Sunday, September 14, 2008

First day 'alone' on the Island

Reluctantly I left Allie (thanks Allie for bringing me back to sanity after my initial freak out), and Playa Del Carmen. I counseled myself on the ferry that it was to be expected that I would feel lonely in my first few weeks on the Island. I thought about the Dali Lamas teachings on emptiness and decided some solitude would do me good.
I got back to the apartment, chained up my bike and went to check that my car was still where I'd parked it (yup). I then bumped into one of my neighbors an American from New Orleans called Dina who is living here with her sister Cathy. We chatted for a while and she invited me to hang out with them whenever I wanted. I then bought some drinks and came back to the apartment. I'd just settled down to start updating my blog when Miguel called. Did I want to go diving in 20 mins. Let me think - HELL YES!!!
I'm not on the kind of budget where I can dive off boats, so I was pleased to hear that the plan was to grab a ride on a little zodiac boat 200 meters out off the scuba Shack pier then follow a coral wall down to the pier at Papa Hogs and take a cab back. Another exciting thing about this is that I will be able to make the first entry on my SCUBA DIVING BLOG.
We dove with an American guy Jim, who's house Josie (Miguel's girlfriend and good friend of mine) is staying in and also a Mexican friend of Miguel's -Petros. After the dive Jim & Josie invited Miguel, Petros, his wife Elvira, their 4 year old son and me to his house for some food. We had cheese tacos and baked potatoes and they ate meat from the grill. Petros and Elvira were really nice. Elvira does not speak a lot of English so she might be a good person for me to practice my Spanish on. I left at around 7, because I'm tired and wanted to start to unpack a little. So my first day of loneliness was not too lonely at all!!!

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