"A Christmas to Remember pt. 1..."

First of all, let us greet you with a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

We had a very unusual Christmas this year.  Yes, last year being aboard the Africa Mercy was very unusual, but this year was even more so.  We decided that we would go to a B&B in the Northern Drakensburg mountains for Christmas.  "Drakensburg" to the Voortrekers means Dragons Tooth, to the Zulu it means Barriers of Spears.  It is drastically different from the Appelsbosch area.  Appelsbosch area is full of rolling hills and the Drakensburg area is full of mountains.

The place that we stayed was called Bingelela.  It was a bit more rustic...but very memorable.  All around us we see round houses called Rondovals.  Well, the cottage that we stayed in was a rondoval....very unique and interesting.



The roof structure is made out of layered tall grass.  They said that the rood will last about 10 years.  It is very beautiful to look at when you are laying in bed at night.  The only draw back to the grass roof is the bugs.  In the mornings and before bed I (Deb) would go on a bug hunt-especially in the bed!  It also does not smell the best, but after awhile you get used to it!

 

Since it is a round structure, the inside is round.  The bathroom area is divided off and part of the shower is round-even the windows are slightly curved...

The area is only big enough for a double bed so the kids had their own rondoval to sleep in.

Stay tuned for our Christmas Eve Adventure in pt. 2....

"You Know..."

I need to spend some time getting our Christmas photos organized before I post them.  In the meantime, as we were returning from Mike's dental appointment today, I was struck at how somethings here are so different.  With Mercy Ships, we have become very accustom to saying "It's not right or wrong, just different."  So here are some notable differences...

You know you are in South Africa when...

*People say "pleasure"  (It can mean- thank-you,  you're welcome, it's an honour...)
*People say "shame"  (depending upon the intonation, it can mean-I'm sorry, Too Bad, That's sad...)
*You get funny looks driving a vehicle with the steering wheel on the left side of the vehicle on the left side of the road
*When alone, you have to get out of the vehicle (with the steering on the left) to get the ticket from the parking dispenser because they are set up for cars that steer on the right side.
*In more rural areas, people make a two lane road into a three lane road
*If the shoulder is large enough, that becomes a lane also to move over and let people pass
*Flashing the hazard lights are a way of saying "Thank-you"
*Meals are relational...a restaurant meal can take 1.5-2 hours...just sit back and enjoy who your with!
*When going to a person's house for a meal, expect to stay at least 4 hours
*When having a Braai (like a BBQ) men do the Braai and women do the salads-that is just the way it is!
*There is a Braai Master
*You cannot rush a Braai-the coals have to be just perfect
*People genuinely want to talk, to know how you are, where you are from
*You are offered a packet in the store (packet=bag/sac)
*And finally, my absolute favorite, is having one of the cleaning ladies TRYING to teach me Zulu...She talks Zulu, I jumble/forget and then think in French...She laughs and smiles!

"Christmas Greetings..."

I know it is not a traditional Christmas Greeting...but I thought it was cute!  May you have a blessed Christmas full of God's amazing love and a New Year full of renewed joy, hope, and grace all because of what our Saviour Jesus Christ has done for us!!

The Jacobsen Family

Our Christmas Wish to You...click here...

"Power..."

Remember that nursery rhyme from when you were young..."Rain rain go away come again another day..."  When we first arrived at Appelsbosch in early September, there was a serve drought going on.  When we were living in LA a few years ago drought meant - only water your lawns every other day, try not to fill the pool every day, or wash your car every day-maybe just once a week, don't let the water run excessively, turn off the taps.  I think you get the general idea.  Drought here is a whole different meaning.  It means-animals die, people cannot wash clothing or cars, river beds are dry, it means no coffee at restaurants, crops cannot grow, it means there is very limited water-some places only had running water for 2 hours a day.

One thing we started doing as a crew, was pray for relief of the drought in the area.  A few weeks ago, we were talking with some friends who live near the game reserve .  They shared with us that the drought has come to an end-to the point where the river banks were overflowing!  End of drought means LOTS of rain.  With lots of rain we have had some marvelous thunder and lightening storms.  These pictures were taken a few weeks ago by one of our crew members. 

I just marvel at the power in these storms.  INCREDIBLE...Thanks Josh for the pictures.

"Gingerbread Houses..."

It has always been a tradition in the Jacobsen house to build a gingerbread house at Christmas time.  Last year we were unable to do it, but this year thanks to the hard work of our galley team, gingerbread houses abounded!  The were about 9-10 teams of 3-4 people that got together and decorated their houses. 

