happy shiny new instructors

utila has produced yet another crop of outstanding instructors. well, out standing in the garden anyway.

from right to left: Dale (South Africa), Peter (Course Director), Jenni (USA), Geoff (Canada), and Gene (Canada). I´m not sure how that other guy got in the picture. (I´m not exactly sure what he was doing in the garden, either.)

congratulations all around! (Where´s the salva vida? Shouldn´t there be a salva vida?)

Dale, Jenni, and Geoff will be joining and enhancing the teams currently working at Bay Islands College of Diving and the Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center here in Utila. (We like to hire our own.)

Gene will be returning to the frozen north for some as yet unspecified goings on before diving into the scuba business full on.

(Where´s the bbq?)

oasis

with the latest idc (instructor development course) happily concluded i (as usual) am looking forward to a world where one can enjoy a very cold beverage in the company of wonderful people who don't always talk about diving.

this isn't always possible on a small diving island such as utila.

fortunately, there happens to be one just a few hundred metres from here.

it's my current favorite place.

not just because it's off the beaten path. not just because the rotisserie chicken is the absolute best in the known world. (they use my personal recipe, yay, jungle!) and not just because of the hot chicks who work and hang out there (but that's a BIG plus!)

it's not even the raw primal experience of fighting off millions and millions of ravenous mosquitos, sandflies, and leaf cutter ants that can reduce a man to a pile of dust in a few short minutes. or dodging the bats that come to scoop up mouthfuls of water from the pool (not to mention the randomly falling mamis from the tree above the bar).

it's because i don't have to talk diving there and IF ANY OF YOU LOT WHO READ THIS BLOG ON UTILA COME TO SPOIL IT FOR ME I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN LIKE THE DOG YOU ARE AND RIP YOUR ARM OFF AND BEAT YOU ABOUT THE HEAD AND SHOULDERS WITH IT!

i'm going there now.

weekly accomplishments

it's been five days and i still have my stubby holder (that's beer koozie in american).

good job, jungle.


on another note the cockyness of our instructor candidates is starting to wear a little thin.
they are now facing the reality of meeting the instructor exam head on. it's imminent.

three more days.

they are more than ready to be inducted into the utila hall of shame as full fledged instructors.
they're just not quite as convinced as they were when this whole thing started.

i'd better order a few more cases of beer.

care package

i got a care package from oz today (thanks, janina).

a friend of mine who is now working as a scuba instructor in exmouth (ningaloo: one of the whale shark capitals of the universe) sent me these stubby holders all the way from the other side of the world!

i'm really surprised that they got here in one piece. well, two pieces. three, actually, because there was a postcard as well.

they both work but the obviously female one is a little loose around the can. (there's a joke there somewhere but i can't quite get around it.)

i should probably expect that kind of thing from janina. i wonder how long it took her to find one like that.

she told me not to lose them on their first night here. (a lot of things that you probably don't even want to know about get lost on their first night on utila.)

i'll try to hold onto them.

another idc

today marks the beginning of another idc on utila. a happy day.

all of the candidates are excited and ready to roll. it's not until the day before the instructor exam that they start to get nervous. one of the things i love about teaching the idc is that all of your students are really motivated. this is something they definitely want to do.

we have a class of four candidates this time. a perfect size for a class like this. plenty of time to do everything we need to do to get them totally ready and confident going into the instructor exams.

more time to take care of and pay attention to those areas each individual student needs to have addressed.

even time for fun. i like fun. fun is your friend.

everyone in this group comes to the idc relaxed and ready.

they don't know about the bunny ears.

commuting

the commute

this was taken during the commute to my office. my own driver, casual dress, no stress.

the picture was taken by one of our divemasters (thanks, jenni) and she remarked that it seemed kind of odd that all of the staff was at the back of the boat.

it does seem a bit anti-social at first glance but, when you stand at the stern, you can see everyone on the boat at the same time.

this means that, in theory, you can prevent or quickly respond to a man (or person) overboard situation.

the odd (and i mean that in every sense of the word) divemaster or instructor doesn't count.

happily, this hasn't happened but we will be ready just in case it does.

jamie

i just found out that an old friend of mine is still living in Thailand and has a really nice blog about it. if you've ever thought about visiting, diving, or living in Thailand this blog is a must-read. he's in Phuket (where the tsunami hit) and has been there since 1999. check him out.

and tell him jungle jim said "hi".