Mahahual, Mexico WEEK 3

We´re into our third week of food in Mahahual. Our food was divided into five weeks at the start, so if we eat too much one week, we do without. I don´t think that applies to the pasta and rice though. We get a lot of that.

January in Mexico does have its sun, but it also has lots of wind, at least for January 2007. We´ve been spotting our fish in the water in preparation for being tested on them in the water. We have to get 100% to do the surveying. We learned the survey technique today, so it shouldn´t be too much longer for we´re doing it for real. We´ve dived about half the time due to the winds and sometimes rain. Last night was cool enough to want a blanket, so I may be buying a Mexican blanket soon.

Our days start before 6 a.m. with doing chores, then breakfast, then diving starts. We have time to study/read inbetween the diving and learning the GVI way of teaching English as a foreign language. I´ve been trying to prep for the swimming tests for the dive master program. We have to swim 400 meters, snorket for 800 meteres, tow someone for 100 meters and tread water for 15 minutes sans fins with the last 2 minutes having our hands out of the water. These are all timed, so we have to push to make the number of necessary points needed to qualify to be a dive master. In addition, I´m studying the manual and encylopedia to prep for the written test. I should have paid attention to all the chemistry and physics this is making me learn. These are not my favorite subjects.

We´re about a fifteen to twenty minute bike ride to the Internet. We get here via some 4-month old bikes that look ancient, complements of the sea and saltwater and potholed roads here. It really is a trip to get here. First you must go over all the speed bumps, which are merely huge ropes, probably from the cruise ships or old fishing boats. They do work well. Then there the potholes, then a highway. We get to pass the shops along the way, so are able to pick up fruit!

I did make a cheese cake last week, so had a bit of comfort food. Someone else was hoping for mac and cheese, but wasn´t so fortunate. We did have ¨chips¨ last night though!

It´s looking pretty dark outside. It is getting to be that time, so more next time.