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?