Sanyu's World

Feliz Navidad

Last week has been trying to say the least. I've been putting in marathon sessions in the Internet cafe to try and finish these horrible horrible b-school essays before heading back to the ranch where I put in a few more hours of revising and studying Spanish and a little Chinese to boot. Luckily they haven't needed me much at the dive shop. The weather's been gorgeous, and there have been a swarm of partying gringos hanging about and having fun but I really haven't gotten a chance to enjoy any of it.

And the kicker ... I found out that my bank card has been blocked, not just temporarily but permanently. Sigh. Yet another Sanyu money crisis. What a mess. Thank heavens I'm not just passing through some crappy tiny town like Uyuni, Bolivia . They sent me a new one which has been lost in the mail somewhere so after a few hours on the phone of screaming at my bank's Indian call center staff I've gotten them to send me a new card to my California address which will have to be forwarded on to Taganga, not a place renowned for its mail service.

Lil lent me 300 000 and I have money I can pull out of the dive shop so I'm not starving but I am frustrated. Worst was realizing that I had no way to pay for test scores and transcripts on-line so that they could be sent to the business school. Wow, that one had me completely overclempt thinking that after all this work and sacrifice that I would have to just wait til next year. But my heroes Daniel and Wolfie came to the rescue! Daniel hauled out his credit card without question and Wolfie diligently waited for the docs to arrive. I can't tell you how amazing it is to have people in your life that you can count on that will drop everything and do something for you without a moan or a groan. Love you guys!!!

I was really hoping to have everything done and uploaded by December 21 but it just didn't happen. I keep printing out copies of my essays and finding little grammatical errors. Until I can print out a copy without scribbling red correction marks all over it I guess I'll just have to wait. I'm taking most of the weekend off though to drink, relax and enjoy the festivities. We're now completely outnumbered by rich Bogotans who've come up to the Caribbean coast to enjoy their holidays so we're planning some weekend gringo get togethers that should be fun. I've been ignoring all the raging parties of the past month while I've sweated out these applications so I'm ready to rage.

Feliz Navidad a todo!

Mi Prima

Already behind 4 days on my essays and I get an email out of the blue that my cousin Denyse is in Quito, Ecuador learning Spanish. I invited her to come visit me in Taganga and before I knew it she had booked a flight to Cartegena to arrive the next day! I was a bit nervous about her getting to Taganga on her own. She's very capable but so many things can go wrong traveling in South America. I went to bed early and got up at 4am to try and catch a cab into Santa Marta to reach the bus station. I was afraid it would take forever to catch a cab but lucky me it was the morning after the Festival of Lights. Walking down the hill I could hear at least 3 competing stereos blaring music for those who didn't want the party to end and there were lots of drunk partied-out tourists rolling into Taganga well into the wee hours.

Everything went swimmingly until I hopped into the wrong cab in Cartegena. Why was it the wrong cab? Ugh, the beat-up piece of junk broke down five minutes into the ride and almost made me late for Denyse's flight arrival. When we finally arrived at the airport he started yelling and screaming at me that I hadn't paid him enough even though we'd already agreed to the fee beforehand. I had to talk to two police officers and I have to say, my Spanish is excellent! I was clear and concise and explained the situation. They asked me to pay an extra $1 to shut the guy up and I was fine with that as I just wanted it all to end. Denyse arrived moments later to find me decompressing from the experience with endless cigarettes.

We headed into the old part of Cartegena to get a little lunch before heading back to the bus station for the journey back to Taganga. I was exhausted and slept most of the way til we jumped in the cab and pulled around the mountain to the first view of Taganga. I got Denyse a dorm bed near me and introduced her to a few of my friends before heading down to chow down on the local Taganga specialty of fried whole fish with coconut rice and patacones (fried starchy banana). A little beer and little rum and we were off to bed.  We headed out the next morning to the next door beach called playa grande. Not before, of course, I made sure Denyse sampled some of the delicious fresh juices sold along the beach. She was adamant about wanting a floatie so we picked one of those up too and caught a small boat ferry to the beach.

Lots of sunning ourselves, Colombian shrimp ceviche, alcohol and yet another delicious fish lunch. It was so relaxing, I can't believe that I never really take advantage of the beaches here. Especially since I've been working so hard on these essays. It made for a great break. We were supposed to go out that night but we were feeling pretty lazy. Got up early to hit the beach for more of the same. I woke up before anyone and decided to run into town to get some more cash and was annoyed to find my account blocked. I figured the networks were down so I stopped my the dive shop to let them know I'd need to cash out some of my earnings that afternoon before we headed back to Cartegena.

