We Are PG 13

Today the shipboard community gathered to participate in one of the biggest events of the voyage, the Sea Olympics.  We competed in a variety of games designed to bond our community and most importantly to have fun.  There were over 24 events from tug-of-war to karaoke/ lip-syncing.  We even had Ship, Wave, Captain, the game Nicole and I invented way back in the first week of the trip.

Here on the MV Explorer the area where the students live is known as a “Sea.”  So each Resident Director has a group of cabins where students live and a specific sea name assigned to their group.  When we boarded in San Diego we had eight seas ranging from the Aegean Sea to the Red Sea.  The faculty, children, lifelong learners and non-RD staff also form a sea, known as the “Luna Sea”.

My sea name, the Arabian Sea, was the same assignment I had on my previous voyage.  I felt some nostalgia and was excited to see how this Arabian Sea compared to my previous.  However over the first month of the voyage my sea started to revolt over their assigned name and began clamoring for a change.  Since we have four Persian students in our group, the name the Persian Gulf was selected.

From there my group of Minutemen gathered signatures, drafted a Constitution and got our name changed to the Persian Gulf.  I was quite amazed by the initiative and passion my sea, nah gulf, showed and the bonding that took place among them.  They even wrinkled the Constitution to look like an old document. 

Since my group was dedicated enough to get their name changed, I couldn’t wait to see how the first ever Persian Gulf performed.  We dressed in white and chanted in Farsi last night during the opening ceremonies and the excitement that continued into today’s events was amazing.  There was an energy that flowed through the ship with everyone dressed in the color of their sea, faces painted and spirited competition taking place all over the ship.  I’m proud to say Kelly competed with our group, despite the calls from other staff members to join them.  And with her help the Persian Gulf placed 2^nd place out of the nine teams. 

The chants of “PG, PG 13” filled the Union when our placement was announced and I was really proud of how well my group performed.  I wish I could have participated in some of the events too but I spent a lot of the day running around helping Rachel facilitate the events.  She did a really fabulous job putting everything together and running the day.  I know the entire community had a fabulous time today and it will rank among the best days of the voyage for a lot of people, including me.