"There isn't much to do here unless you're diving"

It seemed that everyone we talked to told us that if we were not diving here in Roatan, we'd have nothing to do. We thought that would be fine, but then I realized that I am the kind of person who needs an activity, some kind of outside stimulation, rather than simply sitting in the hot sun for the entire day.

So we decided to get certified to dive. Apparently this is the cheapest place in the world to learn and has some of the best conditions for diving. Not that I know a thing about diving, or even considered it until about 9 a.m. yesterday when sitting outside drinking a cup of coffee, we began chatting with some of the divers and decided maybe this is something we should do.

By 5 p.m. yesterday, we had our books and three chapters of homework. Today, we watching videos and I guess tomorrow we get in the water.

The only catch is that I don't have the most ideal sinuses, which I understand could be a hitch in diving. Filling out the questionnaire yesterday, I had to answer "yes" to a couple questions, including one about sinus surgery and allergy medications. This prompted orders from the dive instructor for me to visit the local dive doctor, which as expected, was something of an adventure this morning.

First of all, this doctor sounded kind of like a wack job when the instructor was describing him. For example, the instructor's brother has severe asthma and his doc at home warned him against any form of underwater activity. But this doctor here said it was fine, just ascend a bit slower. In fact, that was his advice for another woman whose condition was infected bug bites on her legs. No, I agree there's no connection between ascension speed and bug bites, but that was this doctor's advice.

So I went to see him this morning and paid $15 for him to look in my ears and nose and tell me I am good to go. He explained a few things about what can happen to my ears if there is too much pressure, but that I should just equalize more frequently (holding your nose and blowing out so that your ears pop a bit) and, of course, ascend slower.