You give me fever

Fever in the morning, fever all through the night, you give me fever.

So I have malaria.  No joke straight up malaria.  First of all my dad has asked me about 5 times if I brought malaria pills with me and when I talked to him on skype the other day and told them that I was sick, the first thing he asked “Is it malaria?”  I’m like “no Dad, they don’t have Malaria here.”  Well the jokes on me huh?  Dad, since when did you become a psychic; I thought my mom and I were supposed to be the psychic chosen ones.  Well moving right along… here goes the fing malaria story.

Chase got sick first, well actually Max got sick from the plane ride from Holland to Roatan.  He had a fever for 3 days with a cough and then was better.  Chase was out of the shop for a few days off and on with a fever and cough.  He seemed to feel better than he went home early because he wasn’t feeling good.  Rita also got sick for a day or so.

Two Fridays ago I helped assist Mo for an open water course for Molly.   Molly and Jason are a couple from Tahoe who were down for two weeks.  We went out in Half Moon bay and did a lot of skills.  Being the DMT I had to bring extra weight and carry along the buoy that says diver below.  Molly did great with just Mo and I, she had had troubles equalizing before when her boyfriend Jason and her tried to do the course earlier in the week with Robert.  In the afternoon we did her first open water dive at Lighthouse.  Again we practiced the necessary skills and then we looked around, after about 30 minutes we got back to the boat and Mo said that now it was my turn to lead the dive (you can’t talk underwater obviously so she had told me this before we went out- seriously malaria doesn’t give you special powers to speak underwater or think you can speak underwater, I mean I was a little coo-coo while I was sick, like bringing the remote control for the air conditioner to the hospital, but we’ll get there).  I lead the dive for another 10 minutes; it was pretty cool although I did not venture too far from the boat.  I pointed out a few things then we did our safety stop and were back on the boat.  Again, part of the Dive Master Training is to carry extra weight to carry the tanks, overall muscle building and mental logistics of diving.

Chase, Massimo and I had decided to go and get the numbers of the other dive shops and boat info that afternoon for our Emergency Assistance Plan.  Chase was at home sick with the fever, but Mass and I decided to still walk and get them.  We walked the west of West End from our shop all the way to Luna Beach (which ended up being closed).  We got back to the shop put everything away and I felt like a train had hit me.  I went to go get a coke at the Blue Marlin before I went home and told Dorte that I must be tired from all the open water stuff.  I went home, watched a movie and then the chills started.  I put on all my warm clothes, took my temperature; it was only 99.5 F and went to bed.  My alarm went off at 7, still felt like crap.  My temp was around the same, I called Dorte and told her “I have a fever and am not coming in”, she of course understood.  I fell asleep again only to be awoken at 3 pm by Dorte checking in on me.  (Oh ya, did I forget to tell you that I have a phone now?  Dorte loaned one to me and when Massimo leaves I think I’m going to buy his.)

Sunday I woke up and felt better.  Today was moving day!  I was moving out of my apartment into Noelle and Chase’s house.  My temp was back to 98.6 F still a little high for me (I’m usually around 97.6 F), but I decided to clean up my apartment and go out and see the world!  I walked down to the shop and hung out with Uwe and Dorte for a bit.  Kala had come in the night before.  She is going to be my instructor (along with Mo) for my dive master.  Dorte has kept telling me that I’ll really like her.  She’s from Canada, 26 and her family owns a brewery and bar.  She came by to meet me and also look at my apartment to see if she wanted to move in.  We walked there, the power had gone out, she said that she was indecisive and wanted to look at other places.  We went back to the shop.  Noelle called said the power was out at their place too and they were in the middle of cleaning and cleaning the dogs (she has 3- Diesel “DZ”, Lola and Shanti) and that as soon as the power came back on she’d take a shower and then drive her car over to pick up my stuff.  Power came back, we moved me.  Hot shower, good company and dogs.  We went to the Dive Bar to watch the rest of the football game (boo Broncos why do you suck?), had a little bit to eat, we went over to the Blue Marlin to hang out with Fou and Rita who were working and then I didn’t feel so good anymore.  Chase took me back home on the scooter, got home and had a temp of 100 F, it was 7 pm and I went to bed for about 12 to 20 hours or so, I’d wake up intermittently and check my temp it went as high as 102 F.

