Put Another Dollar In (PADI)

I figured it was about time for a new blog entry. It has been a while, but things have pretty much been the same. After a couple weeks we fell into a pretty sturdy routine which started making me feel a bit restless a couple of days ago. There has been a core group of us for a few weeks now and I think that combined with a small island have made things a bit tense. Our time is still mostly made up of diving, studying, eating and sleeping. It doesn't leave much time for other things.

There are only a few days left. I will be finishing the course on the 7th then will be making my way to Bangkok on the 8th. It will be a lovely 20 hour plus journey. It's an expensive journey though, because the south eastern border of Thailand isn't very safe due to terrorist bombing and religious conflict. SO I shall be taking a boat and then I assume a bus at some point. I think I will have had enough of beaches for the time being so am bypassing the south.

The course is going fairly well, but we have had to fit a lot into just a few weeks. We will get it all done on time. Although we have been assisting a lot with classes we really haven't been leading any dives. Will definitely be looking for some work soon so I can get some initial experience.

I have been trying to have a social life outside of our group, but that hasn't worked so well. I did run into a guy yesterday that I had met on my first night in Malaysia when I stayed in Melaka. So I did hang out with him and some of his friends last night.

Lauren my Alaskan roommate and fellow couch surfer who has been living in Thailand the past couple of years is AWESOME. I can't imagine what this course would have been like without her. We have had some new CS members join us which has caused a gender upheaval. We went from 3+ women and 1 man to 5 men and only 3 women. We have a good mix going though.

The diving here has been a little disappointing. We have mostly been doing shore dives, but the visibility has been pretty bad and the coral is bleached. It is still pretty good, but nothing like I expected.

I think this is a significant blog entry to tide me over until I reach Thailand. So until then...