Time to become a Shellback

A person becomes a Shellback when they have sailed across the equator, and that’s exactly what I did. Our captain dresses up as King Neptune painted entirely with green paint and a few staff members are king Neptune´s council. Everyone on the ship gathers around our small pool and listens to what the king has to say. We then must recite a pledge and the activities begin. To officially become a shellback you could do one of two things. Shave your head, or get fish guts poured on you then kiss a fish. I wanted to shave my head but since I had an internship lined up I figured I´d better not. The internship is in Spain and I am sure they are going to expect a girl with hair. So I went for option two. 5 people at a time are lined up and we get fish slime poured over us. I´m sure they watered it down but it still smelt really bad, we then turned around and jumped into the pool that had turned brown from all the stuff they put on us. When it’s your turn to get out of the pool you must kiss a fish and King Neptune´s ring or else you are thrown back into the pool. Many people shaved their heads including a few girls, and a few people just donated some of their hair to locks of love. The whole event was a blast and the back deck was filled with excited shipmates. Study days can´t get much better than that!