Day 29 - It is Sunday. Guess what? Another BBQ!

Today is Ana's last day. We were planning to mourn it yesterday with a nice Italian dinner, but my migraine screwed up our original plan, and she just came over to my place and we had a lovely quiet dinner of pollo (chicken) and nopale (cactus) huaraches and a great conversation. It is always fun to talk to her. We can always find something interesting and meaningful to discuss. And she has a great sense of humor. I'm glad that we met and got to know each other, and she is one of the people who I want to cross paths with again in the future. And I'm sure that one way or another it will definitely happen.

I walked over to her place this morning to have breakfast with her at the Museum. The Museum restaurant is on the terrace that opens up to a gorgeous sea view. They have two menus - in Spanish and in English - but that is not the only difference. The Spanish version has more dishes. Funny, I guess they think that tourists who don't speak the language will not brave certain Mexican dishes. I had eggs "Divorciados" style (means "Divorced"). They are called so because one egg is covered with red sauce, and the other - with green. This doesn't really explain what makes them "divorced" though, does it?

And in the afternoon - another awesome BBQ at Tio's. This time some people couldn't show up, so it was just seven of us vs the usual twelve or so. But it didn't spoil the taste or the fun of the event. Tio is Kevin's (Justin's father) Mexican nick-name. It means "uncle". Nobody knows why and when he got this nick-name, but it stuck with him, and he doesn't mind. He usually comes to Cozumel for 5-6 weeks in a row and rents the same house. And hosts BBQ's every Sunday. Today, we had ribs and chicken. Cathy always brings an amazing salad. I always bring a dessert. I think those BBQ's are such a nice tradition. What better way to get people to talking if not around a delicious table? I just realized how much I miss cooking and hosting my gourmet dinners. Even browsed through the Food Netword website today to check what's new in the world of haute cuisine...

Day 28 - A WOW dive

When I woke up today the waves were almost splashing over my balcony (and I'm on the second floor), so my immediate reaction was to cancel the dive. But at the same time it was amazingly sunny, for the very fist time in the whole past month. So I thought, let me finally dive in the sun, if worse comes to worse I can always leave after the first dive. An additional bonus to the sunny day was the fact that we are going out of yet another new port - Puerto Abrigo - located very close to the Villa where I stay. I'm always delighted to see new marinas, and this one was really beautiful and did not have the smell of a gas station like Caleta. Puerto Abrigo is for the bigger boats (over 40 feet), and the sea was closed to the small speed boats today due to the rough weather conditions.

Every time we dive from the big boat (el barco) I get to the very top to sit with the captain and enjoy the endless view of the sea. The boat is pretty high, so the waves never reach the top like it usually happens with the smaller boats. Well, not today. We were barely dodging the waves and getting massive showers of water every time the boat was not able to go with the wave (which was often). It was quite a workout to stand there on the top of the boat, hanging for your dear life onto the rails with both hands. My thighs actually hurt a bit after that, I felt like a surfer or something. And I have to admit, a little bit of adrenalin works very well for me. IT WAS FUN!

We were the only boat on the island going out to dive in such rough conditions, and, boy, was it worth it! There were ten divers on the boat, with two dive masters. Two of them bailed out of doing even the first dive because the waves were too high and they were afraid of getting in and out of the water. And rightfully so, I have to say, the waters were pretty scary. The ladders were going up in the air sometimes, and it was really pretty scary. We couldn't get anywhere near our regular dive sites in the South of the island, so we did Villa Blanca, which is almost in town, normally a 5-minute ride from the pier, but it took us good half an hour today. Underwater everything was calm and beautiful, as if there was no storm out there. But if you looked up, you could see the raging waters and the contrast between the depth and the surface was pretty amazing. It was a challenge to get back onto the boat of course, as the ladders were flopping angrily up and down, but we made it. Although we lost another diver - not literally, thank god, lost her only to the second dive. And so we were seven.

The second dive was in the Eagle Ray City - we NEVER go there. I don't know why actually. Maybe because they don't want to frighten the eagle rays away from this place, or maybe there are other reasons, who knows. The bottom line is it was my very first dive in this location and it was beyond spectacular. We saw 9 (!!!) eagle rays flying together - I have never seen so many at the same time. It is the most magestic view you can ever fathom. Click here to see a video of an eagle ray, and then imagine 9 of those in a group. I can never get enough of them. How effortlessly and graciously they move against the current, how powerful their "wings" are, how serene their "faces"! To me, they are the most amazing creatures of the sea, and they always make me insanely happy for no reason at all. Just looking at this pre-historic beauty awakens something strong in me and makes me feel very connected to nature (which happens very rarely in my case).

Another "excitement" was a terrible pressure headache I developed during the second dive. But I was so exhilarated with the eagle rays that I didn't even care about the excruciating pain that threatened to burst my skull open. I don't know what exactly it was, but on the boat I violently threw up (for about 5 minutes non-stop), and the headache immediately subsided. Even that unfortunate incident didn't spoil my WOW diving day.

The feeling of pure happiness was mixed with a strange emotion of almost some kind of fear that I could have cancelled something that turned out to be one of the best diving experiences!

Day 27 - Getting tired of the tropical winter

I'm really getting tired of this shitty winter. The wind, the rain, the constant freezing underwater. Seriously, when will this end? It's been a month, I honestly think it's enough to make the point that the tropics also deserve winter.

I haven't dived for the past 5 days because of the wind and our little trip to Punta Allen, but although the weather hasn't become any better I didn't see the point of waiting any longer for it to change and went on the boat. It is so interesting how after only several days of break, you already feel so different - not that you completely forget how to dive, but you use a little more air, you feel a little lighter at the safety stop, a little more exhausted after the two dives. I even hear the same thing from the dive masters: they say that after a 5-7 day vacation they feel a little off about everything for the first 5-10 minutes of diving.

