New Zealand!

NZ Week 1

On top of a bus!

Things that happened this week:

• Rode on the roof of a bus
• Left the Philippines
• Got an aisle seat on every flight, with no person in the middle seat.. Score!
• Arrived in NZ!
• Ate my first hamburger in 3 months
• Got the flu
• Ate my first meat pie
• Drove backwards
• Bought a keyboard
• Began my job search
• Got a cell phone again - ugh
• Met new people
• Got my ass kicked in a 7s training session
• Porched it hardcore after 7s training
• Went to a restaurant
• I sill have my jedi braid

So long, folks

My time in the Philippines is over, and now it's time for me to get to the big cheese and start my adventure in New Zealand.
Before each volunteer leaves base, the CCC gang makes a goodbye card consisting of some memorable pictures, and then everyone signs the back.

It's a little like signing a yearbook back in high school, except better cuz we are "adults" now.
Some recurring themes from the signatures on my card:
America
USA #1
Freedom
Jokes
Hairy Moonfish (my ass underwater)


My favorite entry starts off with, "Travis, when I first saw you I thought you were a real American patriotic rugby asshole." Thanks, Lea.

The pictures on my card are a great way to sum up my trip - puppies, dressed like Hitler youth, pizza, Team America, diving naked, and so forth. The bottom middle picture is actually a shot of me on my naked dive, but since I'm so white, I blend in with the white sand beneath me and you can't even tell.

CCC guys/gals, it was an amazing experience being with all of you, and I doubt I'll ever have anything like it again. It already seems so long ago, like some distant memory.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - that place wasn't real.
It was a fleeting dream, it didn't follow the rules of time and space, it went beyond imagination - but we sure as hell made the most of our time away from reality.

Weekly Video Recap/Tour

From Philippines to New Zealand:

After 5 hours of bus/van travel - got to ride on the roof! -  I arrived at the Tacloban airport and promptly ate a hotdog and three donuts - my American habits were returning quickly.

On top of a bus!
Check out Dude in the background workin that Batman tee.

I briefly caught sight of Lea as she was heading for her plane in Manila - that scarf/shawl thing is hard to miss.
During my layover in Cairns, I was subjected to yet another security screening, even
though I was re-entering the same exact plane - thanks Australia. There isn't free internet in this airport either - come on, Aus.

When I landed in Nelson, I was picked up by someone who only knew I had blonde hair and I'd be wearing a black jacket.
No phone numbers, no names. Super hardcore like that.
Ended up being picked up by last year's team captain, good dude named Trey (Trail, Tray? It was late and I'd been traveling for 30 hours)
He asked me if I was hungry, and I said I was starving. The only thing open at that hour was McDonald's.
Regardless of how much McDonald's sucks....the West tastes so good..

Afterwards, Trael (I have since confirmed the spelling) dropped me off at the apartment I have been/will be staying in.

Brightwater

For any who don't know, I've been hooked up with a rugby club out here in Brightwater, New Zealand, just outside of Nelson. My goal here is to provide myself with the best possible environment
to give rugby my best shot possible. Where better to do that, than in the best country for rugby in the world?
The name of the club is the Brightwater Wanderers, and from the look and sound of it, they're pretty damn good.
To be clear, I'm not here on any sort of contract or getting paid - I'm just here to play rugby and learn from some of the best in the world. These guys were nice enough to take in an unknown, unproven American dude with a jedi braid.

Outside View

Everyone here is super welcoming, and ridiculously large - their hospitality is proportional to their size. (I thought I had to gain weight BEFORE seeing these guys. Now it's a whole new ballgame...)

Within 12 hours of arriving I had already slept 9 hours and done a workout with a few of the boys, and given the keys to a car so I could go check out the town.
(Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go cruise around in the wrong lane in a car I've never driven before)

Don't worry, I survived.

I've currently got two roommates, Gus and Chile, and I've set up shop in their living room. Yes, that's a down comforter on that cot.

My "room"

Gus has been my main link to figuring things out and finding my way around. Real chill dude, super helpful, good gym partner, didn't get mad when I gave him the flu... It's a good fit so far.

My other roommate, Chile - I don't know his real name, but everyone calls him Chile - is from Chile. Bet you never woulda guessed that one. He isn't around as much, due to his work schedule and such. He's kinda gigantic, but luckily he seems like the gentle sort of giant, which is preferable to the non-gentle giants.

All the fellas here have been great at making me feel accepted as one of the boys - inviting me to workouts, helping me look for work, making weekend plans, taking me out to see the town, etc.
As much as I'd like to think it's because I'm just that awesome, I have a strong feeling they would have done the exact same for anyone else.

So far, these guys seem like a good bunch of dudes. On one hand, they're a bunch of characters who know how to have a good time. On the other hand, they take their rugby very seriously and train hard. So basically, they're rugby players.

Sunday Morning Stairs with Gus

The team gym is right next to our playing field, which is a mere minute walk from my apartment living room - including the time it takes going down the stairs.
This is a blessing and a curse. With a nice field and gym within a 60 second walk, I have absolutely no excuse to not be fit.

Club Gym

Our Field and Clubhouse

A Warm Welcome

I wasn't kidding when I said everyone is super welcoming. It's like Southern hospitality, except without disgusting sweet tea and Nascar.

Example: Our coach (Gus' older brother) has not only arranged for me to eat dinner with his family every weekday, but he's also invited me to spend Christmas with them as well.

Another example: Gus let me have his car for an entire day so I could go run errands. Not only have I never driven in this country, the dude's only known me for a couple days!

Yet another example: Within 20 minutes of meeting our club manager, Diane, she threw me in her van and took me into town to do some grocery shopping and set up a bank account.

