Week 12

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Well, it is certainly true that life can change in the blink of an eye, and in this case the last three weeks have been a total rollercoaster ride for me. Too many goodbyes but just as many good times.

I moved back into the Intern house on Feb 27th and have been here with Amanda and Sara. I really enjoyed staying up at Steve’s while he was gone for the quiet time and to be able to have a real house all to myself, but I missed the girls, so it’s great to be back. Monday the 28th I had one of the worst moments on the island when by way of freak accident my signature pink sunglasses fell into the murky water between the boat an the dock and even though Tom and myself jumped in to search for them…. We both came up empty handed. I was absolutely gutted, even though they were $8 Target specials, because I had grown quite attached to the little buggers. It was a sad day for all. Tuesday night we headed up to Lucile’s because she had been given a sewing machine and a bag of fabric from the dress maker she works for so we had an uber-girlie sewing party while the guys took off and drank beer at the pool hall. Now, anyone who knows me fairly well knows that I am NOT the sewing party type, BUT, there was candy and wine so I was happy. Wednesday I was off and came home to the best surprise ever: Tom had recovered my sunglasses!! Bless his heart, he totally geared up in his scuba and had the interns hold the boat off the dock while he searched for my sunnies. I am happy to report that they are still in commission and just as great as ever. Tom was rewarded with a seared tuna steak sandwich with tomato, lettuce and wasabi mayo on an herb-infused ciabatta bun. He was pretty happy too. Thursday was my day for presents and a package arrived from my best mate Ally. She sent me all the un-essential essentials including a sundress, confetti, glow stick bracelets, pink golf balls, shamrock shaped sunnies, a self-therapy notepad and homemade fudge. I had to threaten death to my boss because he tried to eat all the fudge…. It got ugly at one point, but I came out on top. Steve also made my day by buying our house a brand new non stick frying pan while he was in NZ. I consider this my personal present because I am the only one in our house that cooks apart from Sara’s boyfriend Kevin so…. I am the only one who was jumping up and down at this gift. Steve had also promised me a bottle of gin for successfully not burning his house down while he was away BUT, of course, forgot. So, I asked instead for one of the nice masks that we have for sale in the shop (the Oceanic Shadow, its pretty sexy as a mask goes) and was psyched when he said yes. So I now have my own mask and long-sleeve rashie… I am building my collection. The weekend was a blur as we were going out a ton due to it being Courtney’s last weekend on the island. Saturday night we had a massive Cowgirls and Mexicans party at the dive shop complete with a full on karaoke set for Courts. (It’s her favourite thing in the World) There was mountains of food and tequila along with heaps of people and great times were had by all. Ironically our new instructor Chantal (Chanti) flew in that night as well so she was greeted by a mob of drunken co-workers and friends. She took to it well enough though before having to pass out from jetlag. Sunday we continued our feasting with a traditional Rarotongan umu grill put on by our neighbor Paul and Tim. Basically you get a ton of food, pork, lamb, chicken, fish, taro, etc and wrap it in palm leaves, then aluminum foil and put it in a large drum that is heated with hot stones and left for hours to slow cook. It was absolutely amazing and made even better by the fact that we ate traditional style with our hands. I think I put in 5 kilos that weekend, and each one was worth it.

