I haven’t written a blog for nearly a month and in that time a lot has changed. I’ve actually left ICYE and Tegucigalpa and I’m now living in Útila and have just started the course to become a Dive Master.
ICYE have been absolutely fantastic this year, both in the UK and in Honduras but for a number of reasons I decided to terminate my contract early. The main reason was that I just wasn’t happy living in Tegus; I loved my host family but it wasn’t always a stress free living situation. I know that no living situation is perfect but it was starting to make me miserable and I decided that life is too short to be unhappy when there is something that you can do to change it.
I wasn’t enjoying my work in the hospital; I hated feeling useless and having so little to do, despite trying to introduce more activities. In the last few weeks, I actually moved to the Foundation’s head office, which was much more enjoyable and I was really sad to leave in the end. The work was purely administrative; filing, hole-punching, stapling, form filling; but it was interesting as it gave me more of an insight into the work of the foundation. Everyone in the office was lovely and it was good for my Spanish as no one spoke English.
Leaving ICYE was a hard decision for me, as I felt that I was quitting and I hate to quit. If just one aspect had been difficult, I would have got on with it but it was the combination of things, plus the fact that I had found something that I loved to do and didn’t want to miss an opportunity to dive in one of the cheapest and most beautiful places in the world. I know that some people will say, “Of course it wasn’t easy, life isn’t always easy”. However, life in Mozambique was much harder than in Tegus; Tegus has most things you could want/need, whereas Maputo didn't; in Tegus I was driven to and from work, as opposed to taking a 2 hour bus journey; I lived in a house with internet; the projects were far more organised; yet, I was far happier in Mozambique! I think a lot of this was down to the fact that in Maputo, I was surrounded by some amazing friends. Everything is easier when you have friends around you. The thing I missed most in Tegus was good friends...actually just people in general! I barely met anyone my own age and the other 2 volunteers in Tegus, due to having a host family with children their age, didn’t completely understand, as they were happy there. Tegus itself, in general, is not an easy city to live in. Simply getting to and from work is a stressful procedure and there is quite an uptight vibe; I never felt comfortable. I hated the constant attention I received. It is different to the attention I received in Mozambique, which although hugely annoying at times too, was never as aggressive as in Tegus.
I’m so much happier in Útila; I arrived nearly 2 weeks ago and I plan to stay until the end of May, when I fly home. I finished my Rescue Diver course last week and since then have been diving every day, in order to raise my dive number, as you need 40 dives to start the Dive Master; I now have 34 dives and so am nearly there. When I become a DM, I'll be able to work in a resort/dive centre and lead qualified divers on fun dives. It is something that I could combine with my TEFL qualification as they would both enable me to travel and work at the same time. At the moment I’m living in the dive centre but I’ve just found an apartment which I’m going to move into (hopefully), with a lovely English couple, within the next few days. It will be nice to have somewhere to cook and relax. I’m excited about shelves, as at the moment, the majority of my possessions live on the floor! Today, in anticipation of the move, I bought a bike!
My new bike - imagine this bike, only older and not so shiny (pictures to come)
The diving here is amazing and in the last few days I’ve seen turtles, dolphins, spotted eagle rays, barracuda, lobsters, crabs, spotted moray eels, green moray eels, yellow stingrays, star fish and a huge variety of fish. I’m still waiting to see the elusive whale shark and manta ray! I do spend a lot of time in the sun, on a boat or in a hammock, but for this course there is actually a fair amount of work to do, plus I now have to start working in the dive centre; loading tanks onto the boats, getting equipment for clients and sweeping the mats in the confined water (a vital but frustrating task). I also get to assist with the courses that I was taking only 2 months ago. I like it because I can understand when students find things difficult, because I certainly did at first!
I’m so happy that I decided to go for it and make the move. Tegus may not have been perfect, but I do have some good memories and if it hadn’t been so hard, then I wouldn’t have moved to Útila and started to do something that I love; a bad situation just makes you more determined to find a good one and appreciate it.
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