Location: An Azorian Penitentiary
If any of you would like an Audiobook version of my blog. Please reach out to Semester, and they’ll connect me with the right people. I speak a little bit of English and pieces of Spanish.I almost speak two languages. Truly ~bilingual~ We just left the Azores! Pronounced AY ZOR AYZ. NOT the AY ZORZ. Do not call it the Azores. By the end of our week in the Azores, I was refused service three times due to my pronunciation. The long-haired Gelato man was not a fan of mine. I tried to make amends and tip him, but he did not want my US note… which is fair… it literally means nothing to them. Mom and Dad, I have a confession. Please don’t be too upset. When I got to the Azores, the ATM wasn’t working, and I had to exchange cash for cash. My conversion rate was 2% lower than the national average. You’ve always taught me to get the best conversion rate, and I haven’t. I’m sorry. We’re currently next to Sao Miguel. We motored for the first day. The wind was blowing, and it looked like the ideal weather to sail in. Big Captain Tom makes the call. He turns the motor off, and we put the sails on. Everyone’s excitement can hardly be contained!! The sails are raised!!! The wind drops to 3 knots!! We’re currently going 1.2 knots. For those who aren’t familiar with knots… we’re going prettyyyyy prettyyyyy slow. Little to no movement. We’ve been drifting aimlessly for about 6 hours. The computer next to me has all of the information about the trip! We’ve done 2890 nautical miles!! How exciting!! It also says that at this pace, we’ll be there in 540 days!! It’s looking like I’ll finally be able to get that degree. On the bright side, the price seems a lot cheaper when you get a year and a half. Being in the Azores was an amazing experience. We were on the island of Horta. For legal purposes, the “refusing service” part was a joke. I remember seeing land for the first time. It didn’t feel real. I had the morning watch shift, so I had to drop the anchor and see everything first. (I guess you could say I’m kind of a native) We docked next to a big yacht named Vida. The owner would go to the top level of the boat and lift weights. I watched him for a bit (not in a weird way), just curious about his workout regimen…strictly chest flies. On the other side of the dock, there was a place named Clube Naval Da Horta. I have no idea what it could translate to. On the boat dock, there was a tradition that boats would paint a cement slab to mark that they’d been there in hopes that we could go back one day to see it. Zo took the lead and came up with the design of it. There was some paint spillage and the use of the backs of pencils due to the lack of paint brushes. In the end, she killed it, and it’s a perfect representation of our time in the Azores. The food is all 2 cents, and no one works after 3 pm. Our fearless leader, Tom, from New Zealand, went to check us out of immigration at 4 pm. They say they work 8-8. I hate to spoil the story early, but they DO NOT work 8-8. They work 1-3 at most. Tom blamed it on them being lazy. I was very happy with this development. You see, the day before I went on a little walk around the city… I use that term loosely. I found myself on a basketball court. I couldn’t contain my happiness. I love basketball… it just doesn’t love me back. We rallied the troops, and all went to play. A group of 18 shows up at a playground with 8-foot rims. We were all dunking. In our heads, we were 1996 Michael Jordan. In reality, a bunch of unathletic 20-somethings barely getting their hand above 8 feet. A sad sight but a lot of fun. We’re ready for our 3on3 rematch in Gibraltar. Today, I stand before you. Not as a faceless writer behind the screen. I speak as a friend… nay… a best friend. I used to joke on day 7. I would say, “We’re not even close to day 70… I mean, we’re nowhere near Rome.” Well, the 50-day students leave in 10 days. We’re over a month into this experience. There were times that satellites were closer to us than any human that didn’t know what seamester was. This has been me, Nate Segall. PS: Hey, Mom, Dad, Noah, and Jack. Love you and miss you guys. I’m very tired, and I don’t know if this blog makes any sense. I think there’s some good stuff here, but I have no clue. Very flow state-esque. It says we are about a week away. I can’t wait to call you and tell you all the non-blog-appropriate jokes. love you. I also did not proofread this. I don’t think this is my best writing. Maybe this one shouldn’t be hung on the fridge.