We’ve been at sea for 16 days with only a short 8-ish hour
break in Mauritius and so much has been going on!
The first great thing was the Crew Talent Show, which took
place on March 14. The crew on this ship are amazing and they didn’t disappoint
on the talent show either! My favorite was the housekeeping crew who did an
awesome rendition of "In the Navy". They were so fun!
On March 15th we celebrated the crossing of the
equator (which, it seemed we crossed two days earlier so I didn’t get to do the
water drainage check). We went through a ceremony called Neptune Day. Neptune
day was one of my favorites on the ship so far. It started in the morning when
the crew came through the halls banging drums, and on doors! It was an early
morning wake up call. We went up to the pool deck where we had an impromptu
dance party with Archbishop and then were introduced to King Neptune (Captain
Jeremy in green body paint), and his royal court. Apparently the King Neptune
ceremony is an old navy tradition (read: hazing) but the MV has made it fun.
You can elect to get your head shaved (which I politely declined), then you get
in the baby pool and get fish guts dumped on your head, you then jump in the
pool (I was lucky enough to get pulled in with the RDs and friends so it was
extra fun), and as you are coming out of the pool you kiss a fish! After that
you must pay respects to the king by kissing his ring – if you didn’t he pushed
you back into the pool! My friend Josh was my favorite because as Judy
whispered reminders to us to kiss the ring, Josh heard “kiss the king”, so when
he got to Captain Jeremy he got a little too close and Captain threw him in the
pool! It was HILARIOUS! Anyways, I was successful so I went from a Pollywog to
a Shellback! I also just have to note that some of the haircuts that these guys
shaved into their heads made them look like rookies the first week at NFL
training camp… RIDICULOUS! I found myself wondering all day if Grandpa's ship crossed the equator and if he went through a similar ceremony. I sent an email to the guy who collects info and pictures from their voyage! Hopefully he knows! :)
Dance party with Archbishop
Royal Court
Fish Guts!
GUTS!
My friend Alice jumping with her kids into the pool!
Kiss the fish, kiss the ring.
Jason was a royal barber!
Kindra looks awesome with her new haircut!
Kevin shaved his head too! (and then Jason cleaned it up for him)
Halfway to Shellbacks!
After Neptune day (and long showers), we had
dis-orientation, which is a day in the middle of the voyage where you are given
permission to restart… new nametag, meet new people, play fun orientation
games.. it was great. Jason and I led a big game of ship/wave/captain, which,
in case I didn’t tell you already was the rock/paper/scissors game he and I
invented early in the voyage for the ship (side note: no one thought it would
take off but it was at Disorientation AND Sea Olympics). We had a good time,
and it was rewarded because that night was TACO NIGHT in the cafeteria! Taco
night is everyone’s favorite and we were there at 5:15 in line before they even
opened and ate way too much. The normal pasta/potatoes/pork routine gets old
after awhile and tacos really spice it up! The sour cream alone made my night.
The kids decorated one of the portholes in the dining hall.
After that I went to Aparna’s program on the history of
Semester at Sea, which was amazing and gave me the idea for the next big
program. I learned that it started in 1963 (10/22 is our founders day), and
that this is the 112th voyage. I also learned that even in year’s past
the students made fun of the constant overuse of “being flexible” which is
still true today. There were also some amazing photos pulled from yearbooks of
the past and stories from alumni who are currently sailing with us again. So
great.
That was followed by a Q&A with my favorite captain and
his cabinet (I don’t know if they are really called a cabinet but I’m going to
go with it). He was asked everything from “What was going on in the bridge
during the storm in Japan?” to “What was up with the tides screwing up our
arrival in Burma?” to “How do you pull off white after Labor Day?”—the latter
was a dumb question that he didn’t get LOL but the answers to everything else
were awesome. They talked about the mechanics of the ship, how fast we can go,
how stabilizers work, that he drives a diesel run BMW… anything we wanted to
know! The best thing he shared was when someone asked him what the worst storm
he’d ever been through was. His answer? One a long time ago but then said that
the one we went through in Japan was a very close second! He told us that the
furniture was flying around his room that night so he went to the bridge, sat
in his chair, and held on. He said that the waves do so much damage to the bow
of the ship that they were trying to move the ship so the giant waves would hit
the sides (causing the insane rocking) and that when we got to Japan, we needed
to get some work done to paint and fix the dents that the water left on the
front of the ship! INSANE.
On the 17th we had Jason’s birthday. His cake
deserved to be on cake wrecks and we all got a REALLY good laugh out of how
literally they took Craig’s directions.. they also misspelled his name. It was
delicious regardless!
On the 18th we hit Mauritius. Mauritius was
beautiful and it was so nice to hear so much French again! Having only 8 hours
there was torture for me, as it felt like there was a lot more to do and see. I
went with Craig and one of our students to the markets and exploring in the
city. I am proud to admit, our first stop was at McDonalds (it’s been a LONG
time since I’ve had it and sometimes you just need something that reminds you
of home). After we found various street markets and parks. We had to take a
water taxi to and from the ship. It got right underneath the ship which made
for some cool photos. Gangway duty that day was hard. Mauritius has notoriously
been a party spot for SAS students (hence why now we only stop for 8 hours) and
it was again even though the threat of triple dock time was out there. It was a
busy two hours before we finally got inside, and then we were rewarded with
delicious bbq! Hotdogs, hamburgers, macaroni salad, corn on the cob… it was
AWESOME.
We were welcomed by a drumline and dancers!
Took tiny water taxis into town
Vietnamese fishing boats
The water taxi went very close to the MV!
On the 20th we had the Opening Ceremonies for the
Sea Olympics. They were so much fun. The students really impressed me overall.
Some were really terrible sports but most all were gracious and fun and just
overall awesome. Baltic was clearly the best though. We placed 6th
overall (out of 9) but we placed first in a lot of big events including the lip
sync, cheer, and synchronized swimming competitions. We were second in tank
(blindfolded dodgeball), and tug of war (in which as always in competitions, I
took my place screaming in the face of my team as they pulled). They were
amazing! They looked great and they cheered on everyone, and they got to know
new people, they were enthusiastic and they were great sports. I AM PROUD! The
day went very smoothly and was a lot of fun – Rachel did an amazing job
planning everything and everyone on the student life team and other staff
stepped up to help. It was a great day!
To everyone's surprise, my sea color is ORANGE!
Tank - blindfolded dodgeball was HILARIOUS to watch!
I assumed my normal tug of war position and screamed in everyone's face!
First place in synchronized swimming... which they had to do in the Union thanks to rough seas!
1st place in lip sync!
Baltic Sea placed 6th overall but is 1st in my heart!
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and I am going to attend church (WHHHAT) with Archbishop officiating. I
have been exploring a lot of religion/faith/spirituality questions through this
journey and think it will be nice to attend something more familiar. After that
is South Africa, and sissy!!!! WAHOO! I can’t wait to see her and show her my
home away from home and check out all the awesomeness that Africa has to offer
with one of my favorite people in the world! Look for more blogs soon! :)
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