Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up

Something to note before we get into the nitty gritties here. This blog contains photos. I feel that there might be some expectations with photos and I would simply ask that you not judge me too harshly on my underwater photos for now. I am just figuring out how to take photos underwater and I am discovering that it is a lot more difficult than I thought. It is much more difficult because light behaves so much differently underwater (amongst other things, like trying to stay alive!). Some of the photos you will see today are not ones that I would normally deem "good enough" to actually be contained in the blog, but they are included regardless because I would rather you get the chance to see what I am seeing. Just something that I ask you keep in mind as you bear with my photography.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. First of all, because I can, today's soundtrack! This song just gets me grooving and I tend to play it when I am really feeling good and happy about life. So it is getting played as I write tonight and I hope it will play as you read through. Feel free to dance a bit, I do every time I have to get up to smash a cockroach against the wall with my shoe (another reason you should never, ever, ever come here Madeline).

Today was just a really, really good day. I haven't had a bad day since getting here, but something about today just felt right. Which is mildly ironic given that I thought I might die and/or go insane last night. I didn't realize it but at the Iguana Station I was consumed by mosquitoes and right around bed time discovered that the only thing I wanted to do was scratch my legs and feet until they came off. I have never tried to do something as mentally challenging as not scratch my bites (hyperbole!!). At some point I fell into a fitful sleep that was more like a nightmare because I was constantly tossing, turning, scratching, and slapping at myself. I didn't know if I would survive the night in all honesty, I thought I might just go insane. Finally at about 2 am I got up and rummaged through the first aid kit my loving mother had so thoughtfully assembled before I left. I found anti-allergy pills but didn't know if they were meant to be taken for mosquito bites so, despite myself and my consuming desire to do anything to stop the itching, I did the somewhat prudent thing and googled it. As soon as I saw that I was good to go, I threw a couple of pills down the hatch and collapsed back into bed, begging the gods to spare me. I think the drugs just knocked me out because I woke up and everything still itched. At least I had gotten a few hours of sleep though.

Any grogginess was washed away by the morning air as the boat motored out of the harbor and turned north. I will never say the mornings are "cool" per se, but they are refreshing in the way that only mornings can be, especially when the salt laden ocean air is smacking you in the face and washing over your smile. That's the way morning boat rides are for me, a moment of feeling really truly alive and stoked about it! I can't help but smile.
As I mentioned yesterday, we headed to the north shore this morning and it was spectacular. The ocean was as calm as it can be and it looked as if I could have water skied to Roatan, a mere 24 miles away. Seeing other parts of the island was pretty cool, although it looked much the same. Jungleness and mosquito infested. We anchored at a dive site called "Maze" and I buddied up with two other DMTs, Brian (from the states) and Richard (a Canadian). The whole point of coming north was because of a deep specialty class being taught to some of the DMTs. This class certifies divers to go to 40 meters (I am currently "limited" to 30) and really the only way to accomplish this is by going north side.
The dive was spectacular and made me realize that the north side really is a treat. The water seemed somehow bluer, although this might just have been because it was deeper. We explored our way through deep canyons, Brian and I with our cameras, searching for anything and everything. We found a really cool stingray hanging in the sand and as I descended to try and snap a close up, my dive computer beeped at me. 101 feet, a new deep record!

Despite the picture it was actually pretty cool to see this down at 100 feet.

I also saw my first Lionfish! This are an invasive species and are actually terrible for the Caribbean environment, despite the fact that they are beautiful. You can actually take a course here where you are taught how to spear them. There is a widespread effort to eradicate them from the Caribbean and if I have the time I would be more than happy to help. We had lionfish ceviche tonight at the UDC and it was marvelously good! Bring on more dead lionfish!
Seeing the Lionfish was really cool, although less cool than I thought it would be because we were so deep that it essentially looked brown to me. My picture of it is pretty bad (I was afraid to get too close okay, I've heard that the stings are truly excruciating) but even still you can see that color is missing. Need. More. Camera. Equipment!

Kind of crazy huh? Also note, everything around the fish looked purple to me at the time!

The rest of the dive went fine, although I was slightly stressed about air much of the time. I had stupidly entered the water with about 300 psi less than I should have. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal at all but I forgot to account for the fact that we would be diving deep. The deeper you go, the quicker you consume your air. We got back to the boat with no problems and I had more than enough air but it just showed me how a little issue can consume a dive and take the fun out of it, even if you are perfectly safe the whole time. From now on my tanks will have the full 3000 psi I am entitled to.

Unfortunately we didn't see any whale sharks or dolphins on the way back but we did have a fun encounter. As the boat was motoring back to the south side of the island for our second dive the captain suddenly turned out to sea and started to slow down. We quickly saw what had caught his eye; a plastic fifty gallon drum like the kind used to store grain for Y2K (oh come on Ashland folk, I know some of you stockpiled!). Captain Brian was super excited until we pulled alongside and discovered that the drum was open on one end. I guess these drums are usually filled with pot, cocaine, or cash and are dropped over the side of boats by drug cartels when the fuzz is hot on their tail! Captain Brian literally trudged back to the wheel with his head down, muttering something about how it would have been Christmas come early had it been properly full. Pretty crazy stuff considering that they often find them with stuff inside. And I am sure that they then turn it over immediately to the authorities...ahem...cough.

