Life after leaving Carlisle....

Thought it was about time to update everyone on what has been happening in my life over the last few weeks...

I left Carlisle on Thursday 10 May and had a very pleasant journey down to London, via Lancaster and Harpenden. Stopped by West Wickham, Kent, to collect some keys and have a cup of coffee, and then dropped my friend Christine and her brother off at Gatwick Airport.

Friday through to Monday was spent catching up with lots of friends in the West Wickham area, attending church and eating lots!

Then, Monday night I spent with an ex-OM friend fairly close to Stansted Airport, who very kindly dropped me off there early on Tuesday (15 May) morning.

By 10am, I had arrived in 'my new country of abode'. For how long, who knows....

The past 6 weeks....

At last I have found the time to update my blog and actually publish it. I thought I would spend a few minutes updating you on the last 6 weeks or so of my life and what has been happening since I moved to Bremen, Germany to await the arrival of the Logos Hope.

You may think from reading the following that I have NOTHING to do, except eat and party, but I want to assure you that I am also working. As most of you know by now, my move to the ship is to take on a new role in Guest Relations onboard. In order to fulfil that role, one needs a ship and some guests! That, of course, is not happening quite yet, with the Logos Hope still in the shipyard in Trogir, Croatia.

In the meantime, I am spending time writing various documents that will help to lay the foundation of our department, Partner Ministries, on the ship. Other than doing that, here are a few highlights and a few bit of information....

Where I live...

This is my 'house' here in Bremen. I live in an apartment in the basement of this church. It is a Brethren church in a nice leafy suburb of Bremen. The services are all in German, but there is a kind man who will translate the sermon for me!It consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom with separate toilet. I share this apartment with a Jamaican lady, Annette Harris. Annette does travel quite a bit, so I have it to myself quite a bit of the time.From here, it is a short walk to the bus stop where I catch the No. 29 bus to work each day. It takes about 20 minutes. Then I have another short walk to the office which is located in another church.

Meet the Team...

Here it the team presently in Bremen... we have 1 Jamaican, 1 Mexican, 1 Zimbabwean (that’s me) and the rest are South African!
Photographed are: Brian & Miriam, Jaco, Jenni, Louria, Annette, Neil and myself. There picture is taken out the front of the church where our office is. Not in this photo, are Neil's wife Marie and daughter Nicole.

There are 3 of us that belong to the same department on the ship, otherwise everyone is in different departments.

Watching Rugby...

The first Saturday I was here, some of the team got together to have a Braai (BBQ) and then to watch the Super 14 Rugby final. The match was between two South African sides, the Blue Bulls and the Sharks! With the team here being made up mostly of South Africans, it was great being able to watch the match via the Internet.

Jaco & Brian cooking!










Action in the Rugby!

Ladies Breakfast...

Now and again the ladies on the team get together and have a breakfast. At this one we made omelettes in freezer bags! Yes, that’s right, all you do is break two eggs into a Ziploc freezer bag, add any other nice ingredients like onions, bacon bits, cheese etc, and then boil the bags in a pot of water for exactly 13 minutes! This is a trick I learnt back in Carlisle and it works perfectly every time!

Trip to Mosbach...

A couple of weeks ago I went to Mosbach, where the OM Ships head office is located. It was a great time to catch up with many people that I know there and also to hear more about the progress of the Logos Hope in Trogir, Croatia. Of course, while I was there a few of us went out for a meal!

Bring on the Ferrari...

While in Mosbach, there was an exhibition at the local Shell Garage of a Formula 1 car. It was amazing to see a car like this close up and realise how small they actually are. Watching on television makes them look much larger!

Spending time with friends...

Yes, another braai (BBQ), this time at Andy & Irene Juliff’s place near Mosbach. It was a fun evening! Andy & Irene are part of the Ship's Team in Mosbach where Andy is involved in recruiting people to join the Ships.