Ship Life

We have just a couple more hours until we finally dock at our first port of call: Salvador, Brazil. From there, I will be taking a flight with about a dozen students to Rio de Janeiro. We will be staying at a hostel I believe on Ipanema Beach for 4 days. I will update more on Brazil later, but first ship life so far:

Classes have officially started, and I do not particularly love my classes. The teachers are good, though, some of them have a hard time teaching the class with enthusiasm. There is one class I really enjoy: Introduction in Science Education. This class is an education course where the professor utilizes a hands-on approach to teach student the best approach to educate primary school kids. The first day of class, student built the highest possible tower with straws, and in the most recent class, students built balloon powered cars. Being able to have a hands-on class really reminded me of time when classes were fun. Berkeley, being the stubborn bureaucracy they are, has refused to approve this course for credit, so I will be dropping the course and sticking with the original courses I signed up for. 

On September 5th, the MV voyager officially crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere. It is actually my first time in the southern hemisphere. For celebrations, Neptune Day occurred. It is a tradition on Semester at Sea in which “Neptune” (actually some faculty member) tests persons on the ship to see if they are worthy. Here is what happened on the day:

The students were woken up by the crew playing some weird Greek flute music; the crew was dressed in traditional Greek costumes.
Students who wanted to be “tested” first got their heads poured with “fish guts” (I think some punch with fish oil).
Then, they jumped in the pool and got out to kiss a fish.
Lastly, those who were the bravest had their heads shaved. Many guys shaved their heads. However, so did a dozen or so girls. For the girls who shaved their heads, I respect them.

Unfortunately, I decided not to participate in this activity, but filmed and took pictures instead.

The social life is going strong for me; I continue to meet many persons everyday including, faculty, staff, and lifelong learners (seniors who join the trip). Moreover, I will be traveling to Rio with a bunch of people I have yet to interact with, so that should be exciting.

Until next time (with pictures!),
Alan Shih at Sea