Day 117/188: Time Traveling from Fall to Spring

We crossed the equator today! This is the first time that any of us has been in the southern hemisphere. When you’re in the middle of the ocean, it’s not exactly clear the moment this happens. (Probably also not clear on land most of the time, but I’ll have to let you know on that one.)

The cruise staff didn’t do a countdown or anything, but there was a party of sorts to celebrate the crossing. There were people dressed up as sharks, octopuses, and Neptune.

Get you someone who looks at you like Neptune looks at Mr. Showshowshow.

We covered ourselves in random face and body paint and wore shirts that had been decorated for the event. In my case, Story made my shirt for me in the kids’ club. There was music by the pool and a strange, elaborate “baptism” taking place on the deck.

Ultimately Sagan was the only one of us who actually went through the baptism. Story and I just couldn’t bring ourselves to let them hang raw octopus bodies on our heads. Each participant walked through bins of different liquids. I’m not sure what they were, but I definitely smelled chocolate. There were bins for hope, health, love, and maybe wealth?

Sagan stepped into each one and then at the end “Neptune” (some passenger who played along nicely but had clearly been wrangled into this without having a clue what he was agreeing to) used a ladle to pour water over his head. Sagan did seem to avoid the full dead-octopus immersion, but the tentacles definitely touched him.

When we got back to our cabins, we had certificates waiting for us, as proof that we crossed the equator. Ha! To me the coolest part of this is that we went right from Fall to Spring. I’m avoiding winter till January. Thank you for allowing this, King Neptune. Much appreciated!