The second dive of the day was truly the remarkable one, although each dive here seems to have its own little characteristics that make it special. The first thing about this dive was the three Spotted Drum fish that Brian found. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera but these little guys are absolutely adorable. The three we saw were only an inch or so long and they were frantically swimming in tiny little figure-eights. Pretty cool looking fish and not something you see on every dive (although I have spotted one before).

Obviously not my photo but I wanted you to see what it looked like.

Sometimes while diving I feel like everyone else sees all the cool stuff and I never notice anything out of the ordinary. This was proven false when I discovered a moray eel chilling in some coral. It was my first moray and I was strangely excited that it was me who found it and not someone else!

Moray from the second dive, chilling with a little crab (to the left)

And finally, the highlight of the dive and maybe of my time down here (competing with the turtle certainly). As I glanced over at Richard to make sure he was okay I looked over his shoulder at the edge of the wall we were diving and saw a Spotted Eagle Ray! These are truly magnificent creatures and are stunning underwater. Beyond words really. They fly through the water with grace that is truly unparalleled. I can see why Amanda is going to get a tattoo of one and after seeing one with my own eyes, I fully support this decision (hopefully this isn't news to Bill and Karen. If it is...oops). I really could go on and on about how amazing of a creature it is. The way it cuts through the water is something that you can really only appreciate by witnessing first hand. This video does a decent job (I've also seen the eels in the second part) but let me tell you, its really nothing. In a blink of an eye, it was gone. They move so fast, but with such grace, it is astonishing. I am not exactly sure why, but I feel like they should be really noisy underwater. Anything that quick has to make some noise right?
I almost can't even believe how cool seeing the eagle ray was. Really, really neat to say the least.

A couple of hours later I would make another dive, taking my camera along once again. There wasn't as much to see this dive but I managed to snap a few photos that were decent enough. Like I said, I am still learning.

This little guy is a baby Trunk fish (I think). It is only about half the size of your thumb but zooms around like its on crack.

I just liked the texture of this coral.

One of my favorite...things. Not sure what it is actually.

Another view of the "thing".

A Trumpet fish. These guys are a dime a dozen and people are getting sick of me pointing them out.

 

A nice large school of fish, not something we often see.

 Before starting dive master training you are only allowed to do three dives in a day, so I sat out for the final one this afternoon. I actually had a lot of fun doing this. I got to lie in the sun on the roof of the boat with my friend Simon and just take it all in. You know you are one lucky son of a gun when the highlight of your day is NOT laying in the sun for an hour while being rocked gently by the waves. I don't know what I did to deserve all of this but I couldn't be more thankful. Wow.

Its been a tough day Simon, get some rest.

Looking towards "town".

A Cow Fish. Cool and slightly rare to see.

This is the fish I was talking about the other day. Really hard to photograph!

After skyping with my family tonight I signed off with the biggest grin on my face, and it took a few moments to realize why I was smiling so much. The reason is hard to explain. Normally skyping is an absolute blast but is also a sad moment for me, a moment when I deeply, deeply miss whoever is on the other end of the line. Tonight was different though, and that difference reflects my overall feelings these past two weeks. While I of course miss everyone from home, I also know that I am doing something that I love and I am exactly where I should be. It is one of the few times that I can honestly say, with 100% certainty, that there is nowhere else I would rather be right now. Not because I don't want to be with all the people I love and care about. Rather it is because I know that this is where I am meant to be, this is what I am meant to be doing. Everyone is out there and I am fortunate to be able to share my experiences and journey with them but right now I belong on the island of Utila, I belong beneath the waves. Call it a calling. Call it a passion. Call it rapture of the deep. Whatever you call it, the fact is that the ocean has dug its hooks into me and is refusing to let go. I wake up every morning with a smile of my face and in between scratching mosquito bites, that is how I go to bed each night. If that isn't how life is supposed to be, then I am not sure what it is. I am not sure if I can make this last forever, I am not sure if the "real world" will allow me to avoid it for that long, but I am starting to wonder if it isn't worth a shot, isn't worth a try. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I thank you for the opportunity to share. And I thank you for this opportunity. Because it is the love and support from everyone around me that allows this life to be so damn amazing.

Working with light (near the surface).

 And so, with the last notes of the Hot 8 Brass Band playing in my head, I bid you goodnight.
"I'm hot just like an oven". I'm not sure what Marvin Gaye meant by that but I'll tell you what, that's exactly how I feel right now. Time to pop some anti-histamines, crank the fan up to Mock-9, strip down and lie spread eagle on my bed, praying for some sweet relief from the heat (oh yeah, you didn't really think I was done bitching about that did you?)

