The 1st was our first full day back at sea in a month! Despite the slight sea sickness, Iām happy to back on the waters. We are on our way to the Canary Islands, the first parent port of the trip! Iām so excited to see Chris because I want to show him just how much Iāve learned and what Iāve been doing for these past 2-ish months. I asked my mom if she could send me some snacks from home, a razor because mine broke, and some pictures of pets/family so thatās exciting that Iām gonna get all of that soon. My snack bag is a disgrace with literally NOTHING in it. (Advice to future Floaties: BUY A LOT OF SNACKS.)
Also, it was girlsā shower day today and I was casually taking a shower with another person right next to me at the other shower head as one does and the boat swayed a little more than I wanted it to and I FELL INTO my friend. The things that happen on Class Afloat are pretty funny, but not something you think about unless youāre on the ship and it happens to you. I kid you not⦠my awkward self literally said, āoh no, we almost just did the frick frack.ā Me and Haylee DIED of laughter.
Dinner today was CHICKEN WINGS with this delicious sauce. It made me very happy and you better believe I got seconds.
Yesterday at like 1900h AKA 7pm, while I was on the bridge deck (the top deck) a bird nosedived into the deck and couldnāt fly away because there wasnāt enough space. It was SO CUTE so I kinda wanted to keep it as a ship bird, but I sadly picked it up, brought it back to the stern deck and set it on the table where it would have enough room to fly away, which it did. I felt proud⦠I saved that birdās life.
Tomorrow is departure day from the Canary Islands. It was so nice seeing Chris and having the opportunity to show him how Iāve been doing. Also, everyoneās parents are so wonderful. I loved meeting all of them. My friend Sarahās mom brought a lot of hair dye with her and a few of us had a hair party. I dyed my hair āPurple Rageā and, I must say, I really like it.
On the 4th of November, Chris brought my friend Bella and I to a symphony orchestra in this gorgeous opera house. The music was amazing and, when I got back to the ship, I was inspired to get some London Philharmonic Orchestra music that I now listen to to go to sleep.
Also, my snack bag is SO FULL NOW. It was so exciting to actually have snacks, especially the ones that I love from home. Thank you so much to my sister Nikki and my mom for organizing the little care package I got. The razor works very well and the pictures are all hung up on the wall space I have. A lot of people told me that the dorms would be terrible when I came to Class Afloat, but Iāve learned to love them and make a home out of the small space that I have. Iāve got the pictures, I cozy blanket, a panda pillow, a sleeping bag, and some stuffed animals that make my bed very comfortable to sleep in.
For our last full day, Chris, David Jones - the president of Class Afloat (which is funny because thatās my step dadās name), and I all took an hour and a half drive up to the ābarely dormantā volcano. It was a beautiful (and very cold) spot to have some dinner as we sat at the base of a volcano. It was cool to get to know David because he doesnāt sail with us so Iām grateful that he came along for our little journey.
On the 9th of November, a fellow American came up to me to let me know that Donald Trump had won the presidency. Iām extremely disappointed in the United States and all day yesterday I was in a very frustrated mood. Almost all the Americans on the ship didnāt talk about it unless someone else asked. Itās not a very light subject⦠I actually cried a bit from pure frustration and had to take a nap for about 2 hours. The night before on night watch, Philip (the first mate) called a ship that was close by to see if they could google what was currently going on in the election. The ship got back to up about 10 minutes later with news that Donald Trump was in the lead, but no one had officially won yet. I had hope that Hillary would trump Trump (get it?), but sadly she did not. Iām a little upset that Iām almost completely out of the loop because anything could be happening right now in the U.S. But at the same time, itās nice being isolated from the country that is now being run by the likes of Trump.
I wonāt write anymore about my political opinion because there are much more happy things going on as Iām travelling the world!
Advice to future Floaties: Itās okay to get frustrated, sad, or mad sometimes because itās healthy to let out emotions. However, donāt let these frustrations get the better of you. Youāre frustrated now, but remember that youāre on a ship travelling the world with your new family and I promise everything will be okay.
One last thing⦠Rest in Peace to the bird that our engineer, Angelou, through off the ship. It had a broken leg, but I guess he didnāt appreciate itās existence on our stern deck. Apparently it flew for a second then nosedived harshly into the water.
Today we had a Remembrance Day ceremony to commemorate anyone who has fought in a war. With all the different nationalities on board, it was comforting to know that we were all coming together in peace to think about what exactly happened in World War I. Mark (a member of the Maritime Crew) played guitar and sang a song called āI Was Only Nineteen.ā Me and one of my best friends Leah accompanied him with part of the singing. When I started the choir, this is what I had hoped for. It was nice to sing in front of people especially about this serious topic of war. Iām glad I got to be a part of the ceremony. At the end, we all got to write something on a paper shaped like a poppy flower and send it off into the sea as a way to finalize our words. I donāt know if youāre not supposed to say what you wrote, but Iām going to say it anyways. I wrote āI appreciate you, Papa. You inspire me.ā I wrote this because every time I call my Papa, he tells me stories about the time he was on a ship, but during a time of war. I love hearing these stories and the excitement in his voice as he tells them. I can tell heās excited for me to be on a ship and I love the support he gives me. I even got a post card from the Gulden Leeuw to send to him. I canāt wait until he gets it.
