Sea Day- CROSSING the EQUATOR

(1 video- "You'll Be Back")
YES, we are crossing the equator (again). This time we are in the Indian Ocean and with a different Cruise Director (CD). Each CD does the ceremony a little differently (some are more "cruel"), although the Order of the Shellback ceremony that commemorates a sailor's first crossing and testing their ability to handle long times at sea is somewhat the same. The Shellbacks (Sons of Neptune) teach the Pollywogs a lesson or two with an endurance test. The Royal family with King Neptune, his wife Amphitrite and the Royal Baby charge the Pollywogs with crimes. The ceremony in real life is quite a brutal initiation in the interrogation by the King. This ceremony was "popular" in the 19th Century (and earliar) and even during WWII Navy it was brutal and sometimes Pollywogs were injured or even killed. Beginning in 1980s the hazing was finally controlled . The ship replicates this ceremony and hazing routine but in a lot of fun. The photos here show some of the crew that had never crossed being initiated. Karen, Lee and I were initiated many years ago with so much food thrown at us and covering our clothes that the clothes we wore could not be cleaned and were thown out. Fun times.

Morning cycling and abs class again to prepare for more serious eating today and singing rehearsals. We were honored to hear first hand at a lunch with Vera & Bryan, a lifetime real life true story regarding their family and Holocaust reparations). The afternoon was filled with lectures from Jane on the "Future of Work in an AI Society "and its impact on skills, a visit from King Neptune and followed by Patti & David speaking on "1970s Sitcoms: Pushing the Envelope and Raising the Bar" (see May 7 post) ... and one more wonderful evening show by singer Paul Baker.

In between all these fun times, real life hit with calls, texts, and emails from home about our house being "attacked" by 50-100 Swallows, non-stop and them making a mess while they are building nests all over the outside of our house. Our great neighbors, led by Monique, helped by shooting water at them 3-5 times a day trying to stop them and scare them away. After many calls to many contractors (swallows are a protected species) way into the late night and morning hours onboard and Lee volunteering to come put to CA to help too, we finally hired someone to use "Bird-B-Gone" netting and cover the eaves of our house to get rid of the swallows problem. I wished the swallows had "Returned to Capistrano" (Mission San Juan Capistrano) again after their annual 6,000 mile journey back from Argentina ... its only right down the street, I'm sure someone would have given them directions!Read more