Utila – Week 2, Day 5: Thanksgiving Triumph
UTILA
Week 2
Day 5: Thanksgiving Triumph
November 24, 2022
Yet another long day was awaiting me. I’d be doing my third and final skills circuit and then celebrating my first ever Thanksgiving with the Underwater Vision family, before saying goodbye to Natalie as she headed to Nicaragua.
The weather was a complete and total pathetic fallacy – a massive thunderstorm welcomed me as I opened my door, ready to face the skills session. As I walked to the equipment shed, Fleur informed me I’d be doing the last circuit with Noah, who, at around the same time, told me the visibility and weather were too crappy for us to attempt anything. By this time, I just wanted to get it over and done with. I was still in a low mood from the previous day and wanted to see if the tables would turn. But thanks to the weather, that’d have to wait.Â
In the meantime, seeing as I couldn’t do anything that would’ve been considered a good use of my time, I continued working on my knowledge reviews – the boring aspect of scuba diving. I had completed the first three after my orientation to be allowed to participate in workshops or do any dives as an official divemaster trainee (DMT), and now I had six left, along with two final exams. It took me the entire morning and afternoon, but I managed to get all of that out of the way. Diving might not have been my forte, but studying and acing exams is – five years of med school do come in handy with these kinds of things.
A Slow Start
After I was done with the academic part, I proudly made my way to the office, where a whiteboard used as a checklist for DMT progress stood waiting.Â
There were some ten other DMTs on the board, with different symbols representing all they had done throughout their course. Then there was me – with a whole lot of nothing to my name. But finally, I’d get my two first symbols – a skull and a cross. One for completing my knowledge reviews, the other for passing my exams. Admittedly, having two out of thirty-three didn’t make me feel much better, but at least it was a start!
Standing in the office was Bar. Given that the rain had cleared up and the visibility in the confined area was much better, he asked me whether I wanted to finish the skills circuit. Riddled by excitement and anxiety alike, I agreed – it was now or never. This time round, I did everything almost perfectly. I got a 5/5 on every skill except two: changing my BCD underwater (it took me a loooong time to get my arms into the sleeves), and recovering my regulator (I forgot to show my invisible audience that they’d have to blow bubbles when the reg’s out).  I failed to disconnect my own LPI from the BCD on this occasion too – but again, I did it effortlessly on Bar’s own BCD, effectively earning me full points
He asked me whether I wanted to redo the skills I didn’t get a perfect score on, but given that up until the previous day I was this close to quitting, I was super ecstatic with my two fours and decided to end the circuit. And that was that – I could hardly believe it, but I was done with the skill circuits and I could finally start my official divemaster training!
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I felt as if I was on a high. All the disappointment and helplessness of the previous day evaporated into nothingness. The second I was done, I went to draw my third symbol on the board and dragged Natalie with me to the ATM to withdraw enough money for the DMT course (it’s a sizeable amount), and then to a dive shop where I bought a dive computer (which was super cheap, given that it was Black Friday – SCORE!).Â
I was all in now – fully committed to this new goal. I knew it’d be a lot of hard work and a long way to go, despite not having much time left before I’d have to move on with my trip – but I was motivated and determined to do it. I rushed to the office to settle my payments, where Tammy, Underwater Vision’s manager, was elated to take my money and officially welcome me to the family.Â
She added that it’d be a wonderful start to my DMT programme, especially as Thanksgiving is her thing – along with Christmas. Unfortunately, I’d be alone in Nicaragua for that, but at least I’d get to celebrate this occasion with everyone else – surrounded by people I’d actually grown to like.
Turkey, Wine, and Dive Shop Family Vibes
Thanksgiving at Underwater Vision really is something else – although I can’t quite compare it to anything, since we don’t celebrate it back in Europe.Â
Amelia and I got two bottles of wine each, since we didn’t have a kitchen of our own (well, there was one across the road, but it’s so small and dirty that we didn’t even consider cooking there), while others brought all kinds of drinks and food. I’d say Tammy won the night with her three turkeys – although Louis’s lasagne came in close. As we sat there eating together and playing all kinds of games (including a few rounds of Ride the Bus which is so friggin’ fun), it felt like we were family. After a few hours of chatting and bingeing on the incredible potluck Tammy had organised, I decided I’d be a responsible DMT from then onwards and head back to my room early, given that I’d be on the morning boat again and didn’t want to repeat the previous day’s mistakes.
Before heading to sleep, I had one last thing to do – saying goodbye to my longest travel companion – Natalie. We had met in Guatemala during the El Mirador trek. We were always first throughout the entire walk, giving us a great opportunity to get to know each other. Then we met again in Lake Atitlán, where we caught up and updated each other on what had happened since Flores. Then we stumbled upon each other serendipitously in El Tunco, travelled together to Copán, explored more ruins and enjoyed the hot springs – and finally, we got back together in Utila.Â
Two whole months of incredible experiences we both shared at different times with different people, yet somehow, our paths kept crossing as if it were fate. Being unable to continue the trip together and keep bumping into each other brought up many feels. We promised we’d meet again in Malta or in the Netherlands and that we’d keep each other updated on whatever’s going on in our lives – and with one big, strong, tight hug, we parted ways. Thank you, Natalie!
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
Snoop, Underwater Vision’s resident, grotesquely obese cat, had been sleeping in our room for the previous three days. Safe to say, we had a new roommate.