Typical of diving...

This portion of the trip is all about the diving, so there isn't as much to write about... we dive 3-4 times a day, and then talk about diving and what we saw the majority of the rest of the time. Divers are pretty universal no matter where you go... it's all about what you saw on your dive, where you have been diving in the past, and what you have seen anywhere. I have decided that I need to spend more time diving (and traveling) in Southeast Asia... when I find a job, I'll have to figure out how to make that work.

On dive trips, you always meet some interesting people... I haven't met that many Americans, and most of the people here are from Europe - Britain, Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland... and South Africa. It's been awhile since I have been in Europe, so I'm having fun with the other cultures... and learning a lot about ours in America. I'll share my thoughts on that later... Like most divers, everyone is very friendly. I have noticed that sarcasm doesn't always translate so there have been couple of odd moments and misunderstandings due to my humor... but that's comedy for you.

It is interesting being the minority, but it's different than being the minority in Singapore. I frequently find myself being left out of conversations because I don't speak the language that everyone else in a group does... so I get the abbreviated 3-4 word explanation for 5 minutes of dialog... there is one woman here who is deaf, and I'm starting to understand how she feels when she misses entire conversations... even though she can read lips in two languages... I should have studied harder in high school language class, but Spanish wouldn't help me much here.

One other striking difference is that people from other parts of the world have much better vacation policies than we do. Many people seem to be on extended 2-3 week holidays (vacations) and they have several more weeks left... another thing I'll have to work out in a new job. I can't remember the last time I was able to take more than one week of vacation at a time, oh yeh, when I was in college working for myself... hmmm now there's an idea.
I have to admit, I have met a lot of teachers... this says something about our educational policy too, if so many teachers can afford to travel like this...

Well, the only time I have left the resort waste dive, so there isn't a lot to talk about. The diving is good, and very similar to other wall diving I have done... oh yeh, it's mostly wall diving. For the non-divers, that's where the coral is on a vertical drop-off that goes from about 6 feet down to the abyss (ie 400-500 feet or more... we don't go down there). The marine life is nice and I'm seeing lots of stuff I have never seen in the wild before. I'm learning to use my underwater camera, and have lot and lots of pictures... You will only get to see the dozen or so good ones. Because of limited Internet connections and the lack of quality connections, I'll have to show those later.

I can't wait to get to Lembeh, where it is "muck diving". You dive on sloping sandy bottomed areas with patches of corals and probably some junk (it's not the most pristine of waters here), and there are the most amazing creatures hiding in the sand or amongst the stuff. I saw some pictures from a German couple, and it is going to be awesome... I love the freaky weird stuff that lurks in the ocean and Lembeh is the home of it all. But for now.. Here's a gratuitous turtle picture...


Everybody loves turtles...

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Location:Bunaken, Indonesia