Location: Tarragona, Spain
After a pleasant wake-up to Gangsta’s Paradise (rest in peace Coolio) and a breakfast of yogurt and granola, we had classes. Lots of classes. Today was the first day that we had three classes throughout the day, but all were interesting, and I don’t think anyone fell asleep (a fairly common occurrence with our limited sleeping times)! Oceanography was first, and we learned a lot about sediments! Sounds boring, but I promise it isn’t. They’re super important to learn the history of the earth, as well as important petroleum sources for the world’s energy. Max and Owen led our leadership class today, and as the jokers they usually are, we were all pleasantly surprised to find they’d prepared extremely well, including several interesting discussions on what makes a good leader and whether or not evil but effective dictators such as Hitler count as one. They also had a game planned to play on deck, but sadly we ran out of class time.
Lunch was something I’d never had before, sweet potato sandwiches on hamburger buns. I honestly wasn’t expecting them to be good, but I could not have been more wrong. Add on some tomatoes, lettuce, and thousand island sauce, and it tastes like, if not better than, a burger. I had two. After lunch, more classes. Seamanship may be my favorite class. Matt and Allie always make their class incredibly entertaining, making corny comments and stupid but hilarious jokes that make everyone laugh. I’ve never appreciated how incredibly precise navigation has to be to travel without landmarks until today.
After seamanship, we were free! Like cockroaches springing out of a hidey-hole after being exposed to light or insect repellent, we all dashed out of the boat to go explore the harbor area. A couple of others and I went to get gelato and to find a market to buy some snacks for the journey in a couple of days. The gelato was fantastic, and then we were off. On the way, there were a couple of beautiful alleyways with incredibly detailed murals on some of the walls that were so amazing I just had to take photos. However, nothing compared to the market we found. You may be thinking, what’s so special about some markets? You’d be right. It was just a regular supermarket. Keyword: super. This was the first real grocery store that any of us had gone to for 22 days, and we took FULL advantage. Some (including myself) quite possibly may have prepared for a lot more than one voyage. We’re talking extra laundry detergent, shampoo, and conditioner, as well as Doritos, instant ramen, soda, cereal, lots of sweets, and more. It was crazy and a godsend for those of us craving good snacks.
After spending too much money on snacks, we all came back for a lovely dinner of Calum’s Mum’s famous marinara pasta with bacon bits and Yorkshire pudding. An interesting combo, but it was surprisingly good! Several gremlins were found gobbling leftovers after dinner, including Joel, whose facial expressions are some of the best when eating. After eating, we all shared our favorite restaurant in our hometown as well as what we usually get to eat. This was maybe the longest after-dinner discussion we’ve had during this trip, and it was full of salivating mouths and moans of agreement, even after a filling meal. Post-dinner cleanup was a party as always, including Matt’s incredible belches that made all of us present die laughing. After some spicy uno, the day came to a close.