2/9 Ship Life Adventures

So from Morocco to Namibia is 8 days at sea. However, the trip was a little broken up by two things; on the third day we made port in Dakar, Senegal for bunkering (fueling) and experienced some of the warmest weather since we left the Bahamas. It looked like almost everyone had made their way to the back decks to enjoy the sunshine and warmth –the average temperate temperature here in February is 81 degrees and it was almost that while we were there. I got my first sunburn even though I was only out for about 2 hours altogether. Well worth experiencing warmth and sunshine. Sight-wise there wasn’t much to see; we weren’t allowed to get off the ship but from the decks we could see the fuel-holding tanks and what looked like a very industrial city sky line. In the distance, you could make out Gorée Island, which is said to have been a place where the slave-trade boarded it’s hostages. We spent about 6 hours fueling and then took off again

The other exciting thing that happened was we had what is called Neptune Day. This paragraph is what the administration sent us to tell a little about it.
“Crossing the Line, or Neptune Day, is an initiation rite celebrated in many navies. It commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator. The rite was intended originally as a test of new shipmates by seasoned sailors. The tradition dates back to the 16th century, and in the old days, the ship heaved to (that is, it set its sails so as to remain stationary) and the pollywogs were hoisted on the mainyard and dunked into the ocean 40 feet below; afterwards, shaving and other forms of blood letting took place. “

The captain (a funny British man) also sent all student the following e-mail to pre-face the day of festivities.

“SUBPOENA to all POLLYWOGS,
You are hereby requested to appear before the ROYAL COURT OF THE REALM OF NEPTUNE, in the DISTRICT OF EQUATORIUS, because it has been brought to the attention of HIS HIGHNESS, NEPTUNE REX through his trusty SHELLBACKS, that the good ship M/V EXPLORER is about to cross the equator and enter those waters accompanied by passengers who have not acknowledged the sovereignty of the RULER OF THE DEEP.

THEREFORE be it known to all Slimy Pollywogs that The Royal, King NEPTUNE REX, Supreme Ruler of all citizens of the deep, will, with his Secretary and Royal Court, meet in full session on board the offending ship M.V. EXPLORER on the 9th day of February, A.D. 2009 at 0900 on Deck 7 aft, to hear your defense.
 Regards,
-King Neptune and His Royal Court”

So we were woken up at 7:30 by the crew marching through the halls, all dressed in togas and tin foil helmets, banging on drums and chanting something. After breakfast, we all met on deck 7…all 800 or so people. It was re-stupid. No one could see but thankfully they used microphone so we could at least hear. The crew escorted “Neptune”and his queen up to deck 7 –Neptune was actually our captain painted green and wearing a hula skirt and a crown. lol The rest of the faculty, staff and life-long learners were all dressed up too. Next the “voice”, or our Dean of Student Affairs, announced what was to happen for all of us to pay our respects to King Neptune. We had to have green gunk poured over us, kiss a big fish, kiss the King’s ring and shave our heads. It was all optional but it was hilarious. I was one of the first to get gunked and kiss the fish. Then I waited in line for about an hour to get my head shaved; there were a lot of guys and a few girls doing it but they only had 3 shavers going and then 2 women just cutting hair. Our last count was 11 bald girls and 83 in all, I believe. A lot of the guys were doing it because it was a free hair cut; girls did it for different reasons.

There were quite a few girls who cut their long hair to donate or shaved their heads for the thrill of it, just to say they did. My reasons were different than the first time I cut my hair short; in eighth grade it was all about being different (yet copying P!nk) and getting attention. It was almost glamorous for me. When I shaved my head this time it was for different reasons. It was to test myself and to prove a point. Statistically I have a high chance of getting some sort of cancer at a young age; that doesn’t scare me because I know that I’ll be strong enough to fight it. But it means that I will lose my hair someday and when that day comes I don’t want the first thing that crosses my mind to be “oh no I’m going to lose my hair”. I am not that woman. The second reason sort of goes along with that, especially after hearing so many of the girls on this ship tell me why they won’t shave their heads; I don’t want to be that woman, that person, who allows something as trivial as hair to define them. My hair does not define me as a woman or a person; my actions and my words and my soul do. There’s a song by India.Arie that describes it best and these are some of the lyrics:

“I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am not your expectations;
I am not my hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend?
Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity?
I’m expressing my creativity

Breast cancer and chemo-therapy took away her crown and glory
She promised God if she was to survive she would enjoy everyday of her life
On national television her diamond eyes are sparkling
Bald headed like a full moon shining, singing out to the whole wide world”

So shaving my head was more symbolic for me –I needed to test the strength of my character. So I may not be as aesthetically pleasing as I was when I boarded this ship but I actually feel more confident and stronger (as cheesy as that sounds) and that’s what’s important to me.

So after the ceremony most people just chilled on the decks to bake –it was wonderfully warm. The second best part of the day was dinner. Sidenote: the food on the ship isn’t the best –most people subsist on PB&J and fruit. It’s not that it’s bad, it just it all tastes the same –kind of like Aramark. Anyways, dinner was amazing. All you can eat burgers, hot dogs, bbq ribs, corn on the cob, ice cream &fresh fruit. When they make you pay $2 for a burger at Deck 7 you appreciate it when they’re included in dinner instead. The rest of the day was pretty chill. The only problem people are having now is finding clean clothes. Whoever told me that I had packed too much *coughMomcough* was lying; everyone here brought like twice the clothes I did and now I’m screwed (along with many others) because laundry takes like 5 days to process and I’m out of clothes! So I’ve been wearing my skirt for like 3 days because I have nothing else. I just wash it in my shower every other day. Just another ship life lesson/adventure. We have 3 days until Namibia; I’ll be writing when I get back on ship February 16th. Thanks for reading! Lovess!