For reals, the generosity here is ridiculous.
(The cynical side of me is waiting for the moment when I'll be expected to repay all this kindness by giving up my firstborn child or something.... Eh, worth it)

10 minute drive from my apartment

Job Search

As of now, I haven't figured out my employment situation, but it sounds like it will be getting sorted out soon - no idea what I'll be doing yet.
In the meantime, I've taken the last few days to watch a boatload of Game of Thrones and run a few errands.
Saw Robb Stark pay for his sins at the Red Wedding and bought a new phone, keyboard, beard trimmer, etc. Successful days.

I haven't completely squandered my time so far - I've sent some job applications here and there between my other activities.

Jobs I've Applied For:

• Shepherd (just cuz)
• Tree trimmer
• Librarian
• Orchard worker
• Front desk clerk
• Peanut Butter Factory
• Assorted factory jobs 
• Wait staff
• Sawmill worker
• Assorted labor jobs

As for transportation, Gus is graciously loaning me his ride while he's at work during the days. I am looking into getting a cheap motorcycle and seeing what it takes to get a motorcycle license here. Got my eyes on a sweet 1974 Honda. Fingers crossed.


Cell Phone..

After going 3 months without a cell phone, I was really enjoying not being tethered to a device and other peoples' whims. Unfortunately, now I'm back in the real world - debatable, because New Zealand is Middle Earth, which isn't technically real either - and I have to be responsible again.

Within 20 minutes of walking into a store, I picked out a phone and a cheap month's worth of coverage, and I was set. Prepaid is the way to go!
No more sitting around in a store for 3 hours, signing 10 different documents to pledge your loyalty and servitude to your phone carrier. I paid the equivalent of $13 USD for my cell phone plan this month. Sweet.
No more carrying around a big bottle of lube on the off chance your mobile carrier decides it isn't quite satisfied.

A few initial impressions:

The people of New Zealand are quite laid back. For instance, a neighboring town's motto is, "It's all good." That pretty much sums it up.

People here are large

Construction workers often walk around in work boots and rugby shorts, it's pretty inspiring.

Between their inherent friendliness and my accent, I think I've already gotten away with some pretty stupid interactions with my new friends and neighbors.

There are sheep everywhere

Lord of the Rings was totally filmed here

Coins here actually matter.
$2 coins, $1 coins, 50 cent coins, and on down.
I keep paying for things with a $5 bill and can't help feeling ripped off when I get a few coins back as change, even though I know full well I am owed a few dollars.
I want that cash money!

The coins below are worth $17

Some cool stuff they say here:

Have a feed - eat (my favorite)
Have a sleep - sleep (like Flight of the ConChords!)
Bro - but with the accent, it's pronounced more like "brew"
Sweet as - This is used like "sweet as, mate" to mean "right on, dude." Or "hard as" to mean "hard as hell". I've heard some people in the States say similar stuff, but it's not cool cuz they're not New Zealanders.


The Little Things

Here's a few things I have sorely missed about Western culture.

• Good internet. I almost closed down my internet browser so I could save on data usage...nope! 
• Hot showers
• Naked showers
• Alone in the shower
• No mosquitoes
• Stores
• Food that isn't 100% sodium.
• No chickens outside my window to wake me up.
• No more mosquito nets.
• Sinks with running water.
• Driving a car.
• White women
• Unlimited cereal

You may have noticed I haven't said anything about the toilets. I am not that stoked about flushing toilets. I rather enjoyed the intimacy of personally flushing the toilet with a bucket of sea water, and then triumphantly striding past my peers on the porch with two empty buckets in hand as I marched to refill them in the ocean.
I will miss that.



Alright, that's enough for now. Suffice it to say, I'm really gonna like it here. The people rock, the food is good, the rugby is kickass.. Can't really ask for more.

As for this blog, it may not be a weekly thing now that I'm here in New Zealand. Soon I'll be working full time and playing rugby, which may not leave too much time to sit down and pump out a write up every week. It may turn into a biweekly, or even monthly thing. We'll see.

I'll work on getting more/better pictures of the surrounding area and such in due time. Until then, watch Lord of the Rings and you'll get the idea.


Thanks from New Zealand!

Hogs Wild

Week 12 - So long, Philippines!

Weeks 11/12

Week 11 didn't exist, because this place is a wormhole. Week 10 was 5 days late, Week 11 didn't happen, and Week 12 was a blur, so the last two are being mixed together.

This was my last week here in the Philippines with the Coral Cay Conservation gang. The term "bittersweet" gets overused, so I will not be using it.
This week has been sweetly bitter.

Saying goodbyes, packing up, going on my last dive - it's still not hitting home. Because this place is some sort of ethereal heaven and isn't real, it almost seems like I never arrived in the first place - like some fleeting, surreal dream. In a few months' time, this blog will likely be the only real proof I was even here.

Not actually from these two weeks, but this picture rocks. Team AMERICA!

Things that happened these two weeks:

• Won Dick of the Day 5 days in one week for alleged crimes against a few bathrooms. 
• Lea got everyone sick.
• Adam has left base. The man who won Dick of the Week 4 weeks in a row - mostly due to his smugness. Stay out of San Francisco, Adam. The storm might be catastrophic.
• Passed my Divemaster exam with flying colors. 
• Got my ass kicked by a German girl (see video)
• Finished my Divemaster!
• Won Dick of the Week. (see Dick hat below)
• Finished the last Star Wars movie, watching them all in chronological order. The second half was infinitely better.
• Waterfall trip.
• DuDong gave me his hat.
• Gave DuDong a diving hood in return.
• Left the Philippines

Week 12 Video Recap

Master of the Dive:

As of Saturday, December 5th, at 11:50 am Philippines time, I have finished my Divemaster training. Three months in the making, and now it's finally finished.
Hell Dives, tests, quizzes, 4 books' worth of reading, tying knots, navigating, learning search patterns, practicing 24 unique skills....
It's over. 
No longer must I relax with that angry, gray cloud of "you should be studying right now" hanging over my head. It's quite similar to finishing your last exam on finals week.
It's over.
It's been a journey and I've learned a ton of stuff, and I'm now a relatively competent diver.
Plus, I can now be employed as a dive professional if I so choose, offering potential income as I continue to travel and delay adulthood.

