Scuba Lesson #2

I tried it again. I read all of my chapters and scored 100% on the little quiz we took. Then came time to get in the water. I really need to just calm down and have fun with it, but I just get so nervous! Andrew, our instructor, is so patient with me and will literally hold my hand until I get used to everything. Last night, we were supposed to practice 2 techniques. The first is the right arm sweep to recover your regulator if it comes out of your mouth. This of course means you have to take your regulator out of your mouth in order to practice the technique. Take my regulator out of my mouth? I wasn't just like NO, but HELL NO! When it came time for me to do it, I just shook my head at him and passed. Then, we had to practice taking our mask completely off and putting it back on again. I can't even jump into a pool without physically pinching my nose closed with my fingers. And now I am supposed to take my mask off, which keeps the water out of my nose, and somehow coordinate my breathing so that I only use my mouth and not my nose. It is harder than it sounds. Once again, not just NO, but HELL NO! By this point, we have been under for about 20 minutes and I am freezing. I seem to be the only one in class who gets cold under there. But then again, I do not handle cold water very well. I don't consider it a good shower unless my skin is pink when I finish. The pool we use is indoors and heated, but not heated quite enough for me.

Andrew says he knows a pool that is 34C...that about 93F. That would take care of my freezing problem for sure. But I'm still not certain it would be enough to alleviate this fear I have when I am down there. I don't know if skill and drill will make me more comfortable or if I am just more of a snorkel girl. I like being one head tilt from the surface. I am going to really think about it the next few days and decide if it's really for me. Edgar is doing great...but then again, his childhood hero was Aquaman (when he was little, he would come home from school and beg his mom to let him change into his Aquaman costume...isn't that so cute?). I hate that my motivation to succeed is not enough to get me past this anxiety that I have. There are places in the world where you can see beautiful underwater life with just a snorkel, right?