We have a bit strange routine onboard. Every morning we gather in specific lines and wait for the clock to strike eight. We stand there in silence as the bell rings and the Swedish and Spanish flag is hoisted. Then Erling talks a bit about some news he came across the day before and what he recommends us to do when ashore but it´s never “go to the beach and get some ice cream” unfortunately.
Today we visited the migration center Association Elin where they work with including migrants from Morocco in the society. They talked about how they work and let us ask questions for hours. In the end they had to kick us out because they had other things to do and we would not stop asking questions. Most of the migrants arrive by sea or by climbing the high fences at the Moroccan border, this is both hard and very dangerous due to the high security. When they arrive, they can seek asylum and hopefully stay for some years, but nothing is for sure, and they never know if or when they´ll get deported. Since most of them don’t have passports or documentations they can neither work or go to school, all they can do is sit in their room in Sepi temporary room they get assigned to as they wait for change. The visit was really interesting and they answered all of our questions with details, the only difficulty was the language. The volunteers spoke mostly Spanish (one of them spoke quite good English) and the migrants that were there to tell us about their stories spoke only French or a bit English with a strong French accent. It was hard to understand but not impossible.
Today it was my turn to watch the ship. I sat by the gangway literally all day and watched my friends go ashore and com back with lots of bags with clothes, fruits and candy for the sailing to Gibraltar, which is about five hours… But I was lucky. I could sit there and talk about nothing particularly wile the rest of the watch was climbing in the rig in the rain. Personally, I like climbing in the rig while we are tied to shore since it doesn´t sway and you get to work with a beautiful view, but today I felt bad for those in the rig. The rain that fell on and off all day didn´t fall from the sky it was coming from the side. The wind was so strong that things flew of the boat and pressed us against the shore. It is still a question if we are to leave tonight or not because of the wind. Wish us good luck.
Many hugs, Nell, Starboard
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