Until next time,
Gringo in Bliss signing off

Cheeseburger in Paradise

The funny thing about paradise is this: If you aren't diving, there ain't a whole lot to do. No, no, no, I am serious here people. Utila is a wonderful, wonderful place and it truly is a little slice of heaven. The only problem is that options for things to do are very limited if you aren't diving, drinking, or sleeping. The island is tiny to begin with, and only a square mile or two is inhabited. The rest? Swampy mangroves with mosquitoes the size of my face, ready to suck every ounce of blood out of you (that last part is based purely on conjecture and is largely unsubstantiated. Notice I said largely). There is only one beach (which I unfortunately haven't gone to yet) and other than that, not a whole heck of a lot. 
Prior to coming to Utila I had heard that it did have an Iguana Sanctuary which was supposed to be pretty cool, so last night I recruited two of my friends, Hailey and Millie, to join me for a trek to see what the hub-bub was all about. Millie, a super nice girl from someplace south of London (Royal Tunbridge Wells I believe. Or maybe Downton Abbey? God knows, everywhere in the UK sounds goofy to me) has unfortunately come down with a pretty bad staph infection. In fact, she is likely going to have to go to the mainland tomorrow to get to a proper hospital. Zero fun sir. I guess staph is somewhat common down here because people get bit by mosquitoes, scratch the bites, and then are in the salt water so much that the bites become infected and things get worse and worse. Anyways, Millie hasn't been able to dive for a couple of days and so she has been essentially sitting around bored all day and I thought a little outing might be fun. I guess it is super painful though and sweating in the sun doesn't help, so my nice gesture and idea was a total bust. Oh well.
We had a general idea of where the Iguana Station was, although we couldn't find any specific directions when we looked online. The island has essentially two streets though, so how hard could it be, right? As always, wrong. We started off down main street in the direction of the hostel I used to stay at, already feeling like death because of the heat. There is truly no escape sometimes and I have given up on looking presentable. No matter what, it looks like I have just played basketball for ten straight hours and have sweated one of the Great Lakes into my shirt. Pretty freaking gross to be honest.
Small signs every couple of "blocks" helped us to navigate, but they were essentially useless and once we turned up the one other street on the island we essentially (Madeline, these are just for you!) found ourselves "lost", or as lost as you can be on an island the size of Ashland (maybe). 

Vaguely helpful signs.

 

We trudged our way along the roads, desperately looking for the next “sign” that might point us in the right direction. At one point we had to stop for Gatorade, afraid that we might not make it otherwise. The signs became fewer and fewer as we progressed until finally we were faced with a sign that did not contain arrows or directions of any sorts. Well, maybe it was just down the road next to the sign we reasoned. This is what we found:

Welcome to Utila. I'd suggest the diving!

Not exactly what we were looking for. Almost immediately we hightailed it out of there due to mosquitoes pouncing on us with a ferocious appetite. Millie was struggling at this point, not keen to continue.

Millie trying to be a trooper.

Luckily Hailey and I prevailed and we continued “just a little bit further”. It was like enticing a five year old to just press on a touch more. But that touch is what did it! Finally we found “Iguana Road” and the home of the “Swampers”. 

The station was just down the road and on the left and we were elated that we had, somehow, against all odds, made it. Until we saw this sign:

Dumbfounded, we quite literally stood and stared at the sign for thirty seconds, not comprehending that it could possibly be closed. In fact, we stood there long enough that a guy came out to see what we were doing. We asked if they were closed and he said no, come on in. YES!

What we found was very surprising and not at all what I had expected. The Iguana Station turned out to be a series of cages holding Iguanas in various stages of their lives. It was anticlimactic enough that the guy who volunteered at the place asked us "Do you want, like, a tour, or maybe just walk around...?". He ended up giving us a bit of a tour, mostly because he was bored out of his socks (yes, he was actually wearing socks for some reason). 

This is the extent of it. Really, it is.

The place was fairly cool but pretty rundown and falling into disrepair. It was unclear exactly what the Iguana Station did, something to do with raising iguanas and then releasing them back into the wild. Maybe. I am not even sure they release them. The guy there was a German fellow who was "studying abroad" at the Iguana Station for four months. The poor guy had clearly not been expecting what he got. He thought he would be doing research but that wasn't happening by the looks of it. Instead, he is the only person "volunteering" at the station and he is basically taking care of  the iguanas, responsible for everything. Whatever that means. While we were getting the grand tour a bucket of small crabs arrived and he went around and fed all of the iguanas. This was actually pretty neat to see as the crabs were still alive and the iguanas were plenty vicious about tracking them down and devouring them.

Dinner time!

By far the best part of the Iguana Station was the parrot that they had there. He was very friendly and would greet you with a big old "hola" when you walked up. There are two similar parrots outside of my room and they are less awesome because they say hola over and over and over. And over. And over again. I might actually kill them one of these days. But not before I hear them sing Happy Birthday, which I just learned that they do daily around four or so.

We also saw a giant Boa Constrictor, although I saw part of it and then turned right back around. Snakes aren't my thing. On the path to the snake pen we saw this gigantic spider! It was huge, probably two inches or more across. Apparently it isn't poisonous but I have no interest in finding out. Notice the color of the web, however, a beautiful gold color!

Not a country my sister Madeline ever needs to come to.

As we were leaving the station, the German guy seemed genuinely sad to see us go. We were the only people to have visited in a week or two and I think he really missed having company, since he is the only one there. I was definitely reminded of a scene from one of my favorite TV shows "Workaholics". Starting at about 1:30 is how I felt leaving the station. The man could use a good party, that is absolutely for sure (Fur, sure!).

Everyone seemed glad to have made the trip despite the fact that we were eaten alive by mosquitoes and nearly dead from heatstroke. A nice cold beer was exactly what the doctor ordered and upon arrival at the UDC I snagged myself one for the measly price of $1.50. And yes, that is in US dollars. That's what's up!

I also managed to sign up for some dives tomorrow morning and afternoon. My dive computer says it has been over 24 hours since I was last underwater, so we need to fix that ASAP. Tomorrow will mark my first time diving the north side of the island and I am super pumped! The north side is supposed to be amazing, with much healthier coral and more fish. There is also the chance of seeing a whale shark, so stay tuned and cross your fingers for me! I hope to take my camera with me so hopefully I will get some good photos to share. In the meantime, enjoy some photos I took tonight off the dock. It may be hot, there may be far too many mosquitoes, and there may not be a ton to do outside of diving (as if I need something more) but I think I will find a way to survive, looking at this each night.

