Neptune Day

Hello all...

 

Well, Neptune Day was an absolute blast.  I should probably start by saying that I myself didn't get fish gutted or kiss the fish.  Instead, I video taped and took pictures of everyone else.  Nor did I shave my head...But a good handful of girls did.  Some of them can pull off a shaved head pretty well.  I give them credit for having the guts to do it.  Their rationale was on point too...when else are they going to be able to shave their heads and not have any repercussions because of it? 

 

For those of you who don't know what Neptune Day is, it's a celebratory day focused around crossing the equator for the first time.  Thursday night at 20:30, 8:30, we crossed the equator and the Captain sounded one long horn blast.  A good portion of us were all out on the back deck celebrating the crossing, but yesterday the real celebration began.  We had a day off from class which was nice, but being woken up at 7:45 to loud drum beats and what sounded like a flute wasn't so nice...at least at that time.  I have a short video of the procession of crewmembers marching down the hall with funny costumes on, beating their drums, and shouting intangible messages.  What a way to start the morning.

 

A group of us grabbed breakfast shortly after that and then proceeded to the 7th deck where the pool is to watch the festivities.  I had seen past SASers videos of Neptune Day, so I had an idea of what to expect.  It was surreal actually being there for myself though, as I have found myself thinking the past 8 days.  There was a short skit performed by faculty members and we had to recite a passage that allowed us to become Shell Backs after being Pollywogs for the first week of our voyage.  Then, the real fun began...

 

There were four huge blue garbage cans filled with "fish guts", which I think was really a small part fish stock to huge amounts of colored water.  Don't get me wrong, it did smell pretty nasty, but it's not like there were fish intestines floating around in the water.  Hundreds of students, faculty, and staff lined up next to the pool and proceeded to get a pitcher of fish guts poured over their heads.  Then, it was time to jump into the pool to wash off.  Soon, the pool had 20 people at a time in it, and the next step was to climb out and kiss the fish, then a ring, and finally get "dubbed" with a sword.  The whole process took about 10 minutes per person, depending on how many people were in the pool.  By them time the whole thing was over, the pool had a greenish brown tint to it...thankfully, they drained it and it was swimmable again by 11:30.

 

Yesterday was an extremely relaxing day, which consisted of laying out on Deck 5, soaking up the sun for most of the early part of the afternoon.  Good thing I wore sunscreen- other kids decided to brave it and now they look like lobsters.  For one, I don't want skin cancer, and two, I actually want to enjoy my time in Brazil...I don't want to be miserable with second-degree burns.  But any who, I digress.

 

There's still a pretty bad cold going around with flu-like symptoms.  I took every precaution such as frequently washing my hands, using Purell after touching communal surfaces, and staying away from others that are sick, but I still ended up coming down with a bad case of the first virus that's going around.  I hope that I can kick it in the next 36 hours, that way I'm good to go for my 4-day trip to Lencois in Brazil. 

 

Today is the last day of classes until the 12th of September and it may be my last blog update until then as well.  I will try to blog about my first day in Bahia, Brazil before I head to Lencois, but I can't make any promises.  I'll have my journal with me though, so I'll be documenting my trip the old-fashioned way.  Three of my classes require me to keep a journal anyway, so I'm killing 4 birds with one stone by journaling.

 

Just a side note- the food is getting REALLY dull really quick.  It's now about a 5 out of 10.  I'm wondering if we'll have more variety after we leave Brazil because they were able to restock on food, but I have a feeling it will continue to be more of the same...potatoes, pasta, lettuce (not salad), and either a fish or meat.  The one thing that I have enjoyed at every meal was the soup.  It's always been good.

 

I think that is about it on the update end.  I am glad to hear that my blogs have been helpful in that they have painted a picture for many parents whose children decided not to blog or write home often.  I enjoy everyone's comments as well...

 

Bye for now,

Amanda