Ugggghhhh

IT'S. SO. FREAKING. HOT. UGGGGHHHHH.

I thought about ending my blog post there, I really did. But my narcissism got the best of me and I decided I wanted to write more about myself. Goodie!

I made it, I have arrived in Utila. And its hot. Very, very hot and muggy and sticky and sweaty and slick and and and.

I survived the night somehow. Sometime around 3am it got cooler and I actually started sleeping with a light blanket cover. Shortly thereafter, cars started screaming by at what sounded like 60 mph (excuse me, 97 kph) and honking and making all kinds of nice noise. Sleep was limited from there on out.

After getting up and showering I went down for a decent breakfast prepared (several hours before, by the temperature) by the hostel owner. I fended off the cab driver from the night before and jumped into the car of the hostel owner for a much cheaper drive to the ferry.

As I sat and waited for the ferry to leave I couldn't help but notice that the ferry I was destined to ride on was much worse off than the one going to Roatan, the nicer, ritzier sister island to Utila. Sounds about right. Waiting for the ferry I met a nice guy from Israel that was heading to Utila to do his Dive Master as well. We hit it off and he turned out to be a really nice guy. While I was studying dead philosophers he was serving in the Israeli military for three years. Somehow he found time to get certified in the Red Sea and do a bit of diving there (apparently its pretty cool).

The ferry took an hour to get to Utila and by the end I was very, very close to puking. Dad, you would have been heaving the whole time. Zero fun sir. I was also convinced that if the boat started taking on water we would all die. We had been sealed into this box area that looked pretty watertight as well as pretty impossible to escape from should the boat go down. The captain wasn't going to be the only one going down with the ship. But we safely made it to the island and embarked into, well into the depths of hell. Heat wise that is. The humidity is truly oppressing here. My shirt hasn't been dry since arriving and I am wearing a super high-tec dri-fit shirt from Columbia. They need to up their game, I tell you what.

I grabbed my gear and walked down the pier towards town. Almost immediately I was swamped by people hawking their dive shops. "No" quickly became my favorite word. I wouldn't even accept their maps. No Gringo here, no sirree. Just as I got past everyone I heard someone yell "Andrew!" and decided that this warranted my attention. Somehow Sarah, from the dive shop I am at, knew who I was and was there waiting for me. I am honestly still trying to figure out how she knew who I was. The only thing I can think of is that she has shown up every day since I booked myself with them and has shouted "Andrew" until someone acknowledged her. Pretty much the only answer from my perspective.

Sarah took myself and two women (one of whom was from Bend!) to the Mango Inn, our residence for the near future. All of the employees were beyond nice and made sure I knew what the drill was. After briefly getting settled in Sarah then took me to the dive shop and I got myself all squared away there, filling out forms, getting the grand tour, and meeting a number of other people.

The dive shop is really nice. They have five boats to take divers out, free wifi, a bar, and plenty of space to store gear. There seemed to be about a thousand employees but everyone was super friendly and nice. After the tour Sarah and I planned out my next few days, figuring out when I would make my dives and what boats I would be on. My first two dives will be tomorrow afternoon and I can’t wait!

At this point, I was pretty much free to go and do whatever my heart desired, and it was only 11:00 am! I more or less spent the rest of the day lounging around reading. It was super relaxing and a nice way to unwind from so much travel. At around 6:00 I headed back to the dive shop which is about a ten minute walk away, because word was that people were meeting there to go to dinner. I ended meeting a 24 year old Israeli (the second one I’ve met so far down here) named Johnny who is also doing his dive master at UDC. We started talking and he ended up showing me around the “town” (literally one street that takes fifteen minutes to walk end to end) and giving me the low down on what to expect. He was really nice and it was great to meet someone who could fill me in on all the little details of what to expect. I think I even found a place to rent in a few days when they kick me out of the hostel!

I really want to write more and explain all the crazy and cool aspects of Utila, but my roommate is trying to sleep and I think it is time that I do that as well. I will sprinkle in as much as I can in the coming days. I also promise to have pictures in the next installment! Sorry to leave you hanging like that, but I’ve got to get some z’s for my day of diving tomorrow!

Until next time, chau chau!

El Gringo