Here are some random tidbits of information you might or might not be interested to read. Sorry, no pics this post, just fun facts!
The weather here has been spectacular, from my Texan perspective. It was cool, cloudy and rainy for much of the first week and nice and sunny for a few days this past week. It still doesn't get much warmer than 27 degrees (everything here is in Celsius, which I will learn any day now...) so it is absolutely perfect. The water temperature is between 25-26 degrees Celsius (look it up) and is quite nice. The staff thinks it is cold, but they are used to the water being 30 degrees. I have yet to get cold on any of my dives, but we are getting into "winter" here so it will continue to cool down for the next few months, which I am totally okay with. What's the temperature back in Texas right now? 107? Yeah, I don't miss that at all.
Diving
The first week of diving was mostly skill based, some of us were working towards our Advance Open Water certification which involved 5 dives focusing on navigation, naturalist, buoyancy and other helpful skills underwater. The second week was all about coral spots (or fish spots for those volunteers working on fish). We follow around a staff member who points out different corals and we have to correctly identify them by writing out their Latin names on our underwater slates. The deepest we dive is 16 meters (50 feet) but most of the reefs and sites we survey are in the 6-12 meter range. I've seen two sea turtles so far and a ton of interesting and colorful fish that I don't yet know the names of, but I can totally tell you what kind of coral they are swimming over.
Learning
The volunteers here are split up into different groups based on the length of their time here and their interest and what GVI needs surveyed - the 4 weekers all focus on fish or invertebrates since it is easier and most of the 8 and 12 weekers (like myself) are taught coral. We have to learn 50 different corals in 14 families and know their full Latin names. Ugh. It has actually been easier that I thought. The staff is great at teaching clever ways to remember them - such as Psammocora (Siderastreidae) which looks a little like popcorn or beer foam depending on its form so they say "sammy likes popcorn and beer." You know, those cheesy little ways you remember things actually work! We had our first exam which I failed with an 87 (sorry Mom). You have to get 95 or better to pass and the staff tells us (or at least they told me) that the average scores for the first exam are 50-60, so I am actually doing really well. That's what I keep telling myself. Once we learn a new family of coral in the classroom, we go on a dive and see them underwater since they can be quite different in size than on a large projector on the wall.
People
There are 26 volunteers and 8 staff members. The volunteers are from all over the world: England, Scotland, Wales, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Germany, America and Australia (I'm sure I missed a country or two in there). Most of the volunteers right now are in the 18-22 age range as it is summer and they have all come here for 4 weeks before starting university in the fall. There are a few other volunteers close to my age, I like to think that we are the wise ones, not the old ones, but they may think differently. Everyone gets along well so far and has a good time together - diving, working and socializing. The staff is great and really good at what they do and fun to get to know. Most of them have been for for around 2 years and some went through the dive master internship before becoming staff members.
Life on Base
We work 5 days a week - Sunday through Thursday. We have at least one dive every day and some days 2. When we are not diving we are in lectures learning about coral or fish or megafauna, etc. When we are not in lectures we are working with our "duty groups" cooking meals for the 32 people, cleaning the gear and keeping the kit room clean, cleaning the bathrooms and the grounds or moving the tanks back and forth to the compressor. When there is free time, we SHOULD be studying, but can go snorkeling, nap, read or just hang out in the hammock and chat. Lots of people like to sun bathe, but I am still trying to maintain some level of pasty white skin so I try not to purposely sit outside in the sun. In case you are wondering, I've only gone through a half bottle of sunscreen, which is right on schedule. Thursday nights we a have a big barbeque party that involves a ton of amazing food, including meat and drinks and socializing to kick off the weekend. Fridays and Saturdays are our weekends - the country pretty much shuts down Saturday at noon and is closed on Sunday, so we have to get everything done in town that we need on Fridays.
Food
On base we eat a vegetarian diet, as it is easiest and cheapest to prepare for a large group. This means lots of beans, rice, pasta, lentils, homemade bread and porridge every morning. It is actually pretty similar to how I ate back home, so I have no complaints yet. I don't miss anything yet - though I wouldn't turn down a breakfast taco if one were to be put in front of me We can make our own food on the weekends, which is usually more of the same unless someone is feeling extra creative. And most importantly - there is caffeine! I thought I'd have to give it up but nope, they have instant coffee and tea every morning! So yes, I am still feeding my caffeine habit. Outside of base, there is lots of pizza, seafood and creole food. So far, I've only had pizza, as it is the cheapest and easiest to get but I will try some good creole dishes soon. Rumor has it there is a local specialty - fruit bat curry made with yep, bats. Mmmmmm fruit bats.
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