On Tuesday night I went to hear our Ghanian musician, Shareef, speak. He explained the problems in his country and a lot of the things that they have began to overcome in recent years. He told us how music is the best way he feels he can contribute, he said
"The arts are a medium of expression and the greatest gift I have. It helps me defeat poverty and all kinds of situations because this is how I can express myself."
He told us that he draws a lot of his inspiration from Bob Marley and then proceeded to play a tribute to Bob Marley. He played songs like "No Sister No Cry" and all other classics for a little over an hour. Everyone was completely mesmerized. Shareef is truly talented and his genuine passion and love for what he does is so clear to anyone who gets the privilege of meeting him and seeing him. He is also extremely unaware of his talent, mid-way through the performance he seemed very flustered and said something along the lines of "I…I hope I'm not deceiving you, you make me feel like I am better than I am." We all just cheered even louder than before as to let him know that he really is that great. At one point Shareef began to sing the song "No More Trouble". He inserted the word Africa in places and sang the words "We don't need no more trouble, what we need is love. What we need is love to guide and protect us all." It sounds weird and it's hard to express…I've heard other people say and sing these words before, but hearing them from someone who has spent their whole life in West Africa was a new experience to say the least. It was clear that everyone was very touched by his performance and we all really appreciated it.
Wednesday morning I was awoken to the sounds of drums and bangs on my door. "Stephanie, Laura, WAKE UP!!!!!!" Then on the loud speaker I heard "Arggggg, Ello all you Polywaaags, get up and come to the seventh deck!" Everyone proceeded upstairs, half awake, confused, and excited. Apparently it is a tradition for young sailors to be hazed and undergo some sort of initiation the first time that they cross the equator. Here on the ship they call that day, "Neptune Day!" I know I talk a lot about how this community is unique, but once again…only here do you see your Executive covered in green paint, wearing a toga, lots of jewelry and a carrying a trident. He and his wife sat on the deck by the pool and said a few words to us "Polywags". Then we were told that in order to move from the status of a polywag to a shellback we had to get slimed, jump in the pool, kiss a fish, and both of their rings. By now most everyone should know that I HATE fish. I like to look at them in aquariums, but I'll pass on the touching, and especially kissing…usually. I felt a sense of pride within me and definitely did not want to be a polywag forever. So, I took off my shoes and asked my friend to hold my camera. I made my way to the pool deck and stood apprehensively underneath of the slimers. I felt Green slimey water get poured all over me and I proceeded to jump in the pool. That was the easy part I though as I waited in line to get out of the pool and face the fish. Finally it was my turn, one of my professors was holding the fish (again, just showing you how funny this place is) and all I could hear was "KISS IT! KISS IT!" I'm usually not one to give into this type of peer pressure, but like I said, I was not going to be a polywag forever, so I closed my eyes and gave it a kiss. Then I kissed my Dean's ring and his wife's and was named a shellback forever. YES!
The other main tradition of Neptune day is to shave your head. There were four seats and four hair-cutters/shavers. Guy after guy sat down with hair and got up shiny and smooth. Then, the cheers got super loud as a girl was long blond hair sat down. Every girl watched with heart-breaking, gut-wrenching feelings as we first watched her pony-tail get chopped off, and then the razor take away stand after strand. To my surprise the girl didn't look that bad after and she had a huge smile filled with panic and excitement. In the end, seven girls ended up shaving their heads!!! It's funny how regular bald people around here now are. There are even signs up around the ship saying "TIP FOR THE NEWLY BALD: Remember to re-apply sunscreen every hour if you're outside!" After a few hours of cheering, dancing, shaving heads, and kissing fish, the entire top deck of the ship was covered in human hair. Honestly, it was really pretty gross. SO, we all went down for lunch and when we came back the deck was cleaned, the pool had been drained and re-filled, and the deck was ready for laying out in the sun…hard life we have here, I know.
The next morning we returned to our normal routine of class and meals. That night Shareef did another event. He and our Brazilian students, Gabriel and Susi did a "Jam session" where they combined Brazilian music with African. It was very unique as we were in transit from Brazil to Africa. The two mixed very well. Gabriel and Susi are very talented and I loved hearing music in their language. Shareef completely complimented them and knew where to chime in at all the right places.
Thursday night after the music I went up to the 7th deck…a popular place to hang out at night. The deck is outside but there is a nice covering over half of it so you can stay out of the sun during the day if you wish. As I got up there I heard yells, ohhs and ahhs. It was raining very hard and the winds were blowing in every direction. Every few moments the sky would light up as if it were the middle of the day. It was one of those really awesome storms to watch where you could literally watch the lightening bolds spread out through the sky. All I could think about what the quote "If a tree falls in a forest and no one sees or hears it, did it really fall?" I though of this because I thought, here we were in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, and we were the only ones to experience this storm…so had we not been there to see it, it would have been as if it never happened.
Afterwards, I went to hang out with my "little sister" named Laura. They were showing a movie for all of the little kids, so I sat and watched the movie with Laura to my left, and my professor for my writing class to right right- she is a very cool lady who just wanted to watch. We watched the movie "Totoro"-- a sort of anime kids film based in Japan but American made. It was a very cute story and enjoyable to watch. It's been a while since I've watched a kids movie in a room filled with kids…well, to be honest it's been since I was that age. It was so funny to hear them all laugh so hard at such simple things, get scared from such small things, and constantly say "I know what's happening", "I know where she's going!" Kids are seriously so endearing, as I spend more time with them on this ship I enjoy it more and more.
Once the movie was over I said good-bye to Laura and went to go see Shareef's last public musical contribution. This one was a pure "Jam Session" Where students who played guitar and drums and other instruments came together and in front of all of us they all worked out some great tunes.
Even though it is technically Saturday here, I am about to go to class. In another two days we will be arriving in GHANA!!!!!!!
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