Michael and I have headed to Sharm El Sheikh for a week in order for me to learn how to dive. Two of the upcoming blogs, including this one, will mainly be about me as I have the more active day. Finally, Michael gets to relax after finishing work. He spends his days alternating between lounging by the pool reading Harry Potter and taking naps back in the room. When it is time for me to have my lunch break, he too takes a rest from his strenuous day to eat with me. Then when evening comes, we go out to eat relaxing together.
Now, my days are very different. I have voluntarily decided to go to school while on vacation. Yet, it’s quite alright with me as this school is fun with practical application of what I am learning in the classroom. In other words, it is the perfect example of how classrooms to should run with material pertaining to real life experiences. Anyway, getting a bit off topic so back to my first day in the course. Sunday consisted of watching three videos, completing three knowledge reviews, and taking three quizzes. All of this work was classroom work in order for me to begin my scuba training. After lunch, we hit the pool for the first time with the equipment. First, we learned how to assemble everything which was rather difficult as the stuff is rather bulky. Then we stormed into the pool where we learned the basics of taking out the regulator (the thing you breath from) and how to properly breath/clear it when surrounded by water. Similarly, we learned how to fill/clear our masks in the event that it gets knocked off during a dive. When my instructor first asked me to take out my regulator, I almost shook my head saying no, but I realized that it could actually be done. In addition, I was in a meter half a meter under the water, thus I could stand up if I needed too. However, everything went just fine. A little bit later, we put on our fins and moved into deeper water for the first time. It was one of the weirdest feelings I have ever felt. It was like being a fish but with massive amounts of stuff for breathing. The day ended with a quick dive in the Red Sea where there was a small reef filled with fish.
The next morning day two rolled around. On Monday, we spent the morning learning all kinds of diving skills in the pool. We learned how to become neutrally buoyant, no mask breathing which was really weird. I still had my regulator in but with no mask; therefore, I had to resist any temptation to breathe in through my nose. The bubbles kept tickling the edge so at times I had to pinch it. Now, I had to stay there for a minute, and it was the longest minute ever! Thus, I sang Happy Birthday to myself while chanting breathe, breathe, breathe. In addition, we did a great deal of work with the equipment and what to do if things malfunction. Such as if the low-pressure hose breaks then I had to orally inflate the BCD as well as if the regulator starts to free-flow, I could still breathe from it while ascending. That was a weird sensation as well because the regulator is half-way in with bubbles rushing past and water surrounding all of this. Yet, I could still breathe very easily which I have to say was reassuring. We spent the second half of the morning/early afternoon in the sea working on our pool skills and taking a dive in the sea. We saw four lion fish, a corn fish, and a very large/friendly parrot fish which followed us around at times. The dive was amazing, and yet again, very rewarding. In the afternoon, we finished videos four and five in addition to learning how to use the Submersible Pressure Gauge (SPG) to keep track of how much nitrogen the body absorbs during each dive. By the end of day two, I was completely wiped out but still very excited.
Stay tuned for the next two days of the course!
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