Okay, so I probably should have written this when the event actually happened, but as we all know, I lose track of time and things tend to get delayed…Anyway, here goes my story of crossing the equator. So last Thursday, September 4th, at 8:30pm to be exact, the MV Explorer crossed the equator. We had quite the festivities to celebrate it, too. Everyone was out on deck, awaiting the captain to sound the famed horn signaling that we were, at that exact moment, crossing the threshold between north and south. There was screaming, shouting, a countdown and everything. I swear I almost thought it was New Years.
We had the next day of classes off to extend the into Neptune Day. Everyone was awoken early by the sounds of banging pots and pans and singing down the halls. We opened our door to see what was going on, and sure enough the cabin stewards were dressed in aluminum foil outfits resembling Roman soldiers…very insane.
We went up on deck where King Neptune, also known as Professor Rosencrantz, was giving a speech about welcoming us “pollywogs” to the ceremony that could turn us into “shellbecks”, beings protected from harm from all the sharks, dolphins, whales, and mermaids in the sea. Definitely a first for me. Apparently it is a tradition among sailors to shave their heads as they cross the equator for good luck – people on the ship took this to heart. 80 people, including professors, life-long learners, living-learning coordinators and students shaved their heads! Even 10 girls partook in the action. The number of shaven heads and mohawks on the ship now is quite staggering.
After all the heads were bald, we had our special ceremony. This consisted of us getting two different types of kool aid (aka fish guts) poured on our heads, and then we jumped into the salt-water filled pool. Then we had to get out, kiss a dead fish (yes, it was foul), kiss Neptune’s ring, get knighted, and become a shellbeck. That was a very interesting day, that’s for sure!
We had the next day of classes off to extend the into Neptune Day. Everyone was awoken early by the sounds of banging pots and pans and singing down the halls. We opened our door to see what was going on, and sure enough the cabin stewards were dressed in aluminum foil outfits resembling Roman soldiers…very insane.
We went up on deck where King Neptune, also known as Professor Rosencrantz, was giving a speech about welcoming us “pollywogs” to the ceremony that could turn us into “shellbecks”, beings protected from harm from all the sharks, dolphins, whales, and mermaids in the sea. Definitely a first for me. Apparently it is a tradition among sailors to shave their heads as they cross the equator for good luck – people on the ship took this to heart. 80 people, including professors, life-long learners, living-learning coordinators and students shaved their heads! Even 10 girls partook in the action. The number of shaven heads and mohawks on the ship now is quite staggering.
After all the heads were bald, we had our special ceremony. This consisted of us getting two different types of kool aid (aka fish guts) poured on our heads, and then we jumped into the salt-water filled pool. Then we had to get out, kiss a dead fish (yes, it was foul), kiss Neptune’s ring, get knighted, and become a shellbeck. That was a very interesting day, that’s for sure!
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