A Whole New World

Today we had a day off! It was so nice to finally have a break! Since today is Thursday, town day, we started with our grocery shopping.  The experience was a little different today because their were a lot of outer islanders in town.  The island itself isn't that big, 16 miles long, so it doesn't take much for them to come to town.  The outer islanders are much more.. traditional.  The woman wear wrap around skirts called lava lavas and no shirts.  Yes, you heard me, no shirts! It's a bit of a shock at first but it makes since I guess considering how hot is it.  The men wear loin clothes, I'm not sure what they call them here. It took a couple minutes to get used to the cultural difference.  I'm sure we won't really notice it anymore after a couple months.

This afternoon we went snorkeling! It was so beautiful! The beach we went to was completely empty, just like all the beaches are.  Almost, if not all, the beaches are privately owned so they are almost always empty.  The school has lots of connections, so their are several gorgeous beaches we have access to.  The tide was out so we would walk a lot of the way to the coral.  When we started snorkeling around I saw the most beautiful fish I've ever seen! Bright blue, striped, deep black, orange, yellow, florescent; they swarmed in and out of the coral just inches from us.  Sea fans were connected to the side of some of the coral, huge shells were on the ground with life still in them.  At one point Pamela and I hovered over a huge coral with swarms of florescent blue fish around it.  We were perfectly still, they all swam just inches from us, I could almost touch them.  Everything was so beautiful, and right there in front of me.  I've always been a bit afraid of swimming with other creatures.  I used to avoid lakes and going out far in the ocean.  I was a little nervous to go snorkeling, but I wasn't scared at all! All I could do was stare at them all mesmerized with how amazing it all was.  On top of everything else, the water feels like a hot tub! Back to work tomorrow! School starts in 4 days!