After five days at sea, the Africa Mercy pulled into shipyard in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Almost immediately, it seemed, the maintenance projects were underway. The jackhammers pounded down in the hospital as the old floors were torn up. The dust is tracked everywhere on the ship, a great source of trial for the housekeeping team, of which I am a part of while the hospital is closed. Every day we clean the bathrooms, the walls, the doors, and the stairways. Not five minutes after the stairs have been cleaned, there is the frustrating white dust, tracked up the stairs by the workers boots. Such is the burden of the housekeeping team. Still we soldier on and every day we scrub the ship clean.
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| Arriving in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria |
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| The Boardwalk |
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| Enjoying the Boardwalk |
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| Sunset in Las Palmas |
Las Palmas is beautiful. The boardwalk is a half hour walk from the ship, and is a favorite place for most of the crew. Here the building are beautiful, as are the pristine beaches and beautiful blue water. Add to this the deliciousness of gelato, and Las Palmas could very well be paradise. For me the most unusual and unexpected thing has been the culture shock I have experienced being in a place with all of the "moderness" . There are working street signals and the streets are free from trash, drivers must abide by certain rules of the road, everything is clean and sparkling, with no layer of dust and I can buy anything I need or desire at the local mall. Most unusual for me, I no longer draw attention wherever I go, there is no staring because my white skin does not stand out at all here. All in all it has left me feeling very out of place. I look at all that surrounds me and though it is beautiful, and I am happy to be here for a time, and sometimes I have even though I might like to live here, but at the end of the day, I am looking forward to being back in Africa again.
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