Two Beers and a Pretzel

I left Roatan on Saturday – just after copleting the written PADI exam.  I didn’t get to say adios to my buds Lee and Dermot (who sounds just like Michael Caine in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) since they were diving and I had to catch the 2:00 ferry.  It was freaking seeing a shipwreck at the ferry port.

I split a cab with a nice British girl, Vicky.  We chatted on the ferry, both ended up staying at the Grand Hotel Cieba, and found a honduran-italian cafe for dinner.  On Sunday we caught a bus to San Pedro (3 hrs) and I jumped (almost literally) another bus to Copan (4 hrs).  The regular buses are a riot.  They pack people on.  At every stop new vendors crowd on to sell trinkets and food, then quickly get off before the bus leaves again.

Anyway…  I found a nice place with hot water and clean rooms in Copan – Posada se Bellise.  Copan is a very pretty town.  Probably the main area is 1km square at best  and very hilly.  Rickshaws with aggressive cabbies are everywhere.

Monday…  Happy Birthday to ME!

I explored the Mayan Ruins today.  It was $15 to see the ruins and $7 for the attached museum.  Many of the significant sculptures at the ruins are replicas with the real ones safely in the museum.  There were about 10 tourists there – I barely saw anyone.  It was like stumbling on the riuns by yourself.  Very cool.  They even had 10 scarlet Macaws flying around the entrance (enticed with free food).  I imagine Tikal and Chichen Itza are much more crowded.  The thing that makes Copan different from those others is the artistry.  Everything has petroglyphs and hieroglyphs.  Many were plastered, and some still have the original paint.  This site is also famous for the hieroglyph stairs.  64 steps on a pyramid covered with carvings and stories detailing the history of the ancient city.  It’s supposedly the longest of it’s kind at any Mayan site.

I cruised thru the PADI book work.  The first pool dive was cake.  I was sick (Montezuma) for the confined dive, so they took me to the 1st open water with everyone else the next day.  Getting in with 3 ft waves was OK, but as soon as I started breathing underwater without touching bottom, I half lost the mouthpiece and inhaled some water.  That dive ended.  I thought it was a chance error.  It turns out that I just freak out when breathing underwater even though I grew up swimming in lake Huron every summer and have no trouble in pools.

Later today, I tried the confined dive, and freaked at 5 ft under… started remembering a near drowning incident I had as a kid.  Game over.

So, I’ve learned that there are things I’m subconsciously afraid of that I had to fins out by doing / because I thought I would be OK prior to trying… and SCUBA is one of those things.  Bummer, I’m probably going to have to stick to snorkeling and skin diving.  I will get credit for the coursework and the pool dive, so I may try again later in Australia.

It’s a really strange feeling realizing that you have an irrational fear of an activity that you can watch other people perform.  The really odd part is not realising the fear, but feeling helpless to change it consiously.

The other odd thing nagging me is the lack of photographic time, since that’s an activity I know I enjoy.  I’ll have most of the morning to make up lost time before my PADI test at 2 PM.

So…  I’ll finish the last test tomorrow afternoon, then off to the mainland and try to catch a bus to the Copan Ruins by Sunday.  Then I’ll get into photography again.

I’m going to go watch my buddy Lee attempt the Burrito Buster at a place called Cannibal’s.  It’s 3 burritos, each bigger than the last.  If you eat them all, it’s free.  No one ever gets it free.

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Edited postscript:

Monster props to the team at Coconut Tree Divers.  Special thanks to Marco, Rags, Kirk and Will.  I shall return – in the dry season!!!

Seriously, if anyone is looking to get dive certified, these guys are top notch.  Vigilant air quality inspections, great instructors who will take you out to party even if you drop out, the best captains, the most divemaster’s in training (gotta love a training facility), fun and laid back atmosphere, and a killer location.  They have a true passion for diving, and it shows.

The Dive Shop

Yes, I am alive.  There’s limited internet access here on the island.  Apparently the entire island shares one uplink, so it’s pretty slow.

Lunch on Wednesday

It’s been mostly cloudy.  I started PADI training at Coconut Tree Divers in the West End – kinda near the guy with the submarine.  We did the pool dive on Wed. I got sick on Thurs.  Tried my 1st open water dive today, but freaked out when I inhaled some water (3 ft waves) – so I stayed up on the boat.  I’ll be trying the confined water dive at 2 PM and see if I can get back on track.

On the upside, there’s a lot of cool beach bars here and since it’s low season, pretty much everyone is a divemaster in training.  It’s strange meeting so many people who came here and just decided to stay…

Got to watch a ritual where newly minted divemasters have to bong a beer thru a snorkle.  I’ll try to post a video when I get to a more reliable web connection.

The strangest thing is waking up to a half dozen roosters and dogs at 5 AM… The getting to th3 dive shop by 8 AM – I thought this was vacation.

Anyway, once I get my open water PADI cert, I’ll probably pass on the advanced and go to the Copan Ruins by mid next week.

Hopefully they’ll have better internet access there, so I can update the blog more frequently…

5:00 AM – Get to Nashville airport.  Find out they won’t book me thru to Honduras because I don’t have a return ticket.  Change checked luggage to just go to Miami.

6:15 AM – Flight to Miami.

9:45 CST – Arrive at Miami.  Walk 1/2 a mile to the other end of the terminal carrying 70# of crap.  Book an onward refundable flight on TECA from Honduras to Costa Rica on Nov 24th.

1:45 CST – Flight to San Pedro

3:00 PM EST – Arrive in the original Banana Republic at San Pedro with a 30 minute layover and a massive immigration line.

3:25 PM – Still in line.  Find out my flight was cancelled due to weather.

3:40 PM – Get shuffled onto a bus to La Cieba with 25 other people and a Chiuaua.  Pass banana plantions and bridge construction project with armed guards.

6:45 PM – Arrive a La Cieba airport.  Meet 3 other Americans and split a cab to the Grand Paris Hotel.

8 PM – Meet friends for dinner – everyplace is closed…

9 PM – …except the hotel restraunt.  Order the “Typical Plate” of fried plantains, cheese, fried eggs, beans, rice, and something akin to meat.  Food was pretty good.  I’m guessing it was a bit more authentic than the Pizza Hut next ddor or Duncan Donuts down the street.  The local beer “South Beach” is like a sweeter version of Corona.

11:30 – Finishing this e-mail and going to bed.  Need to catch the ferry to Roatan tomorrow at 9:30 AM.

I’ll get some pics tomorrow