It is a tough life but as I keep saying, someone has to do it! I hope everyone is well and for those of you watching, I hope the Ducks play well and crush those damn Cougs! My deep hatred for all things Cougar and Husky, combined with a grudging enjoyment of Oregon's style of play and a lack of basketball means that I will set aside my general dislike of football for tonight and see if I can't tune in and watch. I am pretty sure I get ESPN2 (wouldn't it be great if I could get the Pac12 Network down here while thousands of people back home couldn't?! HA!)
So enjoy the game everyone, enjoy the second half of the weekend, and enjoy the snot out of life. Easy for me to say but its a pretty good one and the only one we've got!

Until next time,
Mosquito Bitten, Potentially Malaria Infested (but Staph free), Sweaty Gringo signing out!

Yes I Am Swimming

Our dock and boats!

To find today's theme song, click here.

I chose this particular theme song because, well because for much of the day I was not actually swimming. A combination of flailing and drowning is more accurate I would say. But lets backtrack a little bit.

Yesterday was the first day since arriving that I did not go diving. Tough life I know. It actually felt really strange as I have become so accustomed to jumping in the boat for a couple of dives each day that not doing this felt unnatural. Yesterday I began my Rescue course which is the last prerequisite before I can start my Dive Master Training (DMT). Since arriving I have heard horror stories about the Rescue course and how exhausting it is, and I can fully verify that. Yesterday was spent in the classroom in the morning and then off the end of the dock practicing skills for a couple of hours. So I guess I was technically diving, using a regulator and everything underwater, but it hardly counts in my book. We got out of the water and I went home and collapsed into bed. I was already pretty tired and I hadn't even done anything yet!

Today the real fun started. We jumped into the water to do a few last minute skills and then put all of our gear onto the boat. The boat motored a short ways away and as soon as we were properly moored the two DM's assisting with the class "fell" into the water and became panicked divers. Nikola, the only other student in my class, and I were immediately forced to jump into action, throwing on fins and a mask while trying to find a damn flotation device. We more or less managed to pull them to the boat and it was then that I realized how tiring the day was actually going to be. Of all the days I have been out on the water, this was by far the "worst" in terms of conditions. There was a pretty decent chop (honestly, just imagine Howard Prairie on a windy day. Not really that bad but certainly not glass as it has been so far) and a fairly strong current ripping along parallel to the shore. We clambered back onto the boat and began to gear up for our first dive. I was on edge the entire time, expecting another emergency to arise at any moment. Luckily we got into the water without incident and descended down to about 20 feet (6 meters) to begin practicing our search patterns. These were a little shaky because you are meant to use a compass and count fin kicks. The compass they have us use is not as easy to use as the one on my dive computer and so the simple task of maintaining a straight line becomes anything but simple. It is also difficult because I am not using my own gear for this portion. My setup contains an Airsource 3 instead of what is called an "Octopus" or "Octo", which means that the secondary air source for my buddy is built into the BCD rather than being another regulator like the one I use.

The yellow is the "octo" while the black is the primary regulator.

This is what I have as my backup, built into the device that inflates my BCD.

 For the purposes of this class Declan wanted me to use an octo so I am using rental gear from the shop. It is decent enough but a far cry from my gear. It showed me just how comfortable I am with my own stuff, and how worth it it was to purchase and bring it. But I digress.
Apparently we executed our search pattern well enough because our instructor motioned for one of the DMs to start leading the "fun" portion of our dive.
Again, I was on edge the entire time, monitoring the divers to make sure that they didn't start drowning on me or anything. Yohni, one of the DMs, was clearly having a lot of fun but was also giving me a panic attack every few feet since I never knew if he was goofing around or simulating an emergency. The rest of the dive went without incident and in the shallower depths it was actually one of the more exciting dives I have been on, in terms of sea life and whatnot. I saw a beautiful Angel Fish like the one below (not my photo) as well as a plethora of other fishes. I have come to realize that Utila is not the best place for seeing tons of fish, but there certainly are some truly stunning ones that you can find.

The blue parts of this are absolutely stunning underwater.

