I live in Hawaii Kai just about 1 mile from Hanauma Bay with my partner in crime, Angela Hansen from Canada who is here studying MS in Marine Science focusing on Environmental Toxicology in Whales and Dolphins. I met her just after 3 days here at a Marine Debris Conference down in Waikiki. A night that changed my life forever. I met many people at this conference from around the world and made some great connections in how to get more involved with cleaning up the ocean. It felt so good to be in my element with other people that are passionate about the ocean and making a difference in the places they are from. One of my favorite parts of the evening was overhearing a girl from Slovenia named Andreja talk about this conference she is organizing on the Adriatic Sea in a couple years. I asked her what countries she had representatives from and she names just about every country but Albania. I asked if she had considered Albania and she responds that she didn't know anyone who has been there before or who could translate their material. You should've seen her face when I told her I could translate it for her! She is getting a PHD in Marine Debris and interactions with wildlife. We spent about a week together after the conference and feel pretty confident that this will eventually work out. I felt so strongly when I was living in Durres, Albania that I would be a part of some educational movement to get the young kids aware of garbage in the sea. Who would've imagined 3 years later, in Honolulu, I would meet the link of making that happen. I was definitely in the right place at the right time.
I started work a month ago now, which is crazy, and so much has happened it's pretty remarkable. Somehow I was able to get settled, find a place to live and find a car in just a few days so I could start work right away. I work primarily out of the shop in Pearl Harbor and have a view of the Arizona Memorial outside our front door (Yes, I get to help men in uniform all day long :o). I have learned the ins and outs to booking diving classes, tours, refresher courses, selling equipment, repairing equipment, filling tanks and how to visually inspect tanks as well. I completed the Rescue Diver Course, Enriched Air (Nitrox) course, Visual Tank Inspection course and am currently a Divemaster Candidate with my dear friends Craig and Irina. More on them in a bit.
I have had some wonderful opportunities in the water from swimming with turtles and hearing whales to helping a quadriplegic man go diving. I have had numerous beautiful dives from both the boat and the shore where I'm continuously pinching myself that this is my life. I will load photos immediately following this and please stay tuned for some stories from my first day working the boat on a 3-tank night dive to Rescue class with me being the only female and how I learned to pull grown men out of the water.
Aloha :)