Slept for most of Monday, was feeling better on Tuesday temp was back to 97.6 F so I went into the shop.  Massimo was now sick.  Molly was finishing her last 2 dives of Open Water (they had taken the weekend off to see the rest of the island) and of course I was excited to help.  I knew something was wrong after I the second dive.  I was cold and I’m never cold.  I couldn’t warm up.  I was exhausted too.  I tried coffee at the shop and got out of my wet stuff but was still cold.  I told Dorte that I was going home, my lips were blue, I needed a hot shower and a bed.  I called Noelle who said now she wasn’t feeling good either.  I got home, took a shower, and crawled into bed at 3 pm; my temp was around 101 F.  Woke up around 7 decided I had to eat something, I took my temp again it was up to 103 F.  I told myself that I would tell Noelle and we would go to the hospital.  But I couldn’t even think straight; I ate my dinner and went back to bed.  My head ached.  Wednesday I decided even if I was feeling better to stay at home, I had a slight fever in the morning and by afternoon it was gone!  Noelle had called me during the day and while she was talking to people they all decided that I should get tested for Malaria and that she was taking me Thursday morning.  Eddie got on the phone and said, “Darling you should go to the hospital, they might have to amputate a few things, but in the end you’ll be fine.”  Thursday I woke up with a 103 F temp again, we went to the hospital.  My brain was fried.

I ask Noelle to stay with me at the hospital, she tells me there is no way she’s leaving me there by myself.  They got me in right away, I talked to a doctor in Spanish, they hook me up to an I.V.  The doctor tells me she thinks it’s Malaria although it could be the Dengue Fever (Dang!).  There’s no cure for the Dang.  I start crying, partly because now I can be treated and partly because I’m scared, I don’t ever remember being this sick.  I’ve never spent the nite in a hospital and never had an I.V.  The doctor tells the other nurses that they need to control my fever before they can test me.  This is opposite of what Eddie had told Noelle the day before, he said they couldn’t test unless you had a fever and that I wasn’t supposed to take anything before the test.  The I.V. made me feel wonderful, plus they gave me a little pain reliever for my head.  Did I mention it hurt really, really bad?  I went through the bag really quickly, the doctor had said I was dehydrated.  I thought next they would take the test, but a half hour went by and all the sudden I felt worse than I had before.  Noelle was with me and got the nurse who gave me another I.V. and a shot of vitamin B which made my veins set on fire.  Finally they took the malaria test, another doctor comes in and says that they need to take the test when the fever is at it’s worst… which is it people?!  Well I was feeling pretty bad at that point and what do you know, 5 minutes later yes you have malaria.  FML.  I take the meds, the nurse takes my temp, it’s still to high she says. 

All day we have been at this 3^rd world country hospital.  Noelle says it reminds her of an insane asylum with the lights flickering.  When I go to the bathroom or “bano” I have to carry my I.V. thingy (the wheels don’t really work) to this hallway, I open the door, it’s a very small hallway and the room across from the room we’ve been in is the morgue.  Just to the left is the bathroom.  Lovely.  There are signs above the door that look like street signs “bano”, “oxigeno”, “morgue”.  Noelle and I giggle about the naked old man who is in the curtained room across from ours who keeps peeking into our room, who also got yelled at by the nurse for touching himself inappropriately, we can’t figure out why they just don’t get him some pants.  He’s funny, but creepy.  After my 3^rd I.V. I realize the color of the hospital is Tiffany Blue, such a beautiful color for an insane asylum.  Then the nurse comes, she had told me that I would have to stay if my temp didn’t go down.  She took it again and finally, finally I get the I.V. out, all my meds and directions and the promise of my own bed instead of a vinyl hospital bed with nasty sheets, with a creepy old man in the room across the way, a scary hallway with a morgue next to the bathroom which we all know I’ll have to use multiple times during the night.   My bed, my bathroom, Noelle and Chase to check on me and no scary morgue.

