Day 11

Today we went on a boat dive!  It was my first one and it was awesome.  I got down to 54 feet, which is the deepest I've ever been.  (I'm only certified to go 60 feet right now.)  I was the first to be out of air, so I need to work on breathing less.  It's just so unnatural to breathe underwater!  But I definitely think my ears are getting better at equalizing, because now I can go up and down in the water without any problems.  (Last week, if I went down and came up a few feet, I'd have to surface and redive to get deeper again.  Thank goodness that's over!)  I don't have any photos yet, since I'm still working on my buoyancy underwater and taking a camera would make it even worse, BUT one of my professors took photos so I'm trying to get copies from her.

This is week two of Diving Boot Camp, and apart from diving we've also been working hard in the classroom.  We've learned tons of different fish, corals, and algae.  We've learned how to navigate underwater, make underwater maps, and identify coral diseases.  We've learned all about dive injuries and how to treat them.  We've also been working on getting CPR and Rescue Diver certified.  There's a lot to know!  It's fun and all but I kind of hope things slow down a bit once Boot Camp is over on Sunday.  In the meantime, we have to practice all the CPR and rescue skills in class and I think we've got some pretty good actors in the group.  Of course, I took pictures.

Charlotte giving Malia a splint.

Trevor used a water bottle as a splint for Chris?

Lori bandaged me up real good.  Look at that excellent hand wrap!

I think my hand bandage for Lori was pretty good too, actually.

Running around here is great!  I go in the morning before class or at night, and it's always perfect weather.  Last night I tried to keep up with Chris and went super-fast, and ended up not feeling very well.  Tonight I walked along the water with Cammie, one of the interns (i.e., one step above us on the food chain) and we had a lovely talk.  She's a divemaster who has over 450 dives!  Then I went running and heard music, and ran waaaaay across the island trying to find it.  I found the source--a little band in the parking lot of a closed supermarket.  Unfortunately it was a bit far away and I got lost on the way back, but a nice car rental owner named Jon gave me directions!  I love how friendly everyone is here!

Now we're all home watching Finding Nemo and identifying the fish and coral species in the movie.  I love this place.  :)