Two Weeks In

Hey there,
So I decided to give this whole blog thing a shot. It doesn't seem to hard and hopefully I won't fall away like one of my sisters. Anyway, I moved down to Roatan, Honduras just over two weeks ago. I am currently working at Subway Watersports at Turquoise Bay Resort. I am doing a internship with them where I work for them and in the process obtain my instructor certification for scuba diving. I will be able to take the test for my certification in the middle of January and meanwhile I have to get my advanced diving, rescue diving, and divemaster certifications out of the way. Within the first two weeks I have gotten my advanced and rescue diving out of the way. The divemaster program is a lot more complicated and will be finished the end of November hopefully. After that I have to start studying for my instructor test and hopefully get a job around here as a divemaster. Well, thats my plan for the next few months. After that who knows what I will do.

Turquoise Bay Resort

So let me fill you in on the last two weeks. So much has happened. I arrived here on a Thursday, without any of my bags. It took them a full three days to get them to me. I have never been happier to see clean clothes. I am staying at the intern house which houses all the other interns (6 total right now). Three of them are from the UK and one of them lived in Costa Rica the past 4 months and the other is from Ohio. Everyone is really great and everyone gets along super.
So we start each day at 6:30 and get in the back of the truck to go to work at 7. We always stop at the gas station to get either boliadas, tocos, or just a drink. Sometimes they even have fresh fruit, or if we're lucky homemade cinnamon rolls. Then it takes about 20 minutes to reach turquoise bay. We usually do three dives a day, with the first boat going out about 8:30 to 9 for a two tank dive. Then we get back unload, eat our lunch of beans and rice or rice and mystery meat. Then we read up in our different scuba manuals. The next dive boat leaves at 2 and once we get back we pack up, clean everything, maybe study some more and then leave around 3:30. We might stop at the grocery store or maybe the smoothie stand. Once we're back at the house we fix dinner, study some more and pass out. The days are long and full, so everyone is quite tired by the end of the day. Usually 2 or 3 times a week, some of the interns go down to West End to hit up the bars or go a restaurant. The shop is opened 6 days a week, with Saturday being the day we get off. Also every Wednesday and Friday the cruise ships come in, so usually these are our busy days.

The diving I have done is most excellent. I have now 56 dives under my belt, with about half of those being done here on Roatan. Not everyone goes on every dive and even if you have the opportunity you don't have to go. Today, I opted out of two dives because I am getting over a cold (yes, you can catch colds in the Carribean). I did one dive today on the wreck of The Odyssey and afterwards wished I didn't. We went down to 96 feet and all the while I thought my head was going to explode. I could actually feel my sinus cavities expelling air...not fun. Anyway, the wreck was really cool, saw two huge snappers and the largest fireworm ever....well over 7 inches. Crazy. Some other dives that come to mind was one awesome wall dive. I felt like I was flying just drifting along this 100 foot drop being pushed along by the current with fishes swimming alongside me. it was so rad....extremely fitting for the dive site name....Rockstar. Another time was at the site, Sponges, where there are numerous giat barrel sponges. There was one that was easily 5 feet across and 7 feet tall. I wanted to jump inside it but refrained. I also did 2 different night dives. I have decided that night dives are my favorite type of dive. The first one was a learning experience. First, never turn on your dive light at the surface. That attracts this evil little red worms that sting and also these jellyfish type creatures called sea wasps. And yes, they do live up to their name. Also, on that dive there are these amazing creatures called ostracods or string of pearls. They are crustaceans that come out at night and sit in the water column doing their mating ritual. They form strings that flash lights and then together they form a light show. I know I sound crazy but it is something you have to see. It was the neatest light show I have ever seen, because everwhere you look are these tiny flashing lights all in perfect time. The second night dive was just as incredible. The ostracots were finished mating so we didn't see them, but instead I saw thousands of these red night shrimp. They come out in the thousands and cover the reef. Their beady eyes reflect your light so the reef looks like it is covered in sequins. Also I saw tons of lobsters, a crazy slipper lobster, and a huge toad fish witha beard that was 2 inches long. He was an ugly thing. Another neat thing is that if you turn out your light and swirl the water, the phytoplankton light up with bioluminescence. I was such a dork and sat at the bottom several minutes swooshing the water around making the lights fly off my fingers. Then if you threw the water against the reef the lights would explode off of it. I actually acted like I was Harry Potter with magic at my fingertips. Haha!

There have been so many other great dives but I just don't have time. I forgot to tell you about what is around the intern house. We have a private beach just a 3 minute walk down the road and also a dock that goes into the mangroves with crystal clear water. I do my swim labs there. It is so gorgeous.
Our private beach

Also in our community we have a pet spider monkey. I believe she is the last monkey on the island aside from the ones in the zoo. i have been told the locals ate all the others. We feed her and go visit her. She is actually extremely tame and will sit in your lap eating from your hands. She also has really spooky blue eyes. I never knew monkeys could have blue eys. We have so many different animals surrounding our house. Every morning I look out and see several agoutis grazing in our grass. They are basically large guinea pigs. I also wake up every morning to bats returning from their hunt. I have a colony that live in the rafters directly outside my window. I guess you should know that the house is basically one giant screened in porch. It is almost like there is just a roof over our heads. We have had snakes, crabs, geckos, bats, hummingbirds, and giant insects all inside the house. There is no way of keeping them out. It makes llife interesting, because you never know what you are going to wake up next to. So far I have only been attacked by a giant beetle, so I consider myself lucky.
The culprit

Well, I could keep going, but I won't. I am going to try to update this every day or at least every other day to fill everyone in on whats happening.

My new friend