I’ve been sleeping since last Friday.  My liver hurt.  It’s better now, but it hurt when I would yawn or move too much or sleep on it.  It wasn’t a sharp pain, just a dull aching one like something is wrong with it.  I didn’t want to go back to the hospital, although they were very nice, so I drank lots of water and set my alarm for my meds and water.   I was so nauseated from the drugs fighting the dirty little parasites that were attacking my blood cells I could only eat saltine crackers because I couldn’t take the drugs on an empty stomach.  Isn’t that a pretty little picture?  I know I’m being dramatic, but it did really suck.  Woke up on Monday and finally had an appetite.  I love you bacon more than anything in the world, you are wonderful and absolutely delicious.  Most everything else doesn’t sound too good.  It’s been raining again like crazy.  I walked down to the shop midday to make sure that I still knew how to walk.  Half of the road in west end is gone and a boat has been sunk from the storm.  Kala told me her surface interval was 100 hours (meaning they hadn’t been diving since Thursday).  Eddie told me not to drink alcohol because it would make my liver work to hard, not that I have any craving at all but I’m so glad my doctors told me that.  Oh and did I mention that they didn’t give me all of my medication?  One of the bags of the medication says take 1 cada dia por 14 dias (one a day for 14 days), but there are only 9 pills in the bag (by the way I’ve been taking about 10 pills a day).  Not to worry, I went to the pharmacy with the pills today and the doctor said that he’ll have them in tomorrow for me.  I finally got on the computer to tell my parents that I’m ok; I just have freaking Malaria.  My dad asks me what I want for Christmas, I say not to have Malaria.  Ok, I’m pretty dramatic, but I’d really, really like never to get this again and maybe no mosquito bites again?  Is that too much to ask for?  If I have to choose one, then no more Malaria again?  I’ve been really good this year Santa, I’m pretty sure.

PS I hate you, you dirty little mosquitoes.

these are a few of my favorite things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens… blah blah blah.  Here’s a list of some of my favorite things so far!

1.  The Blue Marlin.  Ya, I know I should get it out more, but it’s so close to the shop and most of the time everyone is there or at least one or two people I would want to hang out with.  Uwe, Dorte, Noelle, Massimo, Chase, Gabriel, Lindey, Rino, Linda, Robert (the dutch owner), Robert (the other dutch guy), Robert (my instructor) Rita, Fou, Mo and Eddie and Max.  Oh Max is definitely one of my favorite things.  I could write a whole blog just about how cute he is.  He’s another of my new best friends.  He’s blonde, Dutch, he has my birthday, he’s got the bluest eyes with those lashes that all girls are envious of, he’s learning English and Spanish and Dutch too.  He is 2 years and 8 months old.  He’s a little obsessed with crabs at the moment so we go to look for them in front of the bar.  He says “crabps” instead of crabs.  Then he rips off the leaves on the bush in front and throws them for the crabs to eat.   He’s Mo and Eddie’s son, Eddie is Robert’s son (the owner of the Blue Marlin).  He’s still going through a bit of his terrible twos so sometimes it takes him a while to warm up to me.

crabs in the sand

Max saying crabs

2. Finishing my rescue diving.  That can be a favorite thing right?  Now if I see a panicked diver I might just let them drown so then I can tow them back to the boat so they are less of a struggle.  Oh PADI wouldn’t really like me saying that too much.  But after 5 days of dealing with Massimo and Chase (both big guys) panicking and towing them back to the boat while doing rescue breaths, while taking off their gear and mine I was very exhausted not to mention very happy when I completed the course.  The course was pretty exhausting mentally and physically.  The boys were pretty good actors and I really only let Chase “die” once, that was in the beginning of the course when he “fell” out of the boat and it too me a while to get in the water.  I lost my mask going in the water and then it took me forever to swim out to him.  I’m sure it was a little comical to watch but the next time the boys “accidently” fell off the boat they both survived.  Aside from swallowing a little too much sea water and sun burns we all made it.

Me and Noelle

3. Noelle.  Yes, she’s pretty great.  She’s dating Massimo; they are in l-o-v-e.  Sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.  Seriously tho, Noelle also has one of the biggest hearts in the world.  I’m lucky to call her my best friend here on the island.  Noelle is a dive master as well and gave me this amazing advice on how to breath underwater, which makes me use about a third to half a tank less.  She’s like a mom to a lot of the kids here (and her own son) and a sister to many too.  Pretty much the bomb.

4. Cave diving.  Not really cave, cave diving, like hard core or anything but we went to this site the other day called the Bears Den and swam into a cave.  It was exhilarating.  Noelle, Mo and Gabriel swam in first, but I wasn’t close enough to Mo when she went in and it’s pitch black dark in there.  I waited for Chase to lead me in.  It’s pretty scary but one of the best dives so far.  In the cave there was holes which let sunlight in.  Pretty freaking cool.  I’ve seen a lot of cool things under water, but so far the cave is the bomb.  Oh the other favorite dive is Spooky Channel which is a underwater canyon, not much life exists in there.  It's a ten-storey canyon, the visibility is eerie which only adds to the "spookiness".

