Easter on Gunilla

Today I woke up just a litte bit more excited than usual. Not beacuase the sun was shining, although that was wonderful. And no, not because I was looking forward to work, because I definitely wasn’t. The reason I woke up with anticipation for the coming day was simple: today was easter!

My shift began at 04:00, which meant I had thirty minutes to get ready after a sudden awakening from a loud bang on the door. Today I was set to work in the kitchen along with one of my friends. We were meant to serve scones to the rest of our group, but things weren’t really going as planned. In ten minutes the others would come in through the door expecting freshly baked and delicious scones. Meanwhile, we hadn’t even begun baking them. In a hurry, we tossed all the ingredients in a bowl, and formed the dough into roughly equal shapes which we set to bake in the oven. Just in time we tossed the newly baked scones into a tray and when everybody had sat around the table it was up to the final test. To our great relief–and maybe a bit of luck– the scones turned out to be delicious! After that small miracle it was time to crawl back to bed for a couple extra hours of sleep.

After another loud bang on the door I knew it was time for breakfast. With the sun shining in my face and the turquoise water surrounding us it was impossible to not let out a smile. The day began with a treasure hunt, where we were to find different clues that led us to a final task: To make a theatrical act based on easter. We took our time to learn the script and making different costumes with the material we had. Before we even knew it the whole crew had their eyes on us while we stood there in our witch costumes trying to remember the lines and stay in character. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fun and we were met with a round of applause at the end.

After a breef moment of awkwardness we were awarded an outstanding easter lunch containing herring and pie. Full and satisfied we wandered out on deck for our last shift of the day. The shift, containing mostly dishwashing and listening to music, flew by fast. While the others were working hard under the pouring rain we sat there in the kitchen, happy and dry, singing along to our favorite songs and having a good time.

We spent the rest of the evening indoors watching movies, playing music and talking. These moments of gathering and socializing is what makes life on Gunilla truly special. Despite the early morning and the unexpected chaos, this Easter became one I’ll never forget.

Joel