You know its a good day when. . .

You know it is a good day when pop into the present moment and find yourself sitting on a beautiful deserted beach, a cold beer in hand, talking politics in Spanish with a Garifuna local and a Honduran business man. Actually the story is even better because just two hours ago you thought the morning had started off terrible and the twelve hour travel day you had ahead of you was going to be more of the same. But then it happens. A drop-off at the wrong bus park on the opposite side of town from an overpriced taxi leads to us walking down the highway with our backpacks and complete stranger who was merely pulling into a fastfood restaurant to grab some breakfast stopping to see if we need help. Actually Jorge (the Honduran business man) was not a complete stranger, as he had been on our ferry from Utila (our home for the last seven weeks) to the mainland of Honduras. All the same, he didn’t have to stop. But he did, and as “luck” would have it, we were going to the same city, San Pedro Sula, a four hour drive into Honduras. And then it just got better and better. One of many great conversations about local culture and a discussion of an interesting medicinal moonshine (called guifiti) that is made in the small Garifuna villages along the coast, led us to taking a detour in our plans and a stop in one of these villages for Jorge to visit a friend. Unfortunately, Jorge’s friend was not around; however, the beautiful deserted beaches outside her house and the delicious fruit trees in her yard alone made it well worth the trip. After a really nice walk down the beach an emergency trip to the bathroom (could have been seen as a negative) led us to the perfect small restaurant and the start of this story. And of course as our luck would continue, the local Garifuna happened to make some of the best guifiti in the area, of which he was happy to let us try, complete with the great tales of how and why it is made.

Although the Garifuna village was certainly the highlight, our luck continued along the rest of our travels throughout western Honduras and into El Salvador. Our views of the trip changed and now the negatives seemed to just float away, while each additional positive confirmed our good fortune. Missing other (right) buses led to quicker trips on wrong buses, great conversations, and beautiful views. A chance meeting of a Peace Corps volunteer led to cheap hotel and great night of watching an exciting Honduran futbol (soccer) match with some very friendly locals. The trip fittingly ended with another stranger sending his kindness out in the world through a memorable free ride in the back of his pickup just in time for us to make the food festival we had traveled two days to get to.

So now whenever something is going completely wrong we are not going to let it upset us. After all when one door closes another one opens. And when it does, who knows, you might find a “Jorge” standing on the other side.

WE´RE BACK!

Not back in the States, but back on the blog. Sorry about the short hiatus but we are no longer in Guatemala and actually not much longer in Honduras. Yes, Honduras, coup or not! Well, we’ve been here over 7 weeks now so the coup is probably old news anyway. It seems like once we are stationary in a place for a while, somehow we are even worse at things like keeping up with our blog. Less travel time, but all in all we are busier than ever! We just "graduated" and are officially now Dive Masters. Parrots Dive Center here on the Bay Island of Utila in Honduras has treated us well and we will be sad to leave tomorrow. While diving has been the main focus here, we have had the opportunity to explore some of the beautiful island, volunteer a little (Brooke on the Coral reef and Donny helping educate locals and tourist about Dengue Fever. See www.GROWInitiative.org later this week for more info), and meet some great new friends. So those from Honduras reading this we thank you for your hospitality and hope you continue enjoying your incredible journey underneath the sea. Check out below for a day in the life.

A Day in the Life

A typical day for us at Parrots Dive Shop on Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras where we have been the past 7 weeks:
Wake up 6am, make a delicious breakfast that is generally some version of rice and beans (we are on a budget after all). 6:30, start assembling gear for the morning divers, carry the tanks, load up the boat. 7:00, divers arrive. Help everyone get their kits together, load all equipment in the boat, give the briefings and by 7:30 you’re taking off.
We get to the dive site and start getting everyone in the water. When you hop into that crystal clear blue, the refreshing cool of the water pulls you out of that last bit of sleepiness still lingering. Once all buddy checks are done it is time to descend. It’s an Open Water Course you’re assisting on this morning which means brand new divers, their first time in the open water seeing the fish and the corals. Through the obstruction of their half water filled masks, you can still see the excitement in the eyes, yet some apprehension as well as they struggle to attain "neutral buoyancy." Kneel on the sand to do some skills, then the real excitement begins. It is time to explore the reef. Picture holding on to someone’s fin to keep them from making a rapid assent to the surface after dropping their weight belt, while with your other hand you’re holding on to another student’s tank valve telling them to put air into the BCD. Your broken strapless mask that you exchanged a student for is rapidly filling full of water and is in danger of falling off if you stop sucking in the air and now salt water with your nose. The fins, that because of equipment shortages are two sizes two big, are also coming lose while your two students that can swim are wondering off chasing a butterfly fish. But amazingly enough you some how gain control, start your slow breathing again and say to yourself, just another crazy day at the office. The students eventually start to get it and you surprisingly find yourself smiling as you see all your class gliding through the water. When the dive is done and you get to the surface, everyone is excitedly talking at once about all they saw and how they felt and no one seems to remember the chaos and the near hart attack they almost gave their divemaster.
Now on to the boat, pulling up gear and students like Jaws is on the way. Change out all the tanks, it is time to dive again! Same routine, but this time a little smoother and you can see the students’ comfort level in the water rising. Once dive 2 is done we reach back to the dock at Parrots, unload all the gear, wash it, put it away. We’re on an afternoon boat so no need to take off all the other equipment just yet.
About an hour and a half before we need to start preparing the gear for the afternoon fun divers. Time to get in some (never ending) reading of our Dive Master book so we can prepare for our class and exam this evening, this time it’s on the physics of diving. Need some lunch as well so we go out and get baleadas, the local fare of a flour tortilla with refried beans, cheese and onions- delicious and about US$0.50.
The afternoon boat goes just about the same way, gear on, take off, everyone in the water and go down. But this time it’s certified advanced divers, which means we get to make deeper dives and we’re visiting a wreck. No skills to do so we are just searching for creatures- and we see a lot! A huge green moray eel, schools of colorful fish, lobsters trying to hide but their antennae sticking out from the rocks give them away. Topping it all off on the second dive we see two spotted eagle rays. Everyone on the boat ride back is excited and we still have a few hours of sunlight left to enjoy over the water.
After cooking up some fresh (like caught that day fresh from a crazy local named Zorro out of his wooden canoe) fish for dinner and eating as the sun goes down with new friends that are here for diving and some "old" friends that are fellow DMs here at Parrots, it is time to finish getting ready for class. Finish the homework and our mentor goes through the highlights of the chapters. Check our answers, take the exam and whew, we pass (actually we aced it because we are by far the biggest non partying nerds here). Another thing checked off and we are that much closer to becoming actual DMs.
To finish off the night we go for a beer at Tranquila. Having a bar right next door with good music, you don’t have to go far to go out. It’s been a long day though, so fairly early to bed as we have another dive in the morning. So we walk the 50 feet back to our door, that of the Dive Master room and pass out.
So that’s basically how it’s been going. Except now there’s been none of the studying and exams as we are official Dive Masters and actually working now! Many days it’s not so many dives, or maybe we’re in "confined water" right off the dock with new students. Some days we see only the fish we are very used to everyday, though they still are spectacular. Other days we get treats from the huge to the tiny like a manta ray, a nurse shark, rays, a nudibranch, octopi. Days with less diving, sometimes we get to explore the island, like the bat caves, or hike up Pumpkin Hill. Life is good and we have enjoyed our time on Utila, but now it is time to move on- an occasion both happy and sad. It’s on to El Salvador next, so stay tuned!
(and as always, check out our Picasa Web Albums, pictures tell it better than our blog ever does!)