Happy Neptune Day!

2/9

Are we really in school right now? We woke up this morning to people banging drums and blowing whistles up and down our hallway- we went outside to see that it was the crew, dressed up with shields and swords and aluminum foil wrapped around their heads. The first words out of Perez’s mouth as we laid their in bed, drums getting louder as they neared our room and then fading as they trotted up the stairs, “what a weird school we go to”. And how true it is. So, so weird. We were summoned, seriously summoned- the “voice” (the man who does all the announcements) called us “pollywogs” to the top deck- where we had to be “initiated” in order to pass the equator. The captain and some lady were covered in green paint and dressed up as the King and Queen of the Sea and the crew all had on strange white smocks and the same green paint covered parts of their bodies. All 730 of us gathered around the pool, yelling “aye” as we agreed to the many parts of our initiation- we were all to step into the mini pool to get “fish guts” and green slime poured onto us, then to kiss a fish, kiss the kings ring and then finally jump into the pool. Another tradition as part of this initiation is to shave your head, although it is definitely optional. A lot of guys did it and even a good number of brave girls- pretty impressive. So all morning we watched as people lost their hair, hung out on the top deck with music playing and the sun beating down on us. It felt just like a vacation. It was a day of relaxation. As we neared the equator, it got hotter and hotter laying by the pool, but felt so good to be out of the cold weather!

And we had a bbq! Hamburgers and ribs and hot dogs and corn and ice cream sundaes out on the top deck! Ahhh so good! And fresh fruit- everyone was in heaven! We hadn’t had food on the ship like this ever! It was a big treat.

Sorry to say this, I don’t want to offend anyone, but we kept saying how this day felt like a big middle finger to Pepperdine’s International Programs. We just feel like we are so meant to be here, although we were once so bitter and upset about not being able to go with Pepperdine. It’s a really great feeling to experience how well it has worked out. I just can’t believe this is really school, how is it possible?

Desmond Tutu’s former PA is on the staff on the ship and gave a talk about his life and what he has done, what an incredible man-he has such an inspiring spirit. He is a huge fan of SAS and has taught here on one of the past voyages (so jealous) so he usually gets on the ship on as many voyages as he can but she said he’ll be out of town when we get to Cape Town. I am so bummed, how amazing would it be to talk to Desmond Tutu! I think he needs to postpone his trip.

What’s funny is that we didn’t even pass the equator today haha I’m not really sure why they decided to celebrate it when we weren’t even doing it? I think we might be behind schedule or something- we stopped in Dakar, Senegal to get gas a couple days ago and I think we were there longer than we were supposed to be. We were docked next to this island that was used during the slave trade, it was pretty crazy to see the evidence from a time like that.

But we are just cruising through the Atlantic once again, traveling along the coast of Africa. School routine has set in again- we have a while on this ship before we reach Namibia. Luckily, the water is super calm, we are barely rocking and the weather is absolutely beautiful. It’s nice to be home again.