Neptune Day

Our time after India and before Mauritius has been filled with school and activities. Charis and her friends enjoy their new Indian garb, and the boys have been playing Risk and Stratego in Timitz Square, the main lobby, like there is no tomorrow. We're trying hard to catch up on the kids' school work in the mornings; the afternoons are filled with art programs, PE followed by swimming, more finger-knitting, and special programs, like a time-management class for the teens led by some of the living-learning leaders on the ship.

We had never been to the drum circle before, which happens on even B days in the union. (Our lives are divided into A and B days; we never have any idea what day of the week it is.) The ship has every kind of drum and percussion instrument imaginable, and we all had a terrific time. Barek, our drummer, was especially glad we joined in and does not want to miss another session.


Ahhhh, Neptune Day. We had heard rumors about this....but didn't know quite what to expect. Neptune Day is the initiation day for all sailors who are making their first cross over the equator in a ship. The day began with the ship's crew dressed up in crazy garb and make-up, banging instruments and blowing whistles as they marched all over the ship. I happened to have my Flip recorder ready when they marched down our hall and have included the video below.

The ritual initiation on the pool deck begins with having "fish guts" poured over your head. Then you proceed through the main pool area where you must kiss a dead fish, kiss the rings of Neptune and his wife, and then, if you are really brave, shave your head!

We did it all! Except the head-shave--only Steve did that!

I thought the fish guts would simply be green-colored water, but the smell made me realize that something stinky was in there. It was not fish-guts--but still unpleasant smelling! Yes, the fish we kissed had been alive not too long ago and it smelled really fishy. But we kissed it anyway!


Here we are after our successful initiation. We went over to the head-shaving area and saw our good friend, Liz, the lifelong learner, who had done it all! We think she looks terrific with her shaved head!


Lots of people were getting their head shaved. Some opted for mohawks. And others, for a bob of the long ponytail as a donation to Locks of Love.

Steve finally made it to the front of the line and sat down for his turn. Having just left India, he demonstrated his meditation techniques.

The boys didn't want their heads shaved, but since we had a free day, we headed up to the salon, which is right next to the workout room I use. Asher got a proper haircut and Barek got a trim. I'm not sure they have had their head shampooed like this before!

Many of the head shavees gathered on the front deck for a photo (except for those who missed the memo, like Steve.) There were also sub-group photos, including this Mohawk group.

The ship fixed a special barbecue dinner that everyone loved. And in the evening we watched the Talent Show. The kids got front row seats, and we were impressed with the quality of the acts onboard. Lots of really great musicians.

Here are clips of the drum circle, the crew waking everyone up on Neptune Day, and Steve getting his haircut: