Update: everyone on Christmas Island seems super friendly?? I messaged Extra Divers (a Christmas Island dive company) earlier today about scuba certification and this was their response:
They remembered my post in the CI Blackboard page (it was a “I’m looking for housing” post, no surprises there) which is super sweet. And also surprising- but maybe it shouldn’t be, on an island with a population of about 1800.
I feel like I’m starting to get a sense (threadbare as it is) of the connectedness of the CI community, at least on social media. Both of the people on the island I’ve emailed so far (an Airbnb host and a national park staff member who helped me figure out research permits) know each other and actually work together in the national park. Plus yesterday I read somewhere (on another Facebook page) that locals go to the airport to welcome newcomers, since twice-a-week flights are so rare they’re actually an event that people roll out to.
What a thrill. Maybe it won’t be so lonely after all.
Shorebound 