"The Dive Trip That Wasn't" and "You Can, In Fact, Go Home Again"

It's been a while, I know. I seem to be back to my Peru schedule for posting blog entries. Old habits are apparently harder to break than I thought.

Part of my absence was a literal one - I spent 2 weeks away from Istanbul at the end of August. A dive trip to Roatan, Honduras that turned out to not be a dive trip and a week at home in Colorado were much needed refreshers.

Sigh - the Dive Trip That Wasn't. With all expectations of a week of great diving ahead of me, I landed on a sunny, swampy afternoon in Roatan, Honduras to celebrate a friend's birthday (I won't say which friend or which birthday as the birthday-person seems quite sensitive to their new age). Calm waters, an unbelievably close reef and relatively few people promised diving adventures there for the taking. But I only got one dive in and one adventure. During the ascent on the first dive of the trip, I developed a problem with my ear. While it turned out to be nothing major, blood coming from one's ear is unnerving to say the least. A short taxi ride and a staggering $15 to the dive doctor and I was assured there was no lasting damage but warned to stay out of the water for the rest of the trip. No diving, no snorkeling, no swimming.

Once the initial disappointment wore off, I found little to complain about - I was, after all, on a paradise of a tropical island. I found a good book, my camera, fresh shrimp ceviche and several pina coladas were more than adequate substitutes for the diving. I left Roatan, a bit tanner (i.e. a darker shade of white with some red spots thrown in for variety) and much more relaxed than I arrived.

The next leg of the trip was a week at home in Colorado. I used the time to stock up on supplies (greeting cards, jeans, shaving cream, dirty martini mix - you know, the essentials), meet up with family and friends, get to know my god-daughter Teagan, and hang out with her big sister Addison. I'm happy to report that everyone is doing well and going about their lives quite happily. It was good to see everyone and re-enforced that while I don't live there anymore, Fort Collins and the people there are most certainly Home and will always be Home.

I'm back in Istanbul now, looking forward to Jason's upcoming visit, putting pictures up on my walls, and thinking (as always) about where I'll be off to next.

Addison and Teagan



Me and Teagan


Roatan, Honduras