speckled blobs and giant vacuum cleaners

how dee, people!
well, its been another good week on the island. i dmt'd for an open water course this week-- a really fun group of 5, 3 aussies, a kiwi and of course, the token canadian. theyre everywhere here, and for some ungodly reason they're all in possession of a canadian flag tattoo. i mean, what is that about??? canada's pretty and all, but branding? and was that some sort of joint national decision, like a patriotic campaign, or is it just a strange phenomenon the arose because they arent too busy with private healthcare and gun control? post your thoughts, if you like.
since the course, ive had some good times, yesterday being one of the more amazing days of diving ive had so far. for the morning dive, we went off the point of the island,where the current from the north side meets the current from the south side, and all the fishies meet for a kind of schmorgasbord. pretty much as soon as we descended i saw a black-spotted nudibranch, a tiny little mollusk about an inch or two long. rare, and utterly kickass. i then saw two eels and sargassum triggerfish, also pretty rare and as nick says, "the sexiest fish in the sea." heres a picture of the nudibranch.

THEN was the doozy. the motherofall. so ive been the object of much mockery around the shop lately because about 2 weeks ago, luke went for an afternoon dive that i let go by, and saw a 6 foot nurse shark. i. was. pissed. so since that woeful day, ive put up on the board, several times a week, that same site, the dive to be led by luke. every time, at least 5, something has gone wrong, and i havent been able to go. it was becoming a pretty notorious curse. but yesterday, one diver signed up for the dive, and it was set to happen. let me make clear, that the odds of seeing a shark were very very slim. but i had faith. boy, did i have faith. and lo and behold, about 30 minutes into the dive, we round a corner in a canyon and what there layest on the ocean floor?... a 7 foot nurse shark! i peed a little. not really. he (or she) was BEAUTIFUL. for everyone's general info, nurse sharks are toothless, and somewhat resemble overgrown vacuum cleaners. theyre dark gray and their faces are kind of benign and haunting and strong. amazing shit.
after that dive, the day just kept its trend, and we had a big ANZAC day celebration on the beach. for those of you like me, who arent too well versed in the national holidays of other nations, ANZAC day stands for australia and new zealand army corps, and its the equivalent of memorial day. only cause australians arent quite the conflict loving people we are, their day has mostly to do with gallipoli, where apparently they all rallied and "ran into a wall of bullets." duncan called it "the greatest surrender of all time." so we have one day to take care of all battles and wars, and they just have one for one. hmmmm...
anyway, ill try to post pictures of my first cricket endeavor, where i kicked total ass. maybe not, but it was fun and confusing as hell and i had a few good hits. theres so much to write about, but i think this ones pretty long, and i have to go back to work. miss you kids.

Yay! so i think i got these to work. this first one is a picture of the whole dive shop staff, on a two tank dive at a site called Mary's Place. Mary's Place is probably the most famous site on the island, its in a bunch of like discover channel stuff and its amazing. katy probably said it best when she equated it to a dr. seuss book. beautiful.

so yeah, ill have to write more about the Mary's Place later, but it was amazing. this picture was taken on the way back, the "booze cruise" so to speak. generally speaking, 15 people who have just had two amazing dives, with the sun shining and the wind in your hair, make for a good photo. in order, its me, duncan, katy, roy, luke, anders, mel, and nick. this picture is katy and i underwater. we're getting better at diving, but i guess our underwater photography skills could use some work. still, this one makes us laugh like crazy, so i thought id pass it on.

this last one is pretty golden. its a shot of the staff dive we did yesterday, with me, anders, katy, luke, mel, and roy. im on the far left giving the ole trusty thumbs up. the lights pretty strange, but lots of strange things happen at 130 feet. ill try to post the picture of katy's and my dance competition if i can.

anyway, i think im off to utila today, a nearby island, to try to see some whale sharks. ill pee if i see a whale shark. if i get to swim with one, ill just thank God for a good life and swim with them until my air runs out, and die happy. either way, it'll be awesome.

Happy Resurrection Day!

what a strange place to be for easter.
today is the last day of semana santa, or holy week, here in roatan... a giant, weeklong debaucherous festival in grand central american fashion. reggaeton, rum, and skin skin skin!!!
ive got to wonder how traditions like this begin. i mean, surely someone doesnt just wake up one morning and say "this is the week of the crucifixion of jesus. we should all get shit faced, set off fireworks, and spread diseases. yay!" okay, seriously though, i feel the dichotomy today and its throwing me off a little.
ive also come to realize some things. mariachi music is insufferable. just because you add vibrato doesnt mean it sounds nice. out of tune horns are instruments of torture. further, i detest shakira and discriminate against anyone who doesnt. so there.
on a better note, this morning, katy, mel, and i executed the easter egg hunt that we'd been working on since yesterday. the three of us, and all the boys, did a sort of clue hunt this morning-- where you get a clue out of a cup and have to go to the place in the dive shop where your "easter egg" is. the "easter egg" is a snickers bar and a piece of paper. each paper indicates a service from one of the shop people, created by me and katy and mel. apparently, i will be giving duncan cheerleading lessons for a minimum of 2 minutes. LOUDLY. sheesh.
after that, we did a staff dive, since our divers left yesterday and we hadnt signed any more up by the end of the day. we did an amazing wall dive, were able to go pretty wonderfully deep, and took duncan's camera down to take pictures underwater. soon, i might be able to pass on a picture of myself underwater! kickass! i got the giggles so bad with katy, i sucked a little water. hee hee.
im having trouble with the idea of leaving here. i think my mind is going through something like this:
im tired of travelling and im really ready to be home with some creature comforts and the people i love the most (and of course my kitty, and good food, and the gates, and...). but i dont feel like im travelling when im here, i feel like ive done a bit of a move. i have an apartment and a couple jobs, a good little friend group and a schedule. most importantly, i have those little places and things that make a place "mine." and im not ready to move again, just as im getting settled. alas. but really i know im in a good place when i love both options.
alrighty, im going to go look at flights and get back to work. email me. or post. or both! :)

blah blah blah

CONGRATULATIONS ASHLEY AND HUNTER!!!
little piper is here.