At my Spanish class - always a delight - Othon (that's my teacher's name) educated me on the Mexican law that states that if you impregnate a minor and don't get married to her, you go to jail for 20 years. The law is very much enforced, and even bails are not allowed. That is why you see so many young married couples here. Almost every 40 year-old I meet has a child of 22 or so. Now I understand why. Although some may say that it's the same as 20 years of marriage, and choose prison. After all, Mexico is a somewhat free country. But in all seriousness, there's another problem: even if the guy wants to marry the girl after getting her pregnant, but her parents don't agree to it for whatever reason (and of course being a minor she has no say in it), the guy still has to go to jail. The system is not that inhumane as it may sound though - there's always an option of divorce:).

In the evening, Ana picked me up and we went to have dinner at a somewhat upscale Mexican place called La Kinta. I had a dish with a funny name "Porky Pasilla". Very tasty.

Day 26 - Tequila drinks recipes from my Spanish class

I love my Spanish class teacher, because he can actually engage me in any conversation in Spanish. I love his style. It's somewhat Ulyssean, as he seems to be using the flow of consciousness technique on me. I don't think he ever has any pre-meditated plan for our conversations. In fact, during the first minute of our meeting he always looks somewhat puzzled as he looks me over trying to figure out what we can talk about today. And then I see a spark in his eyes, which signifies that the first topic for today's yarn ball of conversation has been found, and from here on all we have to do is hold on to the thread and see what pattern our talk will knit this time. This is usually how we spend the first hour and forty five minutes of our lesson, followed by a fifteen-minute introduction of a new grammar point, which I have to work on at home doing numerous repetitive exercises.

Today's yield - 2 authentic tequila drinks recipes:

• Tequila with Sangrita: Step 1 - The traditional lick of salt + lime; Step 2 - Sip of tequila; Step 3 - Sip of sangrita. Repeat until under the table. Apparently, sangrita - which is usually a combination of several juices, one of them red in color (hence the name - sangrita in Spanish means "little blood"), and spices - accentuates tequila's acidity while at the same time cleansing the palate.
• Amaretto Azteca: One measure of tequila + one measure of anis liqueur (a good brand for this drink is Anis Del Mono) + ice. No need to repeat - apparently, you find yourself under the table almost immediately. I dislike the taste of anis immensely, but my teacher swears that in this particular combination you don't taste tequila or anis - instead, it's a totally new undescribable flavor of - and I quote - "freshness".

Day 25 - Where time doesn't exist...

This morning, I discussed the convenience of online shopping with my Spanish teacher. I described the concept of FreshDirect to him and complained that I'm super annoyed with the time travel I seemed to have done by coming here. "I waste so much time just grocery shopping every week", I told him. To which he responded, "Here time doesn't exist, so you cannot really waste it."

I spent the rest of the day contemplating this observation. A pretty scary storm we were having all day was a perfect backdrop for my thoughts.

Days 23, 24 - Punta Allen - where if you are poor, you eat lobster

On Monday, Ana and I decided to leave Cozumel and go on a little adventure for a couple of days somewhere on the mainland. When we met at the Coffee Bean in the morning, we had no idea where we would go. All we had was a map of Mexico, a change of clothes, a mosquito repellent and a flashlight.

After a very quick discussion at the rental car "office" in Playa del Carmen, we chose to brave the road to Punta Allen - a lobster fishing village, located very close to Tulum, in the Sian Ka Biosphere Reserve. I mean, close distance-wise. The road is full of potholes, so it takes 2 hours to cover those 50 kilometers. But we didn't really notice the time: Ana was enjoying the "video game" feeling of navigating our jeep through the maze of potholes, and I was happy to stare at the amazingly picturesque landscape that was opening up as we moved along the road. Hopefully, it will never be fixed, to keep most tourists away from this beautiful village, ensuring that it stays pristine.

Of course, the lively conversation also helped. I wonder why it is that every long trip discussion ends up in sharing relationship stories and general thoughts on the concept of relationships. Is it the most interesting topic for everybody nowadays? Or does it help find the common ground to establish more intimacy? Whatever the reason, talks like that are always entertaining and at times illuminating. Ana and I spent the whole trip on this very subject and never got bored.

Punta Allen greeted us with a very friendly Mexican who had the most hilarious Texan accent. I had a lot of trouble restraining myself, but fortunately I didn't burst out laughing in his face. Armando - that's his name - turned out to be a representative of one of the village's "cooperativas". This is a very interesting concept of social unions in Mexican towns: a cooperativa allows its members to communally participate in various forms of business and equally share in the revenues. There is one strict rule in those cooperatives - everybody waits for their turn to do things. For example, we wanted to hire a boat to do a trip to the lagoons and sea jungle that Punta Allen is famous for. In order to do this, we had to go through the proper chain of command. We thought that we might be able to pay a little less going directly to a captain, but no one would do it because that would screw up their reputation and create more problems for them in the long run than it's worth. The population of this village is only 350 people, so obviously everything is known before it even happens. Armando arranged a private boat trip for us at 7AM the following morning, recommended a good restaurant to have their famous lobster at, and gave us a key to a room right on the beach. We received this full service within our first 10 minutes in town, which was very convenient, not too expensive, and worth every penny anyway.

