STAVANGER, NORWAY day 5

august 26th

It’s weird how much can change in a year. Thinking back on this day, one year ago, everything was different. a plus wasn’t even on my radar and I thought I had finally figured out the next few years of my life and had a plan. Today as we rode the bus I looked through old pictures from today and from this past year and I’ve really been missing my friends and missing how my life was last year. Not missing it in a way of wanting to go back to how it was or wanting to change how my life is now, I am enjoying this trip so much but I’m also learning to appreciate every moment because I know a year from now I will be thinking the exact same thing and I want to take it all in. 

I started off the day on gangway watch at five with Magnus. It was tiring but really beautiful. As everyone stumbled up the stairs half asleep we watched the ship come alive for the day with music, laughter and a beautiful sunrise. After that the day went on as usual, cleaning, muster, colors, breakfast, chores and then we got ready to go. We had our day of community service and so around nine we all piled into buses to head to “the beach” as they called it. 

Ok, let me just tell you, it literally wasn’t a beach. When the teachers said beach, I imagined sand and rocks and water and like a beach ya know. So, today i’ve learned Norwegian beaches are very different. After an hour drive we pulled up to a farm, like a farm farm. We parked on a dirt road that was lined with fields of sheep and cows. So, we got out, got neon yellow vests, gloves, bags, and we were sent off to pick up trash. We had to walk about mile to get to the actual “beach” but that was also just fields of huge rocks, tall grass and cows. We had a lot of fun picking up trash though, we had competitions to see who could fill up their bags fastest and in between picking up trash we had rock throwing contests, we picked flowers, we ate lunch and we all got to talk and hang out with each other which was fun. We found some interesting things on the beach while we were looking for trash. We found a few sheep skulls and full paint cans which was kinda interesting and really random but there honestly wasn’t much trash which I guess is actually good, but because of that we left a few hours earlier than planned. 

Once we decided to leave the trip got wild. I don’t know why, but we all got really confused on where to go and what to do and we got separated from the teachers so after we got off the beach property we ended up walking like 5 miles down a straight empty road. The road was literally just flat and we couldn’t see anything in the distance. There were a few random houses, cow fields and streams but other than that it was mostly just us walking into the emptiness trying to find our bus. In the sun it was extremely hot so we all ended up taking off our shirts but because of all the animals around there were so many bugs so we all had stomachs and hair and clothes full of little flying insects. very very gross. After a few miles of walking we all laid down in the middle of the road while we tried to figure out what to do. The place we stopped was right next to a field of cows and some people decided to climb the fence and feed them. Well, on the way back over the fence they realized it was actually electric and getting out was going to be way harder than getting in. So, to recap, at this point of the trip, we were sweating, lost, electrocuted, covered in bugs and smelled like garbage. I sound like I’m complaining but honestly all of this is so fun. Like, even in the weirdest situations we all have so much fun.

Eventually we decided to call someone to figure out what we were supposed to be doing. eventually we found the parking lot with the buses but at that point it had taken us an upward of two hours. The buses were parked at a cow farm but only one was there so while we waited for the other one we got to sit down and relax for once. we had to wait for the other bus for about an hour and a half so most people took a nap (on the concrete parking lot in the sun) but Sarah and I explored the cow farm a little bit. Ok, baby cows are literally adorable. We found a pen full of little baby cows and they were so cute. They let us pet them but when we got our hand anywhere near them they would try and lick it like a dog. Once the bus finally came and we all got on it, almost everyone fell asleep right away. 

When we got back to the ship the watches not on duty had shore leave. A group of us went into town in search of kebabs. I don’t know why, but that is what we really wanted. 

After the first two places we tried were closed we were close to giving up, we even made a stop to a taco shop for some people to eat, but the third place we found was great. After we ate we went to a bakery that had really good sorbet and gelato. they had a black gelato that we all got but on top of that we picked two more flavors each to mix with it. After we finished our ice cream we met up with a different girls group and then met with a guys group. Our three groups went to Starbucks and sat while everyone else that hadn’t, ate their food. After we had finished we all collectively headed back to the ship. On the way back we met Anders’ family who was riding a boat a few miles away from the ship. A few of us got on the boat with them and we rode around for a while before we had to go back. 

Today was definitely one of the more jam packed- exhausting days we’ve had, but it was also one of the more fun ones. When we were back on the ship we all played cards in the banjer until gender curtains went up. Even was calling today the one day of summer that Norway has. I don’t know what temperature conversions are, but the bus thermometer said it was 23 degrees which I’m thinking is pretty warm. Back at home it was boiling. Everyone was going around wearing short and no shirt or a swimsuit because it was toasty. Luckily, mom convinced me to bring a little portable fan. But, as soon as I brought it out the boys grabbed it and ran on to their side with it. When I moved the curtain to see if I could go grab it back, it was set on the table and literally every single one of the guys was crowding in front of it trying to get some air. I let them use it and every time I looked in to see if I could get it back there were at last five guys fighting over it. I’m pretty sure they thought they needed it way more than I did so I let them keep it for the night. In the morning it ended back in my locker with a bar of chocolate so I knew they really appreciated it haha.