5.  Word.  Like in word documents.   Like Microsoft Word.  Ya, I’m a dork or have become one, not sure which, but it doesn’t really matter.  For my rescue diving course and for my dive masters I have to make an Emergency Assistance Plan; local numbers (ps just a little FYI if you want to call an ambulance the number isn’t 911, in fact there isn’t a 911 I still don’t know the ambulance’s number), it also has First Aid stuff, what to do in an emergency etc.  The reason why I love word is that I found all these Quick Tables and Charts that make it so much easier and streamlined than writing out my plan by hand.  I know, I know, I’m pretty creative and could have drawn it myself… but the computer makes it look so much better.  I do get a chance to draw when I map out my dive site for the dive masters training.  My dive site is Sea Quest Shallow, a little intimidating from this end on how I’m going to manage to do it.  But I can guarantee it will be better than the map of Mandy’s Eel Garden.

6.  Dry Erase Boards.  Damn, I really am a nerd.  Simple things I tell you.  Nerdy, simple things.  We have a dry erase board and I’ve been drawing on them every week or so something new.  I had “Come ‘sea’ the seahorses” with seahorses I drew (so corny and nerdy right?), “Come get wet with us” with 2 divers below the water, this week it was “Don’t be crabby, let’s go diving” with a big red crab on it.  Next week it’s gonna be “Lionfish, Tiger Sharks (although it might be turtles instead) and Barracudas… oh my!”  Total freaking dork with pictures to match.

my sign

7.  My new rash guard.  Oh man, I’m such a nerd, it gets worse the longer I write this blog.  I think maybe I used to be cool, not so much anymore… but I’m ok with that.  I bought a new rash guard top and bottoms today from the Mares store.  I’ve been wearing one of the shop’s shortie wet suits, but have been super warm in it.  Everyone says the water is pretty cold right now so I figure I should get my own gear (especially if I’m going to pee while diving) and go to something that isn’t as warm so hopefully I don’t become adjusted to the water and get cold.  Does that make sense to you non-divers?  I feel a little crazy because I’ve only been hanging out with divers recently and might have lost my ability to communicate normally, you know with non-divers.  Oh, ps I love the Mares store.  (Mares is a brand of SCUBA gear).  I just love their little logo.  I want all my stuff to have the little logo on it.  SUCH A DORK.

… moving along…

8. Hot water, plumbing that works.  Oh ya, I haven’t had a hot shower in about a month.  My apartment doesn’t have hot water.  I didn’t tell you that yet did I?  I’ve tried a few times to warm up the water on the stove, which worked once or twice but I nearly burned myself a few other times.  Then I said f*#% it and stopped showering all together and have massive dreads now.  Just kidding, I take really cold showers and shaving my legs has to be in the day when it’s warm otherwise I might nic all my mosquito bites and goosebumps.  (You know mom how you always told me you had to walk to school 2 miles in the snow uphill both ways?  We’ll I’m telling my kids I had to take cold showers when I lived in Honduras to make them stop complaining.)  The plumbing… ugh.  Lets just say that my dad was right when he taught me a little bit about toilets and that I would always have a job if I was a plumber.  Dealing with my own shit is enough for me, Dad.  Sorry guys if that was too much info.   Seriously though, if I have to go to my landlord one more time to ask for a freaking bomba (plunger) I’m just going to ask them to buy me one.

9. Sunsets.  Beautiful amazing sunsets, every single nite.  I know people in Colorado say god must be a broncos fan because the sunsets are blue and orange, but god loves paradise because they are amazing here.

10.  Mosquito repellant and scars that heal?  Oh that’s more like the opposite for hates…  I already cheated on number 8, so more positive.

ok 10.  Brown paper packages tied up with string.  No really, lets see here… my glorious tan.  So I might get cancer when I’m older.  Yes, I’m putting sunscreen on!  But there’s no way around the beautiful brown tan I’ve developed.  I think it makes my eyes pop and my hair has gotten a little blonde.  I’m still working on my tan lines… as of now my back has almost no lines thanks to my 3 swims suits I wear, my front has a bit of a line or too, but my legs… well I have a farmers tan on my legs.  Hey at least my knees are tan.  Hopefully the new wet suit will bring the tan line up to a more suitable length so when I wear those shorts or dresses I don’t look like a complete nerd. ;)           

 

BANANAS

The sh.. is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.  The sh.. is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.   Life is a little bananas here!

