saw the lifeboats and immediately thought of Titanic (the movie). "Don't you understand? The ship is sinking and there aren't enough boats!" Ne'er you fear, there are enough boats, but more importantly the ship won't be leaving the dock while I'm on it. The captain has made it very clear that he won't be needing my assistance in driving the ship. Apparently, someone tipped him off on my less than stellar driving skills!

Thank you everyone for your comments! I love reading them. It's so encouraging being reminded of how many people are praying for me and thinking of me often. God is doing some amazing things here! I think the most remarkable thing I have seen since first starting work on Monday is the change in the children. As I think I mentioned before, we have done two orthopedic cases per day on toddlers. Earlier this week, the majority of the time walking past the children's ward you just heard crying and yelling. The majority of the crying was not from pain but from fear. (Those who have toddlers or have worked with toddlers know that there is difference in the way they cry.) When I would approach one of the children, you could see the fear washing over their faces. Today, I sat on the ward floor and had children bringing me books to read and toys to play with. One little girl, named Lady, crawled in my lap while we played and cried when I had to leave. It is such a joy to be able to watch these children come so far in just days!