LIVING A FANTASY: Today was a mostly do nothing day. I just sat around the dive shop all morning. I ran down to the ferry dock at 8:30 and 1:30 to see if the new BCD I purchased from Roatan arrived. I didn’t really know how to find out if it arrived but I checked at the post office and ferry office (both on the local dock) and neither knew anything about a package for me.

I ate a local place recommended by one of the dive staff and it was pretty good and very cheap. I had another couple of baleadas (notice another spelling) this time with refried beans and egg. Very good for about 50 cents each. I was the only non native customer and no one spoke English. The place was just a little shack by the side of road. I wouldn’t try one of these unless someone recommended it.

In the afternoon it was suggested that some of the trainees go clean a tarp under the water just off the dock. It is used for training so there isn’t as much silt stirred up by trainees. They gave us a broom. We decided to turn the huge tarp upside down to get the sand off of it. Things didn’t exactly go as planned. The 20 x 30 tarp was tide to the pier on one end and there were 4 lb weights all around the other edges. We cut the ropes but left the weights hanging on. Working under water is difficult enough but this was serious work. As soon as you start the visibility goes to about 3 feet and you can’t even see the other person working with you. The weights got all tangled up and we were really having fun with this. We thought we had it turned over but with the limited visibility we didn’t realize it was all messed up and just laying in a big pile.

We left for about 20 minutes to allow the water to clear and then tried to get it back in place. That was really difficult. Everything was either floating or all tangled up and the vis turned to zero again quickly. We messed around with it for about an hour and finally had it back in place but with almost as much dirt and sand as we started with. We tried the broom but that was pretty useless too. The entire project was futile and actually pretty funny. I’m sure we looked like a couple of crazies under water.

When we popped up I realized another ferry was coming in so I quickly changed some of my clothes and ran to the ferry again. Unbelievable but my package was on the boat. I asked for a box for Chuck Harrell and they said they had one for Charles Harrell. I love it when a plan comes together. Gerri was going to ship mine from home but the shipping was about $250 and the entire new BCD was only $350. I can’t believe it was this cheap. It cost more than $450 mail order in the US.

I had another pretzel dinner but tried a class of Chilean wine and it was okay. The owner talked to me for a little while and suggested I bring my laptop next time. They want to see if they can use a password system for wireless Internet access. I’ll try it one day. I told her I was looking for a place to bring Gerri when she comes down and she told me the Aggressor (our live aboard boat) eats there as a group already. Pefect!

The town is really packed for the last night of carnival. You can hardly get through the streets because of all the people and most are really drunk. I wish I could describe how strange and unusual this place really is. Maybe I’ll figure out how to post pictures soon. Tonight a huge party starts at 10pm with some local rich guy providing free beer for awhile. I’m not going.

There’s another festival called SUNFEST coming next week and it’s the worlds largest open drug fest. Apparantly anything and everything is available. I’m sure I’ll avoid that party at all cost. This place is just unreal. Its fun but really strange and much to crazy for me.

Tomorrow is another Sunday Funday with a trip around the Island for diving, a picnic lunch and lots of beer again. I’ll be going just to have something to do.