Today I had to wake up at 06:15 for galley (helping in the kitchen ā the kitchen is called the galley on a ship). Waking up early is never fun, but galley so far hasnāt been too bad. Itās not the most fun thing on the ship, but with some good music, your galley team can make it as fun as possible. Because of galley, though, I donāt have day watch, which makes me have 4 hours of free time right now until I have to go back down to galley for dinner. Usually when youāre on galley, you miss a decent amount of your classes, which is your responsibility to make up in the future.
We got to Senegal a bit early so we anchored outside of Dakar. We are docked now and have already cleared customs. For a few reasons, we had to have copies of two pages out of our passports and, yesterday because I was on watch, I spent about 2 ½ HOURS scanning everyoneās passports (2 pages each). Thatās about 50 passports. It was fun once I got into the swing of things, but trying to figure out the best approach to such a task was pretty difficult.
WE HAD A SWIM CALL TODAY.
In hot weather like this, it always feels like absolute paradise getting in the ocean. I have yet to jump off the bow sprit because that kind of scares me. I have about 6 ½ more months to bring up the courage to jump off the ship rather than climbing down the ladder into the water. Usually I get really tired quickly from swimming because of my knee that I broke, but this time I didnāt get too tired to the point where I had to go back on the ship, so I think that means Iām building up strength. Itās kind of hard not to do that though when you live on this ship.
Itās so strange being so out of the loop. A friend of mine who is also American got the chance to call her mom and ask whatās going on in the U.S. in terms of Donald Trump. Sadly, he is still our president, but I guess Hilary won the popular vote and there are riots all over the country I guess. I definitely expected that, but itās a little frustrating that Iām still out of the loop and I canāt get information about what is going on. Maybe itās a good thing though⦠I get to be isolated from all the chaos.
Today, we danced with little kids in Senegal to some amazing drum music performed by some talented Senegalese men. Dancing with the kids was SO fun. The kids loved every second of it maybe more than we did. They fought a bit over who got to hold our hands when we danced and who got to be picked up. There was a line a kids who simply wanted to be picked up, lightly thrown in the air, and put down again. It was a blast for them, which made me feel wonderful about doing an activity like that. Because it did not only make their day, but it made mine as well.
November 21st, 2016: It has been one of the hottest days I have ever experienced and right before I was about to start a class, they called a SWIM CALL. The ship erupted in shouts of happiness and everyone charged down to the dorms to change into our swim suits. The water is really calm so stopping the ship in the middle of the ocean was pretty easy, but usually that wouldnāt happen. Thereās this insane feeling you get when you swim in the ocean with no land to be seen all around you.
Itās still hot as all h-e-double hockey sticks outside. But the maritime crew know how to make everyoneās day because they came over the loud speaker and announced that between 1200 and 1245h, they would be spraying people with the (very strong) fire hose. This water comes straight from the ocean and drains right back into the ocean, so thereās no waste of water AND we all didnāt have to take fresh water showers that day. All in all, it was a good thing for everybody. It was so refreshing to get literally BLASTED with some water because everyone is slowly losing energy from the heat.
ITāS THANKSGIVING! There are only 7 Americans on board so it was strange to say the least how today felt like a normal day. Itās a weird thing to get used to when people are constantly saying āAmerican Thanksgivingā and not just āThanksgiving.ā
I am highly thankful for being able to experience this opportunity. Without Chris Trow, the support of my family, and the acceptance of my crew mates, this would not be possible. I am so happy here and I cannot put into words how grateful I am for each and every day I live this kind of experience.
Tonight, the Americans and whoever else wanted to join, watched Remember the Titans because actual football was unavailable to us. It was such a good movie and Iām glad we got together to watch it.
Also, after the movie, I noticed that I could see VENUS in the sky. Never in Schenectady, NY would I be able to spot Venus.
It RAINED today for a good long while. This is the first real rain weāve seen during this whole trip. Everyone was outside soaking in the cold rain to get a break from the heat. It was HEAVENLY.
At 23:07ā 09ā exactly, WE CROSSED THE EQUATOR. I am now in the Southern Hemisphere of the world! Our coordinates were 0ā° 00.000ā 25ā° 24.397ā W. Tomorrow we are not going to have classes so we can go through the ceremony of becoming a Shellback (someone who has crossed the equator via a sailing vessel) rather than a Polywog (someone who has NOT crossed the equator via a sailing vessel).
I cannot say much about the equator crossing ceremony because it is a sailor secret, but I am now a SHELLBACK! One thing I can tell you is my sailor nickname for crossing the equator. This is something ALL sailors do, not just Class Afloat. My nickname is UNICORN FISH. It suits me so well.