Day 1 of the PADI Instructor Deveopment Course (IDC) begins. New Instructors here we go! On a bright and sunny day everyone sat down with their loaded crewpacks and materials looking through the schedule with anticipation about what is to come. Assignments were handed out intros made and the day was rounded out with a well done skill circuit. Lesson learnt: Don't confuse a DIVE ALERT with an inflator (ouch!) Day 2 After a full day in the classroom, interaction was the key. Morning was spent preparing knowledge presentation and discussing Discover Scuba Diving followed by Confined water di [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. It's pouring rain again. I got home in the nic of time. Today was somewhat uneventful. We had some people check out this morning, so I got up to clean their room and bathroom while Eric was surfing. Before that we had a hankering for pancakes, but did not have any pancake mix, so I created something out of flour, egg, sugar and bits of pineapple. It was pretty good. Sort of crepe-pancakes. While Eric was gone, I searched for jobs again. Yesterday I applied for an online job as an online organizer for an environmental group. It [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. As many of you know, my good friend Carolyn came down for a visit. She stayed July 14 - 22. The morning of July 14, I got up early because I had to get ready for the bus... Carolyn was coming. I decided I would ride up to San Jose to meet her and help her get back down to Quepos. The bus was off at 9:45am. It is such a nice ride going from Quepos to San Jose. Although it does take 4 hours, there are some beautiful views of the valleys and hills along the way. [View Full Entry]

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During the last week of June two instructors, Bob and I boldly took a step forward to benefit diving in Costa Rica. We finally qualified and made Oceans Unlimited into a technical diving center. Our visiting trainer from the states, Keith Mattson has been teaching and diving technical for many years and is an absolute wealth of knowledge so we were very lucky to have him visit us in Costa Rica to complete the transition. The week was very grueling with plenty of study and diving every morning practicing and teaching, deco techniques and deep diving. The end result being two [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. So, I found out today that I did not get the internship in the Osa doing sea turtle conservation work. I was really looking forward to that, but the man in charge said it was a tough decision and 2 other people who had lots of experience working with sea turtles got it. Oh well. I do have my work at the Cloudbridge Reserve to look forward to, and now I would be able to stay longer up there. However, I would not want to stay too long because Eric is not coming with me. I originally planned [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. So, as many of you probably know, Eric and I are coming back to NC June 22 - July 4. We are coming back due to my grandma's failing health. She is very special to me and we have been close ever since I was small. We used to spend many holidays at her house in Durham and she even took Meg and I on road trips and watched us when our parents were away. I have always been able to talk to her about anything, and I used to love asking her about her younger live in [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. Hola amigos! We have had a busy day already here at the villas! This morning I got up to go to spin class while Eric put some finishing touches on getting the villas ready. Then, when I got back around 9:15am, Eric headed out to go surf while I made sure each room had keys and towels. Not too long after that, a group of 12 guests arrived! They are a group of law students that are taking a class in San Jose. They travel on the weekends together and we were lucky enough to get them! :D [View Full Entry]

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This is Kate. We have a new neighbor! Her name is Robyn and she looks to be in her 40s. She is moving here from Connecticut to start a new life. She is renting the whole kitchen area and top room of the first villa. She is renting it for a month first and she will see where she ends up. I think she will do some traveling to find out what place in Costa Rica she likes. Yay! We just found out about her last night and she is moving in today. We went out to dinner to celebrate and [View Full Entry]

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Hello all! So yesterday I substitute taught for a friend of mine Steven. He needed to go to San Jose to renew his passport, so I told him I would do it. I went to his class Friday to observe and meet the kids. Wow. He had his third grade class first and they seemed a little out of control and to not know English very well yet. Then we went to his second grade class who I had met before through volunteering. They were very sweet and controlled and had a good grasp of what they were learning. I was [View Full Entry]

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pura vida rainforest [View Full Entry]

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