Scuba Lesson #2 & 3

Today we had a combined scuba lesson, completing all of our pool work in one session. Basically, that's 6 hours in a pool swimming around in circles. My fingers we swollen little prunes when we finally got out!
Now what, do you ask, attracts me to scuba? Is it the pretty fish, or the possibility of seeing shark in their natural habitat? Or maybe exploring sunken ships and seeing a bit of history lost in time? No no, my friends...it's all about the cool new accessories and outfits for me!

Never mind that I have no neck....how slimming is this suit?!

My Buddy, My Buddy, wherever I go, she's gonna go.....

After gearing up, hooking up our air, and getting into the pool it was time to do some serious pool scuba. We saw many species of boogers, dead plant material, and particulate matter that I did not want to identify. Our instructor was firm and determined to complete our material at least an hour ahead of schedule. Some of the tasks we learned included:

• how to clear our masks of water while underwater, should a shark remove it from our heads while diving
• how to clear our regulator underwater, should it get pulled from our mouths by our buddy while diving
• how to take off all of our scuba gear underwater and then put it all back on again underwater (in case we should ever be so inclined to show off that skill)
• how to properly buoyant ourselves in the water so that we don't sink to the bottom nor stay at the surface
• how to breathe from our buddy's regulator and then go swimming off into the sunset arm in arm
• how to swim in a circle with our masks off, find our masks at the bottom with chlorine-blinded eyes, and put them back on underwater

Once we had completed these tasks and more to our instructors liking, we were officially dubbed Junior Divers and given the okay to leave the pool. Next comes that dreadful word...the academic portion of our diving journey. After academics we take written test and they set us free in the ocean! Scary thought, huh? I mean, Drivers Ed was like a 3 month course. Crazy.

Scuba Sas.

Please note how My Buddy is in the background LAUGHING as I am swallowed whole.

Please excuse my crude graphics in the above photo. I couldn't find my copy of Photoshop before I left home and thus was forced to use the archaic Paint program. Ick.