Sophia's Birthday Saturday

On to more savory topics, this weekend was Sophia's Birthday. After a week of pretty much no work, I'd decided to officially take the day off. Of course the referral couple I'd planed to start on Sunday decided to move their dives up to Saturday. They wanted to start at 12.30 and during my briefing at Sunset beach realized that they did not have their booties. There was nothing for it but for them to go back to the hotel to get them. So an hour later we were in the water. At 4 I was just finishing up after the second dive.
I try to be very relaxed when I am teaching but after saying my goodbyes I dove into me car, careered home in/ out of the shower and was on the ferry by 4.45 - phew - not bad going. I kind of like the ferry journey to Playa. I tend to watch my i-pod on the way there, it like time stands still for 45 mins and you can feel like watching 45 mins of True Blood is a very useful way to spend your time.
Hans and Allie met me off the ferry and we walked up 5th Ave. Playa is getting BUSY! We stopped for a glass of wine in a posh wine bar on 5th and then met Sophia, her boyfriend Graham and other friend (who's name escapes me) in a nice little Italian restaurant.
I'll be honest I ate like a pig. I'd been eating at home all week. Baked potatoes and tuna, pasta and sauce and the odd fish taco. Also that day all I'd managed to eat since breakfast was a snickers bar. So I inhaled dinner (as well as some bread and cheese in the wine bar earlier!). Hey its good to over eat from time to time.
At 10.15 I was flagging. I have to admit I REALLY like to sleep on the ferry on the way home. I get three seats and lie down and pass out for 45 mins - the sound of the engine is very soothing, as is being rocked side to side. I kind of left the group a little earlier than I could have because the ferry usually loads at 10.40 (leaves at 11) and I figured I could squeeze in an extra 20 mins sleeping. The journey was as good as usual -a fantastic 1hr 15min cozy sleep.
It was a very nice evening with good friends. Felt just like being in New Jersey for the night. HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY SOPHIA!!!!!!!

Third Nipple...

Today I saw my first, third nipple. I was standing minding my own business, passing the time of day with Jose in the dive shop, when in walked a guy asking to rent snorkel equipment. I glanced over - normal looking guy - BUT HOLD UP - what was this. I was confronted with, not 2 BUT 3 nipples. Here is what I saw:Luckily I was not involved in the whole snorkel renting transaction because I was in deep thought - was it a real nipple just like the other two? As you can see from the diagram it did not have its own boob. What do you think of this? Does anyone else have any third nipple experiences?

Feet... Be Responsible

Those who know me will know that I have a bit of a thing for feet. I've been known to go off great guys after a day at the beach when a fungal toe nail has come to light. I once spent two hours watching a guy I liked snoozing with no socks on trying to reconcile myself to his knarled feet. I can't stand nasty feet touching mine. You get the picture.
So you can imagine my horror when during a yoga class I glanced down at my big toe - there it was A TOE WART (Veruga in Spanish). It was pretty small and toe colored but all the same - there it was.
Denial came first, then blame (I remembered setting up a pose with my head lent back staring at the bottom of a co-classmate's foot soles - big black verruca - I MUST HAVE CAUGHT IT OFF NASTY FOOT GIRL - you know who you are), then shame. Uuurrrgghh how could this happen to me. I'm so careful - it is for this reason that I bought my own yoga mat and I always wear protection (flip flops) in public showers.
OK so no use crying over spilled milk, I reasoned. I had to go to the pharmacy and explain my nasty situation. I was given a bottle of liquid and told to apply it once a day. I figured once every two hours might be more prudent in the circumstances.
You will all be relieved to know that the said affliction has been removed. I have a little scar which is well on the way to healing. The world has almost returned to balance. In a few weeks I will have forgotten this unpleasant little episode.
This has been a pretty traumatic experience for me and I would like to ask everyone to take a little look at the soles of their feet. Anything worty down there? If so its contageous and very easily treatable so please act responsibly and deal with the situation.

