Saturday, March 31, 2007

Utila Island, Honduras

A few years ago I met a traveller and had the usual conversation, where are you from, what do you do, how long have you been travelling? etc. He had said he was a diver. A little puzzled as to how that could be a profession, I asked him if it was for the Olympics? Does he do all those crazy flips and everything? The jackknife? How many meters? Isn't it dangerous? I don't think English was his first language, and his answers continued to puzzle me and I gave up on the conversation. Years later now I realize he was a SCUBA diver, not a high-board swimming-pool diver like I had imagined! Doh!

So guess what? I have been studying and working hard this last week, and am now a certified Open Water Diver! YIPPEEEE!!!-- I am loving it so much that this week I will take courses in deep water diving (to 40 meters/120 ft), wreck diving, navigational diving, underwater naturalism (learning all the fishies' names), and night diving, and will have Advanced Diver certification by the end of next week! I think I've finally found my adventure sport!---and no, I still can't do the jackknife.

I planned on staying here in Utila for a week, but I'll be here until Easter, a little more than two weeks. It's a relaxed, friendly and beautiful place, I have my own room for $5 a night (but one week free with the diving courses), and am soooo happy to give a break to the trusty ol' backpack.
(L) Setting up (R) Scuba group










Two girls in my diving group were from Slovenia. They asked if I knew any Slovenian, and when I told them my "bad words" they laughed and laughed, they said that only old people use those words, totally outdated! So they taught me some modern bad words to make up for it. Both girls are heavy smokers and insisted on their morning coffees before doing anything else---sound like anyone we know?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crowwa funt. Ti kerplinski hoodich. Srrut.

BOD

Anonymous said...

Hey Shannen:

How amazing. What a fantastic idea to take the diving courses. I would love to do that myself someday. Now you will have a whole new world to explore in the future. Exciting indeed!!

max

Shannen said...

*BOD*

Ti kerplinski hoodich is the one they laughed at the most. They say that a lot of overseas Slovenians come back and they talk really funny (old).

*Hey Max!*

I hope you get the chance someday, it's really cool. I looove swimming around with all the fish, they don't run from you as much as when you're snorkelling.

How's good ol' Vancouver lately? Get around to doing any hanami yet?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Linda!!! Ahora sos un Buzo Profesional, 40 meters in deep water...I dont think I can do it that, but is awesome for me.

Shannen said...

*Ravioli*

Ahora estas hablando con accento Argentino!? Vos sos...HA HA! Estoy encantando del busceo, me siento un pez mismo! Odio esquiar, me mareo surfeando, no haria bungy jump...por fin encontre mi cosa! Espero que encontraras la tuya algun dia!

Moe said...

Hi Coz!

OH! You must teach me the bad words! I never was taught the bad words in the 'old' way. All I know is how to say 'hello', 'thank you' and 'underwear'. Not as useful as a good ole curse word would be!

That's awesome you're taking diving lessons. The boys on your boat sure are hot. Reason right there to stay another week! ;-)

Shannen said...

*Cousin Moe*

I learned three handy and modern swear words:

pizda: used like the f-word, literally it's the c-word

kurac (pronounced ku-retz): a part of the male anatomy

Jebise (pronounced ye-bi-ze): F You

I also learned Thank you and Hello, but I forget those. he he

There were a couple of Quebecians in the group, whew, man alive!

Anonymous said...

Yes I see, but what are the "f" and "c" words you are refering to? I wrote the new words down to learn them.

We want to learn...Send more bad words!

BOD

Shannen said...

*BOD*

The Sloveniens have gone, those are all the words I can get until I meet another one. I promise I will make it my mission to find Slovenians and get more swear words.

I'd tell you what the f and c words are, but I don't want to get 1,000,000 hits on this site from porn fans...

Dee said...

Hey cous,
I want to be with you. It has been so unseasonably cold here. So do you think you will get certified to teach. There's money to be made in teaching diving and down the line your trips could be tax deductable all you would have to do is teach one lesson per trip.
The girls are doing fine. Madelyn is trying out for the first time for the swim team and both girls are now roller blading.

I will work on keeping better touch.

Love and kisses
D

Shannen said...

*Hi Cousin Dee!*

Great to hear from you! Oo the swim teams sounds fun! And roller blading too! Give a big HI to the girls from me!

I don't know about teaching, it takes a lot of time and money to get that far. I'll take it slowly for now. I'm going to the Caribbean side of Panama, hopefully the diving is affordable there, fingers crossed!

Anonymous said...

Hi Shannen

Great diving with you....

Bryan

Shannen said...

*Bryan*

Thanks for checking out my blog! It sure was fun, wasn't it! You should've stayed longer! How's is life in Florida?

Unknown said...

Hey Shannen!

Thank you is HVALA in slovenian language...
And hello is ZIVJO ...

Hope to see u in Slovenia one day...

Take care

Alesa

Shannen said...

*Hi Alesa!*

Great to hear from you! And thanks for teaching us some nice words, he he. I wrote them down next to the bad words Maja had taught me.

I hear you will be in Costa Rica this week, I'm in San Jose, fingers crossed we run into each other! Otherwise, I'd love to see you in Slovenia some day!