Location: Statia
[Disclaimer: this paragraph was exaggerated for dramatic effect. Participation was voluntary and not compulsory. Please do not be alarmed!]
Starting from 12 am and going onwards. As Gigi mentioned, everyone had punishments last night because of our failure to appease the Council of Elders. As Gigi also previously mentioned, I had a surprise sleeping arrangement. This sleeping arrangement was the food bunk (see picture attached). Not only was there no space because of all of the food, it also smelled, had bugs in it, and, on top of everything, had no working fan. For context, this whole trial came from me creating a petition to allow me to switch bunks to a different one, so my punishment was sleeping in this one, without a mattress, for a night before getting to switch. I put off sleeping in this bunk for as long as I could and called both my mom and a friend. Finally, I succumbed to the tiredness and made my way below deck. I lay awake for an hour, sweating, contorted around the bags of pasta and cans of beans, and feeling like bugs were crawling all over my body. At around 3 am, Oli was switching out with Gigi for watch, and they came by my bunk to check in on me and laugh at my predicament. Hearing them, I took off my sleeping mask and, in my delirious state, expressed to them my suffering. We were all laughing so hard. We all agreed that it would probably be best for me to go back to my own bunk, and so I gave up trying to embrace the suffering. As soon as I got into bed, it started monsooning upstairs, and I heard Olis elephant footsteps scrambling on deck to get the hatches closed. He was completely soaked through. I finally went to bed in my beautiful, comfortable, fanned-up bed, which I have never been more grateful forand then I had to wake up at 5 am for watch, during which it monsooned again. Needless to say, extra instant coffee was drunk today.
This morning, we started with Madelines delicious breakfast that consisted of eggs and melon. Today, we had the option of going on a hike up a volcano or staying back and studying. Gigi, Oli, Madeline, Dom, Zoe, and Aidan and I went on the volcano hike. We walked through the beautiful town, stopped for ice at the dive shop, saw some cows, and began our ascent. Gigi and I came to the realization that we are both out of shape, trudging in silence ten paces behind the rest of the group. The view was pretty and panoramic, but ultimately, the walk downhill was the best part. We had a very enthralling conversation. On the way back, we stopped by the grocery store, truly acting like kids in a candy shop. I bought some granola and fruit snacks. We then got back to the dock and dinghied back to beautiful Oceanstar. We ate sandwiches and just relaxed for a little bit, until everyone who went on shore came back. We did our first emergency first responder class and an oceanography class. We then had a delicious burritoey bowl situation for dinner and are now getting ready for passage to Saint Barts tomorrow!