February 25, 2007

Today marks our halfway point to South Africa. We’ve been traveling for four days, and have four more before we arrive in Cape Town on Friday. Fortunately, we had a day off yesterday because it was Neptune Day, in which many of the passengers participated in the ritual of getting milk poured on you and kissing a fish. They woke us up with music in the hallways at 7 AM and allowed anyone who wanted to, to shave their head. Many people participated in that, including a lot of girls. It looks good on a lot of them, but some people should have steered away from the clippers. I, personally, did not participate in swimming in milk, but took advantage of the day and slept in. Note, this is the first time since getting on the ship that we’ve been able to sleep in. When on the ship, we’re up by 9 every morning for Global Studies. My body enjoyed the sleep and sunk into an 11 hour relaxation period.

I obviously don’t know how to drive a ship, but sometimes I wonder if our Captain Jeremy is as good as he’s supposed to be. Yesterday we were splashing in the seas at 20 knouts (the ship can go up to 36) and today, he slowed down to 11 knouts and turned off the stabilizers. We’re in the calmest seas we’ve seen so far, but the boat is rocking more than ever. Caitlin and I took the treadmill for a run tonight, and both of us slipped off at one point. Running on a treadmill on a swaying boat is no easy task; I feel as though I’m on the cross-country team and am running through mountains. My whole body is definitely getting a work out. After this trip, we have two more week-long rides, and then its just a lot of travel. We’ve got a lot of work coming up this week and after we leave Africa, and its hard to find a way to manage your time because who honestly wants to read and study when you can sit outside and watch the sunset, go to comedy stand up night (which was actually very funny), or play poker in the dining hall with your friends.

The food is still pretty awful. But at 10 PM, snack time arrives and students will wait as long as 30 minutes for a couple sandwich halves and a small slice of cake. I think they’re making the food bad so we have to go up to the 7^th deck and spend money on ice cream, hamburgers, and popcorn. And the smoothies. They get you every time.