Location: Palau to Raja Ampat
Today was a pretty standard passage day- we woke up, had lunch, and then had classes. It has been a very long time since we’ve had class after all the exciting excursions that kept us busy in Palau. We had leadership first with Tomer and then marine bio with Anna. I then read up at the bow. After many days in a row of rain, being able to finally read again on deck was very nice. Then we had dinner, cooked by Sidney. And that was the day so far. Today, a large challenge for everyone is sea sickness. We were all mostly fine in the 21 days, but just this first day, nearly everyone vomited their brains out. The waves tend to feel a bit more fierce when motoring upwind like we were doing today. I vomited five times. It all ended, however, when we put up the sails. The sails tend to stabilize the boat, causing less rocking from side to side. Because of this, the sea sickness stopped for most of the time. Although today was not particularly as exciting as our past week in Palau, I wanted to share a few thoughts that I’ve had while enjoying the slower pace of being at sea: I miss Subway Eat Fresh a lot.
Footlong multigrain flatbread with tuna, shredded cheese, spinach, and some honey mustard. Then, a footlong cookie. It’s just that fast food has certainly been on the decline these days. I think it’s mainly cuz of the price. A Big Mac meal used to be five bucks, and now it’s $16 or so. Popeyes and Chipotle are crazy expensive, but somehow, they’re getting MORE popular. People are sheep. It feels that way sometimes. It’s also weird how, in Palau, the richest man on the island, Whipps Surangel Jr., is also the president. Does anyone else find that strange? I’ve been thinking a lot about consumerism and capitalism. Anyways, love you, Mom and Dad! P.S. Hi Emily