Utila – Week 6, Day 7: Spaceships on Christmas Eve
UTILA
Week 6
Day 7: Spaceships on Christmas Eve
December 24, 2022
Still overwhelmed from the previous days’ partying and fun and thinking about the Christmas festivities waiting for us that night, I realised Amelia and I only had one week left in Utila. It seemed almost unbelievable.
It’s funny how we had built such an honest-to-god routine and had gotten so used to living in Utila in such a short time. All throughout, I had been busy writing down every single thing I could think of – knowing one day I’d want to look back onto those days without wanting to forget the tiniest of details. That said, I had forgotten to document the most essential part – our very own routine.
Like waking up with Amelia and Snoop, ready for another day of diving. Having the usual toast for breakfast and prepping the boat. Going out for a dive or two (or five) – each one promising the most amazing seascapes and marine life. Reading and writing in Room 16. Chilling on the hammocks and hanging out at the restaurant. Playing Cambio, Ride the Bus, and Scabby Queen whilst bingeing on Salvas and Four Lokos. Singing and dancing on the terrace whilst watching sunset. The occasional night out, karaoke nights and Tequila Tuesdays.
I’d want to remember all of it – especially our routine and the things that would occasionally feel too mundane and repetitive. And of those we had many. In fact, Amelia and I had this running gag about the things we seemed to be doing every single day:
- Me: Maybe we should eat somewhere new
- Amelia: Hmm… what about Mama Rosa?
- Me: I wonder where we’re gonna dive today…
- Amelia: Maybe that new place – Moon Hole…
- Me: Are they playing Calm Down again?
- Amelia: Never heard that song before…
And there were many other things we had grown accustomed to. Like Noah singing Foreigner’s I Want to Know What Love Is like a broken record (though his voice is as sweet as honey). Catherine’s distinct walk while carrying tanks donning her lime-green diving poncho. Rachel and her on-again-off-again relationship with Marco. Fleur constantly chasing Ziggy around the entire premises. Dr Marius and his crush on Amelia (and every other hot chick who’d step in Utila). Amelia and her fling with Omar. Levi sitting by the dorms contemplating whilst smoking weed. I could go on forever.
Moon Hole Mayhem
Lost in all my thoughts, I had almost forgotten that we still had a deep dive left as part of the course. Our first dive would be at Moon Hole – AGAIN. I swear, I knew that dive site like the back of my hand.
The idea of getting narc’d again had me feeling more excited than ever for the dive. I swear, I think I might be a junkie after all – though at least for a natural high! Once at Moon Hole, Rachel, Amelia, Dr Marius (who’d be joining for the fun dive) and I geared up, jumped into the water and started our descent.
Here, again, we saw a queen triggerfish, and, thinking back on the video I had taken two days previously whilst narc’d, I tried my very best to take a decent one (I actually managed!).
As we headed down to forty metres, the rush of warmth, the light-headedness and the uncontrollable laughing ensued. Pure heaven. Much like the first time, I found myself spinning and twirling, enjoying my high – the others unamused – clearly not experiencing the same euphoria. That is, at least, until I found a pillow on a sand patch and pretended I was sleeping. Perhaps fluffing it wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had, as after a few seconds, it felt like we were caught in the middle of a sandstorm. After that had settled, I could see everyone laughing their asses off, Amelia literally rolling over the seafloor – effectively inspiring a new term: ROSL.
Once again, I had failed to note my deco time, and, with just three minutes left, we started our slow ascent. We saw all kinds of fish – some imagined, some real, with a bearded toadfish hiding underneath a crevice in the rocks and at least five lionfish begging to be murdered. Hunting whilst narc’d doesn’t seem like a good idea though.
The Chamber
Back at Underwater Vision, everyone seemed to be getting their pre-drinking on. We’d be going to Bando Beach for a rave that night, and considering how expensive the drinks there were, it only made sense for everyone to go there already drunk. And so, we hit the rum and the Four Lokos hard and heavy.
Amelia and I took a step back from this. Mostly cause Levi started exhibiting signs of decompression sickness – numbness in his knees and arms, fatigue and headache. Pretty sure Dr Marius had jinxed him the day before by saying he hoped he wouldn’t have to go to the hyperbaric chamber on Christmas Eve. We embraced our festive spirit and, together with Adah, accompanied them to the clinic.