The weather has been bananas here the last few days.  It’s been raining almost steadily for the last 64 hours.  The elections and storm have pretty much shut down the island for the last few days.  Rita who was supposed to come in on Thanksgiving Day has been delayed for 4 days!  The planes won’t run and the ferries aren’t going in or out.  Last I heard she found a fellow traveler and they are in a hotel in la Ceiba, she’s safe and sound but desperately wants to be here (Fou wants her back too J). The elections start Sunday, but no one is allowed to serve alcohol from Saturday until Monday morning that, along with the rain, has left West End looking like a ghost town.  With all the rain the power went out again on Saturday nite with the rain pouring down right while I was watching Angels and Demons.

We also haven’t had bananas at the corner shop for last few days.  I’ve learned that sometimes we get them in, but sometimes we don’t.  The guy at the stand tells me “no hay” (there aren’t any) and when I ask why he says that the truck hasn’t come… hmmm.  If I want bananas I have to stock up when they are in.  Bananas rule here in Honduras, in more ways than one.  Of course, to eat they are cheap and pretty delicious… although it might be because they are a perfect snack before and after a dive.  Bananas are a big part of the politics too.  Over the country’s history two companies have emerged that intertwine the US and Honduras (well Central America).  Those two companies are Standard and United, ever heard of them?  Oh maybe by their other names- Dole and Chiquita?  The US has had a strong influence and paid close attention to our neighbors in the south because of the bananas and these companies.

Before I came, people would say are you sure you want to go to Honduras?  Wasn’t there a political coup recently?  Honduras has rewritten their constitution over 17 times since 1821, power has changed hands many times and may again with the election.  I was talking to a friend recently, well, he was talking and I was doing the listening.  He was talking about the riots in Tegucigalpa and how he had read about them from an eye-witness reporter who said that the news media, especially cnn had it all wrong.  One group was protesting and there were more than what the media reported and they were calm and cleaned up after themselves.  The other group was less calm, less people and didn’t clean up, in fact caused quite a mess and the media reported it all wrong.  Bananas, right?  Of course everyone has their side of the story, but where is the truth?  Well, the truth is Honduras, especially Roatan, is hurting economically because the US tourists aren’t coming because of the news of the political situation and swine flu (I had the swine flu in Boulder and aside from sleeping for 5 days in a row, I think it was fine).

When I first went to the supermarket in Coxen Hole my taxi driver and I passed by two rallies for the presidential candidates.   They were both very peaceful, music blaring and people dancing.  Altho I did notice one had more people than the other the only difference between the two rallies to me were the colors of their signs… blue and red.  Hopefully the elections will run smoothly for all parties involved. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday because it’s been a little crazy.  First, Noelle was worried about the storm and the boats and wanted to have Rita come to the dinner.  Noelle’s boat is docked at the Blue Marlin right now (it’s name is Moody Blues) and the shop boat Slimy Doris is there too (they sold Slippery Dick a few years ago).  I wasn’t too blue that we didn’t celebrate on Thursday; it sure was slippery and slimy out.  (Was that a bit of a stretch J?  I’m super corny or maybe going bananas – I should stop now if I still want you guys to read my blog!)  Anyway, Noelle hosted the feast.  A few days before Robert, Massimo, Chase, Noelle and I had a field trip to Coxen Hole.  It was a lot of errands, mine was to get pumpkin pie ingredients.  No luck at the 2 supermarkets in Coxen Hole.  The next day we ventured to French Harbor… the supermarket there was so great!  They had pumpkin pie mix, but neither evaporated milk nor half of the spices required.  I gave up and decided to just buy apple and blueberry pie from the supermarket bakery.  Noelle cooked an amazing feast with Massimo and Chase’s help.  The entire shop came- Uwe, Dorte, Lindey and his wife Norma and daughter Sophia, Massimo, Robert, Gabriel, Chase, and of course me.

