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. ;)