We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

Ryan posted on Facebook yesterday that even though he’s living the dream, he doesn’t have anything to say on his status update because he’s still working a job, getting a night’s sleep and hanging with friends. I suppose that there’s a certain amount of truth to that.

As we’re settling into what our life is projected to be for the foreseeable future, very little seems to change from day to day. The island has more or less tourists on it. A new string of Discover Scuba Divers comes through our shops and some stay around for a full course. We work more or less shop hours depending on our diving schedule. And we get more or less sleep depending on the 3 Hs, how late we ate a heavy curry and how late we had to work. And we more or less see our friends and socialize.

While the monsoon was already supposed to be underway when we arrived in June, we’ve been rather lucky with the weather. Up until about a month ago, the days were remaining very bright and sunny. A little over a month ago, the rains started in periodically with a few good storms lasting a couple of days each. Now we are in the midst of a full-blown monsoon where never a day goes by without a substantial downpour. So long as the wind stays away, it does not affect the diving too much, but it does deter people from getting on a boat and spending what they perceive to be 4 hours in ghastly conditions. I suppose that if I didn’t know better, I’d be a little weary of anyone telling me that it’s a good idea to go diving in such downpours. But honestly, there is naught else to do, except sit in a bar and drink!

Last week was a good week – I dove for six days straight, which means I made money. I’ve learned during this low season period to take any work that I can, even if it’s just a fun diver since your next day of work may not be just around the corner. I’ve gone four days without diving, which makes me substantially grumpy. It’s too much time spent sitting in the shop; it’s too much time spent out of the water; and it’s too long to go without making a few baht.

Last week was also a good week because I had what must be the greatest dive ever! I’ve already emailed some about it (not sure why I didn’t just do a blog post – maybe because I wanted to make sure that some people who aren’t signed up for email alerts of our blog got it).

I’d been diving in the morning with a couple of nice Spanish DSDs (did I mention previously that I’m doing a lot of teaching/tour leading in Spanish). I got a call while on the boat to take two fun divers out in the afternoon. Still not sure why I got picked, but was not complaining – as I said in the previous paragraph, at this time of year, you’re never sure when your next Baht is coming, so might as well take all the Bahts that are offered!

We picked Bida Nok (before, since and always, my favorite site here). Conditions were perfect – slack tide so no currents. This means that I was able to pick my dive and I opted for the deep side where Mother Nature does not always let you go (unless you want to be kicking against some pretty intense current). We dropped down in the little bay and soon saw two cuttlefish, which I always deem to be a treat. We leisurely made our way to the deep side, staying around 10 meters (30 feet) where we have good chances of seeing Black Tip Sharks. This is exactly what I was scanning the horizon for, eyes darting back and forth on full alert, when I happened to look over my left shoulder and there was a Manta Ray keeping pace with us. It was the most amazing experience ever. So unexpected and so rare and so special. I was overcome with emotion. We watched it for a while and then it flew away. It was truly a very special moment for me.

The dive continued on to be magnificent. After the Manta Ray left us, we continued on and came across a zebra shark swimming. He spent a few minutes swimming around us with his little remora friend. After he left us, we came upon Mr. Turtle and as we’re looking at Mr. Turtle, a Black Tip swims past behind him.

It was an extraordinary 45 minutes. When we surfaced and got back on the boat I had to make sure my divers understood just exactly how special that was. Then I had to properly adjust their expectations for the second dive. Then I had to call Ryan from the middle of the Andaman Sea!

The island is welcoming many Israeli tourists at the moment. It appears that it’s their university holiday-time and they travel in droves. We’d been warned about them and I absolutely abhor stereotypes (even though experience has taught me that stereotypes are based on some nugget of truth). A friend of ours described his selling technique for Israelis and I thought it was a bit abrupt and quite rude, but now I understand. Abrupt and rude avoids a three hour argument.

My own experience now has led me to the conclusion that they’re pushy, rude and entitled and I find it incredibly off-putting. An argument I overheard a few days ago between six Israelis and the guesthouse lady next door to Shop 2 completely floored me and I am now completely put-off by an entire race! We’ve met some lovely Israelis though but generally, you’ll find that the nice (and more importantly polite) ones were either raised somewhere other than Israel and moved to Israel later in life or were born in Israel and raised elsewhere.

And as I put this out there into the ether, I know that some will read it as anti-semitic. It’s not. Strange how a nationality is so intertwined with its religion. If I said that I think it's true: the French are rude, which they sometimes are, most would take it at face value.

I suppose that whilst I’m on stereotypes, I can give you a few others that are proving to the true (and at times amusing).

Irish are extraordinarily heavy drinkers. Irish can’t swim. There is no race whiter than the Irish. Even my boyfriend who is incredibly white is still not as white as the Irish. There, I’ve picked on them enough.

Spaniards can’t keep their freaking hands off the reef even though you tell them not to touch anything (but then you point out a Scorpionfish and the gleaming look in your eye dares them to touch it and they don’t). I seriously think that my briefings to Spaniards are now going to include the following: if you touch, dive over, no refund.

Asians shouldn’t be within a 100 feet of the water, period. It’s astounding that repeatedly, at the Olympics, numbers of them prove to be such incredible athletes.

Eastern Europeans, Americans, English and French tend to do alright with the diving.

Americans are loud and overly boisterous.

Apparently Americans eat a lot.

French are quite reserved and don’t show an overwhelming amount of emotion. (Wasn't true with the very cute and overly enthusiastic young snowboard pro that I Disco'ed last week.)

Latin Americans remain some of the most well-adjusted, happy, jovial people I have ever encountered. I have no idea if that's a stereotype or not, but it is my experience.

I’m used to being around a multitude of nationalities, but I wonder how Ryan is taking in all of this. We haven’t really talked much about it. While admittedly we come from a fairly diverse community living in California, this is a vastly different experience. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.