But most importantly, I now officially have MASTER in my title!!

(Excuse me, my ego just exploded out of my head - I need to go clean up the mess.)

Guerrilla Shitting

Ever since Week 4 when a secret/private bathroom was unfairly requisitioned for living quarters, something strange has been going on.
Someone has been slowly and systematically making use of everyone's toilets without their knowledge or permission.
Guerrilla style. 
Early American Freedom Fighters learned it from the Natives and used it to destroy the British, giving birth to the greatest nation on Earth.
Those brave forefathers may be proud to know that three British toilets have been destroyed with the same tactics.

Some mysterious and strange happenings have been reported.

• Someone "escaping" out of a window in the dark of (K)night.  
• White lies about "using the person's bathroom scale to track weight loss."
• Five minutes after our Project Scientist left for home, it is suspected that the culprit was on her toilet. When she came back for her passport, she reported sensing a presence nearby, but could not identify it. She may have come within mere feet of discovering this outlaw-vigilante's actions. To remain discreet, this freedom fighter, this Patriot, must have stifled a hearty laugh as he heard her footsteps just outside the door. The world will never know.

Daylight robbery is a bold move, but it can be a bit risky.
But the culprit was careful.
They always brought their own TP and water bucket, and left things just as they were before leaving the scene.
This outlaw was getting quite good at it. Imagine a mixture between Solid Snake and Sam Fisher - two master assassins/spies with ridiculous premises for their missions of revenge.
In and out, without a trace.

Then one day, the culprit got careless - they left a toilet seat up.

After being away for the entire day, our Field Base Manager, Olly, stormed into the science room while several volunteers were taking a test and demanded,
"Did you shit in my toilet!?"
Unfortunately there had been some suspicion building in the previous days, so the list of possible culprits was quite short.
The outlaw knew his time had come.
He pretended to be absorbed in his test and didn't respond.
Olly: "The toilet seat was up, I never leave it up."
Me: **Silence**
Olly: "I know it was you."
Me: "(Sigh)...Yeah, I took a selfie too. You'll see it in my blog this week."

Since being outed, I have been continuously voted Dick of the Day and I have been placed on a Watch list.

While none of them know the full extent of the abuses their bathrooms have been subjected to, most are aware that a plunger was involved.

I have since been rightfully dubbed "The Guerrilla Shitter."

To you Coral Cay folks wondering if I got your toilet too:
Yes, I did.

Waterfall

Sunday we went to an amazing waterfall/swimming hole outside a nearby town. After an hour-long hike of crossing rivers and climbing steep hills, we found ourselves in a little paradise.

Cool, refreshing water, waterfalls, rocks to jump off, backflips to be done...it was fantastic. We brought Shrimp along, and as soon as we let him off his leash, he was running around like a mad dog enjoying every bit of his freedom in this new and wonderful place.

This swimming hole, as any other, was what every twelve-year-old boy (me) dreams of finding and keeping it as his secret oasis.  Heights to jump from, waterfalls to scale, additional avenues to explore, treacherous paths to walk, vines to climb, pools to relax in... heaven.

Tine was forward-thinking and generous enough to prepare a picnic lunch for us the night before, so we snacked on some German-made bread, veggie patties,
and CAKE!

Sundays are normally spent lounging around base and getting rid of our hangovers, but the waterfall hike and swim turned out to be a much more productive method
of remedying our self-induced misery.

K-dawg, I'm sorry dude, but you missed out. Hope Italy was worth it.

DuDong

DuDong is one of our local Filipino staff members. DuDong is the man. Nice as can be, DuDong is one of the quieter staff, mostly due to the language barrier, but his English is still quite good and doesn't stop him from delivering a joke now and then. He lives just up the hill from base, in the Napantao village - we exchange salutes every time I go by on my morning jogs.

He is working to pay for his Divemaster course with us, which he has almost finished. He is in charge of filling all our scuba tanks throughout the day, which is a full day's work. When he isn't filling tanks, he is either joining us in our training dives or assisting our boat captain when we take the boat out. He's the best person to have as your rescue victim, because he doesn't pull any bullshit and try
to make your life harder like everyone else - he's just that cool.

He's completing his Divemaster with the hope of being able to find work on a nearby dive resort so he can continue to provide an income for his family if/when Coral Cay moves on to another operation site.

Because DuDong is Filipino and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him, he is always freezing cold within 10 minutes of being underwater. The poor guy wears the older suit that Coral Cay provides and a little skull cap on his head, but don't seem to do much to keep him from shivering in the first few minutes of his dives.
Something that should be understood about our local guys that work on base: They live in rural Philippines with meager income compared to Western standards, even despite the above average wage CCC pays them, which doesn't leave them the option to go and buy a new wetsuit - they have families to feed.

After diving with the guy for 3 months, getting to know him, and watching him freeze his ass off, four of us decided to do something nice for DuDong as a going away gift. We pooled some cash together and bought a brand new 5mm wetsuit - the super thick, warm kind - as an early Christmas gift and token of our appreciation.
When we presented him the wetsuit, it took a bit to explain that it was his, and not just a loaner. In his quiet manner, he was blown away and said he might cry.

DuDong sporting his new Wetsuit

The Hat

DuDong had this awesome hat and I always complimented him on it when he wore it (see above). It's pretty awesome, and I was always super jealous of it.
Two weeks ago, DuDong asked me how much longer I had in the Philippines. I told him I would be leaving on the 9th. DuDong replied, "On December 8th, I give you my hat, for remembrance." Shocked, touched, flattered - pick whatever word you like, I was one of them.
He knew I liked his hat, and without me ever asking for anything, he offered it to me out of pure kindness.  DuDong is just that awesome.
I told him I didn't want to take away his hat, but he insisted, so I stopped protesting.
Then on December 7th (he sneakily moved it up a day) he surprised me when I dropped off my scuba tank and gave me the hat. I thanked him, told him how much it meant to me, and that I would never forget it.

