Toques and Tan Lines: Only One Week?

I've been in Bocas del Toro for a week or so now and I can't believe that's it! There are always things to do here, it's never a dull moment.

Monday was the beginning of my spanish classes, which I have every morning, Monday to Friday at Habla Ya. Oh my god, information overload! Gilberto was my teacher this week and he dove right in, which was good because it forced me to keep up. Habla Ya has an awesome style of teaching. Tons of hands on and role playing situations, but also tons of memorization. I haven't had to memorize phrases or words in a long time so I'm finding this a pretty good challenge. I'm trying to practice it as much as I can but, as I'm obvisously a tourist, people who come up to me automatically speak english.

Tuesday afternoon, the school set up a hangout session at a place called the Blue Coconut. It's a bar that's on a mangrove island, owned by a Canadian who's looking to make some rental places along the water. From what I've seen so far, I would totally rent one of his places once they're done! There was awesome snorkling, the water was crystal clear, and it was so quiet there.

On Thursday, students at the school went to Bocas Brewery, the only place in Bocas that serves beer on tap as they brew their own beer! Here we played Spanish Scrabble and hung out until we went and did a tour at the Smithsonian. Here we got to see some local wildlife (iguanas, birds, a baby caimen!), but by far my favourite part was the ocean life! There was an area where they were studying coral and this included a touching tank! I got to touch star fish, tube worms, non-stinging anemone, and even had a sea urchin placed in my hand! It was a pretty cool feeling having that little urchin crawl across my hand! The water is so clear here that out on the dock you could see all types of ocean life. That night some of us went to see the sea turtles, but unfortunately none showed up to lay their eggs. Did have a nice walk on a restricted beach though!

A student at the school, Von, had her birthday on Friday so to celebrate a bunch of us went to a bar called Bibi's on the Beach. I had my first octopus and squid of the trip and was it delicious! Now I'm going to digress here a bit and tell you about transport in Bocas del Toro. Bibi's was on another island and to get there we needed to take a water taxi. It reminds me so much of being at the lake and using tin boats to get to friends cabins, it's like a tiny piece of home. The taxis are fairly cheap, a couple dollars, and allows you to get away from the bustling town of Bocas.

Today I spent all day starting my PADI scuba diving certification. Less fun as there was videos and a confined dive in the after noon, which was super technical since I needed to practice all the necessary skills. It takes a bit to wrap your head around the fact that your breathing under water and that's okay! I'm doing my certification with La Buga and the dive master's are awesome. Lots of encouragement (fist bumps after every successfully completed skill does wonders for your confidence!), really relaxed and yet extremely knowledgable. I can't wait to go and see the reefs!