After having an amazingly tasty 4-hour long lobster lunch at the beach, we finally checked our room, which turned out to be unexpectedly luxurious considering the place and price. The only tiny problem was the complete absence of light. There was absolutely no power in the village at night. Thank God Ana is an experienced traveler in Mexico and always carries a flashlight. We went to the beach and comfortably situated ourselves in a hammock under the palapa. A young guy from Chicago camping out here joined us. Almost immediately a powerful thunderstorm started a gorgeous light show that we could not abandon even though Ana and Mateo were getting soaked (while somehow I remained absolutely dry). The lightnings, the sound of pouring rain, the soothing rythm of a rocking hammock, the songs Mateo sang to his guitar - all of it in complete pitch black darkness - made the whole experience very surreal and extremely sensual. I finally saw Mateo's face the next morning and it was totally different from what I had imagined under the palapa.

At 6AM the next morning it was overcast and foggy - more of the surreal beauty. We had a quick breakfast and started our sea tour with Manuel, the boat captain. This area is famous for mangroves that host unbelievable number of wild birds of every rainbow color, beautiful peaceful lagoons, dolphins, sea turtles, coral formations, and above all - total tranquility. Time stops. Thoughts cease to exist. Softness of colors and sounds overwhelms you. The only way I can describe this is as involuntary meditation.

The boat captain, who I was forced to speak Spanish with while Ana was snorkling (I personally dislike snorkling very much), told me that he would never ever want to live in a big city. Going to Tulum (that has 15,000 inhabitants) is always a terrible experience for him: there's too much noise and stress, and on top of everything he always gets blisters because in Punta Allen he is used to walk barefoot. He is a fisherman, and also he does tours like ours. He works when he wants to or needs food. He eats lobster when he has no money. He wouldn't care about going to opera or a play. What a strange life! On our ride back, I tried to imagine myself in a little town like this and I got an anxiety attack just thinking about it. But for a couple of days it is my paradise and gives me a sense of unconditional happiness. Ana is glowing with the same feeling.

There are no banks in Punta Allen. Apparently, not everybody knows that. This is why we end up giving a ride back to Tulum to a nice couple, who got a little stranded in this little town because they had no cash for a colectivo (a special route bus). They are in their 50s, and travel with 2 impressively small backpacks for 2 weeks - this is their style, they say. I compare this to a huge suitcase of useless clothes that I don't even wear because of this unexpected weather and get a little ashamed. And to think that I was so proud of taking only one suitcase for 5 months with me! People are so different, indeed.

On the ferry back to Cozumel, Ana and I are both disgustingly sweaty, salty, sandy, but immensely happy. How can you not be after such a beautiful adventure? Especially when you have a chorizo sandwich and delicious pineapple with you to quench your after-trip hunger.

Day 22 - Another Sunday, another BBQ party

Today is Justin's last day, and to send him off nicely we did another BBQ. Unfortunately, the coal didn't produce enough heat from the beginning, so poor Justing had to eat chicken before rushing to the airport. But we "toughed it out" and waited until the fish perfected itself on the grill. It was spectacular! So was the conversation. The usual.

Day 21 - La Hach and more on meeting new people

La Hach is a bar that Justin always hangs out at. It is very nicely situated right on the ocean, has a lovely outside deck, excellent food, and best of all - amazing people work and hang out there. I don't blame Justin for spending pretty much all his dive-free time here. The name of the bar means "Last Call" in Mayan. Clever.

So after the two gorgeous dives today, during which we saw 2 dolphins and at least 7 eagle rays (finally!), we reconvened at La Hach to have a final drink with Justin, because he's going back home tomorrow. It is sad to see him leave: in 3 weeks that we spent together I've grown to like hanging out with him a lot. He is fun and full of interesting stories. Next will be Ana - she is leaving on Saturday. But I guess this is the essence of this trip - to meet people, integrate them into my life and get integrated in theirs for a short while, and then let each other go, easily, hoping but not knowing for sure whether we will ever meet again. Interesting dynamic.

Ana, Justin and I were sitting outside on the terrace, contemplating the beauty of the horizontal moon, discussing the pointless and fake nature of various glamorous TV parties. Both Justin and Ana are connected with this industry: Justin is a camera assistant, and Ana is a copy editor at a French TV magazine. As they went on blaming it all on the producers who want to create a hype around everything, a couple approached our table saying, "We couldn't help but overhear that you guys are talking about the TV industry". It turned out that they are both teaching some TV related stuff at the university of BLANK (totally forgot where they are from, wow). They were about to leave the bar when they came up to our table, but then we invited them to join us and somehow they stayed for another 2 hours. We had most interesting discussions about the TV industry and internet changing the dynamic of film distribution, about the dangers of diving without a computer, about flying planes (apparently, both this lady whose name escapes me at the moment along with the city they are from and Justin are licensed pilots!), about everything in the world. It was so much fun to just randomly meet some people and spend a great time with them, learning their stories, sharing your own. I find this aspect of the island existence fascinating. Somehow, here it's never about the small talk (unlike the aforementioned TV parties), it is always pretty sincere and informative. And it is so interesting and illuminating to hear about people's life. I think I'm turning into a fan of the short story genre...

Day 20 - Hablas Espanol?

I have a serious problem. I understand Spanish very well, but I still cannot force myself to speak it. Well, I do order food and can get by... WHEN I AM BY MYSELF! Meaning - no Spanish-speaking friends around. What the hell? And apparently, my Spanish pronunciation is super good (judging by all the 3 words that I manage to occasionally utter). The other day, I ordered "chille relleno con carne y queso" at a restaurant, and the waitress asked me "eres d'Espana" ("Are you from Spain?"). So, here I have a potential of speaking a foreign language without an accent and I can practice all I want now, and - BLOCK! Of course, this problem is not limited to Spanish. For the past 3 weeks, I've spent a lot of time with Ana, the French girl who got decomplressed. Do you think I even mentioned to her that I speak French? Of course, not. Well, I don't really speak it, but wouldn't it be nice if I took this chance to practice?

