Last time on Mobilis Divers: Noelle learned that Utah is – quite unexpectedly – a sort of interesting place to dive, so she jumped in the water immediately.
Happy New Year to you, your family, friends and fish!
Our 2018 is already starting out with some pretty big news. In just a couple of days, Chris heads to Bali, where, for the better part of two days, he’ll sit by the pool reading books while he drinks Bintangs and eats nasi goreng until he bursts. He’s looking forward to it immensely. Then on January 8th (less than a week from today!), once he’s sufficiently relaxed and in full tropical island mode, he’ll fly to his (and maybe our!) new home: The Possibly Perfect Place!!
That’s right, folks! This is actually happening!!
For the first week, he’ll be staying basically right on the beach where there are a bunch of restaurants and bars that look out over the ocean – an ocean full of whales, dolphins and all sorts of hidden small stuff. I am SO jealous he’ll be diving there soon. I can’t wait to hear all about it! I’m also silly excited for the lively, social, full-of-music-and-art beach scene there. It’s a very welcome change from the quiet, reserved, monochromatic seaside life of Muscat, and one we’re eager to embrace with open arms.
While it won’t all be fun and games – he does start a new job on January 15th and he’ll have to find a place to live pretty quickly after he arrives – he’s incredibly excited to launch the next phase our plans. He’s been doing all sorts of research into cool places to explore (I’m particularly excited about the mountain hiking) and tasty places to eat (there’s pho!! – we lived for three years without it in Muscat). He’s even gone so far as to see what we might need to do to open a business there. We might be slightly ahead of ourselves, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised to learn that they are putting real effort into making it easier for businesses to start up and stay running. This plan might be able to take flight sooner than we thought!
…
Also on January 8th, but on the other side of the world (almost exactly), I’ll be starting a new job! I got a gig at a nearby university and will be helping students with financial aid stuff. I’m pretty excited to have a job again (it’s been just shy of six years) both for the paycheck and for the structure it brings to the day. It’s also nice to get back in the business world and remember what it takes to keep a place running since we might have our own to manage pretty soon.
As I mentioned last time, in December I started doing some diving in Utah! Most of it has been in the pool helping with courses, which has been pretty fun. I particularly liked the DSD students – those trying diving for the first time ever. Once they get past the initial weirdness of breathing underwater (and it is weird!!) you get to see them experience a totally alien sensation for the first time, and everyone loves it. As both a means of distraction and a way to give them practice, we set up hula hoops for them to swim through, a machine that makes bubble rings and little torpedos they can throw at each other. I had a particularly fun night when we had about 13 teenage boys in the pool together. They had a grand old time and I really enjoyed goofing around with them.
I did also get the chance to check out the crater hot spring (sneak peek above), which was definitely a unique experience. The only way I can really think to describe the atmosphere there is eerie. Light doesn’t make it very far into the murky water, so it gets dark quickly once you drop below the surface. Because it is mainly used as a training site – where students need to practice their skills underwater – they have floated several layers of PVC pipe structures that you can hold onto while you wait for everyone to get through their tasks. Because there is no fish or plant life to entertain you while you wait, they have added some…let’s go with creepy…additions to the structures. Scattered down the ropes of the frames and on bits of old wood attached to the sides, they’ve added all sorts of strange props: dinosaur skeleton models, plastic marine animals and – most creepy for me – baby dolls.
According to the video below, there’s also a (plastic) human skeleton at the bottom along with some other palaeontology style artefacts. I definitely enjoyed the weirdness of the place and now that I’ve seen this video I want to go all the way to the bottom next time and see the hot water actually bubbling up from the mud (see the 2:00 mark).
What else is happening in 2018? I’m glad you asked! As if moving across the world, getting new jobs and trying to start our own business while we’re on opposite sides of the globe isn’t enough for one year, I’m also planning to get more diving in here (still waiting to see those sharks!), complete my instructor course and hopefully make a trip to Mexico to explore their famous cenotes (more bizarre versions of the Homestead Crater).
There’s a lot to do, but I’m excited for all we’ve got going on and to share it with you along the way. I hope your 2018 is full of adventure and excitement too!
Mobilis Divers 