Location: THE EQUATOR
Today was the fourth? Day on passage from Panama City to the Galapagos, and we are expected to arrive tomorrow morning. Yay!! Now that we are on watch team schedules, everybodys day-to-day schedules are different. My watch team (Maisy, Brooks, Harrison, Henry, Maya W., and Claire) had a great watch last night from 12 AM to 4 AM, so I had some free time this morning to work on school and hang out. Everyone else was either on watch, chilling in the salon, or sleeping. We all came back together for lunch, which was chicken pesto wraps cooked by todays head chef, Brooks. After food, we had a species ID quiz followed by a marine bio lecture. We were supposed to have a leadership class, but today is equator crossing day! Instead, we all got ready for the equator crossing ceremony held by the council of Poseidon and Neptune (staff). Everybody put on some fun outfits in preparation for our sacrifices/offerings. A group of us all swapped clothes, and the guys dressed in shorts and tank tops while the girls put on some baggy shorts and t-shirts. A standout outfit was James, who pulled up in a full-on pirate outfit. The ceremony, held in the cockpit, was where our sacrifices/offerings took place.
Caro, Graham, Jake, Jay, Henry, Maisy, Morgan G., Harrison, and I performed a group offering in which the girls sang (in lovely voices) How Far Ill Go while the boys did an interpretive dance to go along. Unfortunately, the council did not deem our performance a good enough offering, so we faced punishment. The guys had to dance to a song straight-faced, and Graham smiled first, so he lost. The girls played hungry hungry hippo with a can of chickpeas on the deck, and I collected the least. Me and Graham faced off and had to bob for food in the dishy pit. I happened to lose that as well, even after dunking my entire head into the disgusting water trying to get an apple. Brooks, Liam, and James went next, singing a pirate song. It was entertaining but not good enough, and their punishment was not being able to talk unless it was dolphin noises for the rest of the ceremony. Maya L. performed a sock puppet dance and had to put beans in her socks because it didnt meet whatever requirements they had. Harry, the Australian, went back to his roots and did a breakdance in honor of the Olympian breakdancer from Australia. He ended up with beans in his hat. Maya W. offered up a Snickers bar and two inches off her hair, resulting in bean gloves. Morgan C. was the real trooper, and her offering was shaving off all her hair. No punishment followed this. We followed these with a rinse of fresh and salt water, and the ceremony was complete. Afterwards we had a hair salon set up on the stern, and people got haircuts, and there were a few mullets. We had dinner and are now awaiting the equator crossing coming up soon!