I believe at times there was more icing, food colouring, and sprinkles on the kids than there was on the houses.  We all, from the youngest to the oldest, had a blast of a time!

Enough for a crew!!

Getting up the walls.

Team effort...

Our final product...fit for a king....or at least a hungry mouse!

Creativity abounds!

"Breakfast..."

Saturday mornings have been a special time for those of us who live at Appelsbosch.  Saturday mornings mean...Saturday morning breakfast!!!  Now "regular" morning breakfast usually consists of an assortment of cereals, bread, yogurt, and fruit.  Saturday breakfast (thanks to the Palmer Family) became-breakfast burritos, breakfast casseroles, biscuits, fried eggs, hash brown casserole, bacon, sausage...as Mike would say a "REAL" breakfast.  Sadly though, the Palmer family was asked to move to our International Operations Centre in Texas.  This meant...no more Saturday breakfast.  So, Peter, two of his kids, Jay, Mike, Joshua and I were determined to continue the Palmer tradition and made breakfast for the crew this last Saturday morning.  Fried eggs, bacon, and pancakes.  It was delicious!!! (If I do say so!)

Pancakes anyone...just 10x's the recipe!

How do you decorate a tree in the galley?

With plastic forks/spoons, tea bags, bananas,and scouring pads...that's how.

"Perspective..."

I was walking to the shower room the other night and happened to look down on the window ledge and saw a cockroach sitting there.  Now my immediate thought was not....AAAAHHHH A COCKROACH!!!!... it was more...oh, a cockroach.  My reaction got me pondering about perspectives.

While living in the United States, I tend to like things clean, orderly, relatively bugs free, so my reactions would have been rather different and much more intense than they are now.

*Cockroach...."MIKE...THERE IS A COCKROACH ON THE WINDOW LEDGE!!!!" And he would come and dispose of it rather quickly.
*Rats/Mice...."MIKE...THERE IS A RAT/MOUSE IN THE HALL"  And he would set a trap and remove the remains, rather quickly. (As a disclimer-I would not have cockroaches, mice/rats in our house to start with!)
*Mold in the shower..."MIKE...WE HAVE MOLD GROWING IN THE SHOWER"  And he would get some super strong cleaner from "Home Depot" and redeem the shower of the minor mold growth.
*Power just goes out..."MIKE THE POWER IS OUT..SHOULD I CALL THE POWER COMPANY?"  Mike says:  No, it will come back on quickly.
*Water/Internet goes off...Well that one does not happen.

I think you now get the general idea of my reactions.

Now that we have been at Appelsbosch for almost 4 months, my reactions have changed a bit.
*Oh, a cockroach.
*Oh, a rat/mouse.
*Oh, mold everywhere  (Not kidding on the everywhere!)
*Oh the power is off...again.
*Oh, the water is off...again. (The main question is, for how many hours/days)
*Oh, the toilets don't flush...again.  (Bucket flush again...)
*Oh, the internet is off...again.

It amazes me how we adapt to the situation we are in.  The alternative is to be miserable and complain about it...but really, what does that accomplish but make everyone else miserable.  Then we just feed off of one another.

I leave you with this thought from Joshua.  We were driving down the road the other day and Joshua says rather matter-a-factly...like he sees one every day:  "Oh, look a Zebra."   Perspective...it is really what we make and what we do with the situation.

"Decorating..."

It is always difficult to be away from family and friends during the holidays-so we try our best to celebrate as an extended crew family.  The other night, the crew staying here at Appelsbosch, got together coloured ornaments, strung popcorn garlands, cheerio garlands, and made paper chains.  All this to prepare for tree decorating.  Earlier in the day, Jesse and other crew members went and cut some pine tress branches and fashioned them into trees.  Since we are lean on Christmas supplies, many of the tress decorations were handmade this year.  They looked wonderful!  Donovan, our managing director, ladled out home made eggnog made by his wife Mae, and the galley made homemade fudge!

Donovan giving out homemade eggnog...

Joshua decorating homemade ornaments...

Alisia colouring her ornament...

Is this garland long enough?

Anna and Lyn decorating a tree...

The finale...

"Fear Not Factor..."

On Friday Night, after a week of intense practice, the kids from pre-school to grade 12 participated in an all school musical entitled "The Fear Not Factor".  The musical was see through he eyes of the angels who delivered the news about Jesus' birth to Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds.  The kids did a marvelous job memorizing dance sequences, songs, lines, and Sign Language to accompany a few of the songs.  The highlight of the show was the finale where the kids were on stage with white gloves and black light signing to Chris Tomlin's rendition of Joy to the World.

