Marnee's first real-life Greenpeace experience
Posted by at 3:17 PM,
June 14, 2004
I AM ON A GREENPEACE BOAT. It felt almost profound. I was living a moment that I never thought possible. Not for any pessimism, but for pure statistics. I mean, who gets to do this? The people in Greenpeace are heroic. They are some of the most dedicated people in the world. They live their passion and fight for what's right with perfect conviction. How can I possibly be here?
One of our most devoted cyber activists, Marnee, took the Iceland Whales Pledge Challenge and won a bunk on the MV Esperanza.
Hello everyone,
Saturday morning started in Reno, Nevada and turned into Sunday
afternoon in Lorient, France. The trip was actually a bit difficult
because of several long, crowded flights and a bit of physical
discomfort due to a recent injury. But as the plane flew low into town
I nearly jumped out of my aisle seat and into the lap of my fellow
passenger to look for the Esperanza along the coast. It wasn't in
sight, but I knew it was lurking down there somewhere. The adventure was
about to begin.
At the airport I was greeted with warm smiles by Mike and Stan, and, as
it turned out, we were all there to greet Erika, the Press Officer for
the campaign, who was on the same flight. Who cares about the long
trip? These are the faces of Greenpeace! We all climbed in a big white
van and Stan drove us through town toward the docks.
We pulled into, what, the shipyard? I'm a bit lacking in the proper
vocabulary, but it didn't matter much because there it was. The
Esperanza. She seemed so tame alongside the dock. Almost like she was
sleeping. And even though I saw photos and knew the dimensions, it
still looked really big.
Up we went. Met a few of the crew and drank a beer in the lounge. Many of the
crew had been at sea for two months and were now leaving the ship. They
were ready to celebrate.
Gianluca was very kind to lend me his mobile phone to call the
airline. You see, the bag that I spent six days carefully packing did
not make it to Lorient. In fact, noone knew where it had been sent.
Maybe it was relaxing somewhere in the Caribbean. I would have liked to
get the bag because two days of hot travel had left my pits in a rather
unfortunate state of stench.
Some of the crew went into town for dinner- and the departing crew
members to check into a hotel- and the were kind enough to invite me
along. They really didn't have to do that- but they went out of their
way to welcome me. We went to a seafood restaurant and rearranged some
tables to get better seats for the soccer/football game between France
England (France won 2-1 in an exciting finish). In case you want to
know, I had the salade Nicoise- very nice.
The crew are truly international. I'm not sure if there are even two
members from the some country. Some are quite reserved, some are very
outgoing. They seem to be united by their experience together and
united also in their determination. They have responsibilities on the
ship and in life, and they take them seriously. They have greeted me
and helped me get oriented but with some reservation, after all, I am
the new girl and I am temporary. I'll need to earn my place here.
My roommates are Erika from Sweden and Marta from Spain. Marta has
loaned me a pair of socks.
Breakfast is from 7:30 to 8:00 followed by general clean-up. Today I
cleaned toilets and showers. Wandered around the ship some. Lunch was
pasta. Stan drove me back to the airport to retrieve my bag which was
scheduled to arrive at 2:15. It wasn't there. They think they can
forward it to Reykjavik. If they find it. We raced back to the ship to
fetch the cook, raced back to town to drop me off. Erika and I managed
to buy a pair of pants, a top, and a pair of flip-flops for me to wear.
We didn't have much time and I didn't have much money. Then we raced
back to the ship for a 5:00 departure.
After a slight delay, the ship pulled away from the dock. It was only
an instant between stillness and motion. I was on an upper deck with
Marta. She left to take pictures. I was standing there alone and the
ship's horn sounded right in my ear. I instantly burst into slow,
silent tears. I AM ON A GREENPEACE BOAT. It felt almost profound. I
was living a moment that I never thought possible. Not for any
pessimism, but for pure statistics. I mean, who gets to do this? The
people in Greenpeace are heroic. They are some of the most dedicated
people in the world. They live their passion and fight for what's right
with perfect conviction. How can I possibly be here?
It's simply too good to be true! I want to freeze every moment or at
least stretch them all out so there's a better chance it will sink in.
It's like you're trying to hug someone you love, but they are walking by
too fast.
When I burst into quiet tears after the horn blew, it was partly because
the loud, strong sound made it seem a though the Esperanza had woken up
and made a great roar. She BURST into life. She was ready, once again,
to take on the unknown and fight the good fight. There was a new power
and a lot of strength in the air.
I looked around and noticed people on other boats watching us and taking
our picture as we left the harbour. I watched them for a while and then
waved, because I knew that if it was me over there and I got to see a
Greenpeace ship, I would want the people on board to wave. Plus, when
am I ever going to have this opportunity again? Even as I write this, I
know it can't be true. It's too good. It's too big. I'm just a girl
from the desert.
