Leaving Roatan

Since Sunday I've been staying with some great friends at the Inn of Last Resort, Roatan Island, Honduras. If you like diving or just want to sample some island life, I can't recommend this place enough. Tomorrow I leave Roatan, stopping in El Salvador on my way back to Guatemala City for one more night. I've logged seven dives since I've been here, including my first wreck, my first cave & swim-throughs, and my first night dive -- during which I encountered some leech-like creature that attached itself to my forearm and started sucking my blood. I think it was a bloodworm, but the divemaster didn't sound convinced. (Note to self -- start using a full-length wetsuit that covers both arms and legs.) I've encountered a host of interesting creatures along the way, the names of which I won't bore you with here, but rest assured I've tried to catalogue most of them in my dive log. All this glory comes at a price, however: I've got multiple cuts and scrapes on my arms and legs, popped blisters on my toes, and the skin on the front of my shoulders is broken open from the chafing of my BCD. In addition, I've got sand flea bites that look like mosquito bites and mosquito bites that look like table tennis balls under my skin. I've got reef rash on my left elbow and right ankle. Throw in some sunburn and a parrot bite, and I've had a good week. Honestly, I feel GOOD. 100% better than last week's bout with food poisoning. In fact, my condition reminds me of a Hamlin Garland poem I memorized when I was a kid:

"Do you fear the force of the wind,
The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them,
Be savage again.
Go hungry and cold like the wolf,
Go wade like the crane:
The palms of your hands will thicken,
The skin of your cheek will tan,
You'll grow ragged and weary and swarthy,
But you'll walk like a man!"

I'll fly like a man all the way back to L.A. this weekend. A very itchy man.