That whole thing reminds me of when I first moved to NYC. I knew English pretty well at that time (school, university, translation work), and yet for good 2-3 months (if not more) I never ordered food in a restaurant if I was with my friends. I'd let them order. I'd never speak a word of English unless absolutely necessary. In fact, my co-workers at first thought that I was a woman of a very few words... What bitter disappointment afterwards, when my English language well finally opened up!

Today, I took my first real Spanish lesson - no joke, 2 hours 4 days a week with a real Mexican teacher. The first session was to evaluate my level - we spoke only Spanish, well, tried. He made me write, read, talk. And determined that I was "intermediate" - can you believe that? Intermediate and I don't even speak!!! I'm so mad at myself! But this time I'm determined to fight this issue once and for all, and I swear that by the end of March I'll be able to carry a normal conversation with a Mexican friend, and not only a taxi driver or a waiter. Wish me luck!

My homework is to answer the question "Quien eres tu?" - "Who are you?" A loaded one, but fortunately my Spanish is very limited to turn it into a philosophical discussion.

Day 19 - Dive #100

The weather was terrible today, and I would have cancelled diving if not for my stubborn nature and love for symmetry. Dive #100 is usually a big deal for divers, I'm not sure why though. Some claim that it is customary to do it naked. Well, a naked dive with me would have been a super short one, as I am freezing underwater even when protected by my 11 mm armor. So to make it "special", I decided to do it on the same day - February 18th - as my Dive #1 last year. Today, I was the only girl on the boat with 7 men, and they all tried to convince me that they wouldn't mind a very short dive for the sake of the tradition, but I didn't give in.

The current was pretty strong (which I love), and as I was gliding above the carpet of the gorgeous coral heads of Punta Tunich, I was trying very hard to finally determine why I love diving. Then, lulled by the rythm of my breathing, I somehow forgot what I was thinking of completely and just enjoyed the flight. Who cares why, I just love it...

Day 18 - Pajamas day

Apparently, one needs a pajamas day even when on vacation. I had a grandiose plan for my day off diving - re-stock my fridge, finally finish reading this Gogol book, sun-bathe, do yoga, do manicure, start my Spanish lessons - but instad I skyped with my friends in NYC and Russia all day long. Oh well, not a terrible alternative:).


Pictures below are not in any way related to this post, but they came up in various skype conversations, so - here we go.




A nurse shark - those are everywhere here, not scary at all. Well, to be fair - I never tried to piss them off.






As I walked by a house, I saw this picture perfect scene. In real life, it looked like a painting.











No summer is more beautiful than NYC on a snow day...

Day 17 - Diving out of Caleta and Carnival on fire

It looks like we are in the midst of the coldest winter all over the world. Including the Caribbean. 70F and very windy - not a good combo for enjoying the beach. The only reason I went diving this morning was because due to the heavy winds it was out of Caleta marina that I have never been to, and I'm such a sucker for trying new places. And although I created more trouble for myself than it was worth, I still don't regret it. The marina is so beautiful, but essentially it's a gas station for boats, so the smell is outrageous! But pictures don't stink, so enjoy the view!:)

We did a gorgeous dive at Punta Sur Sur, with lots of swim-throughs, but unfortunately only 3 people out of 7 were diving on nitrox vs air, so our dive was short - only 50 minutes - which actually works for me, because I don't get frozen, just comfortably cold. However, when we got back on the boat, even two parkas couldn't save me from the violent wind and splashes as our boat was rushing through the stormy waves to the surface interval. Again, the view is spectacular, but the feeling is not as much. What's up with this dissonance today? The sun hid behind the clouds, so there was no way for me to warm up, I got to shiver and had to take a long taxi ride back home skipping the second dive.

Today is the last day of Carnival, the night of the main parade. Of course, we join the celebrations. Thankfully, the weather is cooperating more or less. It's still a bit chilly and very windy, but at least it doesn't rain on this parade. Complete organized craziness is what it all is. Hundreds of people are camping out in the main avenue - Avenida Rafael Melgar - standing, sitting, dancing, eating. Street vendors are everywhere selling unknown little things that I want to try but don't dare for the fear of them turning out "asqueroso" (my favorite Spanish word meaning "disgusting"), and trust me, many things here can look so appetizing and taste awful. All in all, this parade is a friendly show-off between different neighborhoods. People set up party trucks with different themes, everybody is dressed up so differently: some wear ridiculous Halloween-like costumes, some have very elaborate Latin style outfits. Of course, the cutest thing is dressed-up little kids: space princesses, Caribbean pirates, Supermen, Batmen, you name it. Their job is to throw candy and beads into the crowd, and they seem to enjoy it tremendously.


And now the highlight of the parade - Senor Frogs restaurant burst into flames! Its palm tree leaf awning caught on fire from one of the floats with fireworks and in a second everything was a pretty scary mess - pieces of the awning started to fall down on the street, and because of the wind the fire spread very quickly. It looks like the staff of this restaurant took their fire drills very seriously, because in 10 minutes - before the real fire fighters showed up - the fire was tamed. I feel horrible admitting this, but because nobody got hurt, it was really entertaining to watch. The best part was that one of the side awnings burning down revealed a huge neon sign inside the cantina reading "Here anything can happen". Pretty ironic.

By the way, turns out that the cars don't just explode when they catch on fire - a revelation for me. Justin used to work in the Special Effects team for a while and his job was actually to set up explosions of things that won't do it naturally.

The parade was not stopped - it was suspended for about 40 minutes in that particular area, for the clean-up purposes, but then everything was resumed as if nothing happened. I love it here!

Working our way back home through the dense crowd of people, Justin and I thanked Ana for picking the best spot to watch the parade from. Apparently, it's in her blood - she used to be a news reporter...

The night ended with some really beautiful fireworks.