After our dive we took a quick break on the surface before jumping back into the water, this time because Yohni's "buddy" was missing. His buddy was actually a BCD that they had hid somewhere but we were to treat it as a real person and do exactly what we would do if it were a real situation. Nikola and I immediately jumped into the water and began executing a search pattern, desperately trying to find the BCD before its 6 minutes were up (after six minutes brain damage starts to set in). After only a few sweeps we were able to locate it, at which point one of the DMs acted like a passive underwater diver. Our job was to safely bring him to the surface and begin giving rescue breaths while towing him to the boat. Everything went without a hitch until we surfaced, finding ourselves being battered about by the ever growing waves and current. I stripped off my mask and began giving rescue breaths, desperately trying to keep the victims face clear of water, which was next to impossible. We eventually reached the boat and were given the thumbs up. Part of the process is taking off your gear and the victims, to better give them the care they need. Once back to the boat everyone started giving gear back and when it was all said and done I found myself without a mask. Crap dice. Luckily we had just practiced a search pattern so I borrowed a mask and several of us descended back down to see if we could locate it.
Five minutes later no one had found it. I decided to give one last wide sweep and see if I could locate it, already deciding in my head that it was a lost cause and thinking about how expensive it would be to replace down here. As I headed towards the edge of the coral and onto the sand patch I noticed a small disk like object in front of me. It wasn't my mask, but it was a small little turtle! Measuring only about a foot long, the thing was adorable. To hell with the mask I thought! I followed the little guy for a ways, marveling at how delicate and yet strong it was. Kicking nearly as hard as I could I was still having trouble keeping up with it. Finally I decided to let it go but it was a hard decision. Easily one of the coolest things I have ever seen diving. As I swam back to the boat I decided that seeing the turtle blunted the blow of not having a mask a little bit.  I approached the boat and noticed Declan, our instructor swimming towards me. Something seemed strange about him though. It took me a minute but finally I realized that he had my mask on! Upon surfacing I discovered that he had seen an eagle ray and as he followed it off the wall he glimpsed my mask hanging on a bit of fire coral. An incredibly lucky find!
In the end I am glad that I lost my mask because it allowed me to run into the little turtle, which was really cool! It also allowed me to use Yohni's mask which showed me that I need a new one! Mine doesn't fit exactly right and water seeps in incessantly, which isn't terrible but is nonetheless annoying. Yohni's mask was infinitely more comfortable and enjoyable to wear. It was a useful lesson if nothing else and first thing I am going to do once I return home is buy a new mask!

The rescue course continues tomorrow, except this time we don't practice skills, we simply respond to random scenarios as they are thrown at us. I've got to say that I am a bit nervous for it, but I think that it will go well. We did really well today and I am mostly confident in my skills. I think it is great that we are put through this kind of situation because it simulates real world stress as much as possible, and reinforces many of the lessons we have learned. We'll see how it goes!

For now, I am off to a UDC BBQ in which several of the newly minted DMs will go through what is called the snorkel test. I foresee this being the most challenging test I will face in the DM process. As a snorkel testee you are given a mask with snorkel attached. What is unique about this snorkel, however, is that taped to the end of it is an upside-down 2 liter coke bottle with the bottom cut off of it. The test begins as people pour their beers, rum and punches, tequila, raw eggs, hot sauce, and maybe a touch of mayonaise into the coke bottle. Yup, you guessed it. The DM must chug this vile concoction until it is all gone. Sounds like fun right? I was thinking it would be a good game to play at Thanksgiving with the family maybe? Juicy did it at the party the other day and took it like a champ. We'll see how the young bucks do tonight. I will be sure to report back. I only hope that my rescue skills will not have to be called into play!

I hope this finds everyone well! Much love and I look forward to writing more soon!

Until next time,
Hesitant Future Snorkel Testee signing off

Big Dog on Campus

WOAH! I can't even believe how much has happened since my last post. I can't even believe I have only been in Honduras a week! Explaining everything that happened since my last post would take an unbearably long time, both for you and for me. So instead, I thought I would try and list off the highlights and fill in details where I can. Since I last left you I have...

Been diving everyday. Usually I make two dives, sometimes three a day. Its pretty tough. I just hit my 40th overall dive today, making me eligible to begin my Dive Master course. I won't start until next Monday though as I am doing my rescue course this week.

I have dove to 100 feet (that's pretty deep folks) and to a shipwreck at 95 feet. The wreck was the Haliburton, a cargo ship that sunk off the point right outside the harbor here. It was a pretty cool wreck to go to and is probably my favorite or second favorite dive site here. We got to swim through the bridge which was really cool. There was even a bike chained to it! This place and bikes right?!

Good to know right? Mom and Dad, I'd ask you get my coffin here if I die while diving.

I did a night dive. While not my first night dive (I did two while diving the Channel Islands in August), it was certainly a cool one. It was a part of my Advanced Open Water course so it was a little more structured than my last night dives, but cool nonetheless. I am looking forward to more to come.

I swam with dolphins. Yup, swam with them. After we surfaced from a dive we spotted them a little ways away so we motored over to them and threw on fins and snorkels and slid into the water. It was a moment where I had to get over one of my biggest fears in life: boat propellers. More on that later. After we slid into the water we just had to look down and watch as a pod of about 35 dolphins streaked underneath us, clicking away. The started swimming in the wake produced by the bow of the boat so the captain just motored tight circles around us so we could see them. It was pretty incredible to see these animals up close. It was also excruitiating for me to be able to see the propeller of the boat so clearly as it made circles around us. I am not sure why but propellers are one of my biggest fears and hearing them and seeing them just make my skin crawl. This was quite an experience and has started the process of me getting over that. Started.

