"The wind's blowing like perfume through a prom"

When we first arrived in C.C., I almost immediately started a pros/cons list...mostly just to prove my suspicion that no one place could hold a candle to the tropical gloriousness/perfection that is Guam. Before April, I had never lived in Texas, let alone visit any part of the great, wide "Lonestar State," so this whole shebang is a completely new experience for me. Anyway, the list itself is definitely a work in progress.

For the first week or so, it was pretty heavy on the cons (further supporting my aforementioned claim that Guam is ridiculously awesome). Two I noticed right off the bat were how incredibly flat and windy it is here. One begets the other, right? Now, I come from southern CA and my family lived downstream a piece from a well-known mountain pass that was great if you wanted to get to Vegas quickly, but uncool when the Santa Anas rolled around every spring. So, I thought I knew wind...but I was wrong. My hair has pretty much been in some form of a permanent ponytail since we've been here and I have resurrected my hairspray, environmental consequences be damned. To top this off, C.C. has been NATIONALLY recognized as the #1 worst place to live with long hair:

http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/p_worst_hair_cities/p26872/page14

Seriously, folks. By the way, I take little consolation in the fact that Pensacola, the place we would've moved to had we not chosen C.C., was ranked #6.

Bad hair days aside, the list has balanced out more than I expected. The neighborhood in which we live is spectacular, for one, and Ocean Drive provides a pleasant scenic view of the not-as-green-or-clear-as-Guam water and downtown C.C.. We've found salvation in the yummy food at Jason's Deli and the bargains at Half-Priced Books. BUT, most importantly we are still diving, thanks to the Texas State Aquarium.

The TSA is indeed a diamond in the rough. Because the Aquarium operates almost solely on donations and admissions, its workforce is largely comprised of volunteers. That's where we come in. Almost every week, or really anytime we'd like, we get to suit up and help feed the fish during popular feeding programs, clean exhibits (with the fish swimming around us), and generally contribute to the overall enrichment of our sea animal friends. The paid employees are always grateful for our assistance, and we haven't had a bad experience there yet. I truly believe C.C. is the only place where we could walk right into volunteering with only our dive certifications under our weight belts and not a smidgen of education or work experience in marine biology.

http://www.texasstateaquarium.org/

Here are a couple of photos of him cleaning and hanging out with the fish in the offshore exhibit, or "Islands of Steel," which is patterned after the offshore oil rigs that populate the Gulf.

With Hans, a sand tiger shark that looks ferocious, but secretly enjoys having his belly rubbed.

Petting one of the groupers...they love our air bubbles!