Taco Tuesday

Tuesday was again a mixed bag of weather with some rain and clouds.  I decided to start the morning with a solo snorkel.  I also decided to do this without fins, just wearing my water shoes instead.  I felt somewhat clunky and uncomfortable in the fins the other day and I appeared to be able to get around the water just using a modified breast stroke where I just used my upper body.

I had a very peaceful journey around the bay and was out there for quite a while.  Being inches away from all of these beautiful fish feels surreal, like I am swimming in the biggest salt water aquarium of all time.  The constant change in water temperature was interesting depending on the depth of water and currents around me.  At one moment it would feel bathtub warm and then a blast of wake you up cooler water would wash over me.  It was a serene way to start my day.

Gladys made homemade pancakes for breakfast among other things.  I watched the process and pitched in where I could.  The food was really good. We got ready and then headed out for another day of zipping around the island.  There were a number of fun moments.

We stopped and went to the top of a mini-lighthouse looking structure that held beautiful views of the surrounding  area.  I thought I had lost the mic cover on my GoPro while I was up top but it turned out it fell off in the car, thankfully.

We stopped at a shopping area that was very cool, it was made primarily out of shipping containers.  The really cool thing was the face of the structure had two of them that were stacked on end vertically.  There were some interesting gift shops where we grabbed a couple things.  We also stopped at a coffee house that also sold chocolate made in Honduras.  The mocha coffee I got was good.  We tasted a bunch of the chocolate samples and liked them so much we bought a few bars to bring back to Gladys’s family.

We eventually made our way to the West Bay area , the same place we wound up when we took the boat ride with Dustin and Kat.  Gladys wanted us to get massages on the beach from a woman she knows and has used before.  I had not received a real massage in at least a decade and of course never on a beach so I was down to do it.

Originally I said I would be ok just doing a 30 minute session but Gladys soon convinced me to do a full hour.  Immediately the woman recognized what a knot filled mess my back was.  As she was applying pressure down the length of my back it felt like she was running over countless speed bumps.  She told Gladys in spanish that I must have a lot of stress.  Spoiler, I do.  She spent the most time on my back which was good.  Gladys also told her I like I having my head rubbed so she did a lot of work there too, which was fantastic.  By the end of the session she had gotten a lot of the knots pushed out, which was a painful process for me at times.  There was a lot of wincing going on but overall I really enjoyed it.

After we got back we decided to go back out for another snorkel session.  Gladys suggested going around the point and exiting on Kat and Dustins deck.  I was up for the challenge.  Once again I went finless while Gladys had on her set, unlike me she is very adept with her fins.

So the water looked rough from afar but we thought it would still be ok.  It didn’t take long to see that this was going to be challenging.  There were some decent waves smacking us around.  A few times the end result was me getting pushed into some sharp coral which left a few bloody marks on me.  The other issue was visibility was poor due to the multiple episodes of hard rain we have been having.  A couple times Gladys asked me if I was good to keep going, which I was.  Even though I was a bit tired this had now become a challenge in my head and I was willing to push till the end.  Eventually Gladys made the call that we should turn around.  The rough water combined with very poor visibility where you couldn’t really see much around you made up her mind it wasn’t worth the effort.  Of course I trusted her judgement in this environment that has been foreign to me up until a couple days ago.

I have had a weird thing going on as a result of snorkeling, random episodes of water pouring from my nose hours afterward.  When I have the mask on the separate compartment where your nose goes fills up with water for me.  I thought it was normal but evidently it isn’t.  Because of this I guess I wind up with water in my sinuses that does not appear to come out easily.  What happens later is I will be bending over and suddenly a stream of water comes pouring out of my nose, it’s ridiculous and probably not a good thing to have sea water sloshing around inside your head.

So Gladys, Kat and Dustin have had this tradition called Taco Tuesday.  They go out and get food and then head to a place that offers live music and dancing.  This was going to be my chance to experience it.

We first went to a place that sells poopoosas, a food that Gladys and I saw on the Food channel a day or two prior.  Kat, Dustin, Gladys and I slid into the seats along the bar rail that faces the street.  Not once but twice I managed to bang my head into a box that housed a tv.  I have skills.

We then walked down to the party bar.  I immediately saw a lot of familiar faces from our trip to Papa Bones.  I started buying more Salvas to keep the fun flowing, Dustin and I already had a couple at dinner.  This bar is two stories, I could hear the party going on up top but had no idea how crazy it was until we ventured up there.  The band featured Lesandro, the same guy I talked about previously that has amazing guitar skills.  Unlike the other night he was singing as well.

The space was packed with people, all bouncing to the beat of the music.  I kept downing Salvas to the point where I started moving as well.  Seeing me dance is almost as rare as me getting a massage.  It was impossible to not be swept up by the energy in the room.  At one point a woman hopped on a table and was going nuts.  Gladys is an incredible dancer, it was something to see.  We hung there for a decent amount of time.  Just like most of this trip, even though this was an environment I have never found myself in, I embraced the moment and enjoyed it.

When we got back we went out on the dock to see if we could spot the octopus.  The search was intensive and long but without success. Everyone was very happy and drunk.  Again, despite being affected by the alcohol I did not lose out on appreciating the moment as the moments from this trip are winding down.

To make things even more memorable the power went out for an hour or two.  At one point Gladys and I went back out on the deck, taking the complete darkness as an opportunity to take in the stars, it was beautiful.  We were up late, very late just talking about life like we often do.  Gladys has been and always will be a dear friend in my life.  The time I have spent here has been good for me in many, many ways.

With this being our last full day here (Gladys flies back to Miami with me), we will be getting all of our ducks lined up for the return trip but I am sure there will still be many gems of happy moments to collect during the day.