Punta Gruesa!!!!

Hello all!!
So sorry it has been so long since I have blogged.  Internet is not available on base and I do not go into town all that often so when I do most of my time is spent talking to my mother and friends ... but mostly my mom, she worries. 
So week 1 was pretty intense.  We arrived at our base which is a 40 min drive from the nearest town, Mahahual.  The base consists of a communal area called our Palapa, named because of the structure and roof made from strong leaves.  This is were we have meetings, eat meals, hangout, and .. well yeah its the communal area.  There are 4 huts which have no floors (meaning its all sand), 4 bunk beds and logs for walls and leaves for roofs.  But they are really cozy and I actually love living in them.  We learned about duties we would do and projects to complete and responsibilities around base.  There are 4 rota groups which have duties every morning at 6am.  We either rake the sand to reduce the sandflies, kit up the boats for the day and clean the dive shop, clean the palapa, or cook the meals for the day.  Every day is pretty busy.  Usually we go diving twice a day and each dive takes up about 2 hours even though most dives are only 40 min long, it takes a while to kit up and get on the boats and then drive to the sites.  We also have to always have someone on the radio when the boats are out and we have to fill tanks with a compressor.  The base is literally on the water, I walk outside my hut to palm trees, clear water, and the sun rising every day,  it is beautiful and relaxing.  I do get time to lay in a hammock and read a book or take a nap but not very often so it is really special when I get to do that.  Our meals consist of mostly pasta, rice, lentils, beans, peppers, carrotts, tomatoes, potatos, bananas and apples.  Sometimes we get pineapple or other fruit and veg and on friday nights we get MEAT!!! its great!!! Most mornings we have to eat porrige, but i put bananas and peanut butter in mine in order to get it down.  We also get cereal, eggs, and pancakes each once a week for breakfast.  People have fallen in love with my cooking, especially my "peanut saute" ... fried rice with a peanut sauce.  My kitchen group has been voted the best because we make pizza and other things that people don´t feel like putting the effort into doing.  We get friday afternoon and saturdays off to do what we please.  Most of the time people come to Mahahual to get on the internet and have a few drinks.  This is a town where cruise ships stop off but it just a mile long strip of local food and shops and everyone that works here lives in a town 5 min away called cassitas (little houses).  It is good to get away sometimes but I usually just come to town every other weekend.  There are a mix of people from the UK, America, Australia, and Canada here.  We did have a 5 weeker from Spain and one from Germany but they are gone now.  I will have a two week break starting on the 10th of december and then I will be in Cozumel for the next 12 weeks getting my Dive Masters and working at a dive shop.  The weather is bad today and there is only one internet store open with 3 computers and everyone is waiting to get on, so I will update more later on.  Promise. 
Miss and love you all!!!!

Not soon enough!

Hello all!!

Welcome to my Blog.  I have 20 days until I depart for Mexico.  I am extremely excited to start my journey but the days seem to be crawling by.  As of right now I am in Chicago hanging out with my parents and friends.  Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah and my parents and I decided to go to the "hippie services"  which was very interesting.  Lots of clapping and singing along, barefoot dancing, deep breathing and yoga stretches.  Although I think my favorite part of the service was when the Rabbi told everyone to "take a deep breath and release all your oy's".  And so a group of around 150 people all let out one huge OY together.  It was pretty funny, I even suggest trying it ..... go ahead, just let it out!!  Its nice to be home, my parents are spoiling me with delicious meals and helping me get ready for my journeys.  But I miss Bloomington so much every day.  I love my friends there and will think about them constantly.
Here is a little information on where I will be going and what I will be doing over the next 6 months.
On September 30th I will fly out of Chicago and arrive in Cancun, Mexico.  From there I will take a bus to Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo.  I will spend one night in a hotel or hostel there and then head to my base camp the next morning.  It is a 4.5 hour bus ride from Playa del Carmen to my location which is 25 miles outside of the village of Majahual.  I will be very very close to the Belize border, if you go on google maps and type in Chetumal to Majahual  you can see roughly where I will be.  It is not a town or a village, it is just a camp site.  log cabins with bunk beds right on the shore, hammocks galore, and beautiful sunrises.  Although I am sure I will go into more detail once I actually experience it.   http://www.gviusa.com/life-in-the-field/media-library/scuba-dive-academy-course/best-photos#/5763/  this is a link to pictures and videos of what I will be doing .... but don't worry I will post plenty of my own!
Oktober fest is coming up on wednesday and the following weekend here in chicago, so that should be a great time!!!  There are also some amazing free shows at the millenium park outdoor venue, one of my favorites!!  Not to mention its about a 10 min walk from my place. (hint hint .... come visit me!!!!)  Well I hope you all enjoy reading my blog and please keep in touch while I am gone, I will be on skype here and there so keep it open!!  You can also email me at anytime to let me know what is going on in your life too!!! and please leave comments on things you like to heard about or don't like to hear about.  I will miss everyone soo much but I am very very excited to make new friends from across the world!
Much love to you all!!!
~Maura