The next day my gift for DuDong arrived. Along with his new westuit, I personally gave him a new diving hood attached to a vest, to further aid his fight to stay warm while diving.

I wanted to get him something he could use and that he could keep for a long time, and hopefully his hood and vest will serve him well.
It's not often that I give a good gift, but when I do, I really love the feeling.
It does not match the gift he gave me, what with the sentimental value attached to it, but he was very grateful and was again overcome with gratitude.  

DuDong sporting his new vest/hoodie

Goodbye

One big sign that things are starting to wind down is when people start losing their dignity.
Right now, two people next to me are having a photo contest about whose cat back home is cuter. One of themis a guy.
They are trading cat pictures and saying things like:
"My cat wins"
"My cute beats your cute, bitch."
"That's not even a cat.."

This is the kind of stuff I imagine two 40 year-old single, pathetic, bitter, spinster women to be arguing about, not two 18 year-olds in the tropics.

That being said, every minute of my time here in the Philippines has been incredible. I rode on top of a bus today on my way to the airport!!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's the people that make this a great place. Guys, you know I don't get gushy, so I'll just say that I've enjoyed my time with you all, and I may think about missing you in.... 10 years.


Things I will miss:

• Zoe
• Bottled Pepsi
• Pretending diving was my job
• Bucket flush toilets. I'll see what my landlord in NZ thinks about installing one when I get there.
• The porch.
• Puppies.
• Mango floats.
• Calling everyone nerds.
• Rainbows that ACTUALLY touch the ground.
• Karaoke.
• Living on a beach.
• Wearing rugby shorts and no shirt 24/7

Things I will not miss:

• Doing laundry by hand.
• Mosquito nets.
• Watery oatmeal.
• Limited internet.
• Scrounging for food on Sundays.
• Milk and cereal scarcity.
• Nothing being on time
• Losing weight like a Biggest Loser contestant - seriously, I'm down 19 pounds since I arrived.
• I am 181 pounds, or 82.5 kg. I haven't been this light since high school. Wtf...
• Being lean is cool and all, but not when you're trying to go play rugby in a foreign land..

In 2 months' time, I plan to get back to man-weight

Okay, I gotta cut this short, I have a flight to New Zealand to catch. Thanks as always for reading, it's been a true pleasure writing these up.

NEW ZEALAND HERE I COME!!!


Hogs Wild

Week 10 - 100th Dive!

Week 10

Life is tough

I have 7 more days here in the Philippines. Can't believe it, but I've already been here for more than 10 weeks now.
I am nearly done with my Divemaster course, and should have it completed by the end of this week. Very exciting.

Things are starting to wind down here on base, as more people leave and all the extra gear and equipment goes back into hibernation to await the next season.
Base officially closes down on December 16th for the Christmas holidays, a week or so after I leave.

It's kinda sad to think that my time here is almost over, as everyone starts talking about going home and their holiday plans, what food they can't wait to eat, how much they're looking forward to stable internet and beds without mosquito nets, and so on.

While it's a bummer to think this paradise is coming to an end soon, it's still not over. I still get 7 more days of laying out on a lawnchair and typing up my blog,
7 more days of living next to a tropical ocean, 7 more days of diving in a tropical ocean, 7 more days of annihilating mosquitoes with my bare hands, 7 more days playing with puppies, 7 more days of diving in rugby shorts with a big ass knife strapped to my thigh, 7 more days of avoiding watery oatmeal, 7 more days of outdoor showers, and 7 more days of bucket-flushing toilets.

And once those 7 days are up, I have something else to look forward to.
In just one week I will be on my way to New Zealand where I'll start another adventure: rugby.
For a whole year!
Suffice it to say, I'm excited. I'm leaving one paradise to go to another.
Try not to be too jelly.

Week 10 Video Recap

Things that happened this week:

• Got lost again. (At least I wasn't alone this time.)
• Played basketball in the village.
• Finished reading The Shining. Hopefully now I will be able to sleep again. 
• Started reading Ready Player One. It's about video games!
• Swam with a Whale Shark!
• Watched all 3 Batman movies.
• Lost a battle with a jellyfish.
• Got Kieran to start reading the Dark Tower series. When I asked him where he was in the book, he said, "Roland just killed a bunch of people and then met a boy named Jake." He has no idea.. I envy him.
• Ran out of internet. Hence the delayed post.
• Got a fresh new haircut with even more racing stripes.
• Got a jedi braid.
• Hit my 100th dive!
• We lost Kieran and Shannon, as they both return home. These two will be sorely missed, and base life will not be the same without them. Team ScoMerica #1!

The Disgusting Haircut Continues

CNN

Here's the link for the CNN story that was done on us. There's a little write up and a video. Have a look! 

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/30/asia/philippines-coral-reef/index.html

100 Dives!

As of this writing, I now have 101 logged dives. My 101 dives equates to 4922 minutes or roughly 82 hours of diving.
There is a tradition in diving that your 100th dive is supposed to be done naked.
Seeing as that did not quite meet my standards for modesty, as well as those of the people I am living with, I opted for a slightly more conservative option.
Using an elastic band, I fashioned an undergarment using my boonie hat that resembled a rather revealing speedo. The backside was left almost entirely bare.
Rocked it like a champ.

It just so happened that my 100th dive occurred on the equipment exchange dive, in which we have to exchange all of our gear with our partner underwater.
There is no real practical use for this exercise, other than acting as a stress dive for those involved. My lack of clothing certainly added stress for some of the others.
Tine was my unfortunate dive partner for most of the equipment exchange, and she endured a great amount of stress. Poor girl.