There was lots of eating, drinking, laughing, and a little show called Little Britain.  It was fun catching up with everyone and telling stories.  Noelle told a funny story about one of the cruise ship divers we had a few days before.  Apparently the guy was a hypnotist, his daughter was having trouble equalizing and with her sinuses.  Her dad was going to help her through hypnotism.  He kept telling her; “close your eyes and tell me where it hurts, but don’t touch it.”  Chase loves Little Britain (well all the guys and Noelle do) and there’s a skit with a hypnotist who says “Look into my eyes, look into my eyes”.  He of course said it to Noelle (Chase didn’t know he was a hypnotist by trade, he thought they were talking about hypnotism- maybe Chase was hypnotized).   Noelle said she tried her hardest not to bust up laughing and stay professional.  Lindey said he thought that the hypnotist was maybe hypnotizing Chase, but he didn’t remember the whole situation until we were talking about it on the nite of our dinner.  Lindey said maybe he was hypnotized.  Noelle said maybe he had hypnotized her too.  Then Noelle told us how the hypnotist was trying to help himself with equalizing.  He was tapping his head with his index and middle fingers on his forehead, sinuses and collarbones while repeating, “I will equalize, I can equalize, I will equalize, I can equalize.”  While Noelle was showing us this over and over with us busting up, Chase says “I can equalize too”, he plugs his nose and blows out.  Oh man, Dorte and I were crying from laughing at them.  This shit is bananas.

With all the rain and socializing I haven’t finished my Rescue Diver.  I have finished all the course work, but still need to do the scenarios in the water.  Next week is going to be more bananas… as my friend Todd said, if the scenarios aren’t hard then you won’t know how to deal with it in real life.  Oh shit!

 

hummingbird on a wire outside my house

Stop, Look and Listen

Tyll's Dive- where I spend most of my day

All successful gossip queens are good at one thing; listening.   Another good tool is to shut your trap, don’t give away information unless you can trust the source it’s going to.  On a small island and an even smaller town, I’m learning to not to add to the gossip train… at least not too much.  Being a good ear is better than having a big trap.  My dad always said a closed mouth gathers no foot, which I’m trying harder to do here then I do at home.  Thanks for the lesson Dad!  I’ve always loved history, reading and the social sciences which are totally related to gossip, at least in my mind.  I love justification too J

I’ve been learning a lot lately.  Reading, reading, reading.  Listening, listening, listening.  We finished two certifications recently… I’m now a DAN O2 provider along with an EMF.  “My name is your name, I’m a emergency first responder… may I help you?”  Massimo, Chase and I had fun with the “role playing” for EMF, well maybe I had a bit more fun then them!  A good gossip queen is also pretty dramatic and I have a flair for being dramatic at times.  For checking for breath on a unresponsive victim you stop, look and listen for their breath.  The three manuals I’ve been reading say the same thing when faced with a  potential crisis… Stop, Think, Act.  Kinda like stop, drop and roll, right?  Sometimes they throw in breathe too, just incase you forget.  Breathing is probably the most important, but a lot of the time we simply forget.  Not breathing under water is very bad.  #1 rule of  SCUBA diving “don’t hold your breath”.   It seems easy enough, but sometimes the hardest things to get are the simplest.

Today we had cruise shippers come to the shop.  7 of them!  Two were from Colorado, one was actually from Boulder.  And what do you know, he knows the same people I know.  His little sister used to be best friends with a little girl who used to live on my best friends growing up and also good friend with my best friend’s brother… see I’m such a gossip queen, could it get anymore detailed?  Since I’m still on the rescue course we figured that I’d get more in the way in the morning than help.  I went again to snorkel at half moon bay.  This morning the water visibility was pretty clear.  I saw a few hogfish, tons of blue tang, angelfish and the most majestic thing I’ve seen in the water so far.  It took my breath away, luckily I was just snorkeling.  A 6-foot in width eagle ray swam right underneath me.  It was gone as soon as I could catch my breath, off flying off to another part of the bay.  Later when I was looking at 4ft hogfish near the coral the eagle ray found me and swam around for a few minutes.  Being underwater is completely a foreign world and like Lindey, one of the dive masters at the shop who is our resident lionfish finder, has said to me, “sometimes you just sit and wait and the life comes to you.”  Looking up at the waves from below has also become a vision to see, it’s pretty mystical looking.  After the cruise shippers left we; Lindey, Gabriel and Monique (Mo who is the daughter in law of the blue marlin owners and also a dive instructor) and I went diving at Melissa’s reef.  We saw 4 turtles, about 5 huge groupers… almost the size of me and a 4 ft crab.  The cruise shippers had a great time, but I’m sure they would have loved to see 4 turtles in one dive!