Exercise

Well these past three months have been a bit of a bust exercise wise for me. The last month in New York was too hectic and since I got here I've just been a bit apathetic (its too hot, too humid, I have too much to organize, its my first week of work, there are no good gyms - bla, bla, bla). Well the time has come to kick all of those excuses to the curb. I do not need a gym to work out. I have running shoes and free weights and I know exactly what to do with them.
So today I finished work early came home and changed right into my running gear. OK lets see what I can do. It all started well. But after 15 mins things started to get tough (bear in mind that only three months ago in NYC I was running 40-50mins each day before work). OK I decided, its the first day. Tomorrow I'm going to aim for 20 mins, then 25, 30 and so on. Its always difficult to move from tread mill to street and after a 2 month break what did I expect.
Refusing to become disheartened I walked briskly home and pulled out my free weights. I have all of the old work out schedules that I did with my personal trainer Anna in NJ and did a thirty min upper body routine. In less than 1 1/2 hours every day I can run and do a weights routine - also I have yoga.
I love my yoga class and rely on it for upkeep of my general feeling of well being but it is not pushing me physically. I think my arms may be sore tomorrow but Its nice to have made the first step back int0 a regular exercise routine.

Out with friends

Friday night I headed over to Playa for a girls night out. Sophia was back from NJ (with a new book for me!); Allie met me from the ferry and we walked up to Sophia's new gym to meet her. Sophia walked us round her gym and I must admit I was filled with the desire to get back into my crazy exercise routine. Just look at the locker rooms:

And the new state of the art equipment would put even the best NY gyms to shame. Unfortunately Cozumel has no such luxury gyms. In fact I have yet to find a gym with a working treadmill! There is a gym being built just behind Chedraui though. Apparently this gym will be around $80 per month. When I start earning some money this will be well worth it. Once I'd recovered from the envy I felt over Sofia's gym we went off to meet Katie for dinner at Babe's, a Thai restaurant on 5th Ave:
Left to right: Katie, Sophia and Allie
Katie, Allie and I split a bottle of wine. Sophia brought news of friends in New Jersey. Katie is a, very nice, friend of Allie's. She Russian/ Georgian and is the only girl/ person I know who thinks Bull Sharks are 'cute' and is scared to death of butterflies. I would not have believed this if I had not seen her screaming and fleeing in terror from some beautiful red admiral butterflies the last time we all went cave diving together. We then decided to take a stroll down 5th Ave to a bar on the beach for a drink before my ferry. Sophia had problems getting out of her chair after a killer work out with her personal trainer (yup jealousy is a terrible thing), and swaggered down 5th like a cowboy:)
We sat at a bar I'd been two a number of times with Allie. Normally we are either the only table or one of two or three groups sitting on the beach. Tonight we had to wait for a table. It seems the high season is hitting Playa Del Carmen before Cozumel.Allie looking beautiful on the beach
I took the 11pm ferry which was fine. I slept most of the way and was in my bed proper by 12. On Saturday morning I dragged myself into work but it was Javier's day and so I was out of there by 10. I jumped into bed for an hours more sleep (loving these mid day snoozes) and then headed off to see Monica. I was very happy when Monica suggested that we head to the beach and a bar called the 'Money Bar' for lunch.
Beach at money bar
We ate too much, and then retired to sun loungers to digest the food and discuss our weeks and plans for the weeks to come. We definitely decided to try to go diving together next weekend. Its been a while for Monica and she needs a refresher but I think she'll be a nice dive buddy:Monica in the sun
We also went swimming a few times. The Ocean was flat calm and you could see pipe fish and others schooling below. Monica is truly one of the most content people I've ever met and a pleasure to spend time with. We pretty much share the same views on many topics and have no problem filling hours musing over exercise, relationships, ways to make money while not working too hard, spiritual stuff. Its nice.

