Good Times Rollin

Having completed my three day course at the Factory, I am now a certified Open Water Diver. Among other things, I logged four dives during which I saw barracuda, a turtle, and a small wreck. The social part of the course could have been better, as the instructor and two of the five students were French. One of the Hondurans failed to complete the course, as he was pretty panicky during the first dive, forcing the instructor to make the decision not to allow him to come on the next dive.

During the dives, just about everything that could have gone wrong did. Two of us had trouble equalizing nearly to the point where we had to abort. I came up a bit too fast during one of the drills, then nearly ran out of air. Someone else had a totally out of control assent, forcing the assistant instructor to make a dangerously fast assent. And, on the last dive, I just about ran out of air. Nonetheless, I now have my certification and can dive without a divemaster.

Upon leaving Utila, I had a three day trip to Leon, Nicaragua. There, I met up with someone I had met in San Pedro for a few good nights of terrible pool playing and conversation about just how bad the state of American politics is. (Anyone else catch Sen. Stevens referring to the internet as "a series of tangled up tubes"?) I also went to see a few cockfights, which was quite an experience. Three of the four were rather one-sided, including one in which one of the participants had its eyes plucked out about two minutes in.

I am currently in Managua, a city with very little to see, but that is nice to walk around. Unlike the rest of the capital cities I have seen here, it is rather green, as they apparently preferred to build around the trees rather than replacing them. Last night I hit up a casino and walked out with $500 more than I had when I walked in. (No, that was not from an ATM.) $50 of that came from blackjack, the rest resulting from winning a small poker tournament.

I am currently staying about two blocks away from Dennis Martinez Stadium. Baseball being the national sport, I was hopeful I would be able to see some while here. No such luck. Winter leagues only. Oh well. At least I got to see the Met game at the casino last night. They have a sportsbook too.