Koh Tao, I Love You!

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Oh Koh Tao, how can I count the ways that I love you? It is so incredibly AMAZING in this small, underrated island! But shh! Don't tell anyone about it, because we want it to stay the way it is!
Okay, so I am going to try to cover lots and not write too much because 1) I don't want to lose my audience :) and 2) I want to go out and enjoy the gorgeous Koh Tao while I can! I took the SSI open water diving course at Scuba Junction, which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone, but the way - and a whole new world opened up to me. Diving is AWESOME! I would absolutely encourage everyone to dive at some point in your lives - it is a completely unique experience and such a rush! Of course it wasn't all easy going - my absolute nemesis is anything dealing with having to mess with my face mask. The second my nose gets the opportunity to breathe in, it takes over - and thus enters the water up my nose! It was quite nerve-wracking to have to flood my mask and then eliminate the water at around eight meters (over twenty feet) under sea water, but I did it with only a small amount of panicking! And when I did panic, my dive instructor Linzi was there to keep me from fleeing to the surface and to remind me to just relax and BREATHE NORMALLY! So, I am now a licensed autonomous diver! Of course I am planning on usually going with a dive master in the future - I don't feel the need to go without people who are way more experienced than I am.
So, as a general summary, I saw amazing amounts of fish and coral - my favorite fish is the blowfish because they have these huge heads with huge eyes! They are actually really cute, to be honest! And the experience was just really cool - I am now part (although a very teeny tiny part) of the diving community. And I am certified for life, so when I am in my nineties, I can show off my diving card, and it will still be technically valid!
So, other than the diving, the island is also amazing - it is so chill, as well as alive. I have met some really nice people from my diving classes - my Irish diving partner and his girlfriend Lorraine - she didn't want to take the course because she is not a strong swimmer - as well as some girls from the other class, one from the Netherlands and two from California. The food is of course amazing and varied - you can get Thai, you can get Italian, you can even get Mexican - but, being a Texan, I am not gonna touch that with a ten-foot pole. Or, rather, considering the company I have been keeping, a ten-meter pole! I am getting a tan, which is definitely a plus, and am only peeling minimally! Last night we went to this awesome bar on the beach, where we sat with a bunch of Swedish guys (they happened to have the least-occupied table) and watched fire-dancers and listened to live music. Tonight we are hopefully going to go to the cabaret show with a bunch of ladyboys who dress up like Las Vegas showgirls. Pretty exciting. Kenny still is undecided on whether he wants to go. I told him not to be such a guy and to just go!
I don't know how many days more I can spend here, but I would like to be here as long as I can without losing too much time on the rest of the trip. I am so content here, I want to be able to take everything in. I momentarily considered going to the Indian Ocean side of Thailand, but to be honest, I feel like, if I have already found my dream island, why should I go somewhere else, right? The next stop is Chiang Mai, where I will get to ride elephants and take cooking classes and all that fun. But right now, I am happy just relaxing on this glorious little island!

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