I went to a huge party...and survived. Juicy, a Utila resident of a year and a half, is leaving in a few days and so the staff of UDC (Utila Dive Center) decided to throw him a party at the house of two of the instructors, Declan and Sarah. Sunday, after making two morning dives, one of which was to the wreck, we all piled into the UDC boats and took a short jaunt to a part of the island that is only accessible by boat. It is here that Declan and Sarah live and let me tell you, they have it gooooooood. Their house is gorgeous and sits right on the water, not fifty feet from a dive site. You can't have a better view, let me tell you. And their nearest neighbor is several hundred yards away, so you feel all alone. Everyone grabbed a beer and hopped into the 15 by 15 foot pool. Next thing I knew, thirty people were in the pool and the music was bumping. There were probably close to 60 people there and over the next couple of hours we devoured our way through delicious food, nearly $600 (US dollars) of beer, rum, and tequila, and endless dance tunes. I've got to say, for a college student who can count the house parties attended on two hands, I had an absolute blast. Something about the vibe was completely different than most things like that which I have experienced. The point wasn't "let's just get drunk and do dumb things". Instead it was a bunch of people getting together to celebrate the joys of living. It may sound like I am trying to sugar coat it or make it into something its not but I truly think that it was different than any party I have ever seen or experienced before. No doubt, people were drunk. But everyone was also drunk on the simple joys of life; being around fun people and being able to laugh and eat and dance to their hearts content while being exactly who you are and not an ounce different. To the outsider, it certainly would have looked like Cancun during Spring Break '09. In fact, you can likely track down a few confused divers who witnessed it. Midway through the party the Utila Agressor showed up, a Live Aboard dive boat that charters to the wealthier divers that want to dive the area. For some reason the captain chose the dive spot directly in front of the house, and boy did we let them hear it.We watched as divers in full gear stopped at the back of the boat and just stared before jumping into the water. It was pretty hilarious.
I left the party elated and feeling like I was starting to find my place here, a place that might be extremely hard to leave. Everyone welcomed me with open arms and we spent the whole day laughing and having a blast. What better introduction to a dive shop and the people you will be working around? I can't think of one!

 And finally... I rented a place! I was getting sick of the dorm room living in the Mango Inn, even though it was an awfully nice hostel.

Not so bad right? My room was straight ahead!

Despite being really nice, I knew I would have to move out at some point and so, once the four person room filled up to capacity, I decided to make that happen sooner rather than later. Finding a place to live was amazingly easy. I called a guy "Mike" that knew where places were open and he motored me around on his Moped to several different options. My biggest hang up was whether or not to get a kitchen with my room. It amounted to a nearly $200 a month difference in price, so I opted to go without. Eating out is about the same price down here, and I have become friends with a couple of girls that have a kitchen. I earned some goodwill last night by bringing ice cream and wine to dinner, so I think I'll get another invite :-)
In renting my apartment, I managed to un-gringo myself. Mike showed me a place that I walked by each day on my way to the UDC and after seeing the room I was told it was $250 a month. Early in the week I had walked by and noticed a sign that said $200 for a room. Hmmm. After Mike showed me around I told him I would think about it and decided to walk back to the Carribbean Dreams and talk to Rita, the landlady, myself. When I asked her, she said that she generally gives discounts for staying over a month and would give it to me for $200 a month. Score one for the non-gringo!!

The street outside my apartment (room), which is on the left through the two red poles.

Its small but pretty comfy.

Guests will be limited...

I am really happy with my place. It is three minutes from the UDC, a minute from a great bakery, across the street from a small grocery type store, and it has a fan and internet. What more could a guy ask for? Not much, I'll tell you what. It is cozy and gives me a place to relax on my own, sleep, and study when I need to.

The bakery where I get cinnamon rolls! Mmmmmm.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I found out that by doing my DM training with the UDC, I get free diving for life with them. FREE! FOR LIFE!!! That means that no matter when I come back here, I can go out on the boats and dive. I was blown away by that. It literally made me reconsider my future. I might have to extend my stay anyways, but this is making me consider coming back after the holidays. Why the hell not? I can live here and dive for free? Force a man into the tough decisions why don't ya! It also means that I would really suggest that anyone with an urge to dive come join me here on the island, for a week, for two, for a month. And I truly mean that. I've got a queen bed, so there is space for one person. The Mango Inn gives free housing for a set number of days if you do classes with the UDC and you'll get some free dives as well with your classes. And it ain't expensive, to dive here, to live here, even to get here. So for those of you who want to dive, I suggest you send me an email stat and tell me when to expect you. Opportunities like this don't come along just every day! If you are stupid enough to need more enticement...

Did I mention I've seen that every single day since being here? Oh yeah, and Whalesharks and Dolphins. I am going to stop because if you aren't convinced that Utila needs to be on your to do list by now, well I've got nothing.
Anyways, I hope that has more or less caught everyone up! I am starting my rescue class so things are starting to get real. Reading and homework again! Hopefully it won't be as long until my next post but I can't make any promises. I mean, I am living in paradise here!

Sharks aren't necessarily in my paradise but otherwise, sounds about right!

I am off to trivia night at the UDC. Time to test my chops and see if that college degree was worth it or not!

Until next time, much love from the diving, salty, tan, and ultimately, pretty damn happy, gringo!

For the boys...

Days of Wonder

Warning: Reading the following might make you want to quit your day job, sell all your worldly possessions and move to a small Honduran island called Utila. Read at your own risk.

I realize that I have created a bit of a sticky situation for myself. Trying to write about the last 48 hours could well take the space of a small novel. On the other hand, each day I don’t write is filled with more stuff to explain and more stories to tell, so they have to come out somehow. My goal: to give you a general idea of what the last two days have looked like. I’ll of course throw in some specifics, and though some of it just won’t make it, of course, those will be stories I will tell upon my return (if that ever happens, let’s be real).

