Neptune Day Festivities Part II

Neptune Day. It started with people in these funny-looking costumes coming around the cabins banging on drums and on our doors at 7:30 IN THE MORNING. My alarm was set for 9:30am even though I knew the festivities for Neptune Day were from 9-12pm. Of course, I quickly grabbed my camcorder and took some video. Then I tried going back to bed but they made another round and I finally threw some clothes on and went to breakfast. I came back to my cabin to get ready and at 8:45 there was yet another announcement that we should make our way to the 7th deck for Neptune Day festivities. That one woke my roommate up and we both got ready. I had read that we should wear stuff we don't mind getting wet/dirty so I put on my bathing suit and some shorts.

According to what I heard around the ship and Wikipedia, someone's first crossing of the equator, is a sort of initiation rite. Those who haven't crossed are called Pollywogs. So the Pollywogs made their way up to the deck and they announced the king and queen and some other "officials". The initiation began with one of the assistant captains being splashed with "fish guts" (some colored juice that tasted really bad) and jumping into the pool. So people formed a line and had fish guts poured on them and jumped into the pool. Then we proceeded to kiss a (real) fish, kiss the queen's ring, and then we were proclaimed by the King to be Shellbacks. I was hesitant at first but figured this only happens once so my neighbors and I did it! By the time it was our turn, the pool tasted really salty and not so great so I quickly got out, kissed the fish, the queen's ring, and was proclaimed a Shellback. YAY!!! Sounds kinda crazy, I know.

The festivities continued by people shaving their heads. Girls could donate 6 inches or more to Locks of Love. I saw some people get their heads shaved and then it got really crowded so I left to take a shower. But it was exciting and I guess worth waking up at 7:30am.

So then I tried to go read with my friend Ricki in the Piano Bar (a lounge with a piano and a snack bar) but it was not working so we both went down to take a nap. I slept for a good two hours and then we went to dinner. At 8pm we had our cultural pre-port for Brazil where they told us about Bahian culture, music, food, beaches, and other sites. OH! and they even taught us some Portuguese! Um I know how to say, do you speak English?-- Voce fala ingles? It's very similar to Spanish so I'm sure I will get along fine. We have interport students that are from the countries we are visiting so the student from Brazil told us what to eat, where to go, and what to avoid. All of our classes tailor their curriculum to the countries we are visiting so having that background plus this cultural pre-port is VERY helpful.

Anyway, this got a little long and I have class tomorrow. Good night!