Snorkelling in the Deep Blue Sea and Felis Karnaval!

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Happy Groundhog Day everyone!
Not sure whether or not Wiarton Willie saw his shadow or not but hope you are all well in reading this blog.

I hate to talk about the sunny days in Curacao but there have been many here when I know many of you have been digging yourselves out of your driveways filled with snow! Every day the sun shines here in Curacao and the skies are blue with white puffy clouds with only occasional rain! (that only really lasts for 10 minutes).

Over this past week I have spent a lot of time reading, roaming around town and learning about how to live in a family in Curacao. Speaking Spanish all the time and being surrounded by people speaking their native tongue that you don't understand can become challenging. I am however taking this as a learning experience which is quite humbling. A bit like a small fish in a big pond-- more so like my ESL students who are trying to learning English or French for that matter.

Yesterday was quite a busy day for me! I booked a day of sailing and snorkel in the Caribbean Sea. The trip was supposed to be on a 90ft Schooner however when we got there the boat had engine trouble so we ended up going out on a huge Catamaran which was even better. We sailed out of the Spanish Waters in into the sea to Caracasbaai where there is a beautiful beach and coral reef. We got to snorkel for about 45 minutes along the shoreline. I saw lots of potato and brain shaped coral and lots of colourful fish. When I was in Colombia in 2005 I snorkelled there but it was nothing like this. There was so much to see under the water... I even followed some fish for a while to see where they were heading! Oh to be a fish.

While we were out on the boat we even saw some flying fish! I had never seen any of those before. They literally fly out of the water like birds and then dive in and reappear after swimming for short distances. So cool!

Lunch was a huge BBQ feat on deck with salads and fresh fruit. I managed to meet a few Canadians who are from Guelph who were fun to talk to on the journey. In the afternoon we went back into the water to snorkel in a special area-known as the outer reef where because of high waves they normally can't even stop the boats there and can only go 10 times a year. We were very lucky though! We got to stop there and snorkel again for about 45 minutes. This dive was even better than the first... so much incredible coral of different shapes and types and so many cool fish. At one point it got so shallow near the shoreline that I was within 2 ft of the coral which was cool to look at but I didn't want to touch it and disturb the wildlife so I swam off again! I wish I could have taken photos of it all... so amazing life under the sea... seeing schools of fish, plants and the deep blue sea below.

In the evening we headed out to the Teen Parade for Karnaval! This is a big event and my friends were dressed to the nines! I dressed up a little in what i had. We walked about half of the parade route before it started-the point of which is to run into people you know and to show off your outfits! The parade finally did start around 9 where we were standing. There were live bands and djs followed by incredible costumed youth dressed in the themes of puzzles, games, pencils, rainbows and other things. I took a lot of photos which was fun! The streets were lined with big crowds-so much so that you felt that all of Curacao was on the streets. The music was in the tambou-calypso style and was fun to dance along to. I really enjoyed seeing the parade as one of my first Karnaval experiences. Tomorrow we are going to the adult parade that promises to be even better.

I am however looking forward to heading home on Tuesday after having spent some good times here in Curacao. Looking forward to my birthday on Wednesday too and seeing many of you to celebrate.

Hope this message finds you well.

love always,
Katy

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