I would like to say the footage of all this is hilarious.
But, since I'd rather be employed at some point in my future life, said footage is not available because it does not exist.
Even if it did exist, all photography of this dive would be used only for educational purposes, and would be distributed under strict license as I saw fit... but it doesn't
exist.

Hoop Dreams:

The only way you can really get a full 5v5 game of basketball out of the Filis is to put up a bet on the game - the standard bet is 100 pesos per game, roughly $2 (same price as my last doctor visit).

We show up to the court in town lookin all tough, tell the guy on the bike that we want a game,
and he goes to round up the village ballers. While we wait, we show off our stuff on the court - skills that will most certainly pay the bills.
With a combination of free-throws, left-handed layups, and only two airballs, we proudly boast our Shooty Hoops prowess. Seeing as we had two Americans on our team, and America rocks at basketball, we felt pretty confident.

Our lineup:

• Kieran, aka "K-dawg": He's our shooter and all-around best player. American, of course.
• Adam, aka "Smugness": Standing at a towering 6'2 in the Philippines, his height is a major advantage in the paint.
• Yann, aka "Bastard": With fast hands and shifty moves, he slices through the defense like Swiss cheese. Get it, cuz he's Swiss?
• Random Filipino kid, aka "Hey kid!": Quick fast breaks, impressive defensive plays, this guy was a flash - even while wearing flip flops.
• Travis, aka "Rugby Dude": Rugby!

For those who don't know, Street Ball - as we street toughs call it - is played by 1s, and 2s for three-point shots. Fouls are settled off the court after the game, with knives.

With Yann bringing the ball up the court, Kieran on the perimeter, Adam and myself down low, and our Filipino kid roaming, we had the semblance of a team who knew what they were doing.

Kieran dropped a few sweet J's, Adam had strong rebounds and put-backs, and Yann delivered some sick drives and silky smooth assists. And myself...well...when the Hogs charge down the lane, there's no stopping the stampede - whether or not the ball goes in the hoop amidst the frenzy is irrelevant.

We started strong and hung tight with the Fili team for most of the game. Some of us were in better physical condition than others, which started showing later in the game.
(All those morning 5k runs were supposed to help!)
Unfortunately, Filipino defense includes 1 player cherry-picking at all times - shit that should never fly on the streets - which we couldn't manage to counter very well.
Between a few fast breaks and well-aimed two-pointers, we fell behind late in the game, and lost 18-21.

The second game was a similar story, except with a shorter game to 15.

I am now 0-3 against Filipinos in basketball and down 150 pesos.
They're just so quick!
I'd gladly challenge them to an underwater dunk contest though. I think Kieran and I have that on lock.

Also, just kidding about the knife fights after the game. That doesn't happen. We all went and got ice cream after.

Getting Lost (Again):

I got lost during another mapping exercise.
Tine' and I have been tasked with mapping a sea wall to the south of our base.
We have attempted this 4 times, and our record is as follows:
1st Attempt: I got lost and had to abort the dive.
2nd Attempt: I over-profiled (went too deep) and had to abort the dive.
3rd Attempt: Tine' over-profiled and had to abort the dive.
4th Attempt: We both got lost together, and therefore DID NOT have to abort the dive. Still embarrassing though.

We were not aware that a second sea wall connects to the one we were supposed to be mapping, and inadvertently mapped the second wall as well as the first.
You know, just going above and beyond.
Aided by a lovely current, this exercise took us really far from base, well around a corner where we couldn't be seen. This is not ideal.
After surfacing and asking each other where the hell we were, we realized we were ridiculously far from base. We briefly argued over whether we should swim or walk back and we each concluded that the other person's idea was stupid.

Luckily, a local dive boat pulled up and offloaded its divers right next to us. Tine, being the
hitchhiking expert she is (hippie), asked for a ride, and the dive boat graciously gave us a lift back to base. It would have been an unbearably long swim/walk, against current/rocks, so this was a blessing.

While everyone back at base was expecting us to be swimming back any minute now, we arrived in style on a sweet ass boat.
Amidst confused looks and questions from base staff, we jumped off the boat, swam to shore, and yelled "Divers up!".

Deservingly so, Tine' and I have earned the nickname of "Dream Team" anytime we are paired up together.

Whale Shark!

These nerds here are crazy about Whale Sharks, and get giddy if one is even mentioned. Any time a Coral Cay member sights a whale shark, they get to sign the Whale Shark bar here on base. For example: after seeing a whale shark, one of our German girls, Lea, said she "could die happy."
Total nerds.

Whale Shark Bar with over 5 years' worth of signatures

On Wednesday we went Whale Shark hunting in Sonok.

Whale Sharks are quite rare, and are tough to spot/follow. According to our base scientist, whale sharks are "data deficient" on the endangered list, because we can't keep track of them well enough to study them properly.
They are not typical sharks, in the way that they are not vicious carnivores like your stereotypical shark. Whale sharks are omnivores, and mostly eat plankton and other small organisms that flow into their huge mouths. They just swim with their mouths open and gobble up everything in their path.
They have the typical gills on the side of the body like sharks, except more massive.

We hired a few professional spotters to tail behind us in our boat and find the sharks for us, and they found one within 30 minutes - what luck!
Whale sharks can grow up to 18 meters long, and weigh a ridiculous amount. The one we found was 6.5 meters long, which apparently
means it was a juvenile. IT WAS FU**ING HUGE! See the picture below with the woman swimming below the shark's back fin. Ridiculous.

This is a JUVENILE whale shark

Once they spotted the shark, we hurried to pull on our fins and masks, and waited for the signal to jump in. When the signal came, we launched ourselves off the boat and started looking.
The spotters kept yelling "Look down, look down!" but we didn't see anything - just dark coral on the ocean floor.
Then a few seconds later, we realized the huge dark mass below us was not coral - it was a whale shark!
All at once everyone started squealing through their snorkels and scrambling to turn their cameras on.
Okay, maybe not everyone, but I certainly was - but in a really manly way.

