Partying til 9!

Yeah. I never was much for partying. Back when I was single and not all the way out of the closet, I'd go to clubs with friends and coworkers.

And before I'd go, I'd rock back and forth on the couch for 15 minutes going "Youwillhavefunjustgetupgetupandgoandyou'llhaveagoodtimeandit'llbegoodforyouandit'simportanttonotlooklikeascociopathjustgetupandgo."

So I'd get up, go, and if I was able to find parking before freaking out, I'd go and get drunk, have a quiet panic attack and go outside for a minute around 11, then go back in and have "fun."

Super. Healthy.

So basically I don't do that anymore. I don't 'get' the normal socialization process, so I recuse myself from it whenever possible.

Anyway. My day:

Started too early, as it always does, but this time, instead of being awakened by the nagging psyche that lives within, I was awakened by a deluge outside my window. For the first time since I've been here, it rained so hard for so long that I had to close my window (my bedroom window has a great view of the ocean, and I can hear the waves all night) at around 3 am. Didn't sleep much after that.

When it was time to head out, it was still pouring. I tried to head out during a lull, but didn't manage it. By the time I made it to the covered area that you could loosely call a garage to get my bike, I was already drenched. It was cool too, so I was clammy and icky.

It's a solid 10 minute bike ride to Mango Inn, but I managed. I started the day with my Classroom Presentation. Mine was on Worldwide Fisheries from the Project AWARE course. Near to my heart, but there's not a lot of documentation that comes with it. I did fine with it, 4 something out of 5.

Basically, I'm not going to get 5 out of 5 ever on these things, because on principle, I'm going to pretend teach the same way I will actually teach, so I'm not going to follow the stupid repeat, repeat, sell, repeat, sell, repeat format that they make you do to get a perfect score. Rant over.

Next I was in the classroom group to learn all about why PADI has standards and why we should follow them, then all about Risk Management. Risk Management was done by an ESL French guy studying to be a staff instructor, so it was, okay, but not amazing.

Had a long lunch break, so my intent was to walk to the "hardware" store where I bought my bike get get a pencil and some other stuff to better hold my instructor slates. I get distracted pretty easy, so managed to walk pretty significantly past it. Did pass Utila Hotel though, which I had heard from Tracy had a cool new restaurant coming. I went upstairs to see if they were open. They weren't, still in testing mode, but I actually met and chatted with Carlos, the chef, and got to sample a weird, yummy rice cake topped with cottage cheese. fresh fruit, and chia seeds. Carlos was really nice, talked me through how they are a superfood restaurant, he grew up in LA, but is Honduran by birth. Paya Papaya opens on the 10th, so I'll be coming back to eat their quinoa burger at a minimum.

After that, I headed back down the road to discover the "hardware" store was closed. Why not, it was 11:30 am on a Saturday. Places don't really have hours as such here. Explains why I walked past it though. When stores are closed, they basically look abandoned.

Still had some time, and some hunger, so I stopped into a super depressing looking restaurant/food shack called Ruth's Place, and had an amazing avocado baleada. I think it was the best one I've had so far, but there's still a lot to try.

Headed back to Mango, and it was time for my pool session. Started out with a common Rescue scenarios demo, really helpful, in case any come up on the IE.

We then broke into a group of 4 people, each person had one skill to present, was a student for two classmate skills, and was a DM for one classmate skill.

The way the skills work, you do an out of water intro, get into the water, demo the skill, have each student do the skill, correct student mistakes, then surface and do a debrief. I again got 4 something out of 5 on the Regulator Clear with Purge and Exhale skill.

Wrapped up by 3. Did homework for a few minutes, but it's pretty minimal, so I headed back to my apt.

I'm struggling to eat enough here. I don't have a well stocked fridge, but even if I did, it's too hot to eat much. I'm trying though.

Got my in water presentation for freeflow regulator prepared for tomorrow morning, then headed to UDC. They do a big dinner/party/event every Saturday. I didn't sign up for the food, because it was a hog fry, but I did go to socialize. See my previous several paragraph rant on socializing in general. Still, the rum here is excellent, I visited with my fellow classmates so they don't think I'm a sociopath, and I was still home by 9.

Pats self on back.