Day 16 - On decompression

When you wish somebody to get decompressed on their vacation, make sure you are not talking to a diver. Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are with your dive profile, you may still get DCS (decompression sickness, or bends). There's a very sinister dive doctor here in Cozumel (Dr. Piccolo), whose favorite expression seems to be: "If you dive, getting bent is just a matter of time". Last summer, when I took 20 rides in the hyperbaric chamber for my migraines (which seems to have worked by the way), I started to share his attitude as I witnessed many "undeserved" cases of decompression. At least 5 times my scheduled chamber ride would get postponed due to an emergency treatment needed. And every single time the dive profile looked completely kosher, according to the computer records they check as part of the standard procedure in case of bends.

It is widely believed that dehydration is the main reason for "undeserved" DCS (it's almost an official term for bends that happen without any apparent dive profile screw-up). That is why the boats are stocked with coolers full of water bottles and they almost force you to drink as much as you possibly can before you go on a dive. You should also try to refrain from drinking coffee / tea the morning before your dive, and of course no hang-overs! That is the reason for the pretty quiet night life on the island - divers usually quit drinking early in the evening and are in bed by 9-10PM to make sure they sleep any alcohol leftovers off. Of course, there are other factors, both physiological and psychological, that play a role in it as well - period, sleep deprivation, indigestion, anxiety, etc. Each diver must definitely know their limits and never succumb to any peer pressure or - what's even worse - internal pressure to get another dive in at any cost. The price may just be too high: although DCS is really not that big of a deal in recreational diving - you can treat it with a couple of hyperbaric chamber sessions - but then you deprive yourself of diving for the next 6 months (at least, that is usually the time limit doctors set). The best policy, according to the sinister Dr. Piccolo, is to have this schedule - take 1 day off for every 3 days of diving, and to always listen to your own body's messages. And, I guess, always knock on wood while simultaneously trying not to obsess with it:).

This time, in the 16 days of my trip, I personally have already witnessed 2 cases.

George is around 50-60, a very experienced diver, got decompressed on his first dive here in Cozumel this season. Go figure. What is worse, he didn't have the DAN insurance, and apparently every hour in the hyperbaric chamber is $1,000 when it is decompression related (interestingly enough, each of my migraine session hour cost only $100 - and I thought that was too expensive...). So for one day of DCS treatment, which is usually 4.5 hours, he had to pay $4,500 out of pocket, and it is very unlikely his regular insurance will reimburse him. DAN insurance, on the other hand, is just $70 a year...

Ana is a French girl in her 30s, who came here for a month from Paris, got decompressed after about a week of diving. She is taking it pretty well, considering... Now that she cannot dive but still has a couple of weeks here left, we might actually go to Belize together. She is a copy editor for a magazine in Paris and took some time off before her new 6-month contract starts. She doesn't have DAN either, but of course the French medical insurance covers 100% of costs without any further ado. Surprise.

At the same time, there are people who are "unbendable". My dive instructor Mateo participates in some research that is aimed at studying the physiology of DCS. DAN conducts experiments to see what conditions people respond to better or worse. Apparently, there are some people (usually, students in need of money) who are willing to say "Yes" to an invitation "Would you like to try and get bent this weekend?" Mateo has been doing it for years just for the sake of the science, and so far has been unbendable. His favorite saying though is: "There are only 2 ways of not getting bent: either don't go down, or don't come up". Also, the studies show that people who dive all the time (dive masters, commercial divers, etc.) get bent much more rarely - their bodies somehow get used to the nitrogen bubbles, and they are reported to get DCS mostly only after a long vacation.

Anyway, while feeling very bad for my fellow divers who got decompressed, I ensure that I continue my underwater adventures uninterrupted by drinking gallons of water, taking days off diving, sleeping a lot, and eating oh so extremely well:). So I hope I'll be fine. But I also make sure that I renew my DAN insurance regularly and remind myself that in the unfortunate event of me getting bent, there are a lot of other things I can enjoy doing in the next 6 months:).

Day 15 - Valentine's Day feast

Diving turns out be to a very social activity. You'd think it should be the opposite: you are pretty isolated from everybody underwater, you don't really talk (although, surprisingly enough, some people can actually enunciate so well that it becomes no effort to understand them - bad news for that guy who participated in my survey last summer featuring "no talk guarantee" as his number one reason for diving), you are completely in your own world. But all those long boat rides (sometimes pretty eventful due to various engine malfunctions or choppy seas) and surface intervals (we usually do what is called two-tank dives, meaning that your first dive is followed by an hour breakfast / lunch break followed by another dive) create the perfect time window to share remarks on your common passion for the underwater world and, inevitably, your life stories. What bothers me the most, actually, is that the first question after the introductions is "What do you do?" Are we really THAT defined by our job? Of course, now that I don't have any job, I feel amazing to just be able to say, "I do nothing". But the next question is always, "What DID you do then?" Seriously, who cares! I mean, I'd like to know what somebody does, but not if I meet a person for 5 seconds... Some people that I become closer with - of course, I'm very interested in everything they are about, including they occupation, but if I just literally pass by somebody underwater, why is it so important for me to know what profession this person chose at some point in their life? Anyway, regardless of this little nuisance that irritates me, it is absolutely awesome that you meet so many people in such a short time. And since you share a passion, you always have something to discuss, there are never awkward pauses, so in a way, you become somewhat close by default.

Some people come to the island time and again over many-many years, so they become friends with other people who have same vacation schedule, as well as locals (both Mexicans and expats) - dive masters, bar owners and tenders, hotel managers, etc. - and create a pretty neat ever-expanding social circle. Once you meet somebody from within such a cirle and stay on the island for more than 3 days, you automatically become part of it as you get invited to various functions - Super Bowl party, Valentine Day's cook-out, just a Saturday night bar bash, etc. When you become part of several circles, you realize that they overlap. It's a pretty fascinating dynamic, like with any social networking, but here everything happens in record time, probably due to the lack of any other commitments during your vacation, which makes it possible to accept as many invitations as you can (well, until it becomes impossible, of course, but I think the island is too small for that to happen - at least, not any time soon for me:)).

