A week on the high seas....

We have been sailing across the ocean blue for 8 days now. 8 full days of crashing waves, sitting in hammocks, gazing at ocean life, and star filled nights aboard the Africa Mercy. Deciding to live your life on a ship has it’s perks, and sailing is one of them! In June the sailing from Guinea to the Canary Islands was a different story. I didn’t love the bouncing of the waves, or the cooped up feeling--this sail has been a completely different story. Turns out after a few days you actually get used to the constant feeling of “catching air” and the swaying actually becomes a comforting motion that rocks you to sleep. I’m not exactly sure where we are, and even if I knew I couldn’t tell you for security reasons. But I know this--we are past Guinea-- this is entirely new territory for me and many others aboard. It’s a new experience that we are all embarking upon together. The air is thick with anticipation of what is to come- a whole new ballgame, and one that we can’t wait to start. 

---Somewhere in the next few days we will cross the Equator and the Prime Meridian at the same time--0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude. To most of you (and to me until about 1 week ago) this means nothing......but as I have learned, this is something that very few people will ever do in their life, and for the sailing world it gives you the prestigious title of  “Royal Diamond Shellback”. Currently I am still a “slimy pollywog”, but in the next few days that will change! --> If you don’t believe me google it--I swear it’s the real deal!

---As crazy as life can be on this ship, it’s home. Where else in the world do you fly kites off the back of the ship, watch movies almost every night, lay for hours in a hammock, and have pirate dance parties complete with eye patches, swords, and pirate tattoos?....This life surrounded by friends in the same season doing something you love is simply the best, and no matter how many times you do it, it is still bizarre to look out the window and realize that your home is puttering along down the ocean with only the horizon in sight....