Utila – Week 7, Day 2: Sailors, Snoop, and Shaved Legs
UTILA
Week 7
Day 2: Sailors, Snoop, and Shaved Legs
December 26, 2022
Everyone seemed unimpressed by my wishing them a Happy St. Stephen’s Day. They were even less impressed by the tempest looming over Utila – a pathetic fallacy for Amelia and me.
Whilst I usually love rainy days back home, I can’t say the same about them on a tropical island. Sure, I can still do the same things I’d do at home, like huddle up in bed with a good book and a hot coffee, but when you’re in a tropical paradise, it just feels like a waste of time. That said, staying in bed whilst cuddling with Snoop is a good compromise. For the previous week, he had ditched Amelia’s bed for mine.
While I was always a dog person, this white and orange magical creature had snooped (hehe, get it?) into our lives and became our favourite neighbourhood cat – practically the mascot of Underwater Vision. It had taken a bit of time for him to warm up to us, but a couple of weeks in, our room became his safe haven and he turned into our feline bestie. That is, until I touched his belly (his weak spot) and he clawed me right underneath my right eye – just a few millimetres away from blinding me forever. He’s a moody cat, that one (but we still adore him).
Ink in the Storm
By the afternoon, I had to leave the relative comfort of my dorm, brave the storm (which by then had turned into a full-on mini-hurricane), and make my way to Camilo’s humble abode, where he was waiting for me with his inky needles.
I wasn’t nervous so much as excited about my tattoo – knowing I’m a perfectionist and that whether I’d like it or not, it would forever remain etched on my skin. We went over the design one last time, and with my final go-ahead, he shaved my beloved leg hair (which, for the record, I had never even trimmed), disinfected the area, applied a gel, and stuck on the draft. Then he primed the needle, dunked it in ink, and with my leg stretched out in front of him, he just went for it.
It didn’t really hurt. It was more like an annoying tickle, kinda like when you sit on your leg for too long and get pins and needles – except this was just needles. Admittedly, it stung a bit when he kept going over the same spots, but that was about it. Amelia, who had come mainly for emotional support, stood by me the whole time – all the while fascinated by Camilo’s life stories. Turns out, he’s a travelling tattoo artist and he’s been all over the world – his trips financed by his artistic endeavours. And he does all of this on his fancy motorbike – what a friggin’ cool guy!
A couple of hours later, I was no longer a tattoo virgin. I could now technically add “#inkaddict” to my Instagram bio (I’m kidding, okay?), and I had this really cool pirate ship sailing over a huge wave with a whale shark underneath!
As much as I liked the design (which I had come up with in my hungover stupor), I just love what it stands for. To me, the pirate ship represents one of my impossible dreams (to become a pirate and be free), and the whale shark will forever be a memory of Utila. Together, the whole thing symbolises my craving for adventure and my love for the sea. So yeah, thanks Camilo!
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
A few years down the line, I’m fully aware that the tattoo is nowhere near as nice as I once thought it was – both in terms of design and execution. I mean, it’s missing half of the mast, the sails are kinda crooked, and it’s faded a bit too.
Even so, every time I look at it, I’m reminded of my time in Utila and of the freedom and love for the sea that it represents. Plus, it’s a good reminder that there’s beauty in imperfection!