To cut a long story short (which, I guess, I already failed to do), I was invited to this BBQ party by Justin. You may remember him from my trip to cenotes last Thursday: he is the guy I have been diving with for the past couple of weeks, the one who worked on the Twighlight fight scenes as a camera assistant, and the one who I'm stealing underwater pictures from to post here and on FB. He is part of a group of people who rent this awesome 3-bedroom house in-land for a couple of months and just share in for 2-3 weeks each - a pretty neat concept. The house is far from me, so it took me one hour to walk there, but gave me a chance to test my new GPS device, and I'm happy to report - it works!

Just a tiny curious detail: I thought it would be appropriate to wear my Heart Fighter woot t-shirt to the party on February 14th, but no mention of the Valentine's Day was even made. The food was SPECTACULAR! Mexican BBQ is exactly like any other BBQ, plus chorizo sausages, and nothing can top that!!! And some lady made a salad that I had several helpings of (and from a carnivore that I am that is a huge compliment to the salad)!

In addition to some people who I already knew due to the aforementioned overlapping nature of social circles, I met some pretty interesting characters at the party, including but not limited to somebody who reminds me immensely of - brace yourself - JOEL!!! As you can imagine, it was most entertaining. He is Justin's father, he is 60 and a total hippy. It is so wonderful to talk to him! I couldn't stop smiling as he was clueing me in on some of the stories and general life experiences. Made me feel home away from home. An exquisite pleasure!

Speaking of social networking, one of the guys from the party - Alex - is a bar owner here in Cozumel. Now that he knows that I'm planning to go to Argentina in a few months, he wants to introduce me to a Mexican guy who lived in Argentina for a while and knows all the ins and outs. Obviously, I'm going to take him up on this offer.

As I chewed through all the grilled deliciousness piled up on my plate, I kept thinking how cool the simple act of talking to people is - not only it is fun, but actually it is also a crucial tool to ensuring your comfort in life. I know, I know - it's not the most profound thought, but given how full of meat I was, this was the maximum depth my mind could reach...

Day 14 - The other side

Finally, the weather is cooperating for us to go dive on the other side of the island. That means, it completely sucks on this side: 61F this morning and windy as hell. Diving on the other (East) side almost never happens, because normally seas are very choppy over there. Since Aldora is the only dive shop that provides trips to the other side in order for their clients not to lose any dive days regardless of the weather conditions, today they have to accommodate customers from all over the place, so everything is a bit messy and confusing. Of course, we don't care - we just have to wait a little longer for a taxi to pick us up instead of a boat - we are all extremely excited and agitated. It is completely different for the staff though. The captains moved their boats to the other side yesterday in preparation for this weather, which means unhappy wives and hurting backs, as they had to sleep over in their boats. The dive masters also have more work as they drive trucks / cars full of customers and move tanks and gear around to a much further destination. But at Aldora customer service is everything, so everybody is smiling and seems as excited as their clients to go dive in a rare location.

I have been to the East side of the island many times in the evening, to admire the roar of the waves while stargazing, so it is very surprising to see the ocean so calm and quiet today. You may remember how I wanted to go on a silent retreat once. That may be just the perfect place for it. This side is completely uninhabited. No stores. A couple of restaurants close fairly early. No electricity makes the skies look like a star atlas at night. The only hotel in the area is very basic - cold showers, candles. A little spooky, but maybe I should spend a couple of nights here just to prove that I can survive without technology for at least a couple of days!:)

Diving was spectacular! The reef is so pristine. The swim-throughs look like a maze - so much fun. The sand is very light and the constant surge forms beautiful dunes out of it. Unbelievable beauty... Unfortunately, I was freezing and couldn't make the second dive. The outside temperature was 63F, and even though the 77F of underwater felt like a warm bath at the beginning, I got to shiver full-force by the end of the first dive and couldn't even dream of going back after the surface interval. On the upside, I got to practice my very limited Spanish with the boat captain who doesn't speak a word of English. And the water was so transparent that I could watch the divers and reef from the boat while wearing two parkas and trying to warm up under the intermittent sun. As a consolation prize, I got a little pretty sea-shell from the dive master. So as far as I'm concerned, it was a beautiful day and I am happy that I finally dove (or dived) the mysterious other side!

Day 13 - The Artist's Way

Took a day off diving and was home all day reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Very interesting. I have a feeling that I'll post more on it here as I go on reading...

Tonight, there was supposed to be some dinner for www.scubaboard.com members. I don't participate in this networking, as FB is quite enough for me, but I have a friend here who is a member, so she invited me. I came a little early and got a drink, waiting for the group to show up. Then, Anna (this girl who invited me) came and joined me at my table. Together we tried to determine which of the many groups at the restaurant could potentially be her virtual "buddies", but since nobody looked fun enough to join, we just had dinner the two of us, exchanged some travel stories, and called it a night.

Day 12 - Cenotes

The official definition of a cenote is a sinkhole with exposed rocky edges containing groundwater, typically found in the Yucatán Peninsula and some nearby Caribbean islands. My definition of a cenote is a heavenly haven. I have never seen anything more pure, beautiful, and serene. It is both an amazing visual, providing some optical conundrums as you gaze through the absolute transparency of the fresh water onto the jungle outside the cave, and an incredible sensation of all human emotions descending upon you all at once, forcing you to simultaneously feel peace, quiet, danger, age, exhilaration, sadness...

