Date: 11.03.2023
Author: Saba
Position: North Atlantic
Nautical Position: 31°24.1´N 059°48°9´W
Etmal: 10531
Ship: Pelican of London

Today the first lesson was geography. We watched the learning videos we did in the past week and asked questions about the test on Tuesday. Next lesson was a spontaneous workshop from Benno and Britta. It was about gender rolls and sexism. First, we named men’s privileges and afterwards we divided the group in two: Boys with Benno and Girls with Britta. In these groups we talked about personal experiences as well as things we noticed. The boys were done after ten to fifteen minutes, but the girls could talk even longer than 20 minutes. Which somehow is a negative sign for society. At the end of the lesson we collected everything together. As a girl it was interesting to hear the things boys noticed and experienced. Even if half of their experiences were from their female friends or sisters. I think it was a really good talk for all of us and a talk we or I had never had at our homeschool.

Homesickness

In the last daily reports a lot of people were speaking about seasickness and giving advice to the next participants. Since homesickness was and still is a big point especially at the beginning of the voyage and now after Costa Rica, I want to tell you what you can do to feel better. First of all, I want to say that it’s normal and everybody, I repeat everybody! was or is at some point of the voyage homesick. For some people it’s really bad and some people don’t feel it as much but it’s definitely there. Since we’re on the way back, half of us want to go home and the other half of us doesn’t want the voyage to end.

The first point is pictures from family and friends. It was on the list of what to bring. Not everybody did it. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring photos. But sometimes I wish I did. It’s a nice decoration and also a nice memory.
The second thing is letters. At some point of the voyage your family and friends get the opportunity to send you letters. Every time you’re not feeling well or miss home you can take out your letter and read it in your bunk, on deck or at any other place.
Another advice from me is tea. It may sound stupid but if you bring tea from home and you are not feeling well, you get a taste of home. Believe it or not: But you’ll feel better.
You can bring scents, that remind you of home. If your missing home you can smell the scent and you will feel better immediately.

Here are some things we do when we are homesick or to prevent it:

Kaya: Reading letters and postcards from home.
Simon: Looking at family pictures.
Hanna: Reading letters from family.
Franzi S.: Talking to people and watching movies.
Franzi M.: Looking at pictures from family and friends.
Lara: Is crying in her bunk with the MP3 Player on full volume.
Elizabeth: Is crying and trying to do other stuff to not think about homesickness.
Fynn: Looking at his chain and at the book his family made him at the beginning of the voyage.

To quote Ariadni from last year: „We’ll get home and everything will be as we left it. But we will never get on the Pelican like this, as it is now.“

I think that’s a nice quote we all should live like in the last 28 days. We are all grateful for this experience and should enjoy every second. Even if it’s hard to enjoy your time when you are seasick and you want to throw yourself over bord. Homesickness is normal and we know that we’ll miss that time on the Peli as soon as we go down the Gangway in Amsterdam.

Caro: He who fights and runs away may turn to fight another day, but he who is in battle slain will never rise to fight again! A quote that may help someone reading this right now…

By the way, I got my handover dream job!:) …and we are writing our math exam next Saturday…

Elizabeth: Liebe Grüße an daheim, bin bald wieder daheim, freu‘ mich schon!