Group 7

A 2-hour ride to Monterey began with frantic people scrabbling for the aloe vera to soothe their sunburnt skin.  Everywhere, people could be seen dabbing their skin agitatedly with the soothing balm. It was both hilarious and sad to watch.

Next was the bus ride. 2 hours of the blazing California Sun shining through the windows, with a busload of students trying valiantly to sleep the ride away in an attempt to escape the treacherous sun. We were successful – mostly. Thankfully the aquarium itself more than made up for the previous horrors we’d experienced.  The place was massive, with a diverse selection of exhibits for us to explore and admire the sea creatures that lay within.

Our group had 2 favorites in particular – ‘The Open Sea’ and ‘Touch the Manta Rays’. The Open Sea exhibit had the world’s largest captive hammerhead shark – more than 8 feet long! Apart from the hammerheads, there were a bunch of queerly shaped fish too. It was all pretty interesting.  BUT THE MANTA RAYS. The Manta Rays were adorable. They were sleek, grey and so, so smooth. Our group had 5 minutes to the meeting time, but we stayed just to touch them once again.

Leaving the aquarium we jumped immediately into shopping on Cannery Row…after half an hour spent in a Frozen Yoghurt shop. Of our group, two of us were doomed to simply watch due to a sore throat. Pure. Torture.  Generally though, Cannery Row was very fun. The souvenir shops were each given a unique design to both their exteriors and interiors.  There were fake pirates, weird shrimp and colorful arcade displays galore. It was enough to reassure our poor hearts that window-shopping could satisfy our poverty-stricken souls.

The field trip ended with a prolonged bus ride and a desperate dash to the dining hall to catch our dinner.  A nighttime showing of educational videos rounded off the day and that was the end of Day 6..