Bye Utila

Well, it’s time to say goodbye to another chapter in my life. Utila Dive Centre. I had a great time these past 31 days. I met some fun people with good hearts. We were all literally in the same boat to support each other, getting through the exams, skills and dives. We encouraged each other to keep going when times were tough. It was a good bonding experience. All in all, I had no drama, no issues and a lot of laughs. There’s a party every night...whether is a beach party, trivia night, tequila night or celebrating someone passing a course. The camaraderie is well felt. Utila has a small island feel, with a handful of bars and restaurants. Just walking down the street, I run into so many people from different dives shops or UDC. Everyone knows everyone. It’s relatively safe, I didn’t feel too uncomfortable walking alone at night and if I did, I would get a ride with someone that I knew. My place was on the outskirts on the beach. Each morning, I would walk to the dive shop, watch the Macaw birds play in the trees, swim with the fish, Morray eels, and if we were lucky - dolphins chasing the boat! I would dive at night, dawn, morning, afternoon, whenever there was a boat going out. There’s a bar and eatery at the dive shop that hosts someone at all hours of the day/night. It’s a very friendly place. The only thing about Utila is if I’m not diving, I’m bored. There’s really not much else to do but dive and drink. It’s geared to that lifestyle and really fits it perfectly. But one month is enough. Each night lately, there’s been some lightening and thunder, not much rain, but storm clouds come through. I do enjoy watching the sky when the warm, Caribbean winds come in. The mosquitos are getting out of control. It’s very annoying. I wake up with big bites all over. And at night I can hear the big crabs walking in the brush next to the road as I walk home, it’s kinda creepy. The electricity goes out at least once a week or so on the whole island. Or if I don’t pay the electricity, it runs out. Oops, that happened once where I was out for 2 days and had to stay at a friend’s. I was teaching yoga regularly 3-4 days a week on the deck over looking the sunset. It’s really quite lovely. I know I’ll find something just as nice. Roatan is next. I am catching the 6:20am catamaran tomorrow. I have a dive shop I’m hooked up with out there. I’m staying in a private room with A/C, cable and hot water for $100/week. It’s a 2 min walk from the beach and right in the center of town. I hear it’s even more beautiful than Utila. Looking forward to the next adventure! And now I can say I’m a Divemaster!!

Utila

Utila is a nice, small, diving/party island. I was staying downtown, in the center of it all! But the landlord had a deposit on my apt so she upgraded me to another place. I’m out in the burbs, but it’s beautiful! I have a bigger, cleaner, nicer place with a wrap around deck on the second floor overlooking the sea. I can keep my windows open and get the breeze, rather than turn on the a/c. It’s so nice! The deck is perfect for yoga! I’m here til the end of the month.

Last week, I dove with some congestion and had a hard time equalizing. As I was ascending, my ear popped and I got super dizzy underwater. It was scary! I had mild vertigo. I have never experienced that before. I was dizzy for a couple of days after and now my congestion has turned into a cold. Needless to say, I am taking some time off until I heal. The good news is there’s no timeline or schedule so my mentor is fine with the fact that I have to take care of myself. There’s about 50 staff members at UDC. It’s crazy! I’m meeting someone new everyday. And everyone’s in a different stage of the education. It’s pretty cool. Most of the staff are in their early 20’s. All they want to do is party. I do go out once in a while, but I’m over spending money and dancing to the same terrible music with a bunch of kids. I’m enjoying having some time to myself, drinking Chilean wine, listening to the sea, reading a book, practicing yoga and having some incredible dinners. There’s always someone to go to dinner with or watch a movie with. This island has a little bit of everything.

I was offered a job bartending at a local bar called Skid Row. They are known for their shots. If you do 4 shots, you get a free t-shirt. It’s not really how I want to make money, but the hours are from 4pm-10pm and I get free food and drinks and make about $25/night. I know it’s not much, but it’s a lot for down here. :) I’m thinking about it. The only thing is I’m leaving in 2 weeks and it’s probably not worth having him train me for that short amt of time. I’m trying to focus on teaching yoga, too. All of the yoga teachers have left the island so it’s an open market. I’m going to teach a class tomorrow at my dive shop. We’ll see how that goes! The problem is that the majority of them are drinking by the time they get off of the boat. We’ll see who the die hard yogis are.

