forever young

we're PADI certified open water divers now! yay. it means that we can set up our own equipment unassisted and go diving with a dive master who makes sure we go down/come up at the right speed and who will show us around in the water.
today we had to meet at 6:45am to go to the boat. we did one fun dive just to swim around and look at fish. we saw some angel fish munching on a coconut. i held a starfish the size of a rugby ball. i didn't turn upside down and twirl around in circles. happy about that. keith and i both used way less air than yesterday, so we're improving. he was noticeably calmer today.
(they drive on the other side of the road in thailand. who knew? this is the truck that would drop us off at the dock before dives. emil insisted on sitting inside the cab because there was like an 80degree incline at times.)

then we took a break and did a second dive at hin wong bay, where we practiced the last of our technical skills. taking the mask fully off under water (which still makes me a little paranoid because you're so afraid you'll forget that you can't breathe through your nose) and clearing it, blowing air rings, using a compass, stuff like that. glad all of that stuff is out of the way so from now on we can just look at stuff underwater. my ears are feeling the pain of being popped and filled with sea water for 2 days. i need a break.
aside from diving, our days have been perfect and tropical-island-paradise-y in koh tao. we had delicious curry and fruit smoothies for lunch with dawn and then got a thai massage. keith giggled like a schoolgirl the entire time. dawn, leila, keith and i had dinner at wind beach which faces the ocean and has pillow chairs on the deck. i had pad thai with a baileys, rum and banana shake (!!!!!!). at night, they dig holes in the sand and light kerosene lamps on fire so it's all beautiful and lit with the palm trees. there are men who stand on the beach twirling batons with fire on the ends and people playing soccer and dogs playing with coconuts. could it beeee any more fantastic?

today i made friends with a black community dog with one eye and who was missing part of a paw. i was scratching the lower part of her back while i was sitting on the porch and now we're best friends. good day.

favorite quote from yesterday:
keith: liden, do you feel like superman in your wet suit?
liden: not really
keith: spiderman? peter pan? nothing?
liden: i kind of feel like wendy.

liden is our dive master trainee who's been diving with us for the last 3 days. he's quiet, bashful, english and sooooooo attractive. i'll find a picture somewhere or be sure to take one before i leave.