Opening song "Fear Not..."

"Attention All Angels..."

A High School "Muscial-ish" version of "Bring it On..."

The whole Jr./Sr. High...

Alisia, Alanah, Bess, and Josie dancing as angels...

Manger scene

Black Light to "Joy to the World"...

Thank you so much teachers for making this a memorable program not only for the parents, but for enabling our kids to climb to new levels!

"Update..."

Mercy Ships state-of-the-art hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, has almost reached the end of ship yard work in Durban, South Africa. Built in 1980, it had become essential to replace the onboard power generators. The new generators will be mounted in such a way as to cause minimum vibration, as any vibration transmitted to the operating theaters could make the surgeons' task more difficult.

The Africa Mercy entered dry-dock on Saturday, September 25 th . Approximately 40 shipyard employees are working on the ship.

The workers cut a hole in the side of the ship and removed four old generators, replacing them with new ones.

There are roughly 80 Mercy Ships crew members still living on the ship working simultaneously on other projects. The ship being in the ship yard created an opportunity for the crew to repair areas that cannot normally be worked on when the hospital is in use. Projects include replacing the Main Engine Control System, doing a Main engine overhaul and painting in the dining room. There are also some hospital modifications being done. When the project is complete, Mercy Ships will be able to reduce its fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 20%. It will serve as a substantial cut of annual fuel costs.

The photos below show the new logo installed on the funnel as well as our URL painted in much larger font on both sides of the ship.

Copied from the Schwebel's Family Blog.

"Dumazulu Village..."

Over the weekend, we decided to take a weekend away from Appelsbosch and have some much needed family time. The whole purpose of the weekend was to have some family time and to have some much needed relaxation time.

One of the things we did was go visit a traditional Zulu village. A recreation of a Zulu village from the time of King Shaka. We did notice how different than the village was set up to that we see in West Africa.

This is a traditional Zulu hut.

This is the gate where we had to speak a Zulu greeting in order for us to be able to come in.

This is a traditional Zulu man.  He is the head of the clan-he has 5 wives and 25 children.  He said Mike has more problems with one wife than he does with 5!

Alisia beating on the drum, asking if it is okay for us to enter the village.

Josh is holding a traditional Zulu shield. It is made out of cow hide and is really flexible. Since it is really heavy the Zulu warriors would roll it up and use it as a pillow, and stick a long stick through the back to make it more rigid.

The ladies of the tribe weave baskets and make clay pots.

The younger women work on bead work.  Alisia is holding a Zulu love letter.  Each colour of bead represents something.

Inside of the traditional Zulu hut.  The men sleep on the right and the women sleep on the left. 

The medicine man performing his dance.

Young Zulu men performing their dance.

 I was a very interesting time visiting the village.  There is a lot of cultural differences from South Africa to West Africa.

"Sports Day..."

On Friday morning, the Academy Jr. and Sr. High students put on a sports day for all the elementary students.  Originally it was planned to be outside, but the weather decided not to cooperate and it was moved to the gym.  Thankfully we had more than enough space to put all the different sports stations.  There were several different stations ranging from ball toss, high jumping, hurdles, sac races, and many more.  The time ended with the whole Academy putting on an amazing gymnastics routine.  Then after lunch, the Jr. and Sr. High competed in a basketball game.  Fun was had by all!

Alisia and Joshua...#1 kids!!

Bess and Joshua with the sac race...

Alisia showing Andre how to do the boss toss...

Alisia doing a vault/handstand for the gymnastics routine...

Joshua doing a vault jump for the gymnastics routine...

"Flag Animal Farm..."

 One of the fun things that our school kids have been able to do since we are inland, is visit all sorts of interesting places. One outing that we took the preschool and first grade children to was the Flag Animal Farm. Now, for most kids this probably would not be all that interesting. However, for many of our kids any kind of animal is interesting and fascinating...since we are not allowed any on the ship. We had a wonderful day petting the animals, milking a cow, riding a horse, and of course feeding the animals.

Milking a cow...

Petting a calf...

A turkey...just in time for Thanksgiving!...

Holding a rabbit...

This chicken needed a time out!...It kept trying to sit on our chairs while we were eating lunch...so it was placed in a "time out chair"...

Feeding a horse...

Feeding goats...

Riding a horse...

Goats feeding on us...