Week 4

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A month has come and gone in the blink of an eye and I can hardly believe it. I don’t think anyone else can either….I am still the “new kid” though I am definitely no longer new.

Week 4 treated me well, as its predecessors have done as well. Sundays start off a bit shaky sometimes because I usually call my Mom on Saturday night. (I keep missing my Dad…. He is a tricky man that one.) And though I love our conversations, they tend to make me very homesick. For those of you who aren’t aware, and even for those who are, my Mom is my very best friend. She is my right hand man, my cohort in all my shenanigans (even the ones she isn’t present for), and my first phone call when everything goes pear-shaped. Being away from her is like telling peanut butter to forget jelly, it JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN. So, as much as it is the highlight of my week to call her, it bums me out a bit too. Which is why this past Saturday night, the 22nd, I figured I would try skipping a week, you know, wean myself off slowly. Haha!

So last Sunday, the 16th was nice. It was an exceptionally hot morning which made me wish I was home, snuggled in my bed under layers of cozy covers while the snow whirled outside. Then I had striking visions of having to shovel snow off of my car and fighting icy roads to wherever I might be going. I smiled at my fan.

Not having to work until noon makes for great lazy mornings so I rolled out of bed and headed down to the beach, tea in hand to write in my journal. It is hard to stay down in Raro when you have so much beauty surrounding you, and in my deepest moment of loneliness, two over-friendly dogs curled up right next to me, practically on top of me and the smile was back on my face.

Work was fantastic since yours truly went for two dives with Tim where I was the one leading our dives! All by myself! (With a compass) And no, we did not get lost, in fact….. I did surprisingly well by hitting all of the major points of interest on both sites. I was pretty damn proud of myself. I wasn’t totally thrilled about diving before I came to Raro, but now I am really starting to enjoy it, especially when I am challenged by it. I drove the boat again, which is always fun and inbetween dives, since it was just staff and a couple of our friends, we passed the time (between dives you have to stay on the surface for a set amount of time to release nitrogen from your body) jumping off the boat in various flops, flips and formations.

Monday was a cleaning day, no dives scheduled and lots of summer rain.

Tuesday was another great day. I love realizing what an amazing life I have right now. I get up, make breakfast, put on my swim suit, go to “work”, dive, chill on a boat and bum around on a scooter on an island. I eat far too much icecream, am working on a wicked tan and have virtually no stress. I had great dives where I worked on my buoyancy, putting my total here up to 11 with 2 of the 5 skill dives done towards my Advanced Open Water. 49 more to go!

Wednesday morning I headed to the pool to drum up some business but since it was so rainy no one was out. I got one kid to try it and then proceeded to talk to his chatty Kiwi uncle for an hour while he sat in the pool sipping gin out of a water bottle. That night, Tom, Courtney and I went into town for a benefit concert for the flood victims in Queensland which was a good time but an early night. We were knackered.

Thursday I went for one dive….. should have been two but the guys we had doing their Open Water dives got violently seasick. Simultaneously. In the calmest water I have seen yet. At least after work we had a good time raiding the neighbors mango tree (with permission).

Friday I was off and I must say, I think I single-handedly had the most productive day Rarotonga has ever seen. We aren’t big on rushing around here, and most of the time there is the mentality of “why do today what I can put off until tomorrow.” Not on Friday. Friday was the day that damn near everything on my checklist got crossed off.
- call immigration CHECK
- get laptop connected to internet CHECK
- buy new watch CHECK
- buy my own scooter CHECK
- get groceries CHECK
- get package from post office CHECK
- do laundry CHECK

And to top it off, I had time to relax on the sofa and watch a movie, stop by work and socialize for a bit, and go out for pizza and beer with friends. BIG WIN.

Saturday was a long and interesting day where Sara moved back into the Intern House and we didn’t have much of anything going on at the shop. The day was easy but it dragged. So Sara and I made the night more interesting my going to Steve’s to play poker with the crew then hitting the town. It was fantastic.

Yesterday I had to work at noon, but Sara and I got up and went to the beach for a bit. At work we didn’t have any divers so Tim and I went to the lagoon and I worked on my search and recovery skills. We then came back, watched some movies and went home at 4. Sara and I went to a popular sunset watching spot at a hotel restaurant and had a few cocktails with friends. All in all, it was a good 4th week.

The time is flying but the life is slow here in the South Pacific. I know I will be heading home before I know it, but I cant seem to bring myself to hurry to do anything. I want to do the cross-island hike here soon and start exploring other parts of the island, especially now that I have my own scooter. Pictures to come as soon as I can.

Big love back home!!!
Kia Orana
C
xx

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