24th Bday and Prelude to a big update

Hellooooooo!  My 24th birthday just passed, and it started off badly, but was wonderful on the whole.

I've been very restless and bored because there is nothing for me to do during monsoon season -- no customers means no assisting courses, and diving conditions have been crappy.  When I am bored, it means that I have too much time to think.  This island is too tiny.  It's about 21 sq km!  I am feeling very trapped here, and many of the friends I've made here have left or are leaving, either for the holidays or for good.  Basically, I have decided that I need to leave the island, perhaps permanently.  My extreme homesickness didn't help.  I skyped my parents a week ago, and basically begged to come back home, and they told me I needed to be an adult and suck it up.  This wasn't the answer I was looking for, however valid their points were.  When I skyped my mom the morning of my birthday, it became an argument about me needing to grow up and figure out my future and stop being so dependent on my friends.  It was horrible and emotional and there were many tears.  And then when I hung up on my mom and went to blow my nose, I slipped in water in the bathroom and hurt my knee on the tile.  I sat and laugh/cried.  So that was how my birthday started.  gChatting with Trang and Allyson and Connie helped lessen the miserable state I was in.

Then!  The sun came out, literally, and I enjoyed some sun-bathing, after which Heidi (a divemaster) treated me to a Thai massage at a local place.  We returned to Coral Grand to surprise birthday cake, organized by the wonderful Lara/Lala (DMT).  She even got everybody to sign a nice card for me.  I wasn't sure how many people cared about my birthday, but it was a nice turnout.  We got eaten alive by mosquitoes, while we were chowing down on chocolate cake.  That evening, a big group of us went to Hippo Bar and Grill for delicious steaks (usually too pricey for my budget) and then to Diza Bar afterwards.  I turned it into a joint bday party, with Nut, whose birthday had passed in late October without fanfare.  It was a very fun, very chill, night.  Of course, all the lovely messages I got from my wonderful friends back home helped immensely.  Trang sent me a beautiful scarf and super cute card, and Connie, Darren, Christina, Karla sent me a very, very sweet card.  I am a lucky woman, undeserving of all this love, but no less grateful.  Thank you, all!

my new nickname is Supabington Bear (a la Paddington Bear)

with Nut, after the birthday wigs came out of Lala's bag o' fun

Lala love

DJ Noom played a cheesy version of the Happy Birthday song and then let me pick some other music

new DMT Toby likes to pole dance

My next update will be big.  I am finishing my DMT, and leaving the island, and I will let you know once I've figured out what my next step will be, if that ever happens.  Augh, the pressure!  Stay tuned!