So where to start? My last two days have started the same way: I sleep in as much as I can (only about eight o’clock thanks to the damn heat) and then I walk to the office of the hostel I am staying in to fill up my water bottles. I usually feel hungover when I wake up, not (yet) because of booze, but because I quite literally cannot take in enough water to stay hydrated. Hangover free since ’93 might be over, without having consumed so much as a drop of alcohol. I then walk down the street to a bakery which makes the most delicious cinnamon rolls this world has ever seen. They aren’t too sweet, nor too big. Just. Right. I ordered one the yesterday, and three this morning. Tomorrow is likely to be three again. Or maybe four. It’s the hardest decision I will make all day. I then read for a couple of hours while trying to drown myself in liquids, as the temperature and humidity start to rise.

Usually at around eleven thirty I head to the dive shop, which is about a ten-minute walk away. The island has two streets (although there are a few branches) and the dive shop is on one while the Mango Inn is on the other. These streets are poorly poured concrete about as wide as a car and a half, maybe even smaller. Everybody rides mopeds or motorcycles or dirt bikes, with the occasional “yuk-yuk” or small, Asian style taxi thing. I’ll snap a photo one of these days to show you. Everyone hauls around these two wheeled instruments from hell, doing their best to get as close as possible to you without hitting you. It’s an adventure walking down the street, let me tell you.

The dive shop is a really busy place, always crowded with people doing their thing. To tell you the truth, it is intimidating as hell to walk in there the first two days. Everyone seems to know everyone, and they all know what they are doing, grabbing weights from here, checking a tank there, snagging a BC there. And when asked, they all seemed to have arrived last week. Until tonight, I didn’t know how everyone got so comfortable so quickly. But more on that later.

Once at the dive shop I mill around trying to look like I know what I am doing for a while. The day is broken into morning dives (leaving at 8 am), afternoon dives (leaving at 1 pm) and night dives (leaving at 6 pm). Once the boats (there are five) return from the morning dives, I usually help unload empty tanks and then reload full ones. Each time the boat goes out, they go out for two dives, and so you fill the boat with two tanks for each person. This generally means the boat has anywhere from twenty tanks to, oh, I’d say about thirty-six or so. Once the tanks are loaded, I snag all of my gear, cart it to the boat, and start setting up my rig. I was intimidated to do this the first time but have since realized that if I do it early enough, I can do it at my own speed and take the time I like to really have it set up correctly. After I am all set up, it is time to roast in the sun for an hour as we wait for the boat captain to arrive. I know I have mentioned it, but I really can’t stress how unbearably hot and humid it is here. I am going to keep stressing that until October and November rolls around so all ya’ll can be jealous. Just sitting in the shade of the boat today, I felt like I was taking a shower in my own sweat. I quite honestly look like I have been in the water when I haven’t been close, sweat dripping down me in a very, very sexy way. Needless to say, the women are flocking to me. Between the sweat and the smell of freshly applied sunscreen, I am damn near irresistible!

Eventually the captain of the boat arrives and we head off. The captains are local guys who are by and large, an absolute crack up! Today my captain was Cookie, the hands down favorite amongst everyone. He is a jolly black man who has the thickest Jamaican or Caribbean accent I have ever heard. And he loves his tunes. Today was “Paper Planes” by MIA. Other days it is Lady Gaga or some other pop dance tune. The man is a riot.

So far we haven’t strayed far from the dive shot in our dives, but there is really no need, as reefs lay not five minutes away. Yesterday we did “Airport Caves” and “Serge’s Bank”. This first dive, “Airport Caves” was absolutely stunning. We dropped down to about thirty or so feet (they use meters here which is really throwing me for a loop. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just multiple by three. But still!) and kicked through shallow channels in the coral. We followed the sandy bottom in a single file line (there were five of us including the Dive Master [DM]) until we reached the “caves”. It wasn’t like a huge cave or anything, but it was decent enough. Probably fifteen feet long, five feet tall, and five feet wide, it was just enough to fit one diver at a time, single file. Just enough to make Dallas pass out and wish he were getting cremated. We followed each other into the tube and once at the end, made a left into the inky darkness and followed the tube another twenty feet or so back out. What made it so incredible (other than the fact that I think I really like caves!) was the thousands upon thousands of fish schooling around us. I am not kidding when I say thousands. They were probably an inch or two long and not real big, but when there are thousands of them moving as one all around you, its pretty darn impressive. I could dive that cave every single day for the rest of my life and not get sick of how amazing it is. Stunning. We did it again at the end of our dive and it was even more amazing. I saw a trumpet fish just chilling in the cave with all of the smaller fish which was pretty darn cool.

The second dive I did yesterday was less than stellar. As I switched tanks and geared up, I realized my dive computer wasn’t working properly. For those who don’t know, a dive computer is used for several things. Primarily it is a way to tell how deep you are and how long you’ve been down. What I am doing is called “No Decompression Diving”. This means that whatever depth I go to, I can theoretically ascend straight to the surface if need be (although you never do). The alternative is that you would need to make “safety stops”, or pauses lasting several minutes (even hours) at various depths to off gas the nitrogen that has built up in your system. If you don’t do this properly, you will likely suffer from “the bends” which can be anything from soreness in the joints to paralysis and death. So pretty important stuff. My dive computer is a very advanced one and I absolutely love it. It tells me how long I can stay at a given depth before it becomes a “deco dive”, or one in which I will need to decompress. It is also set up so that it wirelessly transmits the amount of air I have left in my tank so that I don’t need a separate gauge for that. It will even calculate how much time I can spend underwater based on how much air is left (not a straight forward thing because as you go deeper, you use air at a quicker rate). The one problem is, the wireless can stop working and all of a sudden, you don’t know how much air is left in your tank. The two most important numbers you need to know are depth and remaining PSI (followed closely by time), and as I got ready for the second dive yesterday, my computer simply read “FAIL” for my PSI. Not very helpful. I turned it on and off, reset it, everything I could think of. Nothing worked. Luckily, I had heard that this could happen so I paid to have a small gauge installed that would just tell me PSI. In a way it defeats the purpose because it adds an extra gauge, but I felt it would be worth it. And it turns out it was! Instead of having to abort the dive, I simply relied on this gauge instead of my computer. It wasn’t the ideal situation I was used to but was perfectly safe and worked out just fine. Since I started out the dive a little flustered, it was a bit of a rocky dive. It is best to approach dives calmly and slowly, and for me, throwing this off a little bit can throw the whole dive off. But I survived it and in the grand scheme of things, it was a pretty spectacular dive.

