Location: Underway to Tahiti!
Aloha all! My day began at 11:30 as I was woken for lunch. When I walked out into the salon, donning my PFD, a sweet, sweet smell filled the air. We were having breakfast for lunch! We gathered in the cockpit, and soon we were enjoying Ula’s yummy yummy pancakes and fruit. Some enjoyed the chocolate chip pancakes, while others liked peach. All around, it set the day off to a sweet start! I prepared to give the daily schedule with nail-biting suspense- what could possibly be in store? My peers were silent, quaking in their metaphorical boots, awaiting the news. Waves crashed against the stern. Wind blew. If there were birds, they would have been squawking… in a suspenseful way. With gusto and flare, I made the announcement they had all been waiting for… we had class. Yay! Marine Biology, to be exact, and then a boat meeting afterward.
Unfortunately for Professor Dylan, it took us a while to gather our academic senses as we were rather preoccupied. In fact, Gabby was all to blame because she and her accomplices decided to create the Vela Hunger Games on watch last night. Though still being workshopped, it already includes what district every student belongs to, as well as how far they make it in the games. What started as a simple list has developed into a full-blown plot line, and we couldn’t be more invested. Some of us even have our causes of death confirmed; I die fighting off Morana as we both lay claim to a certain bend of stream; Fargo dies by eating red, ripe poison berries (According to Gabby, I apparently taught him all the different types in training, but he still chose wrong…); Ted perishes of dehydration (so humiliating); Others, including Saskia, Toria, and Miles die in a “YOLO! It’s our last night alive” bonfire. How do they die at the bonfire, you may ask? Well, I have been informed while writing this that Daphne threw a bomb into the fire. Thought I’d put that down, y’know, so you all have the facts straight. This plot creation has caused some friendly arguments, as some people aren’t content with dying early, highly embarrassing deaths…for some reason. For example, Kirby doesn’t like the idea of getting killed in the first two minutes while he runs to get supplies. Sorry, Kirby, but the ink has long been dried. Once the yells of “At least let me make it to day three!” and “My ego can’t take it. I need a cool death!” died down, it was officially time for class.
Today in Marine Biology, we learned about marine estuaries- what lives in them, their importance to other marine ecosystems, and what threatens them. We’re all currently finishing up our second essay for this class, which is about the current state of Galapagonian wildlife. Another assignment we’re working on is our group research project for Oceanography, and they’re coming together great! We’re all looking forward to enjoying our last days in Tahiti together with no classes, which means that we’re working extra hard now to make sure we end on time.
After gaining all the knowledge from Professor Dylan that our noggins could handle in one day, we had our student plus Captain Tom meeting. All gathered in the salon, and we had space to discuss how to mitigate tension within the group and how we could best communicate as a family. Though talks like these can be hard, we all felt the benefit of taking time to better understand each other. Yay for feelings!
It was then free time and study hall until dinner, where we worked on our assignments, debriefed about our meetings, and relaxed in the cabins. Watch team 1 was on watch before dinner and reported good times all around! After herding the cats up on deck for dinner, we learned what was on the menu, and boy was it a treat! Greek chicken, naan, couscous, potatoes, and veggies were gobbled on up by all 31 of us, though we may have had a few casualties in the form of broccoli rolling overboard due to our extra, EXTRA tippy sea state. During the squeeze, the appreciations of the day ranged from our first watches with our new teams, the amazing food we had, and Kirby farting on Miles’s face- real mature. The squeeze question for tonight was “What is a funny story involving a childhood crush?” and the answers did not come up short. I told the story of my first love- my swim teacher when I was three years old, of course, who was the only person who could get me into the pool (Brett, call me). In elementary school, Owen once called up his crush and asked her if she would go see the Judy Moody Movie with him. Because of his natural wit and charm, she said yes! Soon after, Owen, his crush, and his parents (obviously) enjoyed a wonderful movie and dinner date, where he demonstrated the ultimate sign of love… he shared Reese’s Pieces with her- everyone said awwwwww! Ted’s story took place when he was twelve, and he was crushing on one of his teachers. I don’t remember her name, but I do know that for the sake of the story, he deemed it vital for us to know that she was “An ABSOLUTE ROCKET!”… Poor teacher. Lake told a tale of crying over a Star Trek character that she was positively smitten with, and after getting consoled by her Mom and laughed at by her Dad, she found out that he was alive after all. Go, Wesley Crusher!
Cleanup was eventful- I only know this from the shouting I heard from the deckie team and the copious amounts of cursing coming from midships as the dishy pit struggled to keep from sliding away. Tonight is another night of adjusting to our new watch teams, full of laughs and “You just had to be there” jokes. All in all, today was a fun and productive day, and we can’t wait for more! It’s time for my watch now, so this is me signing out peace and love, A hui hou!