Friday, October 30, 2009

Scuba


Things have been slow in Bermuda and one friend mentioned that I should get certified in scuba. Funny she should have mentioned that, because Ryan has been spending his past 10+ weeks getting certified. Ryan decided to look into the BSAC which is the Bermuda Sub-Aqua Club. It is affiliated with the British Sub-Aqua Club. I guess the Brits take this certification very seriously because it has been quite the process. This process is not like going into your neighborhood pool and becoming certified the next day. The classes consisted of in-class sessions learning safety techniques, rules for scuba, and the basics. After about 10 classes, Ryan took a written exam. He then started diving with experienced volunteers. They had three sheltered dives and then five open water dives. Ryan will dive for his last time this Sunday and then will be a Certified Ocean Diver. He has loved the experience and hopes to continue with friends. He has experienced many parts of Bermuda that we had never considered going to. While he loves it, I prefer to stay floating on the top of the water staring down at the fish as opposed to entered into their world.

The water is getting chilly (75 degrees surface temperature), so Ryan is now wearing a wetsuit. I am sure it will help as the waters will continue to dip down into the 60's as winter is approaching. It is still beautiful in Bermuda with the high's this week in the mid-70's. I cant complain, it has been a beautiful October. As October comes to a close, we are looking forward to some trips to the USA. I hope the snow holds off as I guess I forgot to bring a warm winter jacket with me to Bermuda. I may have to pick one up while shopping at the much anticipated USA malls. We cant wait!

Until next time...

Friday, October 23, 2009

One Nation Under God

Today I went to the school that I have been tutoring at, and there was an assembly scheduled. Instead of going home (since I pulled myself out of bed at 7:30am to get there), I decided to stay and watch. The P6 students which means ages 10-11 were putting on a skit about how to stay germ free. People are worried about the swine flu, I mean excuse me H1N1 in Bermuda, yet no H1N1 vaccinations have made it to the island. There have been under 5 cases since the spring, so hopefully the island will stay swine flu free. Tourists are still arriving in droves from the USA, so hopefully only healthy people are touring the country.

Anyways back to my original story. Before the skit began, the principal led a morning prayer. I had heard the students reciting the lords prayer previously, but this session was much more than I expected. At a public primary school in Bermuda, the students were required to bow their heads in prayer, sing a rendition of the Lord's Prayer, and then the students had to stand and clap and sing to two Christian songs. Some of the P5 students were "too cool" to sing and dance along, and were reprimanded by being called out and forced to sing along. While Bermuda is mainly a country practicing Christianity, a 2000 census noted that 21% of inhabitants were unspecified or nonparticipating and 12% practiced religions other then those of the Christian faith. While I am a Christian and wouldn't mind singing along, I found it unbelievable that the public schools were participating in church practices. I feel it would have been extremely uncomfortable for both students and their parents if their households didn't practice or believe in the Christian principals. I maybe found it so hard to believe since students in the US aren't even required to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning since it says, "Under God."

Until next time...

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

It's Fall


Man have I been neglecting my blog. Not for any particular reason, mainly because not too much is new in Bermuda. We had guests this past week and had a wonderful time with Kim and Christian our Erie friends. They are beach bums, so we spent some quality time beaching it and snorkeling some new areas. We explored John Smith Bay which we had never been to. On a Thursday afternoon we were the only people on the beach! The waves were rough on the south shore, but we still enjoyed seeing some great parrot fish. It was parrot fish central with abut 10-15 parrot fish combing the reefs. We have friends for Philadelphia visiting next week and have enjoyed the comradery of good friends. We are also looking forward to November when we are going to Boston for Ryan's actuarial conference where he will get his diploma for becoming a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. We will also be spending Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh with Ryan's family. I am excited for our upcoming trips.

While we have heard that Halloween and Trick or Treating is popular here, I have yet to see any pumpkins. I love carving pumpkins and am not sure I will have that opportunity here. Every holiday and event is a surprise in Bermuda as many times the traditions are very different. I will have to keep you posted. We live in the last house at the top of a steep hill, so I cant imagine we will have very many goblins and ghouls stopping by Halloween night!

Until next time...