our bus from tulum back to the hotel runs a little
long, so ben changes on the bus, i take off all my
jewelry and get my suit out of my bag (we knew
ahead of time that we might run late so we packed
our stuff for our 1 o'clock dive and brought it along
to tulum)and as soon as the bus came to a stop at
our lobby, ben and i tore off running to the dive
shop! we made it! this would be our last opportunity
to dive before we flew home and we didn't want to miss
it! more on that later....
so, we get up early, we are supposed to get to the
lobby at like 8:30 for the bus trip to tulum.
we have to pick up others on the way and change
buses. there were about 30 of us, i'd say, total.
our guide for tulum is at the front of the bus and
starts in on the history of the mayan culture so that
by the time we arrive (30-40 minutes) we are up to speed
on what to do, what to expect and what not to TOUCH!
pretty cool, actually. i think i will snoop around
and get some books on the mayan culture and learn more.
our guide told us it would be hot and that there would
be little shade and he wasn't kidding! we would go from
shade to shade and stop while he would tell us more
about the structures and the area that we stood upon.
glad we brought all the water!...dry and hot!!
eventually we made it down to the beach, which of course
was gorgeous and breezy! i took a lot of photos down there
and most of us took off our shoes and waded in.
some folks brought bathing suits but there were no towels
or showers there so we opted to not bring suits.
however, matt never saw the wave coming and he was crouching
to take a photo of olivia and just got soaked!!!
well, back to the bus...there was a guy there by the exit
with a huge barrel of ice cold waters on ice...i quickly
bought 3 for the group! we were dying and out of water!
felt awesome!
back to the diving portion of the day...
ben and i actually felt a little nervous this time.
not sure why but i think that just because we had
to rush, it made us a little uneasy. it's nice to
get there, get your stuff on leisurely and get
instruction, relax and go to the boat. this was
not the case. all went well in any case and we were
grateful for having the opportunity to get the last
dive in to complete our course.
i ran into roberto from our first dive and discovered
that he would not be taking us out this time...bummer!
jaimie (james) did and he was our theory instructor so
that was fine...we knew him too.
jaimie assured us that we were not late and to relax
and get our equipment so we did. met the folks we
would be diving with (a family with 2 certified divers
and their sons who for this would be their first dive.
that's good, more experience down there with us...good! :)
we head out to our spot, throw in the buey and flip
over the side of the boad and head to the rope for
our decent. the first time, i only got 1/2 way down
before i realized that i couldn't fully equalize and
roberto sent me back up to the boat so i was praying
that this dive would be different, especially because
that would leave ben down there alone...i didn't want
that to be the case.
well, i got to the end of the rope and looked at ben
and he pointed down to show me that i had indeed gotten
all the way down!! yay!! i wanted to do the 'ol "thumbs
up" sign, but in diving that means "go up" and so i
opted for a fist pump and "knuckle bump" instead!
wow, what an experience! underwater, swimming, breathing
communicating with signals...quiet, beautiful, peaceful,
i could go on and on...God's done a great job down there
as well (not that i ever doubted it...i've just never
seen it!!!).
i never thought i would ever scuba dive....i hated
snorkeling! you have to try it, there is no comparison!
do the little freebie poolside on your next vacation,
you will be amazed at how easy and relaxing it really is!
when jen gets me the disc of the images she shot of
us in our gear, i'll post them.
i went back the next morning and picked up our dvd of
the dive and my certification card and ran into
roberto (he is soooo beautiful!...italian...blue eyes!
yeeeeoooow!) and he asked how it went and i was just
joy filled to tell him that i was able to get down
and how amazing it was and all due to his wonderful
instruction (he did the pool portion and the first
dive with us)...the he gave me the 'ol italian kiss
kiss on both cheeks... jenny said, "you should have
turned really quick!" tee hee...i didn't, i'm a good
girl.
back to the pool to meet up with everyone and celebrate!
1/2 the blackowiak family was there! ben's best
friend, chris and his dad and sister carly (whose
sr. portraits i did last summer)..that was fun.
we all had dinner together at the steak house
where i actually purchased a bottle of wine so that
we didn't have to suffer anymore with the stuff that
they pour from the carafe (no one is certain what that
stuff is!) but the wine we got was really yummy!!!
dinner was terrific!
chris stayed in our room that last night.
he wanted ben to stay the week with them but it
was not in the cards!
sorry this is such a long one today, there was just
a lot to tell and it's hard to say good bye to a
great vacation! I got to live it twice! we've been
back a week already!
i'm putting together an album for my sister of this
trip. it will be like a wedding album. i'm anxious
to get it started. i just need a few images from
jenny and some from pete's camera as well.
for my birthday tomorrow, just send money...
i'm going to go out & buy a bunch of scuba gear!
have a fabulous "maundy thursday"!
scuba sue....out!
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