Christmas 2009

The sun was already shining outside. It was progressively getting very hot under the dome so I unzipped my sleeping bag, a few minutes later I removed my fleece, then my long sleeves cotton top, then my t-shirt. Next to me the human lump was still lying lifeless wrapped up. I prodded him to check for any sign of life. A feeble noise confirmed that he was still alive. There is a saying in my country which doesn’t quite rhyme in English that goes “Notte da leoni mattino da ..” you google the rest!

The night before (Christmas Eve) was a lion’s night; for some more than others.

I wasn’t feeling 100% so after witnessing crazy dancing, crazy talking, skinny dipping and other stuff that I shouldn’t mention here I made it into bed at about 2 AM.
I remember being woken up by a text message from my brother at 4:30 AM (thanks bro!) seeing an empty space next to me and thinking that someone had passed out on the beach I went for a exploratory tour. S. was still around the camp fire making tea with the last survivor. They stayed up late. Possibly until around 5 AM (they don’t remember exactly… and I can understand why). So this was the result in the morning.

I couldn’t take it any longer; it was really getting too hot. I unzipped the front door, I walked hurriedly and dived into the refreshing sea.

Yes that’s how I woke up to Christmas day.


The rest is all the usual: a lot of eating and cheering with good friends; a full Xmas lunch in stile, Turkey and all the trimmings. All served on a beach.

We hope you had a fantastic one too and we wish you all a very happy 2010!!

Living the dream

Warning, this next post may make you jealous.

After another day spent under the sun and below the sea I look back at my week and as I reflect upon my working days I am unable to describe the feeling of elation that gently leads me towards the end of today.

My non-rest days start early in the morning; early means that the alarm clock goes off at 5:50 giving me those extra 10 minutes of snooze time to fool my body into believing that I am actually sleeping longer, when in fact I have interrupted my dreams 10 minutes earlier than I could have done. Never mind, it works better for me this way. Early means just before sunrise at this time of the year, which translates into a terrible feat trying to open the eyes and unsteadily step off the bed when the room is still dark and the body rightly thinks that it’s still time to lie in. Nonetheless when I think about the cold dark mornings I endured back in the UK I consider myself lucky because here I don’t have to recoil when the duvet slips off to the side and I know that the sun will be kissing me in no time.

I wake up slowly over breakfast and pack my few things. My eyes still a bit stuck together I set off in my t-shirt, shorties and flip-flops. As the city wakes up so do my senses, by the time I am sitting in the car around 7 am the sun is already glowing gloriously across the blue sky unveiling the jagged silhouette of the mighty mountains in the background.

The morning drive takes me through the city jammed with white houses then over and across dramatic mountains. After leaving the long motorway, the road bends, rises and descends. About 40 km from home the view opens up over the beautiful bay of Qantab; usually unveiling a perfectly still and turquoise sea that contrasts sharply against the golden rocky coastline. Everything looks still, the rocks, the air, the sea; like a snapshot suspended in time.

That’s how my day unfolds; the variables that determine how the rest of the day develops can be many. It may be a day teaching, which in turn can mean “yaky-yaky-yaking” in the classroom, soaking in the pool for hours (and gaining a ridiculous shorty wetsuit suntan), diving in the open sea in the afternoon, a day spent on 3 straight dives in the open sea, sitting at the bottom of the marina supervising students perform their skills or guiding already certified people out in the wondrous sea (which in case of experienced divers it means an event very close to a fun dive for me).

Repeat this several days in a row and neither will ever be the same as the previous one.

The sun almost always shines, the sea has always interesting shows on display, people are always so interestingly different.

Looking back I have nothing to miss from the office job. Seriously and absolutely nothing. That is why, no matter whether I am working like crazy or chilling out on a day off, you will often find me wandering around with a permanent grin painted on my face lost in thoughts about how wonderful life is and how green the grass looks on this side of the fence (even despite the little rainfall ;) …