Weather extremes...

Well the most talked about event of this week has been the weather. Being an English person I thought I was used to unpredictable weather, but now I know not! At 25C Saturday was the warmest, sunniest day since I arrived - kind of what I was expecting the weather to be like most of the time. So because of the hope of some sunshine, a group of us decided to escape the IOC and go to the local state park in Tyler with a lake, woodland trails and camping. They just so happen to have canoes to hire - what a great way to spend a warm, sunny, relaxing afternoon. Its amazing what a shot of vitamin D does for the soul!

However hopes of a warm, sunny week were dashed on Tuesday when the temperature dropped dramatically to a frosty -5C with snow. What?! Now usually I would take the drop in weather in my stride, but this week is different. This week we are doing Basic Safety Training (BST). This involves learning about ship life, safety, evacuation procedures, first aid/CPR and all that being a ship crew member entails. Part of this is learning fire safety and firefighting. But I don't mean just aiming a fire extinguisher at a little fire. Oh no. I mean donning full on bunker gear, helmet and breathing apparatus, going into a container at a temperature of 150C armed with a hose and partner and trying to put out a large fire all the while trying not to fall over or panic because of the zero visibility. Pretty intense. But with a wind chill of well below -10C, my hands starting to lose all feeling the novelty factor soon wore off. Despite this I dragged myself (well mostly my hands) kicking and screaming through all the tests. I definitely have not found my new vocation.

(Spot my attractive hooded form on the right!)

This week has had more weather highs and lows than a roller coaster. But there has also been a noticeable change in the emotions of the team as a whole. Maybe it is reflection as our time in Texas comes to an end. Maybe anxiety for those going to the ship for the first time. Maybe its just sheer exhaustion and information overload from a month of socialising and seminars. What I do know is that I am now impatient to get to Freetown, to get stuck in to my job and start doing what now feels so right.

(P.S. We had around 4 inches of snow today - we trekked out in a friends 4x4 on uncleared roads to the shops on the way coming across several accidents and many abandoned cars...it felt like home.)