Lemurs and... tortoises?!

Today was an action packed day, which is especially good because if it hadn't been I would have had absolutely nothing of consequence to report, except... surgeries started! I saw a little baby sporting two leg casts the other day. That means that the orthopedic team is hard at work! Apparently there are many club foot patients this year; more than they had anticipated. I really do need to make a point of getting down to the wards though because I feel so detached from the hospital. It is like this mystery two decks below where I work, where so many miracles happen. I just can't wrap my head around it. Anyway, next to that my day is kind of inconsequential but, nevertheless, I will tell you about it.

Today I went to the lemur park and saw a whole bunch of really cute and fuzzy lemurs (and a few babies too). The park helps with conservation of the lemurs, which means there are cages involved. I know, I know, it is a zoo. There are some that are roaming around and just show up for the delicious grub. Like these guys...

Our guide Denis with on of the really awesome tortoises.

The tortoises were so cool. Did you know that you can tell if it is make or female by the belly? If it is flat it is female, if it is concave it is male. Cool!

Did you know that chameleons can change colour based on their mood and what their eating? Makes sense I guess. People often change colour when they are mad and food can certainly affect a person's mood (quinoa=happy, white rice=annoyed). Oh nature, how you amaze me.

On the road with Mike and Sue

This fence is woven together. I thought it was so cool because the pattern is actually very pretty and it seemed like many houses along the road were made of the same material.

I felt like I really needed to take a picture of this construction site because it just made no sense to me. They must have been building a wall or pouring concrete because there were a ton a sticks that looked like they were holding everything up. I guess they don't have site inspectors here; I suppose that isn't necessarily a good thing. 

A new ship pulled up beside us. Yup, that little thing on the right is the Africa Mercy. Doesn't look like we are a big ship at all! The Eukor seemed to be full of cars. There is a parking lot in the port that filled up overnight... literally.

After I got back from seeing the lemurs I went to the store to just wander around. At home I can spend ages at the grocery store. That might be partially because the stores are huge at home, but also I just really like taking my time and looking around. Well, here it is not the same feeling. The stores are much smaller and although I still enjoy taking my time, there just isn't the same amount of joy derived from that particular activity. That's alright, I procured some pastina which makes me think of my Nonna, and that makes me happy. For those who don't know pastina is just a word that describe really small pasta. In this case, it is the shape of little stars. 

Then I cleaned the cabin (which takes all of 45 minutes even when you are being thorough) and worked out. My workout was funny today because I did sprints followed by push ups and squats. There was really no good place to do it so I was running up and down one of the sidewalks in the port with a bunch of men trying to do some work across from me. Apparently my fast-ish running and doing push ups on the asphalt was more interesting than whatever they were working on. There are people everywhere so it really couldn't be avoided and it just had to be done. 

After I showered I went to church. Now this is the first time I have been to mass on Saturday evening since my arrival to Madagascar so don't get mad at me as you continue reading. The church was cool (temperature wise) and not packed with people as it usually is on Sunday morning, which is great news. While the priest was reading the gospel the lights went out. Here's the great part... no one did anything. No screams, no sitting down, no movement from the congregation at all. The alter servers went to get candles and a flashlight and the priest just picked up right where he left off. This leads me to believe that the lights going off is a fairly normal occurrence. Shortly after that it sounded like a generator kicked in so the lights went back on, to my chagrin. There are so many distractions in our lives that we cannot choose to turn off. Sometimes a power outage is a huge gift. If you can, try and turn everything off for a few minutes outside of going to bed. Just soak in the quiet in each of your senses. 

This is where is gets questionable... Since the sun goes down at 6:00, it was pitch black when mass ended at 7:05. Did I mention there are no street lights? Yup, it was not the most secure I've felt in my whole life but I was singing Joy to the World, so what is the worst that could have happened? Anyway, it was a short, but very dark walk back the the port gate and then it was very well lit all the way back to the ship.

That was my day. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and if you have any news you want to share with me or prayer requests please send me an e-mail at marina.priolo@mercyships.org.