Roatan has a huge problem with the lionfish and it’s only going to get worse.  Matt from the Marine Park who is also working for NOAA came by the other day to ask how many lionfish we had seen.  The Marine Park has been asking diver shops to keep track of the lionfish; where we see them, how many and at what depth.  Every time Lindey dives he seems to find some.  He says because he knows what to look for, but I think he’s a lionfish hunter.  Lionfish are not native to this area, they are extremely poisonous, they devour the coral and multiply quickly.  They have no natural predators in this environment and since the water is much warmer here than in their natural habitat they multiply at an accelerated rate.   Matt said that if we can catch them or kill them we can, but the Marine Park doesn’t have nets or spear guns that we can use.  It’s a bit of a catch22, but I’m going to do a little bit of investigating and if anyone in the US wants to help… let me know!

Today was the first time I was in the water for a few days.  I woke up one day with a  mosquito bite on my left eye and the next morning I woke up with a bite on the other.  I barely survived J but my eyes were so swollen.  It looked like I had been in a fight the nite before and eventho I gossip, I’m a lover not a hater.  No fighting.   I might have been able to dive, but I figured not to chance it.  The next two days were followed by course work and some gin rummy.

On Sunday nite I watched a little bit of the Broncos game at the Dive, we had a guy who came in who was a Cincinnati fan so we had to switch between the two games.  Almost the whole shop came to watch a bit of the game which was pretty fun hanging out away from the shop and work.  I met a guy who has been here for years named Jim, well he introduced himself as Jim Beam.  I told him I was Jack Daniels, so we were a pair.  He’d been skiing in Colorado back in the 70s and had a few stories to tell.  He’s a pretty cool guy and lives down the way from me.  He’s got the best laugh.   I met another guy who has lived in the mountains of Colorado but has been here for 18 years.  He calls himself Captain Ron or Caveman Ron because he used to do a lot of cave diving in Colorado.  He’s writing a book for his daughter of everything he can remember, he’s only up till high school so he’ll be writing for a while.  I love listening to peoples stories, just sitting back and watching it all happen.

Tomorrow I’m snorkeling again, more reading, the 11 o’clock dive and then Noelle and I are going to Coxen Hole to try and find ingredients to make pumpkin pie.  We are having a Thanksgiving Dinner at Noelle and Chase’s on Thursday for the whole shop!  If you can’t be with family for the holidays it’s good to be with new friends!

Molly

It’s Raining Cats and Dogs

11/19/09

Today’s dive in the rain ended up being one of my favorite dives so far, aside from being cold on the ride back. We went to Herbie’s Place to finish my Advanced Open Water certification.

For my Advanced Open Water dive I needed to study and do 5 different specialties; 3 were required- Peak Performance (controlling buoyancy underwater), Deep Diving (100ft) and Underwater Navigation (not getting lost). The deep dive was pretty fun, I had to complete a few tasks underwater at 100ft and then do it above water to see how different my reaction time was; who knew that putting shapes into the corresponding holes could be so much work! For my navigation, I had to make a square and a triangle under water using a compass. After I completed my tasks we roamed around. My last job was to find the boat using the compass; Never Eat Shredded Wheat. When I got back to the sandy patch I recognized Robert (my instructor) asked me where the boat was. I second-guessed my compass and pointed to the right, the boat was right above me! Important rule when diving, look above you and trust your compass! My two other specialties were Project AWARE (http://www.projectaware.org/) and drift diving.

This morning I went to Half Moon Bay and snorkeled before our dive. There was a little fish that swam right in front of my mask for most of the time. I felt like one of the groupers I had seen the day before on my AWARE dive being cleaned by the cleaner fish. At 10:30 we got ready for the dive while it was raining. For the drift dive we went out Herbie’s Place and on the way we found dolphins! There were little dolphins to midsize ones and tons of them. The dolphins swam in front of our boat just like the little fish did while I was snorkeling. For the dive we drifted in and out of the reef; finding moray eels, turtles, tons of fish and lobster. I felt like I was flying, I didn’t really have to swim too much but at times thought I was going the wrong way or might get lost. I had to keep clearing my mask because I have a problem with smiling underwater! It’s pretty amazing being underwater, I’m kinda in love with it.

