Azores – setting foot on European ground again

For the last five months we´ve been sailing around half of the world on our ship -and home- the Thor Heyerdahl. We´ve visited so many countries that some of us don´t even remember the first stops in Falmouth or Lisbon. We were in Cuba, Panama and Bermuda as well but now, after three months, we are on European ground again.

We´re not far from our home now. I think we all have mixed feelings about being on European ground again. On the one hand, we´re happy that we will come back home. But on the other hand, we want to go back to the Caribbean Sea, as it was so warm there. Maybe that is the main reason why we would like to turn around. Last week´s temperatures were as low as 10 to 15 degrees Celsius, and it rained a lot. Well, at the Caribbean Sea it was 30 degrees Celsius with a blue sky. At this point we are starting to run out of time together. Now you may hear people say: “It´s our last English lesson!”, “Just two more galley duties and we are done…”.

When we arrived at the Azores everyone had a smile on their face. When our ship was safely moored at the pier, most of us touched European ground for the first time again. My first thought was: “We´re back!”

Two days after arriving, we had a party. It was the W2E – Welcome to Europe – Party and it was really cool. Our messroom was decorated with posters and souvenirs from all the countries we´ve visited and colored paper was taped on the lights so the room was turned into shades of red, green and blue. Downstairs a chill lounge, a nail studio and a cocktail bar were assembled, and upstairs was the dance floor. We decorated it with all the flags of all the countries we visited and there were a lot. Some of us students acted as DJs and some adults contributed some music, too. For example, our captain Johannes aka DJ (S)Chiller and project leader Jakob aka DJ Early Man played some music. We had a lot of fun, danced all night together, talked about our trip and what we will do when we arrive home. The atmosphere was relaxed as we were all happy about having crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the second time.

The first thing most of us did when we first had some free time on land was going to the supermarket and buy some sweets. And when we all came back, we said: “It is so different to Cuba or Panama”. Finally, there are more goods to buy in the shops than only rice and rum. And the architecture is more like it is in Germany. And also, the people are different here in comparison to the other countries we´ve visited. But all these aspects are difficult to explain, because we are experiencing the contrast and have lived in and with both cultures that are so different.

Secondly, many of us switched the phone on. And we had internet. That is also a difference to the Caribbean. There, we had to be careful with our mobile data and messages because of the bills and here we can switch them on and off whenever we want.

There are many more differences, for example the landscape.  While in Panama it was mostly rainforest, Cuba was more like hills and grass, the Azores are made of volcanic stones and green hills with cows.

And so, every country had its special moments, places and people that made them unique. We made many experiences and we saw a lot. But I think we all are happy to see something familiar again.