Jan 31

Jan 30: Today we crossed the Equator. There is a Crossing the Line ceremony that they do aboard ships - though people who have been across before on other ships say they have never seen anything like this before. People who have not crossed the equator before are called pollywogs and the initiation ceremony supposedly dates back to the 14th century. It is led by King Neptune. The Daily Program this morning said that in the olden times “Pollywogs would be coated with various nasty liquids found in the bilge of the ship and then suspended by the ankles and plunged into the sea.” In today’s world they put eggs and spaghetti and catsup and green/brown/pink/yellow pudding like stuff on people and throw them in the pool! Ginnie and I - though we have not crossed the equator opted out of participating BUT we lucked into perfect seats to watch the ceremony. We were perched right on the edge of the pool. It was great. The captain was even tossed into the pool though not for being a pollywog. It was amazing to see this dignified captain in his nice white uniform in the pool - his picture is included. They did all of the passengers first and then they did the new crew members. By the time they got to the crew they were really plastering them with all of the gunk. By the end the pool was absolutely disgusting! But I was back out on deck late this afternoon and it was all cleaned up and they were refilling the pool with water being pumped up from the ocean! Both Ginnie and I got a lot of sun today sitting out at the ceremony for an hour and a half - at noon on the equator!! We are turning brown as berries already and we have a long way to go! One more day until Pago Pago - this 4 days at sea is one of the longer stints without a stop. What’s not to like though!