Scuba diving in Mexico
Yesterday was my second day here in Canada and I am starting to really enjoy it. It was a really busy day and since I'm still jetlagged, staying awake all the time was difficult.
The day started when the alarm clock did its thing.
I opened my eyes and noticed that Sam, one of the cats had slept in my bed again (Sam loves me, but the other cat, Simon is super scared and runs every time he sees me). I had coffee for breakfast and at 10 am I was taken to the bank to get a bank card that I can use here. Of course I forgot my passport at the house so we had to go back to get it, but eventually we got it all sorted.
After that I was shown my new school and the weekly farmers-market. When we were done with all sorts of little things, off we went to the neighboring town where I got to see everything of interest.
I was made a very Canadian lunch (surprisingly not with maple syrup) and it was really good. Like really good. It was two slices of white bread with butter and cheddar (I think) fried in a frying pan. This resulted in the bread being very crispy and in the cheese being very melted-cheesy(?). You might argue that this is an American meal, and maybe you would be right. EXCEPT here in Canada you have your grilled cheese sandwiches and you dip them in ketchup. Yeah, the sandwiches just weren't unhealthy enough.
A grilled cheese sandwich with ketchup.
Well isn't it obvious? No? Okay here it goes.
I was allowed to join in the local scuba diving class today at my high school'spool. All the others had been going to classes each week for a long period and they had their final session today. Since it was my first time I had an instructor who started to teach me the basics (the others were pros). First it was learning to breath under water with the oxygen tube (just so that you get the hang of it). Then it was learning to use and respond to the hand signals which are used underwater (it's not like we can make whale sounds to communicate). I had to learn how to get water out from my mask when it got in and what to do if I drop the oxygen tube while under water. Scuba diving becomes trickier the deeper you get. You have to be aware of the pressure and make sure not to get up from deeper waters to quick or you might risk getting decompression sickness (dykarsjukan). I learnt how to swim around without using my arms (because that's how you do scuba diving) and how to breath from another persons oxygen tube incase my tank emptied.
First I got to stay in the shallower end of the pool but it turns out I'm a quick learner and dideverything almost perfectly so I got to go to the deeper end and do more things. In the beginning it was almost a bit panicking to feel that if I messed up, or forgot anything, it would be me who would have to live with the consequences. This was just practice at a pool so nothing worse than ear pain and maybe a headache would have happened, but still, there was a lot of water.
But when I started to relax and my breathing became automatic I had more time to focus on everything else and I became quite good at it actually.
It was so fun and I had such a good time! I loved it! I would definitively recommend everyone to try it at least once.
As it turns out, some of the people who own the diving store (the same people who have the scuba diving classes) go with a group of people to Mexico each February to scuba dive. They stay there for two or three weeks, successfully avoiding the Canadian winter. I was told, if I want, can (financially) and if I'm allowed (by my parents) I can come to Mexico.
So now all I have to do is ask my parents and that will be fun. #tagga
A picture of me with my instructor. I definitively felt cooler than I looked.
