Hello everyone! Here is Tal and Megan’s silly account of what happened today.
First we worked. Fun. Does anyone want to hear about that? No. (It was nice to do homework next to each other, by the ocean, however, and Tal did get a lot of math done.)
Our dive for the day was at a site called Something Special—a pretty beach where you can simply gear up, walk into the water, and cavort among the coral. After getting geared up, Tal heard Grandma’s tank hissing suspiciously, and Wendy, after some investigation, discovered that the tank was missing an O-ring—a vital piece of equipment that keeps the tank and regulator (the part you breathe out of) connected. Without the O-ring, it was leaking air. This precipitated a wild goose chase by Megan and Grandpa across the island looking for an O-ring, which is a small silicone ring and not much else. We finally stumbled upon a kindly-looking scuba shop, and so I (Megan) barged in politely and demanded an O-ring. The woman said, “I will give one to you for $1.80.” I said, “I do not have any money.” She said, “Well.” I said, “Wait a minute.” I raced out to the truck and fished around in everyone’s bags looking for loose change. I walked back into the shop, and said, “I have 71 cents and an apology.” She said, “Take the O-ring. Have a nice dive.” And we did.
Aside from a few gear malfunctions throughout the dive (none of which, thankfully, involved O-rings), it was still a pretty spiffy dive, complete with seven squid, two sharp-tailed eels, and a hawksbill sea turtle. Megan especially appreciated the squid, Tal liked the eel (which she even petted), and Wendy chased the turtle until it swam away. After dismembering our gear (and each other—Tal and Wendy know Krav Maga), and nearly dragging Tal off a truck (accidentally, sort of), Tal and Megan spent some time collecting sea glass. Evidently, this beach is the place where everyone goes to have a beer: there was eroded glass everywhere. Then, we made our way back to the Carib Inn (henceforth known as Bruce’s).
At Bruce’s, Tal, Wendy, and Megan jumped off the dock repeatedly, then swam to a floating dock and hung out as the sun dried us off. We would love to tell you about how beautiful it is, but there aren’t really any words to describe it. Well, I have one word: blue. On the drive back home, our entire family had a rousing discussion about phrasals (two or more words which function as one. Tal would like me to add that her teacher spent an entire semester on grammar, including phrasals, which, if you ask her, is an utterly useless way to use up a semester, but it means that she can correct everyone, even her brilliant family, on the use of phrasals, which she finds validating.) (The word “validating” was her idea, not mine.). It was very funny. You’ll have to take our word for it. By the way, “funny” is an adjective.
For dinner, we ate garlic, among other things. Actually, it was quite delicious: Grandpa made his famous Caesar salad, Wendy made pasta and meat sauce, a few different people made garlic bread. While everyone else did useful things, Megan took a glass of wine and a book and sat out on the dock and watched the sunset. When it came time for the sun to disappear, she ran around to tell people to come watch—we always look for a phenomenon called the Green Flash, which only happens when you can see the sun dip below the horizon, so it’s a good thing to look for when you have a West-facing ocean view. Just as the sun disappears, it turns vibrantly green. Wendy, Grandma, and Grandpa saw it. Megan and Tal think they are lying.
At 9:00 every night, Tal, Wendy and Megan go out on the deck/dock to check the lighted water for tarpon, which show up around this time to eat the smaller fish which are attracted by the lights. Wendy and Megan think these fish are about 5 feet long, which is HUGE. Tal thinks they are smaller, but loves them just as much. They are strikingly beautiful, especially when they turn on their sides and they flash in the light, like big, living mirrors. Tal made us possibly the best dessert I have ever had: toasty bread with peanut butter and good Dutch chocolate, and a glass of halfvolle melk (that’s milk, for the uninitiated and the non-Dutch). It’s a lot sweeter than the milk back home.
And now Megan and Tal are here, on a couch, writing this blog together. Whoever is reading this, we miss you. Sort of. The ocean is pretty cool.
Mammal/Fish 