Today, we went to 2 cenotes in Playa del Carmen (a short ferry ride from Cozumel) - Kukulkan (named after a Maya snake deity, who is believed to be the pet of the Sun God) and Chac Mool (it is the name given to a type of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican stone statue that depicts a human figure in a position of reclining with the head up and turned to one side, holding a tray over the stomach; the meaning of the position or the statue itself remains unknown; not to be confused with Chaac - the god of rain). By the way, our dive guide gave us totally different information on origins of these 2 Mayan words: he said that Kukulkan is the god of sun, and Chac Mool is the god of rain - but thaks to Wikipedia we can straighten that out:)).

















After the dives, my cenotes buddies and I went to celebrate the perfection of the day in a local beach restaurant called La Tarraya, where over yummy whole fried fish we laughed at each other's life stories and marveled how our oh so different paths somehow brought us all to the same table today.

Day 11 - My wish factory

Today was an amazing day! It seems like every little thing I wish for, comes true.

I really wanted to be on the big boat - and voila - I was. There are several boats here at Aldora dive shop - one "big boat" (el barco) and 3-4 speed boats (las lanchas). I love all of them, but the big boat is my favorite: it's a lot of fun to sit on the top level next to the captain listening to the lively Latin music while gazing in the blue of the sea on the way to and from dives; it has a toilet on board (which is a real blessing for me, as I'm not very well water-broken so to speak, and for some unknown physiological or psychological reason, it seems that my bladder would much rather prefer to explode than to let me pee in the ocean); when the waves are very rough, you don't really get splashed as much; usually it accommodates 2 groups of divers which is always fun as your paths cross underwater (and sometimes it comes very handy, as you'll see below).

Yesterday, I was thinking that I had not been to one dive site - called Maracaibo - forever. And boom - today we go! In my opinion, it's one of the most beautiful dive locations here. It is totally different from the regular reefs of Cozumel. It reminds me of the Persian carpet - I guess it's the colors and fairly flat yet textured terrain. This place is usually for deep dives as the drop-off starts at 90 feet. Also, there's a gorgeous coral arch that you can swim through at 120 feet. Usually, the current is pretty strong in this area, which makes drift diving even more enjoyable. You know those beautiful dreams of flying? It is exactly the same feeling, except you know you are not sleeping. I just looked up the interpretation of such dreams, and apparently they mean that something is going very RIGHT in our lives. I can only imagine what free flying in real life should mean. What? Wow!:)

On this trip, I still didn't see an Eagle Ray - my favorite underwater creature. Correction - I didn't see one until... today! I was just thinking to myself, "Everything is going so perfectly today, maybe I'll finally see an eagle ray". And bam - here it was in all its pre-historic glory.

And last but not least, another important wish was granted to me today. Remember at the beginning of this post I mentioned that the big boat can usually accommodate 2 groups of divers? Normally, they separate at the entrance point - the first group jumps in a little earlier - and rarely meet underwater. At minute 30 of our second dive, I started my regular shivering routine, and prayed that we somehow bump into the other divers, although I knew pretty well that it was next to impossible given their original jumping point. But - oh, miracle - around minute 55, when I was about to freeze to death but didn't want to let my group know not to spoil this gorgeous dive for them, I see my savior Javier (a dive master) leading his bunch up-up-up-up-up. So I jump ship and join them, thus saving my butt from freezing and leaving my buddies in the deep to enjoy another half-hour of their dive without my useless shivering presence.

I don't really know what to make of all the "coincidences" of today. So I choose to believe that I have somehow turned into a wish factory, and all I need to do now is streamline my wishful thinking into some sort of conveyor belt:).

P.S. Fortunately, no black-eye from my yesterday's accident. A little sad though - I really wanted to explore how people would react to the cantina story:).

Day 10 - a black eye?

Another wonderful day in paradise. Got to drive the boat again! And I did so well that the captain (a different guy from yesterday) asked me if I'd done it before, to which I proudly answered, "Yes, yesterday!":).


There was a little accident on the boat though - nothing to do with my driving it, fortunately. After the dives, we drove one of the guys back to his hotel and as he was exiting the boat, he shook some other guy's hand and continued the movement of his hand right onto my cheek. For a moment, all the wind was completely knocked out of me - he is a big guy and, apparently, VERY heavy-handed. I could barely compose myself to mummble, "I'm fine, I'm fine, no big deal" because the poor guy was completely devastated, of course. But I was not fine - it was really painful. It is still red and hurting a bit, but I've iced it plenty, so hoping for no black eye. However, if I do get a shiner, my story will be that I got into a drunken fight at the cantina:).

Day 9 - NTLDR - Dedicated to Dima Lupyan

Took a day off diving.

Did nothing all day but update my blog for the weekend, post pictures on FB, and chat on Skype. Takes time.

Went to dinner and it was delicious - chile relleno con carne y queso (peppers stuffed with meat and cheese) + caipirinha.

Now home and ready to go to bed.

Dima, is that manageable or still TLDR?

Day 8 - Driving la lancha and Super Bowl party

Diving today was extra fun because in addition to noticing - all by myself - all the cool little things of the sea (a cute little drum fish, a crab hidden very deep into some coral head, 10 lobsters nested tightly all together under a hedge), I got to DRIVE LA LANCHA (a speed boat) from the dive. It is the most exhilarating sensation! It is so easy! Well, when the real captain is standing right next to you and you are certain that if you do something wrong, he will surely avert crisis in a split second. Push both engine levers down to the maximum and dodge the waves and other boats! I stood there at the wheel - still shivering from the dive, trying to avoid the boat traffic, careful not to splash the 7 passengers in "my" care. All of this without an actual thought in my head. Senselessly happy.


I should quit trying new things though, because - a big surprise - now I want a boat! Or at least a captain's license:).


