Gone to the birds

Honestly, I was thinking of writing something earlier, but it has completely slipped my mind. Fortunately, something else worth writing about just walked into the internet cafe. There is a man here in Utila, who I suspect is Canadian (usually wearing something stating "CANADA"), that always has a parrot sitting upon his shoulder or his head. We're talking average, large, green, pirate-style parrot. The funny thing is, I've never heard the parrot speak, but the man spends his time speaking like a parrot, to the parrot. I'll walk by, and he might say something like, "Ooh, look, pretty girl." I don't even know what to think about this, but it makes me laugh. This island attracts the strangest variety of people who seem to want to escape the real world, and they wind up stuck here for years. Is this the real-world Never Never Land?

I'm fascinated by all the other airborne creatures that can be found here as well. There are plenty of bats, hummingbirds, swallows, and pelicans. My current hobby is watching pelicans hunt for fish. At least one can usually be seen from the dive boat close to shore, and since you usually take up to an hour to let all the nitrogen out of your system between dives, this affords plenty of time for pelican-watching from whatever bit of shade I can find on the boat.

My divemaster training is going well. It's only been three days so far, but being tested and evaluated always makes me happy. So far there have been exams on divemaster-conducted programs, and on using the PADI Instructor Manual to look up standards and other information. Today it's supervising certified divers. These are all written exams, of which there will also be decompression theory, physical, physiology, use of a recreational dive planner, and maybe some more... Yesterday, we had a performance test of demonstrating the 20 skills that are taught in the PADI Open Water course (your basic introduction to diving, and certification). These are skills like hovering underwater without moving, removing your mask and putting it back on underwater, breathing from someone else's air supply, etc. We're graded on how well we can demonstrate them to beginners and show all the critical aspects, because divemasters are allowed to give Scuba Tune-up courses (a refresher of skills for people who haven't been diving in a while). All in all, it's wicked fun. Oh right, and I am currently a failure at hovering underwater and other buoyancy control skills. Looks like I need some practice. I did pass 16 out of 20 skills though, and Utila Dive Center uses higher standards than PADI for a pass.

And now I'm off. I've got class, and then the exam I mentioned above. Wish me luck! Not that I'm concerned... Anything you fail, they just work harder to teach you, and then you're allowed to take the exam again. I guess this means it's possible to buy your way into being a divemaster, even if you aren't well-suited to it. All you need is to work hard enough. Of course, I'd like to think I'm a bit more of a natural than that...