Last night ended with a pig roast at one of the instructor’s houses. For only 100 lemps (Lempira, the currency of Honduras) or about five bucks, I got to eat a pig that had been roasted underground all day, as well as other delicious food. It was a lot of fun actually, although I was initially really uncomfortable. As everyone who has ever met me knows, I am not the “social” type. Newness is my weakness, I thrive on familiarity. So walking into a rather large party with an extremely eccentric Welsh girl that is sharing my hostel room was a bit unnerving. I ended up making several good friends though, one of which was Henrique, a Swedish guy who has been my dive buddy for the past two days.

Today was much the same, two dives in the afternoon followed by a party at night. Our first dive today we dropped down nice and deep (75 feet, my deepest dive yet) to a fishing boat that had sunk after a hurricane. It was unbelievably cool. Something about seeing a man made object underwater is just beyond thrilling. There were fish all around it and the sea was starting to reclaim the boat, corroding various parts of it. Another highlight of the dive was seeing Garden Eels. These are small eels, between 8 and 15 inches long, that dig holes in the sand and then peer up out of them, catching food that slides by in the currents. They are pretty cool because they are so small and yet we found a whole patch of them.

And finally, the moment you have been waiting for, pictures! I promised them and I deliver. The first thing to note is that I am missing a few that I wanted to include because I discovered that I forget the cable for my smaller point and shoot camera. I brought the cable for my bigger one thinking that it would work on both, only to find out that it will not. But I think I know someone who has the cable so those pictures will hopefully surface eventually!

I actually wish that damn fish wasn't in this photo!

Luckily though, I have some photos from our second dive, in which I took my nice camera underwater in its housing for the first time ever! Everything still works, so that is a huge bonus. We went to a popular dive site called “Moons Hole”. This is essentially a large circle of sand surrounded by coral. In the middle is a rusted bicycle. The story goes that there was a man on the island who always stole bikes, tons of them. One day, he somehow got his own bike, brought to the island from mainland Honduras. Everyone knew that he was the bike thief and they were sick of it, so they banded together to steal his bike and dropped it in the middle of Moons Hole. Cool story and even cooler bike! I think the Geoff could fix it right up, the man is a wizard with two wheeled vehicles.

Spot of lube and she'll be rolling along!

I don't love this photo but I wanted to show what was hiding in the bike seat.

This is how I am spending my time...

While I loved diving with a camera, I was surprised to realize that it detracted from the dive a bit. I wasn’t able to take in as much of the dive as normal, because I was focused on taking pictures rather than just admiring my surroundings. I also found that the little parts of diving that are really important, like buoyancy and air consumption, went to hell because I was so focused on getting the picture. That being said, it is awesome to have photos from the dive, and I am sure that you will enjoy them. I have tried to leave them as they were taken for the most part, although I have improved the color on some of them. As you descend in the water, you start to lose color. Red is the first color to go, followed by orange and other vibrant colors. Everything starts to look rather blue and green at a certain depth. This is why flashes are so important in underwater photography, because they add much of the missing color back. I was amazed to look at my camera screen at times and see colors in the coral that I didn’t even know were there, because I had no light source to help me see them.

So here is where I have to stop and apologize. I have written about three and a half pages, a fair amount by my standards. And yet, I feel as if I haven’t done my days justice, even my dives justice. Simply too much has happened to describe it all in the detail that I would like. I hope that in the coming posts I will be able to capture various parts better, and explain more, because I don’t like the long, rambling posts that don’t contain any detail. Mostly I just wanted to get semi caught up so that everyone knew what was going on.

Tomorrow I start my Advanced Open Water class. We will be making three dives tomorrow, followed by two dives Sunday morning. Tomorrow we are going to do a deep dive, to about 100 feet or so, followed by a navigation dive and finally a night dive. I am really excited to keep diving and start on my classes, they should be a lot of fun.

For now, I am feeling the call of bed. There are still a few things that I wish I could write about, but I don’t think that I would do any of it justice. I know these last two posts have been slightly off and have ended a bit abruptly, but I find myself fatiguing quickly and I know that sleep is important. Hopefully the posts to come will be more polished.

Regardless of all of that, I hope that you are enjoying it, as I am still very much enjoying writing it. I hope that this finds everyone well and enjoying their fall. If you need some heat, just let me know. I would be happy to bottle some sweat for you and ship it home!

Until next time,

Underwater Gingo, signing off.

I think you'll find I have an unhealthy obsession with bubbles