Exam Day

Today I am a rescue diver. For the past two weeks, our class has been working non-stop to 1) finish advanced open water training, 2) get our First Aid, CPR and emergency oxygen certifications, and 3) finish rescue diver training. All of this makes me a highly qualified recreational diver, and gets me thinking about going on to get divemaster, diving at a professional level. In order to get advanced certification, you have to complete so many dives including: a deep dive, a night dive, a boat dive, a peak performance buoyancy dive, and a navigation dive - all of which were great dives! Yesterday we finished the rescue skills, which entailed working through various scenarios on the beach. Yesterday a cruise ship made port, meaning we had an audience of tourists watching as we dragged each other out of the water, rescued panicked divers, practiced CPR, towing tired divers to shore, putting pressure on gushing wounds, calling out for help, etc. I'm sure we freaked out more than a few tourists, before explaining that we were all in training. This certification is kind of a big deal for me, and I almost wish I had done these things earlier on.

But it wasn't these certifications that have had me stressing for the past week, it's been the fish, coral, algae and invertebrate identifications. Bonaire has great biodiversity, it's amazing really; this means that there are a ton of species to see and to memorize. We do this mostly above water, but can ask questions during our dives using underwater slates. The reason we work so hard to learn the names is because soon, we'll start doing biodiversity surveys for the marine park, and start our own independent research projects - but also because it makes diving so much more fun, because you know what you're looking at. Needless to say, the effort has totally been worth it, and I can now identify about 100 different species with some degree of confidence. It's always a good feeling to know what you're doing out there.

Before I left, I did a little preliminary research on the Bonaire; honestly, I had never heard of this island until Ilooked at the study abroad catalog. All I kept reading about the weather was that it was hot and windy, but still humid. I think it's safe to say at this point in my trip, that Bonaire must be having an unusually rainy rainy season, as it has rained sporadically throughout the day for the past week. When I visited Saipan, snf I guess Hawaii for that matter, we would get a light, quick shower around noon nearly everyday, and in Okinawa it could rain heavy non-stop for days. To clarify, this rain is not like those, these are heavy like the rains of Okinawa, but only last about as long as the ones in Saipan. And they usually happen just as we're getting out of the water. But sometimes we do get those light midday showers when the sun is still shining and they just make me so happy; sunny rain has got to be my favorite weather.

A few weeks before I came to Bonaire I was talking to one of my friends and I was telling him how jazzed I was about getting to come down here and spend 15 weeks in the water, diving in some of the best waters in the world, when he asked me if I ever thought I would get sick of diving. I just don't see that happening anytime soon.

In a 3D Classroom

It's Saturday morning in Bonaire, around the world people are sleeping in, and living on Bonaire, I am no exception; however, sleeping in here meant staying in bed until 9. After 7 days, 7 dives and 4 hours and 40 minutes underwater, the first week is over. It hasn't taken me long to find the rhythm of this place, and while everyone else operates on island time, our program is moving at the speed of sound. The sun comes up at 7, I stir awake around 8, eat some breakfast and walk across the street for class at 8:30. We spend about 3 and 1/2 hours in class learning fish, coral, algae and invertebrate names, as well as getting certified in DAN Oxygen, Emergency First Responder, First Aid and CPR pending exams on Monday. Then we spend about 3 hours in the water, the 3D classroom; first wriggling into our wetsuits and wrestling with heavy tanks and gear, and then finally reaching the water, sweet relief. It's a crazy sensation, it's like you have no limits, not only are you breathing underwater but you are also swimming over this landscape that is totally different than anything on land, I feel like I'm flying.

It's like no school I've ever been to; our classroom is alive with coral and fish and organisms too small to see. Underwater, there's no talking and when our instructor tries to show us something, she shakes a rattle and we swim over coming from every possible direction. I was thinking about this yesterday when we practiced peak performance buoyancy and had to move in different ways underwater i.e. upside down, and I just kept thinking about how that would not fly in any lecture hall, people moving around, above and below each other.

The night dive was incredible, we had dove this spot before and could navigate through it, but like a familiar street at night, everything looks different without light. It didn't feel real, swimming along the edge of the reef, illuminated by the glow of our flashlights. Flashlights underwater! Each person became just a spot of light in the dark. We could only see what was in front of us, disorienting at times but strangely peaceful, the quiet dark. At one point we all turned our lights off to see the bioluminescent plankton, flashing like fireflies.

But today is Saturday and I should be out on my bike cruising for a beach. I'll wait until after lunch, I'm much better suited to island time.

The Worthless Island

Today we got our first look at the rest of the island, what the Spanish called the “worthless island.” Bonaire is made of fossilized coral, so crops couldn’t really be grown here, and there isn’t much for natural resources, hence the “worthless” reputation, but from what I saw and did today, this place has a lot going for it. The Dutch took over the island in the 1600s for its natural salt mines, all of which was harvested by slave labor of course. There are 6 major villages on the island, and we drove through most of them today, stopping in Rincon for a Bonairean lunch of fresh fish and goat stew (I have extended my vegetarian policy to include fish for this trip, as it is all done on a pretty small, sustainable scale- I don't think I'll be extending it to include goat or iguana though). This island is just teeming with life; today alone we saw wild donkeys, wild goats, flamingoes, blue whiptailed lizards, iguanas, and many birds that I will have to learn the names for.

