J'ai fini

Bonjour mes amis!

Did you know I have been practicing my French? Well, let me tell you, I have and I am surprised how much is coming back to me from my school days. I have also been practicing my Spanish and although my French doesn't mix up my Spanish, I find when I hesitate in French the Spanish seems to want to compensate. That is pretty cool though.

This week was a little different than the last four because some of the group, myself included, was doing BST (Basic Safety Training). So we learned about fire safety (we got to wield an extinguisher), CPR, First Aid, and personal safety on the ship. The classes about fire were great! Did you know that only gasses burn? I didn't! Did you know the average American home will get to a fully developed fire in a matter of 3 minutes and 30 seconds!? I didn't. 20 years ago the average was about 15-20 minutes, but with more and more things being made out of synthetic materials it is now much shorter. Did you know you can only survive around 10 minutes in water that is 37 degrees Fahrenheit? Good thing we aren't sailing where the water is quite that cold.

As an aside, do we have these in Canada?

If we don't, someone should really get on that. If we do, be careful... I may or may not have just eaten half a bag.

This weekend I have the great privilege of being invited to go to Dallas to stay with the mom of one of my roommates. I am so excited to hang out with the other ladies that will be with me and to see a different side of Texas (I know it can't be all cow pastures).

The group leaves for Haiti on Wednesday so please keep us in your prayers.

I would also ask for a little help with prayer for me, please. It has been brought to my attention several times in these past five weeks that I can have a very sharp tongue in some situations. I already know this about myself but I have a hard time with it. I need to work on being slow to speak and realize that what is coming out of my mouth may be taken as hurtful (as sometimes I don't mean it that way at all).

Without trying to offend anyone I think the thing I miss most at this point is the lake! If I miss it this much now then I can only imagine how I will feel in a few months. I have been told that we shouldn't swim in any fresh water in Africa as there are too many weird bacteria and such lurking in the water. Not worth it. Although, I am sure I will be tempted.

I expect this will be my last post until after we get back from Haiti (July 30) so please don't get angry or worried because of the lack of communication. I will attempt to make it up to you with some pictures and experiences from Haiti.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Also, if anyone has any prayer requests please let me know because the group here is pretty awesome at that and I know they would be happy to help!

By the way listen to how noisy the night is here!