As the shark moseyed along, we had to swim pretty hard to keep up with it. Filipino law says we have to stay 4 meters away from it and we are not allowed to touch it.
The shark was roughly 12 or 13 meters below us most of the time, but it came up a few times and gave us some pretty great views. One time I didn't realize it was coming up and I dove down to get a closer look and found myself 4 meters from it and almost shit myself - the thing is huge! It's tail fin (caudal fin for the nerds) could easily bat me like a fly and leave me unconscious or dead.

As for recording ability/quality, I suck at holding my breath, so my shots of the shark are very brief. The one time the shark came to investigate our boat was the best footage I got, and gives a great view for perspective.

We swam with the great beast for the better part of 20 minutes, but eventually it got bored of being filmed and decided to move along and go about its Whale Sharky business, and we were forced to give up chase. Alo, we were really tired.
In all, it was a pretty great experience getting to witness a whale shark in person, with only a few meters of seawater between us. I'm no Marine Biology nerd, but it was pretty freakin' cool.
Plus, I got to sign the Whale Shark Bar.

Couldn't help myself

This week was a bit more eventful, due to my Divemaster training starting to taper off. As usual, I am quite busy with my dive training/studying, which keeps me on my toes at all times.

After a tough day of Whale Shark Hunting

Kieran and Marlin Shanbro left us this week, which is a real bummer. Not sure what Shrimp and I are gonna do.
Luckily, I only have to endure 1 week without them, which is do-able.
I'll have to console myself by sitting out on the lawnchair while drinking from a coconut, 5 meters from the ocean.
There is one upside: Now that Kieran's no longer in the room, I get the fan all to myself. I can finally sleep without sweating all night.


One week left!

Thanks as usual,

Hogs Wilder

Weeks 8 and 9 - Dive stuff

Hi again.

I was super busy last week doing my Divemaster training and such, and  didn't have time to pull together a post. Then I remembered what this blog does for my ego, so I made sure to make an extra big one this week.
So here we have week 8 and 9 put together. It's like the opposite of the Harry Potter or Hobbit movies - no needless editions.

Just chillin

Things that happened the past 2 weeks:

• Still losing weight despite taking protein supplements and eating like a fatty. Again, I will state my mistrust of non-American scales/measurements.
• Ran out of cereal for 2 days. Tragic.
• Set a new record on my morning 5k run.
• Did more mapping.
• Ruined a second mapping dive. 2 in a row, I'm on a roll.
• Downloaded some more Taylor Swift. I am currently blasting her on my laptop while writing this.
• A volunteer confused Taylor Swift with Katy Perry.
• I sneezed underwater. 
• Night Dive!
• Watched some Walking Dead. The episode with Morgan's backstory may be the most boring thing I've ever seen.
• One of our volunteers got an infection which turned into a hole in her leg.
• Watched Aladdin. Best Disney movie ever.
• Played with puppies.
• Team America teammate, Kieran, and I made the quiz for the week. 
• Hell Dives. More below
• Winged a speech to 100 high school kids on how to reduce their environmental impact. While wearing rugby shorts.
• Met the governor of Southern Leyte, Philippines, while wearing rugby shorts. He had the same polo on that he wears for his campaign banners.
• Threw it down Vince Carter style in underwater basketball. Slamma-jam! (see video)
• Visited with Zoe, my favorite turtle. What a doll.
• We got two new volunteers, Jinefer and Eelke, and one new staff member, Joel. Welcome guys!
• Watched Star Wars Episode III. Better, but lightsaber battles don't make up for low quality story and character development.

Week 8 and 9 Video Recap

This is my favorite video yet. Give two boys a coconut and a hula hoop, and you've got yourself an underwater Dunkfest.

Our CNN story airs Friday 11/19 at 9pm California time if anyone cares to check it out. Should be a 30 minute story about the Philippines, and I think we have a 5 minute portion.



Things I've learned:

• American Bald Eagles are cooler than other eagles. Because they are American.
• Not everyone likes you shoving your American dominance in their face. (no, that's not a penis joke)
• Divemaster = Dive Slave
• It is impossible to gain weight in the Philippines.
• Waterlogged coconuts filled with rocks make great underwater basketballs.
• Puppies refuse to stay clean
• British people pronounce "algae" like al-ghee, instead of al-jee. It's disgusting.
• Reading The Shining before bed is a TERRIBLE idea.
• Don't shake a plastic water bottle full of boiling water. It ends in explosion.

.


An Overdue Explanation

It has come to my attention that I have done a piss poor job of explaining what exactly I'm doing here in the Philippines.
Stories about getting haircuts and videos of underwater dunks are great for showing what I do in my free time, but believe it or not, I didn't fly around the world to get a fresh cut and film a few sweet jams.

So here's the rub:

I'm here doing some volunteer conservation work with Coral Cay Conservation.
Coral Cay Conservation is an NGO that specializes in surveying coral and the fish that live around it. They gather data
and present their info to the local environmental officials to help them make better informed decisions
on where to put Marine Protected Areas (MPA). It's pretty cool.


In order to do this surveying we need to be proficient divers and know the different types of coral and fish we are counting.
Duh.
So our training is broken up into two parts: Scuba training and Science Development Program (SDP).
Coral Cay's priority is to get everyone to the point where they can survey, which requires volunteers to reach Advanced Open Water in their scuba training, and finish their SDP.

Upon arrival, your first week is spent getting your Open Water and Advanced Open Water certifications done.

Open Water is the first diving certification you receive, and basically means you are allowed to scuba dive down to 18 meters.
You learn basic skills like breathing underwater, removing your mask underwater, finding your regulator (breathing thing), and establishing buoyancy (floating).
(Every time I take my mask off underwater, I stop breathing for a quick second which makes me burp. Burping underwater is quite entertaining.)
We also do a bunch of book work, called Knowledge Reviews, where we read a chapter of our dive books and take a mini quiz after each one.
Once we are done with the book and all the actual diving components, we take a multiple choice test at the end, and that's it.
Hurray!


