Made it to Congo!

I had some adventure on the way to the ship in Congo! My flight had a 14 hour layover in Paris, France. I landed at 9:00am and was able to get out into town somehow without using a map.. I can just see one of my favorite travel buddies(you know who you are ;-) )  cringing at home because the reason I did not use a map.. Well..She was not with me! I asked pretty much everyone I saw in the street or train to point me in the right direction and then I was able to make it to my destination.
My destination? Church!  Where I met some fellow Americans and they invited me to March with them in "The March for Life" parade(maybe called Pro-life parade in the states?). Not sure what the name was in French. But it was so exciting to be a part of it! Over 40,000 people showed up to march in the streets of Paris.

So that was my day in Paris, marching and saw a few beautiful churches along the way. Then headed back to the airport and waited for the final leg of the trip. Ugh* Nothing like sleeping two nights in a row on a plane..

My plane arrived in Pointe Noire,Congo at 7:30am Monday the 20th!
Met up with my ride and was escorted to the ship, where the first thing they do is give you  5 million papers to sign(not really) and then snap a photo of you looking all lovely from travel. No time to even go brush my hair..
This time around I have been put into a room with 9 other people. And I have to say it's WAYYYY better than the 6 berth I was in the time before. So much room.. We have 2 bathrooms 2 sinks, a couch and the best part... WE HAVE WINDOWS!! Whoohoo! Nothing like waking up and seeing the water
and sunshine from my room. And my roommates are lovely people from various places around the world and some from the states.

So today was my first day at the clinic. It's about 10 kilometers from the ship but the ride can take up to 45 minutes due to crazy traffic.  This morning was not so bad maybe took 20 minutes.
We were informed last night that the AC was out at the dental clinic. And this morning.. yes it still was.
So it was a pretty warm day inside. And  we ended up only working a half day.
One of the dentists I worked with last time I was with Mercy Ships is here and we are once again a team as we see to the patients!
Our building is real nice and all on the same floor unlike our building in Togo which was 3 stories.
Some of the same people I worked with last time are still here so it's been nice  to see them all.
I have not taken photos yet of our working space but I'll post soon. :)

It's driving me crazy that I don't speak French. I am really wanting to communicate with our patients.. Even if I could just tell someone they have a beautiful hat or whatever I would be happy!
So.. Survival French lessons start tonight!!!  I will be there!