Lost Sense of Time

We have been at sea for 6 days since Brazil. The day of the week no longer has any meaning. If you ask most people on this ship, they won’t have a clue what day of the week it is. Or in some cases, even what time it is. We have turned our clocks ahead 4 hours since Brazil. They just keep taking hours away from us. I have completely lost any type of sleep schedule.

I’ve had the chance this week to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak in two of my classes. In my Religious Experience and Mysticisms class he spoke about silence and listening. He made some good points about how we’re such an accomplishment driven society, and how we always have on the TV or radio. We often avoid complete silence, but maybe we should embrace it at times. In my World Religions class the Archbishop spoke about some of his experiences in South Africa. I found it amazing that he could speak about seeing people die and suffer all around him, and still keep a positive outlook on life. He makes jokes whenever he talks, and is quite funny. When you see him around the ship, he’s always smiling and dancing around.

In light of our studies of South Africa, we are having a 24 hour simulated apartheid. Only those people who shaved their heads on Neptune Day (a celebration of crossing the equator) are allowed up on the 7^th deck by the pool, can eat in the 6^th floor dining hall, are allowed to use the public restrooms, and are allowed to use the elevators. Those of us who did not shave our heads can eat only in the 5^th floor dining room, and have to give up workout machines or computers in the computer lab to anyone who shaved their head should they approach us. It’s something that would never work on a campus at home, but because of our environment here, it works really well. I find it to be an interesting way to make the point. We can be told what apartheid is like, but by actually simulating it, we can understand it better.