Tisa Del Valle I was born and raised in Belize. I am a dive instructor and I did a lot of research with the Belize Audubon Society and with my good friend who is a marine biologist. In doing so, there was a live a board, Nekton Pilot M/V, which would come down to Belize for half the year, and then the other half of the year it would go to the Bahamas from Ft. Lauderdale. When the live aboard was in Belize, we would assist them in securing mooring balls for dive sites. In assisting them, they needed a certain number of Belizean staff to be able to operate there for half the year. I met with the fleet captain and he asked if I was willing to go with them for the U.S. part of the year. I didnt even think about it, I said yes, of course! He said great, we leave in 2 weeks. I basically gave my parents a 2 week notice! I went home and told my parents but they didnt really take it serious because I am always talking about doing something or going somewhere. They just thought this was some talk. The first week went by and I worked on my paperwork, getting it all in order so I could go. My dad saw me organizing my stuff and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was getting everything together so I could go, I had told him last week. He said Youre serious? Youre really doing this? I said yes. I am his only daughter, and the only child left home; my brothers still live in Belize. My dad was flustered and my mom wasnt happy either, of course. They tried to talk me out of it, but I knew this was an opportunity and I had to take, it wasnt going to come again. We set sail the following week. It took us a week to get to Ft. Lauderdale from Belize, the live aboard only cruises at 7 knots! We were coming against the gulf, in treacherous seas. I think my dad aged about 20 years waiting to hear from me that week! The Nekton Pilot M/V is a live aboard. We eat, sleep, and dive on the boat. We take 32 divers with a 12 man crew for a week of diving, we take them to dive locations in remote areas. I did this for about 3 years. I did everything on the boat except captain. It really is luxury diving. One year during out Ft. Lauderdale tour, I came to the Keys with my then boy friend one 4th of July to dive, and we dove the Spiegel Grove on a vacation. All my dives were there my first time here and I loved it. I talked to my then boy friend and we decided we needed to move here. This was the closest I was going to get to Belize without going back; the culture, the vibe, the music, and it is only a short drive from the Miami airport. We were here on the 4th of July and were living here by the first week of September. On board the live aboard the only thing I couldnt do was captain, because I wasnt a US Citizen or an engineer, but that isnt where my interests were. I thought I needed to grow up, so it was off to nursing school. I completed nursing school and got married. I am no longer married, but I am still a nurse and I am at Mariners in hyperbaric medicine. I merged my 2 worlds; diving and nursing! Now I am a Realtor with Star Properties. I needed a new challenge & real estate has piqued my interest & owns my devotion. I think my biggest accomplishment is the hyperbaric medicine. It took a lot of work, getting there was a big deal. We had a couple of emergencies on the live aboard and although I didnt like that we had emergencies, I did love how the team worked together and helped the person in need; the caring part of it. That is what motivated me to go into nursing & specializing in hyperbaric medicine. My mom and dad have grown into my life choices. They had to, now that it has been 15 years since I left home. I have established a life here and have done well and they are proud. I thought about moving back to Belize a couple of times, strongly after my divorce, but a wise friend said, Tisa, home is never really how you remember it. He was right.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:30:01 +0000