DIVING
I should really post-date this entry, but it's very late at night again
and I just don't feel like going into the trouble.
Last weekend this time, I was aching all over my body from the 3 intense days of scuba training (15 hours in water in full gear). My knees are bloody from the freshly re-grouted pool. :-) It looks like I have rug-burn...don't I wish! :-) We were supposed to do the qualification dive in Long Island, but it was postponed to next weekend. I am nervous, but excited to be in the open water. The visibility will not be optimal, but the more thrilling the dive should be!
Scuba diving is awesome!!! I love water. My mom used to call me "vodnica" (=waterthing). :-) We used to go to the local lake, my mom would sunbathe (nude) and I would spend hours in the water (not nude), until I was purple from head to toe and my mom chocolate brown (ufff, cancer city).
Now I'll finally have a chance to explore the world under the surface. I still have a little trouble coordinating my moves and my buoyancy under water, but I was told I did very well (actually, best in class).
The most challenging part of the skill exercise was when captain Saam-12 feet under water-ripped my mask and my regulator (air supply) off. It sucked! I just exhaled too. The main rule of scuba diving is, that you can never ever hold your breath when diving, unless you want your lungs to burst and collapse or air bubbles to get into your blood stream and give you an aneurysm. So the exercise requires, that when you get your regulator or mask (or both) taken off unexpectedly, you keep your composure enough to start exhaling slowly and finding your regulator (or your octupus) - there are a few different ways to do that. Once you have the air again, you have to find your mask, put it back on - eventhough it is completely flooded on your face - and blow the water out using the techniques capt. Saam had drilled into us. Then you have to calm down and start breathing normally again. I hope I never have to use these emergency techniques, but I know the blowing of water out of the mask will be very useful. I always get water in my mask when snorkeling and now I know just how to get rid of it even under the surface without taking the mask off.
OK. It's very very late now, so about my French and Math classes later ... :-)
Last weekend this time, I was aching all over my body from the 3 intense days of scuba training (15 hours in water in full gear). My knees are bloody from the freshly re-grouted pool. :-) It looks like I have rug-burn...don't I wish! :-) We were supposed to do the qualification dive in Long Island, but it was postponed to next weekend. I am nervous, but excited to be in the open water. The visibility will not be optimal, but the more thrilling the dive should be!
Scuba diving is awesome!!! I love water. My mom used to call me "vodnica" (=waterthing). :-) We used to go to the local lake, my mom would sunbathe (nude) and I would spend hours in the water (not nude), until I was purple from head to toe and my mom chocolate brown (ufff, cancer city).
Now I'll finally have a chance to explore the world under the surface. I still have a little trouble coordinating my moves and my buoyancy under water, but I was told I did very well (actually, best in class).
The most challenging part of the skill exercise was when captain Saam-12 feet under water-ripped my mask and my regulator (air supply) off. It sucked! I just exhaled too. The main rule of scuba diving is, that you can never ever hold your breath when diving, unless you want your lungs to burst and collapse or air bubbles to get into your blood stream and give you an aneurysm. So the exercise requires, that when you get your regulator or mask (or both) taken off unexpectedly, you keep your composure enough to start exhaling slowly and finding your regulator (or your octupus) - there are a few different ways to do that. Once you have the air again, you have to find your mask, put it back on - eventhough it is completely flooded on your face - and blow the water out using the techniques capt. Saam had drilled into us. Then you have to calm down and start breathing normally again. I hope I never have to use these emergency techniques, but I know the blowing of water out of the mask will be very useful. I always get water in my mask when snorkeling and now I know just how to get rid of it even under the surface without taking the mask off.
OK. It's very very late now, so about my French and Math classes later ... :-)