A few photos of our venture:
This first picture is of the blue whiptailed lizard, which are really pretty. In the 5 minutes we were standing there though, there must have been at least 15 of them crawling around.

The third picture is of the view from the peak, you can see that while it's not very lush, it is very green, and the water is bright blue.

This statue of Mary is the highest point on Bonaire, on top of the mountain. Kralendijk is about 1 meter above sea level, and the peak of this mountain is at about 750.

Next is the picture of a giant agave plant and some cacti, both of which we saw over and over around the island.

The last picture is of the slave huts where the slaves from Rincon would stay while they worked the salt flats in Kralendijk.

See the rest of the tour here

Arrival

The weather had taken a turn for the worse in Panama City, temperatures were in the 20s.My dad woke me up at 4:10 a.m., not giving me the chance to test out my new alarm, which was set for 4:15. Still dark out, I'm glad my bags are packed and ready to go, it's too early to think. I'm on the plane by 5:30, after I say goodbye to my parents yet again, and I make it to Atlanta by 7:30 EST. The 4 hour flight to Bonaire is 4 hours too long for me, and I'm antsy the whole time, that and I had the window seat, which is not ideal if you have a bladder the size of a walnut... As I get off the plane, I feel that familiar hot, humid air again, and dig through my bag for my sunglasses. I think I may have even gotten some sun just standing in line for customs. The CIEE interns are at the gate waiting for me, and we stop by the grocery store first so I can pick up the Dutch equivalent of Apple Jacks and some Parmalat box milk for breakfast the next day. As we're driving through "downtown" Kralendijk, I feel like we're going down main street at Disneyland, all the buildings are so colorful they don't seem real. We get to the house, and it is just as cool, a Caribbean style building. They show me around and I start to move in. We eat dinner at 5, brought to us by our own chef?! Yes, we have our meals delivered by a chef, and they are delectable. After a brief orientation to the program, we head out to town, and sample the night life but right now all I want to do is fall asleep as I have now been awake for 20 hours. Tomorrow we go exploring!

Preparations

I have always liked packing for trips, it gets me thinking about where I'm going and what I'll be doing. And I'm pretty notorious for underpacking and overpacking at the wrong times. That always reminds me of the millionaire and his wife and Ginger from Gilligan's Island - if they were only going on a 3 hour cruise, why is it that they brought so much stuff?!

To get ready for this trip, I was faced with the ever-popular proverbial deserted island quandry. While Bonaire is not quite the deserted island in the middle of the ocean, I still had to consider the airline weight allowance. So what do you bring to a small island with limited resources? Despite my considerable experience in packing suitcases, I struggled a little bit. Bringing my SCUBA gear was a given, mask, snorkel, fins, brand-new wetsuit, BCD, boots, etc. After packing and re-packing the rest of my gear my final weigh-in for 2 checked bags for my 3 1/2 month adventure was 70 pounds; I'm feeling good about it. So what 5 books did I bring to this deserted isle? I hate to disappoint, but to save on space I didn't bring any except The Message, which I feel is a decent choice. And I haven't had any moments of panic where I realize that I forgot crucial item X. Yet.

A few thoughts on Minnesota

With only two weeks before my departure for warmer waters, I may be premature in starting my travel blog. Having spent these last two weeks with my family in Florida, I thought this would be the perfect time to reflect on what I’m leaving behind this coming semester, so indulge me, a few thoughts on Minnesota.

Outside my apartment window is a plot of quaking aspen trees, there must be a hundred of them. I have been keeping an eye on these trees since August, watching them grow, seeing a visible passing of time. They were late to change color compared to most of the trees around here, but when the time came, these trees in their neat rows burst into gold altogether. The other trees started to lose their leaves, littered the ground; the aspen held theirs for quite a while. In early November overnight, collectively the trees decided it was time for winter and dropped all of their leaves, though this may have to do with the wind more than a conscious decision on behalf of the trees. And I miss those bright gold leaves.

There is also something truly beautiful about walking home on a chilly night, when the field leading to my apartment is absolutely still; it's too cold for the grasshoppers, and everything else is quiet save for the passing car. The sky is lit up by the glow of streetlights, a haze of a heavy sky full of snow for the next day.

I’m trying to remember the beautiful things, but the last time I looked out my window I saw snow being swept over the field by a driving wind, and I have no desire to be close to that, trying to avoid the icy patches on the sidewalk, hoping to get where I’m going without a major spill on the hidden ice. These are things not quite as beautiful, and will not be missed. I was not cut out for a Minnesota winter.