December 28, 2024
Equator Crossing - 12/21/24 I became an official Shellback!
I never knew this Ship tradition, but passengers and crew who have never crossed the equator on a Ship need to participate in a Crossing the Line or Neptune Day Ceremony. It's an ancient naval tradition, involving a series of tests and pranks that prove you are worthy to change. Our test involved the Captain willing plunging into the pool and all of us Pollywogs kissing a fish, getting sprinkled with sea water and then presented with a flower lei, graduating to a Shellback! We technically crossed the equator at 5:29 a.m. but they let us sleep and have breakfast and did the ceremony at 10:00am! Must say the Welcome to the Equator signs were impressive!
This Blog is more than a journal of my travels around the world, it's a major memory tool for me in documenting all the events along the way. You often ask me how we take care of medical things, as we travel non stop and today is a perfect example. A fellow resident had posted on one of our WhatsApp groups ( this is the main way we all- residents, crew and stateside support all communicate ) that she had an excellent contact for anyone looking to get medical appointments in the Pattaya / Bangkok area.
Off the coast of Pattaya, Thailand a talented and dedicated group of residents, the Odyssey Troubadours , performed A Night of Broadway for the enjoyment of all the other residents and senior staff on board. The group of 20 performed, 15 Broadway songs that had some special Odyssey edits, personalizing them to our journey. We loved it ! Such a clever, talented and fun loving group. I was upfront and focused on getting candid pictures of the talented cast.
We were up for breakfast at 7 and then hired a private small tram to take us around the gardens, for an overview, because it came with a guide. Problem was, guide barely spoke English, so we had a hard time figuring out the history of this crazy place. Even with translate app his answers were questionable. Did it start as gardens? What's with all the statues? Is there a master plan? It seems to be growing with no real connections, that we could make out. Web & Chat GPT seem vague on details too! We had fun with it, finding more and more absurd things, until the heat won out!