Day 19 (02-06-09)

Back to sea, back to class, back to work. I forgot about mundane things like class work. Oops. Nothing new today. More time to talk to friends about our trips in port. I realize I’m not using complete sentences. It’s a blog, not an essay. Relax.

Day 20 (02-07-09)

So I’m minding my own business. I’m playing some volleyball on the top deck of the ship. You know what happens? Someone decides “oh my god you’re shaving your head on Monday…I have to straighten your hair!”Why? I don’t get it. Whenever I have long hair, someone always wants to take a straightener through it. But I was bored and didn’t have anything else to do for the evening. So I let her. I either looked like a frontman for an 80s rock band or one of the cavemen from the Geico commercials. Ridiculous. I guess this is just what happens when cabin fever sets in. I turn into a scruffy, brown-haired Fabio. I’ve got the crooked nose to match, so why not. Anyway. I started planning some of the on-ship events with my committee tonight, so hopefully we’ll have a karaoke night and a dating game (a copy of MTV’s Singled Out) up and running sometime soon. Also on the ship, we have something called the Extended Family program. In it, two adults (lifelong learners, faculty members, etc) become “parents”for a group of about 10 students. We all meet up for meals a few times throughout the semester, and it’s just another way to get close to people onboard. I met with my family for dinner, and I had already met 8 out of my other 9 family members. I suppose that means I’m not getting as much out of it as others who don’t know their families. But it’s still fun. We share stories and eat ice cream. I’m for it.

We stop in Senegal tomorrow for some refueling. Hopefully we don’t have to wait around for a day like last time. But waters aren’t supposed to be rough, so we should be fine. Later gators.

Day 21 (02-08-09)

Another day of class. Another day with straight hair. We’re in Dakar, Senegal right now getting more fuel. We can’t leave the ship, but it’s nice to see some land around us to know we’re not completely lost at sea. It’s gotten a lot warmer since we left Morocco. That equator is right around the corner. I’m sleeping outside on the top deck tonight since it’s so nice out. Oh and we had our first M.o.D. (Mediocre Dance) night tonight. Someone just busted out some techno music on her giant iPod speakers and a crowd of about 20 of us just ran around the ship dancing like idiots. It was pretty intense. Neptune Day is tomorrow. Say goodbye to my flowing locks.

Day 22 (02-09-09)

So I had to wake up at 3am this morning because the cleaning crews spray down the outside decks every night. We only got about 3 hours of sleep out there and we didn’t even get to see the sunrise. Bummer. But we’ll do it some other time. My second wake up call came at 9am, when The Voice came on the P.A. system and called all the pollywogs out to the pool deck. Pollywogs are seafarers that have never crossed the equator before. We scampered out to the deck and the festivities were just getting started. The ship’s captain was painted green and dressed as the God Neptune. In order for us pollywogs to become worthy of crossing the equator, we had to kiss Neptune’s ring, kiss a rather large and rather dead fish, and have two pitchers of awful-smelling and ice cold fish stuff poured down our backs before jumping the pool to rinse. The optional tradition: head shaving. I was one of the first 6 or 7 people to get it done, and my hair was the longest of any of the guys who shaved. It was pretty ridiculous. I don’t think my hair has ever been this short before; it’s about the texture and length of peach fuzz. My facial hair is currently longer than the hair on top of my head. But I still wear the pink bandanas so people can recognize me.

We’re still pretty far from the equator; I’m not sure if we’re even going to cross it before midnight, but that’s alright. We’ll get there soon enough. It was about 82 degrees today and we were all relaxing outside on the back decks.

(Boulder is 7 hours behind us right now, so my friends are probably just waking up since it’s 3:00pm here. What are you up to guys? Classes? Work? I got my head shaved and had a pool party with 700 of my close friends at the Equator. Just thought I’d give you an update.)

Well I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m going to head back outside, get myself a drink, and get a little more tan while I’m at it. Have fun doing whatever it is that you’re doing.

Christopher.