Bon Bini!!

I am writing this evening (as a cat yowls outside my window) from the beautiful island of Bonaire in the Netherland Antilles.  I woke up at 3:00am to get to Logan airport, so I'm quit tired right now.  However, the vacation started out wonderfully with a conversation with a man from Melrose who wasn't able to get a seat with his wife and 5-year-old child.  We had completely opposite views on almost everything in life, except for the view that engaging people with different views is fun and interesting.  We talked happily, non-stop the entire flight!  A good omen for my first solo vacation ever! Although, those that know me well know that I'll talk to just about anybody willing to take the time to talk to me.

 

After the second flight from Atlanta to Bonaire I checked into my resort.  (http://www.buddydive.com/index.php/home)  I usually don't do resorts but I want to SCUBA dive so I needed a place where I could find other people to dive with.  As resorts go, this one works for me.  It's very low key and completely focused on diving.  AND they didn't make me wear a wrist-band!!!  I don't do that.  (Some day I'll write a blog article about how my daughter and I use the term 'wristbands' as a noun for the sort of people who wear them, but not tonight.  I'm WAY too tired.)  Anyway, my room is AWESOME!  More of a small apartment than a room.  I'm very happy.

 

Once I checked in I got all of my SCUBA instruction for the week worked out.  I have a refresher class/dive tomorrow morning (I haven't gone diving in more years than I care to count) and on Tuesday I am taking a Nitrox lesson.  This might be the first vacation I've ever taken where I have homework!!  I have to read a book on how to dive with Nitrox and do a several page exam before my class on Tuesday.  Fun!!! 

 

After that I went for a short snorkel.  I was going to stay out longer until I realised that in my sleep-deprived state I forgot to put on sun screen.  I did see some really cool fish though, including an orange spotted file fish.  I then went to the bar for happy hour and had my 'welcome to Bonaire' complimentary rum-punch.  I talked with an extremely adventurous couple from Maryland.  They used to live in Hawaii and have dived on the island of Palau - where I've always wanted to visit.  With a nice buzz on, I went into town to get take-out from my favorite BBQ place and found some really amazing Belgian beer to have with it.  LIFE IS GOOD!!!

 

Anyway, I'm way too tired to write coherently.  I hope to do a more interesting job of writing about my trip tomorrow when I've had more sleep.  Although then I will probably have had more rum punch and I won't write well for a completely different reason.  However, that probably won't be the case since the drink of the night tomorrow night is Cactus Coolers!!!  Yippy!! 

 

Stay tuned for pictures!!!  I'll upload some tomorrow.

 

(P.S.  I'm very amused.  I just went to log in to blogspot to upload this post.  Everything is in Dutch.  How much fun is that?  Happiness!!!)