Tomfoolery

Well, with at most 4 hours a day of work, there is a lot of free time. At first I wasn't planning on doing any Scuba Diving, since its 250$, and sortof expensive. However, hearing about how awesome it is here, and the fact its ONLY 250$ I'm going to sign up soon. I'll probably wait until next week, so I can schedule it with my volunteering. Its about 2-3 training sessions with some videos/books/etc. You get in the water on day one and start at a dock. Price also includes 2 free fun dives. After that, I'll be certified for awhile, and will probably make at least 2-3 more dives.

Most nights so far we've gone out to dinner and to a couple bars afterwards. The meals are not too expensive considering the quality of food, but since they cater to tourists and a lot of the diving groups here, they aren't cheap. Beer is decent (3 brands, take that Nicaragua!) and is almost always $1.50. Good rum is also pretty cheap. One dinner included a "Fish Talk" led by an eccentric Englishman; the topic was invertebrates, and it was very entertaining.
Scientific discussion+pretty undersea pictures+meat+rum=a pretty good time.

One of the bars, according to my guidebook was "Dr. Seussian", as it was up a spiral staircase and in the trees, with walkways to tables, and a main bar area in the middle.

While there I heard Jump Around on the radio; after struggling to explain the Camp Randall tradition, I think I further convinced everyone that Wisconsin is pretty strange (although I usually just say I'm from the US or Chicago, its much easier).

Yesterday we had most of the day off. The head honcho at the Iguana Station, Monica, organized a kickball game against some of the locals (bartenders, dive instructors). Only a couple people on my team had played before, and I told the others that it was just like baseball.
I just assumed baseball knowledge was universal, as a more in-depth explanation was needed. I left out the part about the infield fly rule. Despite barely grasping the rules and half of our players smoking while in the field we did pretty well and almost won.

After a short siesta/lunch, we made it to the beach and lounged around for a few hours. It was a really nice beach, but not great for swimming. We attempted to snorkel, but it was too shallow and the waves were too strong. It was a lot of fun, but I got destroyed by sandflies.


I'm headed off to do some grocery shopping and to jump in the ocean before some more work, adios!


(Note: I will do a better job of including photos later, but here's some from flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44191281@N06/

The Station

Until late November/Early December, I'm residing at the Iguana Station in Utila. Also at the station are 6 other volunteers. There are three people from Germany who came here together, one person from Scotland, one from England, and one from Honduras. Another volunteer from Honduras is arriving here shortly. All are around 22-24 years old. I share a room with John, from Scotland. There is a lot of space, and a nice balcony area with a few hammocks. Also, we have access to a kitchen.


On site, there are about 10 large iguana cages. Three are filled with ~60 yearlings each, and the rest have just a few. The station has a breeding program, and releases half of the newborns right away, and care for the other half.

Work is pretty easy so far. The general plan for a weekday is work from 8-11, long break, and then work again around 2 for awhile. Most of the jobs are pretty easy and involve cleaning/feeding. We dug a bunch of 1m deep holes to prepare for a building addition, which proved to be pretty difficult due to the hard soil. Other than that, nothing has been too labor impressive. I think we have weekends pretty free, except for feeding in the mornign.

(Pictures added soon)

Getting There

So, I arrived in Utila, Honduras successfully, and it only took 26 hours.

I had some confusion about my flight, as travelocity told me Taca airlines switched a bunch of stuff. My first flight was supposed to go to El Salvador, but the only flight leaving O'hare on Taca was to Guatamala City, and it had the same flight number. I figured it was close enough.

Turns out my place just made a stop in GC, and some people got on/off. I just stayed on for the 20 minute to El Salvador. Then I had a short layover to San Pedro (I think), and headed to La Ceiba. I had 4+ hours until the ferry left. I wanted to get some authentic Honduran food, but I also wanted AC, so I went to some Pollo place. I foolishly tried to break a 500L note (25$), but that's all the ATM took.

La Ceiba was decent. I don't know if I would want to spend much time there though. There aren't many tourists/not many where I was. I haggled successfully to reach downtown from the airport. However, some dude grabbed by bag after explaining where the bus stop was. He refused to not help me carry it, and complained when I gave him only 10L for the help.
So, I'm 1-1 for interacting with people.

I reached the ferry 2 hours early, 3 hours if you count that it was an hour late. I spent the time reading Assassination Vacation and drinking FANTA. After the hour ferry, I finally arrived at Utila around 6:30 local time (7:30 central).

My living arrangement is pretty sweet, as is the Iguana Station. Sleeping under a mosquito net will take some getting used to. I will write more later, and post some pictures.