In the evening, I was invited to watch Super Bowl at the villa Aldora (the hotel where I stayed last time). Wanted to bring dessert and beer to the table. The former was not a problem to find, but I totally forgot that in Cozumel they stop selling liquor after 3PM on Sundays in the attempt to curfew the alcoholism that is as bad here as it is in Russia. Not sure how several hours of beer purchase deprivation is helpful though. In Russia we gave up and sell alcohol 24/7 to anybody who's tall enough to reach the counter.


The party was very nice. Food was delicious, the first (and last) beer I had since I came here hit me right in the head, the crowd was diverse, friendly and interesting, and TV - what a relief - was silent! I guess they didn't want to hear all the comments in Spanish. But I was very happy about it: I don't understand one rule about American football, so for me it's painful enough to sit through the 5 hours of the game, let alone being bothered by the continuous loud sounds. So it was perfect: to substitute the commentary, guests were just discussing the game amongst themselves and sharing various unrelated stories. I was in charge of keeping track of betting sheets. It wasn't a difficult job to do, so I also kept track of random stories floating around the room.


Sapphire Mines of Montana: There's a whole family at the party from Montana - Bruce and Debbie have been married for 40 years (!!!), and are here with their 2 daughters (out of 4 children) and their husbands. Erica - one of the daughters - tells us that one of their favorite things to do with their children is to go up to one of the mines and buy 5 buckets of mining dirt that they sell there for $5 each. Then you go home and spend the entire afternoon sifting through the dirt looking for various sapphires. And it's never in vain. Once they found a 10-carat one. There's a special sifting technique that some family members are more proficient at, so they have more luck. Of course, those are just rough stones, and after you find them, you have to send them to get fired. The firing takes a long time - 6-7 months - because it's done in... China! The upside is that it costs only $200 a bunch. Sapphires can be blue (duh), yellow, and pink. Sapphire is my favorite stone, and I find the story fascinating. As fascinating as Bruce and Debbie staying together for 40 years, and being genuinely happy. You can sense their love toward each other in their sarcastic remarks, in their constant laughter, and subtle glances and touches that they exchange once every so often. Inspiring...


Bus or Beer Stop in Minnesota: Apparently, in some parts of Minnesota bus stops also double as bars due to unpredictable schedules of inter-state public transportation. Sherwood was telling us that once he had to wait for a bus over there for a couple of days - it got delayed again and again because of unfavorable weather conditions. I bet, the bar bus stops come in quite handy for such lengthy lay-overs.


Movie Role for a Climbing Rope: Ryan from Canada tells us that he was in an independent movie once. He was into mountain climbing at the moment, and overheard a conversation that the movie director had with his climbing coach: the movie required a rope for a little while, but they didn't want to buy it, they just wanted to borrow it for a while (the movie being independent low-budget and all). However, for some reason it was impossible to arrange. Until Ryan stepped in and offered his climbing rope in exchange for a role in the rope scene. The agreement was quickly sealed. Ryan climbed up to the ceiling of some building, managed to dodge a couple of bullets coming at him from various angles, and successfully got down on the floor utilizing the said rope. Unfortunately, only to have his throad slit at the end of the scene. And unfortunately the film never made it to distribution, so Ryan doesn't even have a DVD to prove that he has some movie star potential.


At the very beginning of Super Bowl we all had a project to detect the Green Flash effect during the sunset. I ended up taking 20 pictures that are all awesome thanks to my new camera with a special "sunset" setting, but no green flashes show. Well, I have time to work more on this, given that my windows face the West...

Day 7 - A little on actual diving

I still don't know why I like diving. Most of the people like the marine life - I honestly couldn't care less about it. I mean, if I see a cute fish or some weird creature - great, if not - no big deal. Some people get upset when they don't see the life. For me, the underwater architecture is much more appealing: the reef here looks like a terrain on another planet with its mountains of beautiful coral and planes of sand that on occasion can detach from the bottom in your direction and turn out to be a flounder and not sand at all...














On the ground, I hate sand with passion and try to avoid it by all possible means. Interestingly, the same passion applies to my love of sand underwater: sandy bottom dives are my favorite - as if you are flying over a desert, on those dives I don't miss any opportunity to run my hands through the softness of sand. Unfortunately, not many people enjoy such "boring" dives, so it's a rare treat for me.

When I was here in summer, I started to poll people on why they like diving. My 2 favorite responses are: "I am 100% sure that during this one hour NOBODY will talk to me" (of course, a guy:)). "Diving is like an acid trip: you are in an altered state of consciousness, there are weird creatures all over the place, and you cannot communicate anything you experience". I will continue my survey in the hope of finding a response that resonates with me. And maybe I can buddy up with this person to go on some serious sandy bottom dives!:)

While diving today I was also thinking how quickly we go from zero experience in something to comfortable performance. This time last year I didn't even know that going underwater was at all possible for me, and today I'm diving with no weights, not worried about air consumption, not glued to the dive master in the fear that something wrong will happen to me and I'll helplessly bubble up to the surface before anybody could notice my absence, able to see the creatures of the ocean without anybody pointing them to me a hundred times or without them whacking me on the head in their desperate attempt to be noticed. I'm far from the mastery, but comfort has been achieved. And it feels good.

The only problem is that I am FREEZING underwater! The water temperature is 79 degrees, and I wear a 5-mil wetsuit with a 3-mil hooded vest on top, gloves, and whole nine yards, but that doesn't seem to help after minute 45... And dives here are long - today the first one was 65 minutes and the second - 82, so on the second dive I was pretty much freezing for the last 40 minutes! Thanks to my new blade fins I am able to do some speed "laps" underwater in order to keep myself warm - I guess my leg muscles are going to get even stronger. Not a side effect to complain about:).