Counting my blessings:

One of the great things about traveling to developing countries, is that it always is a good reminder to me, of the many advantages and blessings of our everyday life which we tend to take for granted.  Nice homes and clothes are just the beginning.  Toilets that flush with reliability, garbage collection services, clean water from our taps, and hot water are just a few basics that we don't generally give a second thought to.  

Feeling grumpy about laundry and other household chores???  This picture is taken from our lovely apartment over looking the water at the house next door.  Also a fairly nice place overlooking the water, this is a young mother doing her laundry.  She is scrubbing her clothes, with bar soap,  on a washboard which is fitted into a concrete work surface.  She is rinsing them in a tub of water and hanging on the lawn to dry.  If she is lucky, the sun will dry her clothes soon, but at this very moment, it is showering on the laundry she put out to dry earlier today.

Whale Sharks

I saw FOUR whale sharks today.  So, I can cross that off my 'bucket list'.  It was such an amazing experience, it even made up for the fact that I forgot to take dramamine before diving today, and ended up feeding my breakfast to the fish, so to speak.  Miserable.

We woke up to no electricity today.  I didn't know there wasn't electricity until AFTER I got in the shower this morning, and the water failed to get warm.  I don't usually shower before diving,  but I was feeling pretty disgusting, so I thought I'd have a quick shower  before heading down to the dive shop, it was a brisk wake-up!!!  Since there was no power, I whipped up a peanut-butter sandwich for breakfast.  David and Glen are working on their Dive Instructor course today, so this was the first time that I have been diving without either Glen or one of the kids.  As the boat was pulling away from the calm waters of the bay, and heading into rougher seas, I realized that I had forgotten to take Dramamine.  (I am prone it motion sickness, and ALWAYS take dramamine before diving as a precaution, because diving is not too fun when  you are sea sick.)  Too late.  I didn't have any with me, and we were already underway.  I have only forgotten to take dramamine once before, and hurled over the side of the boat.  I was hoping things would be better today.

On the way to the dive site, our captain saw a bait ball and headed over to look for whale sharks.  It is illegal to wear scuba gear into the water with whale sharks here. This is to keep people from harassing them.  So everyone puts on their fins, mask, and snorkle, and when the captain finds a whale shark you jump in.  The first whale shark was fairly small, maybe 15 feet or so.  I suppose I shouldn't have been, but I was a little bit disappointed that he was so small.  However, the shark didn't seem to worried about our presence and swam slowly away close to the surface of the water.  Since he didn't dive to the depths, I finned after him for some distance.  When I couldn't keep up anymore, I turned toward the boat, and thought CRAP, that is a long swim back!  I was very glad that I had my own fins, which had finally arrived in our previously delayed luggage, as they are more powerful and efficient than standard dive shop gear.  It is a good thing I was bouyed by my wetsuit and saltwater as I probably would have drowned otherwise.  Since, if I am completely honest, I am NOT in the best shape physically!  I swam my way back to the boat as quickly as possible and climbed aboard feeling exhausted.  Only a few minutes later, the captain saw a LARGE bait ball and drove toward it, so we all got on the back of the boat ready to jump back in.  For those of you who don't know,  a bait ball is a big ball of fish, swimming in a tight circle.  The top of the bait ball is often on the surface (especially if there is a whale shark coming up from the depths to have a mouthful).  So the boat captain watches the surface of the water, which looks like it is boiling, due to all the little fish.  Anyway, we approached the bait ball, and the crew said, "NOW".  I jumped in, and there, only about 6 feet away was the most ENORMOUS whale shark.  He was vertical in the water, having just finished scooping up a mouthful of fish!  The shark sort of stayed suspended like that for a matter of seconds, before turning and swimming across in front of me, and then diving into the dark depths.  It was unbelievable!  The crew thought that he was about 40 feet long.  We saw two more whale sharks in the next 15 minutes, each were probably about 20 to 25 feet long.  

Back on the boat, where we had been bobbing in the swells looking for whale sharks, and I had been inhaling more than my share of diesel fumes due to my poor decision to sit near the back of the boat, sea sickness was setting in.  We arrived at the dive site, and I got into the water, and out of the rocking boat, as quickly as I could.  We had a fabulous dive.  During the surface interval, the seas were rougher, and I was feeling pretty green.  It didn't help that the guy next to me started hurling over the side of the boat.  Even when I feel perfectly fine, seeing someone vomit can set me off too.  I turned away, but could still here him wretching above the sound of the boats engines.  Normally, we have a little snack during the surface interval.  (It is amazing how hungry you are after a dive.)  I was feeling like I might be losing my breakfast at any moment, so I declined the cookies. We had a pretty short surface interval, which normally makes me kind of cranky, because that affects the length and depth of your next dive.  Today though, I was just wanting to get back into the water and down below the surface as fast as possible.  I was the second person into the water, and was waiting for everyone else to get in so we could descend, when despite my best efforts to the contrary, the fish got to help themselves to my breakfast.  I was just grateful that this happened while I was still on the surface, and had not already made my descent.  

Future Mantra:  Don't forget the dramamine, don't forget the dramamine.....

Island Life Line

Our little apartment here in Utila over looks the public dock.  The boat that brings supplies to the island arrives on Tuesday.  It is the life line that brings food, building supplies, and all other necessities that are needed to survive here.  The island is small, and aside from self-sustaining pursuits such as fishing, the main industry here is tourism & diving, and the many small restaurants, stores, and inns that support the diving crowd.
Yesterday was Tuesday, so the boat arrived bringing fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as non-perishables, building supplies, lumber, lawn furnishings, and a small car.  The unloading of the boat began as soon as it arrived, and continued long into the evening hours.  It has been a fascinating process.  It began with a flurry of activity, and a 'fire-brigade' type line of men passing supplies from the boat onto the dock and then onto waiting modes of transportation ranging from small pickups, to hand carts,  bicycles & golf carts.
This morning, the process continued, with people still arriving to collect building supplies, and some outgoing items being loaded on, since the boat has not been completely unloaded, it appears that it must travel on to other nearby islands with supplies.  The process seems to be move slowly now, with a lot of men standing around, in apparent debate, about the best way to handle the unloading of building supplies and larger loads.
The hot afternoon sun beats down and work seems to come to a crawl.
It seems to be the way of life in a place where life does not necessarily revolve around a 9 to 5 job, but rather is just the business of living.  Doing what need to be done and only that much.