Monday 4th March

We had a quiet day today. The special treat at Starbucks today was crepes with a choice of toppings. We had nothing planned for this morning so we went and sat by the pool! It was really hot and we later found out that the real feel was 101 degrees fahrenheit so we were right, it was hot! 

After lunch we had a belated tour of the lower decks of the ship with Sharon. She showed us all the wards (no photos allowed to be taken), the x-ray department, bloods, pharmacy, CT scanner, crew doctor and dentist, offices, cabins, stores, boutique and fire lockers (where all the fire equipment for that area is kept). 

When Nathanael came home from school (after he'd done his homework, obviously!) he helped me with a level of Star Wars Angry Birds I have been stuck on for months! Of course he managed it in about 30 seconds flat again! Then I didn't see my ipad again for the rest of the day as Sharon and Nathanael were playing games on it!

At 6.30pm Sharon took me down to the ship boutique. It's a bit like a charity shop! People who have things they don't want anymore or people who are leaving the ship and have stuff they don't want to take home with them, give it to the boutique. It is open 3 evenings a week from 6-8pm and crew can go down there and pick up stuff for themselves. It is free, but they can only take 3 items per visit and they have to be used for their own use and not given to people off the ship. 

Some of the stuff in there is really random but there are some useful items in there too. You never know what people might use! Sharon said it's good for fancy dress parties. The things people give are supposed to be in fairly good condition so they can be used by someone else, but there were some questionable items in there! Sharon says it's funny when you give something to the boutique and then you see someone else wearing it the next day!

Here is a story for you to read that demonstrates how desperate the people are here in Guinea and the lengths they will go to in order to get help. Click here