Under the Sea

I had a pretty amazing weekend. It was fun and busy and even somewhat relaxing.
Wednesday I just hung out with friends after work, then went to bed fairly early as I had to go SCUBA diving in the morning.

Thursday and Friday mornings, I got on a motorboat with some friends, a few diving instructors and some other practicing divers. We headed away from the city and out on the waters. We did some practice dives and skill practice on the surface and under water.

We saw beautiful tropical fish, some coral and a sting ray under the water. It was lovely and amazing. As we were boating back on Thursday, we stopped for awhile to watch a pod of dolphins swimming in the gulf water. It was a moment of peaceful beauty. One of the divemasters who was along to assist us said they have not seen dolphins for about a year.

I am now a certified SCUBA diver. I never thought about diving before, but I quite like it. I like being in the water and I like nature so it does seem like a good fit. Today, I am definitely feeling the effects. My arms and shoulders are sunburnt quite badly (I can feel heat radiating off of me). My feet are scuffed up from the fins and my left ear canal is inflamed from the pressure. It hurts quite a bit and I can barely hear from that ear but the doctor on campus gave me some ear drops so hopefully it will clear up in a few days. Fortunately my eardrum is not damaged so I have the consolation of knowing it could be worse.

Last night I went to some friends' for dinner: delicious eggplant parmesan and spagetti. Super yummy!

And now it's 6 weeks until home time...hurray for June 16th.

lots of love,
Ramona