Location: Underway to Fernando de Noronha
Today marks day 30, a third of our entire 90-day journey. Today also marked the last day of apples on the vessel, the due date on three assignments, and a how-to lesson by the immaculate Josh Muhlbaum. With two apples left in the bag, Abby and I quickly grabbed them before all the hungry boys aboard this ship could devour them. Feeling stealthy and ready for our escape with our apples before the boys could realize, we were halted by a bearded man, Eli Silverman. A look of disappointment in his eyes as he looked at the bag and at the peanut butter in his hands. Eli pouted as he said, ‘There are no more apples? You took the last apple!’ I felt a bit of sympathy for this strange bearded man and agreed that I would share my dearly treasured apple with him on the right day. That day must and will be a very special day. Behind Eli and Aika’s apple conflict lay the table filled with anxious students. Their eyes were glued to their laptops as they finished up their oceanography literature reviews, personal autobiographies, and menus.
As a food-lover, I was extremely eager to know if my personal chefs (fellow peers) would be cooking and feeding me five-star meals. There is no way I can possibly settle for less. ‘What are you planning to cook?’ I asked Chef Sam Bull. Chef Bull responded excitedly, ‘Shrimp fettuccini!’ After hearing her response, I felt reassured that I would be provided with the finest dining by my fellow chefs. Emma filled our brains with fascinating knowledge about marine microorganisms during her marine biology class. Yearning to learn, Mr. Mulhbaum satisfied our desires by teaching us how to make ‘the perfect paper airplane.’
The paper airplane we constructed today was no match compared to a typical everyday paper airplane. Josh set the standards high for paper airplanes. PSCT classes, showers, and a bit of free time occupied the rest of our day until dinner. Our stomachs were filled with mouth-watering lasagna, prepared by Chef Abby, along with her two sous chefs, Jia Her and Marina. Prior to dinner, I had asked a squeeze question to the entire group. ‘If you could spend Valentine’s Day dinner with one person in the world, who would it be?’ Answering the question first, I said, ‘I would spend it with Eli.’ Eli, holding my left hand, quickly turned red and began to fidget uncontrollably. I looked at him and then looked to my right and squeezed Kimi, passing along the question to her. ‘Eli,’ Kimi said and squeezed Del to answer. Eli’s name was declared as the answer, squeeze after squeeze. Eli was puzzled as to why everyone wanted to spend Valentine’s Day with him. Little does he know that tomorrow, Valentine’s Day, might be the special day that I share my apple with him. (Shout out to Jia Her for helming for 4 hours straight)