Diving anyone? Jan 15/08

Overcast morning, took off early to do my first dive off the beach. Had a bit of trouble finding the place so I was a couple of minutes late. The dive was actually really helpful because we took off from the beach just next to my dorms. It was primarily a skills dive where we practiced all of our exercises for becoming certified. The toughest for me is definitely the mask clearing –not because I am claustrophobic but mostly because the salty water burns your eyes a bit when you try to open them again. I am glad they make you practice these things though.. it would be scary to be on a deeper dive and not be able to get along without your mask until it can be replaced. Although there wasn’t a whole lot to see except for sand it was neat to see what the beach front looks like. It’s actually a very gradual slope as opposed to a big drop off as I had been suspecting. Now I know what to expect when I go swimming in the morning! After a quick lunch break, Alexandria and a new diving friend Tanya met me at the scuba shop and we got to do two boat dives. The first was the best diving I’ve done so far. We went to a small cove about 10 minutes away from Grand Anse beach where a local artist has sunk a museum of sculptures about 35 feet below the surface. We swam for a good 35 minutes taking pictures and enjoying all the neat figures –will try to post picts when I get them back from Alexandria. After diving had supper and went back to the church I had attended on Sunday to watch David preach (he’s an ordained minister). He is an awesome public speaker and had some good points. Still not sure that organized religion is for me but some of it (the contributing to the community aspects) have relevance I think… Also, it seems like people in the church community are very generous and giving as a whole –I even got a free ride home by some of the local ladies. Off to bed, I’m now a certified diver –yeehaw!