Relaxing weekend

I was able to take Sunday of work; Hans is back in NJ for the week so Allie decided to come over for the weekend. We had a really great time. First a glass of wine on my balcony and then dinner at Especias. Especias is on 5th Street on the corner with 10th Avenue. I recommend this restaurant highly. I had a shrimp curry and Allie a tuna steak. Very tasty. There was also a guitarist who sang 'Piano Man' in Spanish. Probably some of the best food on Cozumel. By popular demand I brought my camera along:
After dinner we retired back to the balcony for another glass of wine and a debrief on the 7 days since we'd last seen each other. It had been a busy week. I'd started working, Allie had started German classes. We also like to trade yoga stories. Allie is studying to be a yoga teacher and I like to hear what's she's learned and there are were some interesting anecdotes from my week of classes with Selene.
On Saturday morning we had breakfast at Jeanie's Waffle House (great freshly squeezed orange juice) and then drove to the East side of the Island via its Southern point. Driving South we stopped to look at (and feel) blow holes on the craggy shore line. The rocks on the water's edge cover underwater caves and holes in the roofs of these caves blast out air and spray every time a wave floods the cave. When the wave ebbs back to the ocean a vaccum is created in the cave and air is sucked back in. The air sucks in and blows out with quite some force. Allie had previously described this on her blog as sounding like the ocean was breathing - pretty cool - like a sleeping dragon. Its a reminder of how powerful, as well as peaceful, the ocean is.Then we went to my favorite beach spot - Punta Morena. As you can see the beach is pretty crowded: I love to watch the surfers off to the left and then swim off to the right of the point. We didn't swim today because, although the air temperature was around 82 degrees, there was a cool breeze and we decided drying off might be a little chilly (we did not want to risk goose bumps - I know my friends freezing in NY will appreciate this).

How I'm feeling about my move to Mexico

I feel very at home in my new apartment. I keep things very clean so there have been no roach sightings for weeks.

I sleep very well. In New York I would fall asleep staring at my ceiling fan and in that moment before I'd drop off I'd feel very lonely. New York is a very anonymous city and you feel pretty insignificant there. Here I tend to go to bed not long after finishing yoga or Meditation, or hanging out with friends. I fall asleep feeling well with a cool wind breezing over me.

Which brings me onto yoga and Meditation. I'm pretty much going to class ever day during the week. Its affecting me quite profoundly. On the physical level I can almost feel all of the bones and muscles in my body pulling back into place after years of being hunched over a computer in an office. On a spiritual level things are definitely moving. I have always found patience and acceptance of things 'just as they are' to be very difficult. I'm a fixer and standing still is not always comfortable. Through the chakra work we've been doing I've been able to vent a lot of my frustrations and this has brought about subtle changes in my ability to trust that all will turn out, as it should, in time.

I've made some really nice friends. Of course I have Allie and Hans in Playa and some potentially close friendships developing here. Hoping to spend some time with Allie this weekend.

Being in the Ocean every day is an amazing meditation in itself - I love letting my body float to and fro in the surge off sunset beach. Diving is a time when I am right there in the moment (Zen and the art of scuba diving!). Teaching people to dive tends to bring about excitement and happiness in them which leaves me feeling pretty warm.

What do I miss. Well this is a tough one. I miss my gym and wish there was an air conditioned gym with a treadmill close by. I miss the food in the US - but am loosing weight as a consequence which is no bad thing. I miss friends: Jose, Fernando, Michele, Jeff, Stuart MacD, Carey, Gina V, Christine N & A, the guys at work. I definitely miss my little family at SCB. I also miss my friend Catherine who's working in Germany now. I miss our long talks over glasses of wine, good music and cheese or Sushi. Cat you need to get your flight booked to visit!!

Work

Well I've been working this past week. I really enjoy it. We stand around the pool in the mornings attracting people to take advantage of their free scuba lesson and then dive with them off the beach. I worked almost every day this week. I've had two very nice customers who I really enjoyed teaching - I think they got a lot out of the classes. My co-workers do not get along well but so far it has not caused me too much angst. I'm lovong the peaceful feeling I get from diving every day and its nice to be in a situation where a good mood really affects the money you make. It really does pay to be in a good mood in this job.
My hair has been very dry but I've come to realize that if I rinse it in fresh water immediately after I get out of the ocean it is not too bad. I also have a routine now of putting my sarong on after diving so that I don't mess up all of my clothes. One of the girls from yoga, Sarah, is a massage therapist at Sunset Beach, and its nice to be able to chat to her after my dives.