Everyone said I’d fall in love here and I have- with the water. It’s like Sex and the City- Carrie’s most important love and relationship is with the city. I’m definitely following my friend Lanai’s advice and not dating any of the locals. I have been asked out a few times, but I feel like I have too much to do as is and Lanai would kill me ☺. It’s not raining men! I start my Rescue Diver probably next week along with my Emergency First Responder and then I think around the first of December I’ll start my Dive Master Training.

Last night I had a great talk with the owners of the Blue Marlin who are from Holland: Linda and Robert (not to be confused with Robert my dive instructor who is Irish). I asked Robert tons of questions about doing business on the island; he’s quite an accomplished businessman. Along with the other things he does on the island he also is one of the partners for ReMax real estate here, they do commercial and residential. He, like a lot of the people on the island, has a dream to own his own boat someday (although I’m sure he could afford it) and of course he gave me great insight on that too! Their son runs the bar, but is currently back in Europe with his family. Fou and Rita work at the Blue Marlin. I really haven’t gone anywhere else- it’s right across the dive shop. I’m not boozing at all either for money and safety reasons. Sibyll, the other swiss gal I met through them, is off on her next adventure in Costa Rica and Bolivia. Rita is in Switzerland for a week or so for a friend’s wedding; so I’ve been hanging out with the boys- Massimo, Gabriel and Fou. They’re pretty great for letting me tag along, making me dinner and letting me sing off key while Massimo and Fou strum on the guitar.
     Fou at the Blue Marlin

                   Gabriel at the Blue Marlin

There have been a few cruise ships the last few days. Someone had a great idea to fix the potholed dirt road the day 3 cruise ships were in port. (I’m so glad Dorte told me not to bring heels!) The method for fixing the street was to bring in piles of what looked to be broken down rocks and dump them in huge piles along the road and then run the big tractor over it with it’s scoop, then put sand on top. The result ended up being quick sand holes, a lot of noise and a lot of confusion. It occupied almost the entire afternoon leaving the tourist buses waiting for them to fix it. I also saw a camera crew filming a little bit of it, oh Central America! Everyone has their opinion of what they should do with the road and how to fix it, from locals to transplants to the tourists- just ask.

When I lived in Costa Rica my good friend Aubrey said that what CR needed was Bob Barker from the Price is Right. Why you might ask? Well, because at the end of each show he would tell people to spay and neuter their cats and dogs. Truer words have never been spoken and yes, it applies in this Central American country too. It’s pretty sad to see the street dogs with their ribs poking out and huge balls hanging down! There is one dog that had been running around, super skinny with mange and sad eyes. Noelle, who is a transplant-local and Chase’s mom (Chase is the current Dive Master Trainee), tried to feed him some of her granola bar one day. She’s got a heart of gold especially for animals. Later we were sitting at the shop playing cards/reading/studying and we heard a huge yelp. The poor dog came running in front of our shop and the Blue Marlin to Linda and Noelle. We all thought a car had hit him because some of the cars were going fast now that they had “fixed” the road. Linda and Robert ended up taking the poor dog in and naming him Blue for his sad eyes and for the bar. Linda says she hopes he’ll end up being the bar dog, but since he’s been independent for so long it might not happen.

I found another friend closer to home. It’s an orange and white cat that comes around my apartment. It’s so sweet and is definitely well fed, not a street cat. Laura said the cat belongs to the owners of the Mariposa Hotel. It keeps on trying to come into my house. Last nite I heard some cats fighting, I hope it wasn’t my new friend. There are also two dive shop cats- LoFat and Molly. Molly sleeps on the roof of the Blue Marlin all day and LoFat runs in and out of the shop. They don’t really like to be petted and do their own thing.

Last nite I heard the strangest barking. It sounded like it was coming from the inside of my apartment. I think it’s a bat, there are tons of them at nite. I hope there isn’t a bat in my apartment. Although bats eat insects… do they eat mosquitoes? I love spiders cuz they eat insects. The mosquitoes are still devouring me, but I hope it’s subsiding and I’m no longer fresh meat.
Tonite it’s raining. I’m deciding whether to stay in or go to see a local band called the Genitals play at the Dive. Apparently Bryan the musician is amazing, not like me singing with the Swiss boys. The Dive is a new bar/restaurant it opened last week and it’s owned by Olaf the Swede from Texas. Should I stay or should I go now?