The next week Amanda and I started our weekly dinners with the boys from the Dive Center on Tuesday night. It all started when one of them (Dan) invited us to a party one weekend where there was supposed to be food and there wasn’t. So in order to make it up to us Dan, Jasper and Jethro had us around for a dinner instead. Since then the 5 of us have been fairly inseparable and I must say, it’s been a ton of fun. Wednesday we hit karaoke with a vengeance for Court’s last night on Raro and had a fantastic time all around. Tim and Sara also completed their Divemaster that day and had to do their Snorkel Test. The Snorkel Test is a Worldwide tradition done by all Divemaster Trainees when they complete their course. It consists of the trainee donning a mask with the eyes blacked out and a snorkel attached. Attached to the snorkel is a large bottle or funnel, into that funnel is poured copious amounts of mixed liquors, beer and assorted other liquids including raw eggs, hot sauce, milk and the like and said trainee must drink this concoction as fast as they can. Those of you who are unfamiliar with scuba masks should note that you cannot breathe through the nose….. So this gets very interesting. Tim and Sara were champs and chugged the whole thing like pros until about 10 minutes later when they were puking their brains out. This was the start to our evening so I will let you imagine how it went from there. Courtney flew out the next afternoon and we were very sad to see her go. The team was now whittled down to me, Amanda, Tom and our new instructor Chanti. In all truth it felt like Tom, Amanda and I against the World. And so it has been. That night, Thursday March 10, 2011, we got a phone call telling us of a massive earthquake in Japan that had sent a Tsunami throughout the Pacific and that we were being evacuated to higher ground. Now as I have said before, I live on a rock. At its highest point I could see both shores at once….. I was nervous. I called my parents and let them know then packed a bag and headed up to Tim and Lucile’s which is high up on the mountain. Luckily we did not get hit at all and life returned to normal the very next day, but it was definitely a scare I will not forget. Saturday I finally saw my first shark since I’ve been in Rarotonga and it was amazing. It was a really great day that was sun-filled and fun and reminded me why I wanted to be a Divemaster to begin with…. Great dives and great people. Sunday I was off and spent the day with my South African buddy Jethro… we chilled under palm trees on the beach, went for a swim and drove around visiting his friends. Jet is an avid rugby player here for the Titikaveka Bulldogs and is lovingly known as Africa. So we dropped in on some of his rugby buddies. The night before he had actually invited us to his team’s dinner fundraiser for their trip to Aitutaki (another island) for a match and we all proceeded to eat our weight in delicious food, drink some great wine and share lots of laughs. Amanda and I dressed up nice to make sure we made Jet look good, and he told us later that we stole the show. We had a great night with an awesome group of people and followed the new weekend trend of eating as much as your body will possibly allow.

This week has been one of the most exciting yet for a few reasons. One, I have been given the distinct honor of boat captain whenever we go out now, especially when with Chanti because as it turns out…. She is absolutely terrible at driving a boat. Tom gave me one of the biggest compliments ever when he told me and Steve (who refuses to allow interns to drive the boat) that he had 100% complete trust in me to captain our boat and that he has never seen anyone take to driving so quickly. Steve took his advice and has bent his own rule for me. I feel like Grandpa Glentz is up there in the Heavens guiding me and I am so thankful. G-pa was also looking out for me and pulling strings in order to land me my next job after Raro. On Tuesday I got an email from a family in Turkey that Sara worked for last summer asking me if I wanted to help crew their 52ft sailing yacht for the summer, all expenses paid, through the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Seas. I was jumping up and down and of course immediately said yes! So in a matter of days I have now come up with a plan for after Raro and could not be more excited. I was getting so nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find something I wanted to do after leaving here and it has all miraculously fallen into place. I will be back in MI for about 2 weeks starting May 3, then head to NY for a few days before flying into Istanbul until the end of September. Of course I don’t have a clue what I will be doing after that, but hey…. I’ll just have to see what else comes down the line. The rest of this week went equally as well, we had a great night out Wednesday and saw the start of our new English intern Jason, then dinner with the boys Thursday, Tom and I grabbed pizza at Trader’s on Friday and spent the day Saturday starting in on our DM kits and hydro-testing our tanks.

It hard to believe that I will be home in 6 weeks and in Turkey in only 8, but I am so excited its not even funny. I love this island but will definitely be ready for a change once I am done. On to bigger and better I suppose.

I am so thankful that I get to come home for a bit before taking off again so that I can catch up with friends and family… lets all start making plans now because you know how crazy it will be!

Love everyone lots, can’t wait to see you soon!!
Court
xx

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