Ants go marching two by two

Today we started with an early morning dive which was not a problem for us. We wake up very early since we still are not used to the time difference or noises yet. It has become a normal routine for us to wake up frequently throughout the night until we finally give up and start working on something, often this is before the sun comes up. Today at least we had a reason for waking up early which consists of diving to see Thresher sharks. We had to be at the dive shop by 4:30 AM to set out for our 5 AM dive. This was also our first dive which will serve as our orientation to the dive procedures along with an opportunity for the instructors to assess our baseline diving level. The procedures for the interns includes transporting our equipment to and from the boat. The crate that holds our fins, mask, BCD, regulator, and about 12 lbs of weights is not a light load to transfer on a regular basis. I am hoping that all this excertion and heavy lifting will pay off with some killer biceps and a few pounds off the core by the end of the month. Also, it is a little ackward feeling watched during pre-dive, dive and post-dive procedures. Usually I am used to the dive boat crew being pleased that I have a good clue on how to deal with my own equipment but in this situation we need to be exceptional so that we can convey the confidence and procedures to new divers. Our dive was very good, with a few shark spottings. Thresher sharks are distinguishable by their very long tail that comes to a point at the top. The first shark we saw was the closest and was an amazing sight, he was easily 8-9ft long. This dive site is in a protected area and is home to several cleaning stations that the sharks often visit. The stations are just out of sight from where we are allowed to dive but close enough that you will see several sharks coming and going. I believe this is one of the only places in the world where they consistently see the threshers. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take our dive cameras out on any dives that we are being assessed and performing skills. Later we hopefully will have more "fun dives" where we can capture some of the amazing marine and micro-organisms to share photos. Next on the agenda was a practice for our skills test. There are 24 skills that we need to know well enough to emphasize every step in a demonstration, teaching style to our practice students. Most of the skills are scuba skills except for the last 4 skills which are actually snorkeling skills. The last time we have formally addressed these skills was 6 years ago during our open water scuba course. There is a quick one line description of each skill on one of our slates yet the detail required is not in writing anywhere. The approach the instructors take is monkey see, monkey do (Demo and mimic style). Two of the other dive master interns that are futher along in the course would demo the skills, then the instructor would demo the skill, and then it was our turn. No words allowed which makes sense when under the water, but even the above water demo needs to speak for itself without a sound from the leader. We have learned that many of our exercises are some what piece mealed together, learn minimal from the readings, learn a little on the demos and a little more from the instructors. Then utilize the other diver master candidates to fill in the missing links with helpful accronyms or any other helpful hints passed on to them. Hopefuly by the end all these puzzles will be solved. All of this skills training is done around the bay in a protected, swallow area of the ocean that is more ideal for skills assessment. The only problem is due to the swallow water depth it is a great place to get a scalpt sun burn that leaves a distinguisable line where our maskes start. Jeff and I now have matching sun burns. After 101 minutes underwater performing skills and probably another 30-40 minutes on the surface, it was time to head back. On the way back from the bay, we did another swim test which is the tired diver tow for 100 meters. Jeff and I took turns to push or pull the other for the distance while being timed. Jeff finished at 3 min and I finished at 3 min 5 sec which resulted in a score of 4 for both of us. Next why not complete the 800 meter swim with snorkel, mask, and fins? We swam the same route as our 400 meter swim but completed the course two times. Jeff did get a head start and I did once again swim a little further then I should have (I like to be thorough), so yes he beat me with a time of 14 min 45 sec and myself at 15 min and 30 sec. He is quite speedy with fins on. We both recieved 4 points. I would have to say that at this rate we are scoring pretty well to make our 15 point total among the 5 swim tests. Later we found out that one of the boats we were dodging during our 800 meter swim was bringing back some of our fellow dive master interns from a dive. They were asking who were the speedy swimmers and wondering who was the third swimmer that was left in the weeds. Yes, Jeff and I were the speedy ones, poor Rick just could not keep up. During our down time, we also had to try to read some more while trying not to fall asleep from our very long day. Our plan was to go back to the room and work on our reading but then we found out that all the dive master interns were going to get together for dinner. Being the first opportunity to really meet everyone it would be rude to refuse the offer and go back to our room to read, right? Without much time to get ready, we hurried back to our room only to find an army full of ants that somehow found a way into our very secure ziplock bag of cookies. Not at all what we wanted to see. Jeff hurried out to dispose of the bag and eventually the ants realized the provisions were gone and they one by one and two by two left our room. Quickly we scrambled to meet the group at the sunset bar prior to heading off to dinner. We needed to go with the group as we had never ate at Momma's before. It is not your traditional restaurant but instead a local lady in the village that cooks many meals throughout the day for locals and travelers. For dinner it is necessary to make reservations so she is aware when the group is arriving and the number to cook for. She made fried chicken, fried pork, vegtable medley, sour soup, adobo pork, rice, and noodles. Each person had a plate and would tell her what we wanted to try, she would put a scoop or two of each choice on your plate and then it was time to eat. As she had no electricity we ate by candle light. Prices there are very low around 110-160 PHP for a plate full of food. The prices seemed somewhat arbitrary since Jeff and I had heaps of food compared to others and some how had a lower price. Regardless, all the prices were far less than back in the states or the prices at the dive shop. The rest of the interns convinced us to stay out a while longer (it would be rude to eat and run right), they lead us to an establishment that had billard tables. Interstingly soda is more expensives than rum which leads to an abnormal pricing scheme at Malditos, 60 PHP for single, 50 PHP for a double and 40 PHP for a triple rum and coke. Needless to say for an american dollar one can get a very concentrated beverage. We could not spend too much time out since by this time (10 PM) we had already been up for 18 hours and still needed to read our chapters before bed. So we got our flashlight out and headed down the maze of paths that led through the village and made our way back to the room.