Day 345 – Dive #200

On January 10^th, 2009 I went to a Bulgarian bar-club Mehanata in New York to enjoy a Japanese Gypsy Rock music by Kagero. Finally, after a 5-month head-banging agony of my non-stop migraine, I felt pain-free and hence very-very happy. It is interesting how we learn to appreciate all the little things in life – absence of constant pain, for example, - only after we have been deprived of them for a while. Now I know better and live every headache-free day as if it were my lastJ. Anyway, the day started very nicely and I was loving every moment of it. Little did I know that I would also remember that day forever, because this was the day that changed my life.

At Mehanata, I drank lots of bourbon (it tasted so delicious after 5 months of abstinence!), chatted with everybody at once, and danced like crazy to the Gypsy music (I rarely do that, unfortunately – I so wish I didn't need a ton of alcohol to be able to dance freely). In the middle of this insanity, I was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. I turned my head. Here were Alex and Ellen standing in front of me clearly wanting to talk. Having an intelligible conversation at a loud place like this is next to impossible, but somehow – using the full capacity of our lungs – we managed to communicate the main thought. Which was… Alex and Ellen are going to Cozumel in the beginning of February for a week. Ellen is an avid scuba diver and she will be diving every day while there. Alex, on the other hand, is not a scuba diver at all. In fact, he tried it once in Florida, pretty much hated it and wants nothing to do with it ever again. "So… Why don't you, Masha, join us for our trip? - Alex says. – That way Ellen can enjoy diving without feeling guilty for leaving me behind, while you and I can spend our day drinking tequila and cervezas while waiting for Ellen to come home and join the festivities. Come on, Masha, come with us, be my non-dive buddy!" I had already been infected with the travel bug and normally took every opportunity to go somewhere new, work permitting. And the bourbon made the "work permitting" part seem so easy to handle that I immediately said, "Yes. Of course, I'll go with you guys. With pleasure!"

I woke up early the next day. I always wake up very early when I drink the night before. I kind of forgot about our conversation with Ellen and Alex, so I was a bit shocked when the first email in my Inbox read, "Masha, thank you so much for agreeing to go with us. Here is our flight and lodging information. Please get your tickets asap before the prices go up." It seemed very strange to me that I had agreed to go to the tropics when I hate the heat, to the ocean when I hate the sand, to a diving place when I am scared to death by as much as snorkeling. But oh well, I'm a woman of my word, and so I decided to follow through…

The first day in Cozumel, Alex and I were true to our tequila/cerveza plan, but the next day we were talked into taking a Discover Scuba course with Javier. And we met Sallye. And even though I didn't immediately realize it, this was the end of my life as I knew it. Alex and I ended up loving scuba and dove every day for the rest of that week.

On January 10^th, 2011 I completed my Dive #200 which was part of my Dive Master course. I don't have the "work permitting" constraint anymore. I still don't like the heat, but I tolerate it very well. I still don't like the sand on the surface, but I enjoy it tremendously underwater, I still don't like snorkeling (the "Luke, I'm your father" sound of breathing is creepy), but it turned out that the regulator is a much better device than the stupid snorkel, so breathing underwater is not scary at all. In fact, it's wonderful. Simply wonderful.