Neptune Day!

9-5-08
So last night at 8:30 we crossed the equator! They have a lot of traditions on this ship and I think at sea in general about crossing the equator। Some of the crew and teachers dressed up in white ceremonial robes adorned with decorative tinfoil and crowns। At 7:30 in the morning (on a day we didn’t have classes) they walked through all the halls banging pots and pans and pounding on our doors! Then shortly after they announced on the intercom that we needed to immediately report to the top deck for the Neptune Day festivities! It is a tradition that the captain shaves two peoples heads and then others can get theirs shaved by the barber if they wish। They were also pouring supposed “fish guts” over peoples heads and we had the opportunity to kiss a dead fish. I chose to shoot some pictures and observe all the festivities! I was surprised about not only how many people shaved their heads but how many girls did it! There had to have been 30-40 people who shaved their entire head! Then they had music blasting on the loudspeakers on the top deck (which they never do) and we all got to socialize by the pool in the beautiful sun super close to the equator! How amazing! After a few hours clouds came and it started raining...weather can change so fast at sea!

My friend and I spent our first free afternoon reading books right by the edge rail that looks off the back of the ship. Around 4:00 PM I saw a dolphin jump out of the water right behind the ship! I stood up to look for more and all the sudden a whole group of them, probably ten or fifteen proceeded to jump in and out of the water! It was as if they were all playing a game and bouncing along behind the ship! It was such an amazing sight to see. A little while later we saw a beautiful rainbow. Shortly after that a vibrant orange sunset appeared from behind the clouds and lasted about a minute before it went down all the way. In that minute we could see land up against it...but we couldn’t see land anywhere else. Once it set completely the land disappeared once again. It was absolutely beautiful and only lasted seconds. We are currently at 7 South 34 West for latitude and longitude, so we are on the Eastern coast of South America nearing our first stop of Salvador! My oceanography teacher has really motivated me to just be out on the deck and observing. We report our observations every day in class, and now I’ve realized how many amazing sights can be seen just from sitting and being present with the ocean!