At the cost of sounding selfish, It felt good to be in a medical setting once again – even as a guest. I went through all the drawers and cabinets, inspecting all the equipment and tools, reminiscing about my work and how much I had missed it. They even had a CPR trolley with pedals – something I had never seen in real life given how outdated they are. Of course, the thing that stole my attention was the hyperbaric chamber – it looked like something you’d find on a spaceship!
I stood there in awe as Levi and Adah (who’d be accompanying him in the chamber for the next four or five hours) entered. They explained the procedure – that they’d be simulating a dive and that they’d be increasing the pressure gradually as you would when diving deeper. Levi would have to breathe in oxygen at fifteen-minute intervals until he felt completely better, at which point they’d start decreasing the pressure before they go out.
He was pretty unfazed by everything. Adah seemed elated to be taking part in such an experience, weirdly enough. Dr Marius, on the other hand, would have to pass out on one of his favourite celebrations in order to accompany them. At least his colleagues stopped by and brought over some food!
Anti-Christmas Rave
After this, we went back to the dive shop and, before heading out, it was time for our second round of costumes – despite it not being a costume party at all.
In protest against celebrating Christmas, Amelia and I decided to dress up all in black (we both put on black mascara and eyeliner too). I put up the Baby Jesus costume again, and, once everyone was cheering for his return, I stripped everything to reveal the new theme for the night – Anti-Christmas! I’m telling you, people went bonkers. And, they wouldn’t stop complimenting me about my eyes – some girls saying they were jealous of my now luscious lashes and guys telling me I looked menacingly cool. I have to admit, I liked the attention. By then, it felt like I had become kind of a Utilan superstar.
All drunk and high from yet another one of Tim’s gifts, we made our way to Bando Beach. It was allegedly meant to be a techno party, but once there, we quickly realised it was everything but that. We sang and danced, but, after a couple of hours, we were frankly bored. I guess the highlight was drunken Clive frantically searching for Jodie who happened to have a doppelganger dressed exactly like her, with the same bright orange hair and ponytail. He’d go up to Jodie 2, realise it’s not the original, apologise, go right back in the crowd, find Jodie 2 again and rinse and repeat. Turns out, OG Jodie had been passed out in some corner all along.
Meanwhile, Amelia and I distanced ourselves from all that was going on around us and headed to the beach. Again, as had happened in Sandy Cay, I felt like something was seriously off.
Turns out, she had just found out her mother relapsed. Her aunt had called her that same day – on Christmas friggin’ Eve – telling her that they couldn’t get through to her and that when they went to her house, they found her lying on the floor piss drunk. Amelia, having been through this over and over again, was very mature in the way that she handled it. She admitted to me that alcoholism is a sickness, and that as her daughter, despite her mom telling her she doesn’t care about her (she had actually verbalised those exact same words to her), she still feels responsible for her. She knows that when she’s verbally or physically aggressive towards her it’s the alcohol talking. And, she also knows she has the option to detach herself if she wanted to.
Though I never had to go through something similar myself, I could look back on the many experiences I had witnessed as a doctor. I reassured her that she was doing the best she could and that that’s all anybody can do – even though it might seem like her best is not good enough at times. Addiction, as I had come to learn, is a life-long problem, and while there’s always hope, it is entirely her choice if she wishes to stick around for that – given that the goal in these cases is not a cure, but harm reduction. Not everyone can be able to handle that indefinitely, and she had the option to take herself out of the equation whenever she felt like she needed to do it – to put herself first. Once again, I wanted to take off some of her burden, knowing fully well I couldn’t. A warm embrace and comforting silence was all I could offer.
All sobered up and out-partied, we then made our way to Tim and Eli’s flat for a chill-out session. Omar and Madeleine and Eli and Rose were busy having some fun whilst the rest of us chatted – Amelia on her own planet.
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
As I made my way from the bow to the stern, I accidentally grabbed onto Captain Hoover’s foot instead of the handrail. These old puppies, weathered by some 38 years of hard work at sea, are as rough as the boat’s floor to say the least.