A bit of good news is there are a lot of good looking guys on this island. Most of the people are coming and going within a few days, just taking a diving course or two. But it’s still nice to look at the tourists! :)

During the full moon, I went in the sea at night. The water was so calm and warm, just like a bath. It was amazing! 91 degree, clear blue water with the moon reflecting off the surface. It was amazing! Still living and loving life to the fullest!

Sending lots of love,
Julie

Utila and whale sharks!

I just spent the month of July traveling with my friend, Michael from Sacramento and my brother, Joe. We went everywhere from diving The Blue Hole with sharks to visiting the ancient ruins of Tikal, Guatemala to hiking through caves and seeing skeletons to laying on the beach of a tiny island. Belize is amazing, beautiful and safe. I really felt at home and comfortable there. But alas, everything must come to an end.

I needed some time away from the insanity of small island living for 40 days. I had some of the best times of my life, both spiritually and physically exciting, but I felt I needed to explore further. In fact towards the end, it got even more crazy. An Italian guest went nuts and threatened 2 people with a knife. He was destroying property on the resort and went looney when he drank. We made a point to not give him any alcohol on the island and hid every bottle of rum we had. Then there was the owner who loved me at first but then completely went off on me when I told her I was going to do my divemasters in Honduras and not with her. She screamed at me like a child with no respect and told me “I’m not a God”. She flipped out! Apparently, her boyfriend and her got into a fight and she had bite marks on her arm and a broken thumb. She apologized the next day saying that it wasn’t me, that she was upset with him and I was just the one she took it out on. I told her that I’m a 40 day paying customer who referred 3 other guests and didn’t appreciate being treated like at. I have a free place to stay when I go back. It was a very disheartening way to end my time there, but it forced me to go. The adventure continues...

After spending 3 months in Belize, I finally decided to non renew my visa and head to Honduras. I'm in Utila, a cute dive island off the coast of Honduras. It’s known for it’s backpacker flair with numerous dive shops all over town and a happening night life. I have met a lot of people that are traveling alone. Actually, most people who are here are solo travelers. There’s a group of us that rode over on the boat together. We are the international group, someone from each country of England, Ireland, Australia, Canada and USA. They are a lot of fun! We’ve been diving, eating and having local cervezas every day!

I started my divemasters internship up again at Utila Dive Center. It’s been rated as one of the best professional instructor PADI facilities in the world! And I believe it! It’s a bit overwhelming to see between 50-100 people running around the dive shop all in various levels of training. We have everything from DSDs (very basic new divers) to Tec Diver Instructors (people who are certified to go down to 300 ft). There’s a bar at the dive shop with a lounge, a swim deck and hammocks. Every week they host a party with free beer and rum. They have movie night, trivia night and various other reasons to party. It’s a place that people come to relax, socialize or study.

Luckily for me, I’ve completed all of the theory. I just have to assist on classes and do my skills training. I’m sitting in on an open water class this week. The dive shop has 4 boats, 2 of which go to the North side to see the whale sharks, which are in season right now!!! People have been spotting them all month! They allow you to work at your own pace and we have the option to do fun diving when we want or take a few days off from a course, if we need to. I can make my own schedule, as long as I get everything completed. And there’s no time frame! I plan on being done within the month. There’s also sunset yoga on the deck next door 3 times a week. They want me to teach some yoga classes there, as well! I can do both diving and yoga! I’m very excited!!

I am renting an apt for the month. It's nice. I have a kitchen, bath, 2 beds, wifi and cable tv. And there's ac in my room. I'm about 100m from the dive shop. I'm just happy I found a place to relax for a while and unpack. I can finally make my own coffee and eat my own cereal! :)

The more I travel and meet people, the more I want to see. I try to keep up with as much as I can, as I think about my friends and family back in The States daily, but I'm living such a different life. I'm still the same crazy, fun loving girl but the environment is different. And I like it. I enjoy the newness of who I'm going to meet and what different cultures have to teach me. I'm learning so much...about myself and the world and who I want to be.

Peace xoxo
Julie