Hi, I'm back. Our new roommates Cindy, Mayellen, and Ellen arrived this week. Of course they're still just adjusting and working on opening up, but they seem friendly. Cindy's from Canada and Mayellen's from the Netherlands and Ellen's from Norway for Sweden or something like that. We watched the most hilarious 80's chick flick last night. We all brought our pillows and made one of the beds into a couch. It's call Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Some of my roommates were reminiscing about the side ponytails and poofy hair etc. Frankly I was ever so thankful that I had not been born in the 80s, but it was fun hearing them talk about it. Sarah who's English, kept talking about the amazing dinosaur hairclips in the movie. She wanted them. It was great.
There was some babysitting drama this week. This time I was babysitting both Luke and his sister. Time wise it wasn't bad at all. I just wasn't prepared for them challenging my authority. And then it was one of those mental things were I began to question my own ability to take care of them, even though I often babysit for several children at a time at home. By the end of it I was an emotional wreck. I didn't even know what to say. I ended up just telling them I was really tired and left as soon as possible. I rushed down to our room with this huge lump in my throat, on the verge of tears. I sat in our little sitting area, head in arms, leaning against the wall and enjoying the sheer misery and tasting the hot angry tears. Mayellen finally approached me and asked if I was alright and like a little child I shook my head. Between sniffles and half-hearted laughs I blurted out every injustice that had happened that day. It felt good to get it out. I was later approached by their mother about it. It was really good to be reassured about the whole thing. And I assured them that I was still willing to babysit: I hadn't been scarred for life...yet :)
A few days ago I was approached by a worker here from Ghana. He said that at lunch time he had something "of African culture" for me. I warily agreed to meet him. At lunch he gave me this amazing African bracelet and necklace made with black, red, yellow and green sead beads; the colors of the Ghana flag. I was really touched. As it turns out, Cindy is really into making hemp bracelets, so she had brought supplies. I think I'll make a hemp bracelet with the colors of the US flag for him. I'm also excited because it widens my horizons present-wise for crew on the ship. I also just found out that Geneen was homeschooled all the way through highschool. We've started walking in the evenings and just talking and talking. It's very uplifting and refreshing. I have the coolest roommates
Oh, and more exciting news. I met this guy over the buffet line a few days ago and as it turns out he's involved with getting Young Life started in Monrovia! He used to work at Lake Champion before coming here where he works as the pharmicist. It was really a God thing. I kept meeting people that had heard of Young Life but not anyone that was actually involved in it, so this was really exciting. He invited me to an all-day meeting this Sunday where he'll be giving the leaders in training a taste of what a Young Life club is like in the US. The problem for me was that I work Sunday. I was hesistant to approach any of the other team about taking one of my shifts untill they had had at least one day off. And then out of the blue someone offered. And it was like a confirmation from God that He did want me to go. I'm going to help lead songs, so we're gonna be meeting after work today to practice. He said it's a pretty small group. He's still figuring out the technical things and needs someone that can play guitar. Please pray that God would lead us to the right person for the music. Pray that God would provide strength and smooth all the details out. The captain, who also used to be involved with Young Life will be there (aaaah!)
Adios for now. Keep in touch. I love and miss you all!
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