What day is it? I've been here almost a month!

It’s been quite a while since I have updated but I’ve been busy and internet connections aren’t quite what they are back home.

I’m not sure where to begin.

This past Tuesday was Statia America Day. They celebrate the day they recognized the United States as an independent nation. There is a week full of celebrations leading up to that day. In the morning they have a reenactment. An American ship fires off a thirteen-gun salute and Statia fires back with eleven rounds. They pack gunpowder into coconuts and then light them. It is supposed to make an incredibly loud boom that can be heard from all over town. There is also a regatta (sail boat race) on Statia Day. We had fifteen sailboats in the bay for the race. There is tons of food and different bands every night. You get to meet a lot of new people too since there’s a bunch of people coming in off the boats.

On Statia Day I began taking my PADI Open Water Diver certification course. I read the book and we began our pool skills that day. I learned how to clear my mask, how to use my dive buddy’s alternate air source, how to take my mask off, put it back on, and then clear it, and many more things. On Wednesday we finished our pool skills. Yesterday, we got to go diving in the ocean! We went to a site called Twelve Guns. Surprise! There are twelve cannons in the water. We saw them and we also saw lots of different corals. It was really neat to be breathing under water. I felt like a space explorer, wearing technical gear and breathing from air in a tank. I am now officially a PADI Open Water Diver as of Saturday! I did my last two dives and took my test. I also saw four sea turtles, one seahorse, and a flamingo tongue fingerprint. It was really cool :]

In other big news, I cut my hair off. It’s very, very short now. I look quite a lot like my mom. I really like it. It takes less shampoo, less time to style, and it’s good for diving! Plus, I can wear lots of headbands.

That’s about it for now. This past Sunday we had Thanksgiving dinner. We made a turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie, banana crunch muffins, oreo truffles, and a few other delicious things. We had seventeen people at dinner so it was full of merriment. And the food was really really good.

Missing everyone back home!