Tired from another day of beach lounging but flush with cash I hopped a direct bus to Cartegena with Denyse in tow. Finding a taxi at the bus terminal was ridiculously complicated as there was a line but no one was paying any attention to it. We finally made it into the traveler area where we found a little room, ate pizza and hit the hay. Spent Denyse's last day touring the old part of Cartegena for some photo ops, shopping and a having a drink on an open patio. The day zipped by and before I knew it I was putting her into a cab for the airport and I was hailing one for myself to get back tothe station so that I could bus it back home. I hope she had fun. I certainly did. It put me yet another 4 days behind in my application essays but I remember being a silly little worker in SF, just out of school, and Denyse had come to visit. I couldn't fathom asking my boss for even a single day off to hang out with her and her friend. I think I've grown!   

I Don't Get Out of Bed for Less Than 10 000

10 000 pesos that is which is just shy of $5. That's how much I make taking each person out on a fun dive here in sunny Taganga. I make more when I teach one day mini courses or scuba tuneups but not all that much really. But, 10 000 pesos is enough to pay for my bed for the night and 2 beers so I suppose it's all worth it. Add to that, my love of diving and hanging out here and I've got a smile on my face every day.

Since the Shakira concert I've been working almost everyday and even went out on the boat with just myself, two fun divers and the captain. Everyone assumes that I know all the dive sites but leading people through a site is very different from just following a helping out. I took one guy out in the correct direction but I kept pulling right when I couldn't find the reef and ended up far far away from the boat and the reef before finally pulling the plug and surfacing to get my bearings. Just a little ebarrassing. Luckily the guy I was guiding was an instructor from a dive school up in Honduras and cool to boot. Shoot, it used to take me 20 minutes to find my car a mall parking lot and that was with me pointing and clicking the alarm at every car that I passed. I am getting better though. I've found a few trusty markers, funny shaped corals and old tires that  I pray will never change.

All was going swimmingly until late last week when the laptaop I borrowed from my brother declined to boot up for me. I was really counting on the thing to help me get my esays done and some other things to boot. I emailed my brother for help only to get some vague innuendos that I had probably dropped the thing or gotten it wet. No dear brother. I didn't take the thing on the boat diving with me. My best guess is that a little ant got zapped while touring around inside and corrupted something. I really just need a boot disk, but there don't seem to be too many Mac users down here. C'est la vie! I didn't lose copies of any of my documents and those were my priority so I can't be too bummed. I went down tothe dive shop and requested a few days off so that I could concentrate on my essays on the nice computers in nearby Santa Marta. Internet access is only 40 cents an hour so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

I woke up early, ready to begin an essay-tastic day on the computer and headed into town. After about 20 minutes on the computer I started to feel like I was going to be sick. I'd been a bit ill the night before so I headed home and ended up sleeping the day away. Two days later I was still in the bed wishing I was dead. I would get up in the morning feeling ok but by about 11am I was ready to collapse. On the third day, the girls in the hostel saw me comatosed in bed and brought me some Pedialyte which pretty much saved my life as I was more dehydrated than sick. I hadn't eaten or drank anything for more than 48 hours. The next day I hauled myself off to the Health Center in town. They weren't much for chatting or diagnosing, just treating which was fine by me. It cost me $20 to be looked at and to get an anti-vomiting shot in my ass and in my arm, anti-spasmodic for my stomach. The sent me to the pharmacy to get some more reinforcers in pill form and I was out the door. 

I was feeling good enough that night to eat some soup and over the next two days I just bloomed back into my normal self. I've never thought of myself as a bubbly personality but I am definately a high-energy girl and it was great to be back. My first day back in the water was just me again with 2 fun divers and the captain. We always take a quick snack break on one of the small beaches where the fishermen set up their nets and haul in their catches. While we were there the men pulled in not just the usual mackeral, or bonito as they call it, but quite a few red snapper (pargo). I asked our captain, Nelson to inquire if I could buy a couple but the big fat man in charge (hey, they call him Gordito) handed me 4 as a gift. I was thrilled and split the bounty with Nelson. Back at the hostel, one of the girls who works in the kitchen, Lulo, walked me through what I had to do. Ugh, take out all the gills and all the insides. Check. Scrape all the sharp scales off the outside. Yup, I was covered in them. Check. I fried them up in a little garlic, onion and oregano oil and cooked up some rice to boot. Probably the freshest fish I'll ever eat.

Back to my essays. I lost 4 days to illness so I got cracking a sent yet another version of my 'What is most important to me and why' essay to Ruth who sent me feedback that basically told me to stop smoking pot while I write! Well I don't smoke but I do recall penning much of the essay with a rum and coke firmly in hand. This essay is killing me. It's the last one I need to finish in a set of four for my first choice school and I should be able to use a large part of it for another schoolas well so its muy muy importante. I'd set a deadline of December 14th to have all my essays and applications completed which I still want to hit. The 14th is over a month before application are all officially due but I do want to have some fun here! Wish me luck.