Advanced Open Water is the next step, which allows you to dive to a maximum of 30 meters and call yourself "Advanced," which is very misleading.
In the Advanced course you take a pick of different modules to learn, like deep diving, buoyancy, fish ID, navigation and so forth.
You also learn some basic navigation skills with your compass, how to count your fin kicks and measure their distance, and other sweet stuff.
Current makes navigating a bit difficult. Every time I tried to navigate a square, I would end up making a triangle and pretend that I meant to.
Similar to the first course, Advanced requires you to do Knowledge Reviews, but there is no final test. That's it, done.

After we all get our Advanced Open Water certification, then the classroom work begins with SDP - the science stuff.

SDP

SDP consists of 3 main modules.
Substrates, Invertebrates, and Fish

Substrates:
These are all the corals that we learn to identify. We don't go down to the species level because that would get ridiculous - and I'd probably quit - so we group them by family.
Without any prior experience, lots of these things look EXACTLY the same, which makes studying them infuriating. Since we only have to know them by sight, we study using flashcards and practice exams. Then we take a test which consists of 50 pictures and we have to identify each.
A 90% is required to pass, and I failed my first two exams.  Very disheartening. Then for my third attempt I mustered my strength, went into my suitcase and took a deep breath - because
some of the air from home might still be in there and the extra Freedom in it would jog my brain - and crushed the test with a 98%.

Inverts:
This one is about the other lifeforms that aren't fish or coral. Examples are: Sea Stars (Starfish to us non-nerds), urchins, sea slugs, etc.
These ones weren't as difficult to study because most of them are pretty distinct from each other. Starfish don't look like urchins, sea slugs don't look like Top Shells, and so forth.
While Inverts are a bit easier as far as testing goes, I have a much more difficult time spotting them in the water. Many of them can be quite small and like to hide in little crevices, or they just hide in plain sight and I miss them because I kinda suck.  


Fish:
Fish are cool and they are my favorite. They were by far the easiest for me to learn (except a few really tricky ones) and they are the coolest to identify underwater because they aren't boring.

Right off the bat, it jumps out at you that fish drew the short straw when it came to naming conventions. Everything is named by an animal or object that exists on land, with the word "fish" cleverly attached at the end. Very imaginitive.

• Lionfish
• Butterflyfish
• Frogfish
• Sea Snake (not a fish, but same idea)
• Whale Shark
• Trumpet Fish
• Needle Fish
• Angelfish
• Triggerfish
• Surgeonfish
• Sea Horse

You get the idea. Similar to the substrates, many of these fish look exactly the same to the untrained eye, which can be frustrating.
However, by the time it was time to take my fish test, my brain had adapted to the trickery and I
crushed the test on my first attempt.


Each unit has a computer test you have to pass, then two tests in the field to see if you can actually point stuff out. The field tests basically consist of you following the SDP leader and identifying things they point out. This can be tricky at times, and took me several attempts to pass.
(I secretly suspect that they just point at rocks and then make up whatever answer comes to their mind first.)
"Oh that's a calcified algae on a non acropora massive coral."
....Bullshit, that's a rock.

Eventually you pass all your tests and then feel good about yourself. Eventually.


How it all comes together. 

Once you have your necessary diving certifications and SDP completed, you participate in the surveys.
For a survey, we basically lay down a 50 meter line down on the ocean floor at 6 or 12 meters, and then we count the three categories we were trained to identify. Remember, it's Substrates, Inverts, and Fish. When we first go down, we lay the line out - a piece of string- and then come back and count all the inverts. This usually takes all of the 40 minutes allotted for this first dive, so then we surface and return to the boat.
Then we come back on our 2nd dive, and count the Fish and Substrates, then pack up and return to the surface.
In the evening when our surveying is done, we report our data to the Science Officer and they enter it into the database.

It may sound pretty simple and beg the question as to why we need all this scuba and science training. But once you get down there and see it for yourself, you realize it's all done for a reason.
Because we are counting stuff, writing numbers, and looking closely at certain objects, it really does require a bit of practice.
It's like taking notes in a classroom, except you're also making sure you aren't running into things, floating away, or running out of air. But, also like taking notes in a classroom, you settle into a routine and daydreaming can come into play. Then again, when do you ever get to take
notes while swimming 30 feet underwater with fish whizzing past your face in a classroom?


Additional Scuba Training:

This is the good stuff. The science stuff is cool - don't get me wrong, it makes me feel superior to the common man - but the scuba stuff tickles my fancy a bit more.

After completing the Science training, depending on how long you are staying, you begin your Rescue Diver training.

Rescue Training is basically first aid in the water, but with obvious differences - getting unconscious people to the surface, getting them to shore, giving rescue breaths in the water, etc.
We also had to learn how to deal with panicked divers - like lifeguards with panicked swimmers, except it's with scuba gear so it's cooler.

The culminating event of the Rescue Diver course is going on a stress dive, where our instructor and his assistant(s) take us on a dive and throw various situations/problems at us, such as:

• Pretending to be unconscious.
• Ripping off our masks.
• Turning off our air.
• Ripping off our masks and then turning off our air.
• Pretending to be out of air.
• Pretending to be a stupid new diver who is ascending to the surface really fast.
• Pretending to be out of air and then ascending to the surface really fast.

This dive was actually quite fun, because it ended up turning into an underwater wrestling match, and every person there is qualified to save
you if something goes wrong.

How NOT to lift an unconscious diver out of the water

Kieran trying to lasso me while I drown

I should have just made him jump in and come get me

Divemaster:

I know what you're thinking.
SWEET title, right?
The title alone is why I decided to pursue this level of certification. Master of the Dive.
MASTER!
I honestly had no idea what Divemaster meant in the scuba world, I just wanted to get the word Master in my title.

