176 Days

I didn't have to wake up at any specific time so i decided to sleep in a lil bit :) it was gooood :) when i eventually came round i had a cup of coffee and a smoke to start off my day. i went down stairs and Neil was teaching a lecture in the Advanced Diving course and thought to my self, I'm going to be doing this soon enough that i might as well get a head start and start taking the information in :) it's pretty simple stuff but the locals here don't really seem to click as quickly as i do, then again i have basically been living in water all my life.

Shortly after the lecture Sam wanted to show me a little around town, but before i get to that let me tell you who Sam is and what he's all about. To put it in black and white, he has his head screwed on straight! he is a gentleman, kind hearted, ambitious (not like any of the other locals here) and has a passion for diving. He started here at the dive shop about a year ago and didn't have enough money to pay for the courses. Niel asked him if he would be interested in working to pay it off and ever since he's been passionate about what he does. He has never missed a day of work and is always on time! In the last few days he has looked after me and made me feel more at home than i could ever imagined. he is funny and always puts a smile on my face. its really nice having a conversation with him and i can converse with him for hours on end! His home language is called Wontok (one-talk), its kinda a broken English and is REALLY hard to get used to. I really take my hat off to him because the people here on the island find it really hard to speak English and he makes the time of day for me.

Anyway, he took me to town and showed me all the cool shops to go to. where to buy and where not to buy. The locals here all take a drug called Beetle nut. its a nut that you eat with a little bit of lime that causes a chemical reaction in your mouth that gives you a drunk sensation (not that I've tried it). It makes your mouth go red! its really bad to swallow this stuff so the locals just spit it out everywhere. this leaves red stains on the pavements, on walls, EVERYWHERE! its disgusting! we went to the market which is the size of a rugby field with a roof over it (kind of like a flea market back home) they sell all types of weird and wonderful things there. Fruits that you'd normally get aren't the same colour and are extremely juicey! they are 100% all natural! i came across a birds egg - like a chicken egg but 3 times bigger that they get from an island one hour boat ride from here. The island was formed by a volcano and is still active (o_0) these birds dig a hole about a metre deep and lay their only egg in it. with the heat of the lava flowing under ground it keeps the egg warm until its time to hatch. i found this quite interesting :p

I felt a bit like royalty walking through the town. kinda like a famous movie star, lol. all the girls here check you out and giggle behind your back once you've walked passed them. The men here treat them like dogs - literally! its horrendous!There is a lot of woman abuse and is not frowned upon(o_0) no body takes much note of it cause its been going on for so long or that there is no discipline what-so-eva! So when the local girls see a foreigner i guess they see it as a way out. it's very sad and i wish i could do something to change that.

On the way home i bought some fresh hot coconut bread! it was dam amazing! we took a taxi home that cost only 3 dollars (about 3 rand) the driver was extremely friendly and we chatted about the South African soccer world cup. everyone here are big soccer fans :) they would stay awake until 2am just to watch the matches that were playing! now that's dedication!





My mate Sam wearing my shades.