September 28 2010 / MV Explorer

NEPTUNE DAYYYY!  We woke up around 0730 (sooo much better than the expected 0500) by loud cymbals crashing, as well as drums and whistles being blown outside our cabin.  I sprinted for the door and opened it to see a procession of crew members with their faces painted in green and black, with spears and shields in hand, marching down the hallway.  One of them brandished a spear at me!  I quickly got ready, Ellie following behind.  We went upstairs to grab breakfast, where many people were already sitting out—Deck 2 must have been the last deck to have been woken up.  Desmond Tutu actually came in behind us, and we joked with him about how it would have been impossible to sleep through.  I sat with Joelle, who was nervous because she’d decided last night at the last minute that she bolster her courage before we went upstairs to Deck 7, where people were beginning to cluster around. 

It wasn’t until 0900 that festivities began, and by then the deck was completely covered with students.  From a distance, we could hear the same procession that had woken us coming up onto the deck, and they wove through the students.  Accompanying them was Neptune himself (who looked suspiciously like Dean David), followed by his court and several people who had already earned shellback status.  Neptune announced that we must prove ourselves to advance from pollywogs to shellback status, so we did so in earnest.

I beelined over to the head shaving department and started watching some of the girls get their long ponytails cut off.  All of them were smiling and laughing, and the people around them were cheering.  All of them looked so incredibly beautiful with short hair—it completely opened up their face.  And after having been in Africa, I’ve come to totally recognize it as feminine and powerful.  After a little bit of mental cajoling, I sat down and felt my hair being pulled back.  Something I’ve learned was something that Ellie said at some point: that in order to be a leader, you can’t be afraid to break the status quo.  I do not need my shoulder-length hair to be beautiful, and I am not ugly with it gone.  I will not be afraid of such a silly thing such as that.  And when else can I have such a wonderful opportunity—following an age-old tradition while sailing around the world, becoming an Emerald Shellback?  Snip snip when the scissors, and soon I was holding a tiny ponytail—not even enough for a proper handlebar mustache.  They worked cutting off larger chunks, and then I stood up to wait for a razor.  Desmond Tutu actually sat down after me to get his hair shaved as well, so I got a picture standing behind him.  He’s such a joyful individual. 

Eventually I got my hair buzzed down properly.  It feels so strange—I’m still rubbing my hands across my scalp, which is so sensitive.  Martha got her hair shaved too, as did Lander and Dan (two guys who had loooong hair), and Ellie got an adorable pixie cut.  Unlike Martha though, I didn’t Bic it—go back over it with a razor so as to be completely bald.  That would be probably too shocking for me.  You don’t need to worry, mom—it actually looks really good, especially when it grows out a little.  My head doesn’t look boxy, but I have a really strong jaw line for once and I look like a powerful woman, which is how I would like to be perceived.  My eyes are showcased and I don’t feel like I look ridiculously overweight for once.  I’m very happy with it.  :)

Neptune Day was pretty fun but it was also sad, because there was such a mob of people who wanted to shave their heads that I didn't get to go through the actual ritual where you go through the pool and kiss a fish and all that fun stuff.  I was really bummed out about that, but I guess I don't feel too bad because some of my friends also didn't go through it either.  Still, I'm sad... I was looking forward to doing everything a whole lot.  But it was still a lovely experience of seeing all these girls get their hair whacked off.  Everyone was all smiles.  There are so many mohawks and bald people running around now!  Mine looks a little patchy, but that's okay because as soon as I'm sick of it looking patchy in a week or so it'll be long enough to even out in the barber shop.  I do really like how it feels.  My whole head is a sensitive zone, feeling every brush of the wind.  I love it.  <3

Julie, Lorelei, Jared and I hung out outside for a little while, eating some delicious chocolate chip cookies and smoothies, and then I decided that I should probably go shower—I was covered in hair and it was itchy.  Showers are incredible—so good.  This is going to be so good with time efficiency, because taking a shower takes no time at all now.  Then it was off to lunch, where we admired the ocean on the outside desk.

We went then to go and study for Global Studies.  It was definitely tough to just get into groove of studying, especially since no one wanted to study in a group and it’s hard for me to focus by myself—I really need to be in a quiet group environment.  At some point I took a break by going out and being in the group picture of people who  had gotten their heads shaved.  There were like one hundred people out on deck to take the picture, most of them women!  It was pretty incredible to see.  But eventually I went down to the deck 5 main dining hall and sat with Caroline while I studied for a while, and then after dinner I quizzed Lorelei to get definitions down. 

After a while I went downstairs to the main dining hall, got my test, and finished it in like twenty minutes (though of course I went over it again and checked my answers). The questions were pretty easy—the only problem was that some of the answers were too vague, and I knew that there were different answers that had come out of poverty questions in past sociology classes I had taken.  But otherwise I felt like I had done very well. 

After that Jared, Julie, Lorelei and I hung out in my room and talked about the exam.  We read some of Julie’s creative writing, and then went out and worked out.  I tried the Elliptical again and actually did a lot better about not feeling ill due to the rocking of the ship—love that it’s low impact.  We did some more bicep work and work on the machines, and I felt like I put in a good effort. 

So overall today went pretty well.  I’m happy with my haircut, I’m happy with my friends, and I’m just really overjoyed that I’m on Semester at Sea.  Every day I’m more and more grateful.