In reality, Divemaster (DM) is one level below scuba Instructor. Divemasters are basically assistant instructors who go along on dives and help students and keep an eye on everyone to make sure they don't do something studid.
DMs are not allowed to do course evaluations or skill validation, but they can assist and demonstrate.
(I can't train you, so don't ask.)
DMs are often used at dive shops/resorts to give tours of the local marine environment to other certified divers who are visiting the area.
You take them on a tour and show them points of interest, cool fish, potential hazards, etc.


Out of the water, DMs are in charge of:

Paperwork
Gear setup
Paperwork
Logistics
Paperwork
Dive Planning
Safety Equip-
Let's just call it what it is: bitch work.

Example of paperwork

You are basically the Dive Slave at whatever scuba operation you work for. You are relatively well qualified, which means you have JUST enough
responsibility for the managers and instructors to be able to offload all the work to you.
Kinda feels like the nurse/doctor relationship in family medicine. Nurse takes all your biometrics, documents all the stuff, Doctor comes in and tells you that you need X procedure done, and Nurse comes back and does the work.

Divemaster Training:

A Divemaster in training is referred to as a DMT - again, kinda cool. As a DMT, you go through quite a bit of training and tests, all of which is evaluated.
There are a number of skills you have to master, 24 of them, and all must be at demonstration level - meaning you can demonstrate them in an
exaggerated, near-perfect manner for new divers.
Examples:

• Regulator recovery
• Removing your BCD (all your gear) and putting it back on - on the surface and underwater.
• Hovering
• Removing your mask and putting it back on.
• Swimming without a mask.
• Emergency Ascent.
• The list goes on.

Each skill you do gets a rating from 1-5, where 1 means you suck, and 5 means you are proper good. Scoring a 3 is technically a pass, but it's not fantastic. Plus, my particular instructor refuses to accept 3s, so you gotta get a 4 to pass the skill. You can repeat the skills on subsequent dives, so each attempt is not a do-or-die event.
After completing all the skills, your total score needs to add up to some specific number in order to pass the DM requirements - I don't know the exact number, but that's irrelevant.


Hell Dives

In addition to the skills tests, DMTs also have to go through a few real or simulated exercises:
Like many things in life, we give them exaggerated names to try and spice up the sex appeal. Hell's Kitchen, Hell Week, Hell Run, Hell Dive... It's really just a bunch of people being dicks to you on purpose.

There are some standard services offered by most dive shops/resorts, and it is very common for Divemasters to participate in or lead them.

• Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) - This is a class for people who want to try scuba diving without committing to getting certified and stuff.
• Discover Local Diving (DLD) - This is for certified divers who are visiting a new area and would like a tour of the local dive site.
• Reactivate - This is for people who haven't been diving in a long time and need to get re-certified. They just prove they can do a few basic skills then they are done.

Divemasters have active roles in these services, so we get to practice running them.

The exercises listed above (DSD, DLD, Reactivate) are often simulated for DMT training. They are simulated by having instructors and other Divemasters act like customers/new divers, depending on the situation, and you take them through the course.

The term Hell Dive is used because it's a collection of really annoying dives, with people being dicks to you on purpose.
The idea is to get you used to the worst possible students by simulating these scenarios.

Keep in mind, for the Hell Dives, these are people who actually know what they are doing. Their sole purpose on the dive is to make your life difficult.
Your instructors-acting-like-terrible-god-awful-thickheaded-stubborn-moronic-students do their absolute best to mess with you and make your dive impossible to guide.
They pretty much act like American college students on spring break.

Examples of such antics:
They will set up their gear improperly and hope you don't notice.
They will act like they know everything and not listen to your instructions (because the customer is always right)
They will pretend they don't know English.
They will freak out underwater and start panicking.
They will try to TOUCH EVERYTHING.
They will all separate and swim in different directions, and ignore your calls for them to come back.
They will try to take their gear off.
They will try to take your gear off.
If you do not specifically mention "NO FOOD" in your pre-dive briefing, they will pull out a chocolate bar in the middle of the dive and share it amongst themselves. This one is particularly humiliating, but also very funny.


You get the idea.
All those things happened to me. And more.

It's basically a couple instructors venting their frustration out on you for all the terrible things their real life students have done to them in the past. They claim that everything they do to you has been done to them at some point in their career, which supposedly makes it fair.
Instructors love these dives, because they get to act ridiculous.
Students fear these dives, because instructors get to act ridiculous.


The good news is, you can't fail these exercises. You put up with the childish behavior, do your best to control the dive, and know it will all be over in 30 minutes. Afterward it's all laughs and jokes, as instructors giggle about their antics and the DMT tries to regain their sanity.

It's actually pretty good practice for being under stress and having to deal with it while staying professional. The idea is that once you've seen the worst that can happen, you'll be able to deal with anything else that comes along.
In all, it's not actually that bad. Just relax, embrace the ridiculous antics, refrain from drowning anyone, and enjoy it.


Besides the 24 skills, Hell Dives, a swim test (kinda hard), some more Search and Rescue stuff, and skimming every chapter of the book, there's one big test at the end. I haven't taken it yet, so I can't speak to it yet. Will update upon completion. If I pass.





Scuba diving is really just cheating fate so we can go somewhere we aren't designed to go. It's pretty sweet. Besides the obvious issue of oxygen, there are a host of other potential hazards that are just asking to kill you.
Did you know that too much oxygen can kill you? Or that holding your breath while diving can burst your lungs?
If you go beyond 30 meters you can get narcosis and stop caring about your safety, and do something silly like drop your regulator or break into a seizure.
Fortunately, if you follow all the rules and don't act like a complete dumbass, these things don't happen and you get to cheat Nature for hours on end. Suck it, Nature.


This post is exceptionally long, and may be a bit dry. It probably reflects how busy I've been recently. If you read this far, I applaud you.

Thanks as always for reading.

Hogs Wild