A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles - Tim Cahill

Days off here are rare.  You’re either traveling in port or going to class on the ship.  It seems that the few days with no classes aren’t even off.  The past 2 have been Semester at Sea traditions where there are things to participate in.

Sea Olympics:

          So instead of having different halls like a normal campus would here you’re divided into seas. (mine’s yellow, not the greatest name). Each sea forms a team to play in the Sea Olympics, hence the name. The winning sea gets bragging rights and they get off the boat first when we arrive in Florida. There are sign ups and each sea has a chant and a color (guess what mine was) and some are pretty impressive. I have to say the Bering Sea I think was my favorite; they had way to many good things, like the sea in black and ninja crabs. And the events are pretty fun, with limbo, tug-a-war, crab soccer, synchronized swimming and lip singing being included. Some were really impressive. The highlight however is that there’s a BBQ, which means good food. There’s usually a wait to get it but it’s worth it for burgers and ribs. It was a nice break, but there was still too much to do.

Neptune Day:

          Neptune Day is another day off but with activities to do. When you cross the Equator (which I have now done) there’s a tradition that’s states when you cross the equator you have to prove that you are no longer a pollyway and are a shellback back doing different tasks. These include getting fish guts poured on you, kissing a dead fish and shaving your head. It’s pretty fun.  There was actually another BBQ, this time with grilled chicken and steaks, which was amazing! And I would like to say that it seems to be a pretty equal amount of head shaving between guys and girls.

Other stuff:

Other days off also usually have something going on. There are country/continent days where there will be different seminars about issues in a country, and the dinner will be in the same theme. Yesterday was South Africa Day, which was fun.

There’s also lots of events going on. We usually have coffee houses and movie nights semi-regularly. Last night there was even a reading of On The Road done to music which was awesome. Best of all is that tonight is the crew talent show, which I’m so excited for. It should be amazing.

 

PS. Since last night Africa can be seen from the Starboard side of the ship (mine) which is just a whole new kind of crazy.