she's freaking cute, guys, well done.
okay, shameless plug for my new baby aside, things are going swimmingly down here. (ha! swimmingly...) yes, in fact i have decided to extend my trip a wee bit longer. and no, im not going to live here forever. come april's end or may's begin, i should be home. though i love it here, im missing the ham quite a lot and im excited about birmingham in the summer.
in news here, theres little news. i love our apartment and ive taken advantage of my new haven by boycotting going out for about a week. i broke the streak last night with quiz night-- whadda ya gonna do? my problem, and tell me if this might be a sign of greater things, is that quiz night is ass hard. my little team gathers all our randomest info and fat guesses, and we always come in second. now the first place team gets cash. the second place team gets shots. oy. first loser and drunk. a good place or a bad place to be?
but yes, i love our house and ive been pulling tea and chocolate nights for the last week or so. im ashamed to say i even watched some sex in the city episodes with a roommate. i was in need of my once in three months tv fix, and i dont care what you guys say, that show is a sign of the end times. no bueno. mostly katy and i wake up in the morning and eat granola and sit around in our underwear and tank tops with the breeze over the bay billowing through our room. we go to the dive shop from 8-5 and then she or i or both of us have work. this is a picture taken from the dive shop at sunset, overlooking our dock.

im now working at a restaurant called the argentinian and a bar (the purple turtle, amber and sara). after work, it goes one of two ways-- go out, drink, laugh, wander, and sometimes swim. make balleadas or buy them from the shady woman on the corner with shadier meat. giggle a lot and fall asleep. OR go home, make tea and eat chocolate, read, fall asleep. either way, one of the best parts of the day is coming to the house at night and hearing all the little crabbies scurry out of the way and back into their holes in the sand. they can make quite the racket. its lovely though, barring the perils of walking the minefield thats created by their little homes. tequila + sand traps = danger.
the only real downfall of the apartment is the toilet, but ya know, what would developing world travelling be without toilet woes. in short, ours does not flush, with any amount of coaxing. one must pour a bucket of water in the bowl and wish for the best. other than that, and the occasional gluttonous mosquito, its amazing.
okay, im at work right now, so ill head back next door. i think i might be leading the next dive. :)

i. saw. an. octopus.

ive been slack again. apologies. i suppose ill just have to talk your ears off.
the past few weeks have been pretty damned busy, but in lovely and amazing ways. after reading my last blog entry, just to orient myself a bit, i realize you better get comfy.
my period of vagabondage finally came to an end about a week and a half ago, and i have an apartment. after nick's couch, with its kittens and mosquitoes and salad bowls full of weed, i moved to duncan's couch-- in a VERY small little apartment that at the time was home to 5 aussies and kimberly and i. laura, mel, katy, duncan, alex, kimberly, and i nestled rather snugly in a 200 sq. ft. den, and coined the humble abode, the palace, for its figurative grandeur and apparent resident harem. after duncan's we moved to pat's which certainly provided the most in the way of creature comforts. real floor, not slats, real shower, complete with water. amazing. anyway, all three places were amazing, and i have to figure out something to do for those guys. kimberly, if you get this, sorry for the carpetbagging.
at long last, i was able to move into our place... sheer perfection. i live in a little place overlooking half moon bay with three other dmt GIRLS. trust me, we're few and far between, and the setup is amazing. katy and i are dmts at west end, and marika and carrie are dmt's at native sons. i know, its kind of latin, but its a beautiful place, and its OURS. ill try to post pictures.
as mentioned, i started my divemaster traineeship-- a modern form of slavery. peer-inflicted and mostly voluntary, but grueling and challenging here, nonetheless. my day: i wake up between 6:30 and 7:30, and katy and i make tea and some sort of breakfast, or breaky, as she would call it. mangoes, granola, cereal, croissants, or balleada's, depending on the mood and the events of the previous night. we chit chat and get bathing suits on (underwear is rarely worn on this island). we then head to west end divers where we're occupied until at least 5. diving, teaching, being taught, leading dives, doing academic work, cleaning equipment, suiting people up, setting up/breaking down equipment, talking, reading, eating, sitting in hammocks, and drinking beer are usually the order of the day. after that, there is shower, dinner of sorts, and laid back beach bars. sometimes there are girls nights and sunset swims and barbecues and snorkel tests. i must tell you about snorkel tests.
its good stuff.
now a diving update. today, not on a dive, but under the west end divers dock, which might be cheating, i saw an octopus. pish posh, some might say, but not so. theyre in my top five favorite animals and theyre fucking amazing!!! beautiful and smart and eccentric as hell. i got to HEAR HIM EATING. sooo rad. i also saw two scorpionfish, a rare lizardfish, and a ton of fireworms. look em up, they kick ass. the other day, thanks to mel, i also saw a harlequin pipefish-- rare, tiny, and amazing, as so many things here are. sorry, im boring the snot out of you, but these little high points are a good taste of my joys here. i have to go in a sec, but im attaching a picture of one of my all time favorite animals, i saw on the discovery channel. apparently, they live right under me right now, 2000 ft down off the reef here. his name is dumbo.