So, I'm going back to school....

Well, since I am not taking a vacation this year (Galapagos is WORK, mind you) and considering my latest life goal is to swim with Great Whites, I have decided to splurge and give myself the gift that keeps on giving---education.  Nope, not my masters.  Nope, no course here at the university.  Despite the fear that my lungs are going to burst right after I get attacked by a shark, I have enrolled with my friend Emilee in diving school to get my PADI Open Water Certification. I had been debating about doing the courses, mainly out of fear of the aforementioned but also the panic of investing money in something that I might not be fit for, but after reading the first page of the textbook in which it said, "With that first underwater breath, the door opens to a different world.  Not a world apart,  but different nonetheless.  Go through that door.  Your life will never be the same."  I stopped, cocked my head to the side, puffed up my chest and realized, "*I* am a traveler.  It's what I do.  The ocean floor is a new world.  I MUST GO THERE AND CONQUER!"

So, I began this evening with an hour and a half of section I and II of the informational videos and will read the book over the course of my long weekend.  Monday, Em and I will return to Jimbo's diving lair (yes, my instructor's name is Jimbo) to watch the rest of the videos before Thursday when we do our first shallow water dive (or attempt to at least).  Despite being snarky about the cheesy acting throughout the film, my heart pounded with nervousness and excitement.  I mean, as I was sitting there, I held my breath while drooling over the underwater scenes on a flat screen with nothing but a remote in my hand.  And, somehow, while being surrounded by fish and water and equipment and magic, I am supposed to remember to "Always keep breathing!"  (Good lord.  I'm screwed already).

I am prepared to read that book not once, but probably twice because OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO FORGET TO BREATHE AND PASS OUT AND THEN A SHARK WILL EAT MY BODY BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE JUST MY LUCK BECAUSE I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE IGNORED THE FOREBODING WARNING I'VE GOTTEN FROM EVERY "SHARK WEEK"I HAVE EVER WATCHED.  Turns out, it is the same terror I encountered when I made the commitment to study abroad and was boarding that plane---sheer terror mixed with panicked exhilaration.  I questioned myself, my abilities, and my decision that entire plane ride.  But, stepping off that plane, I knew it was an adventure into an unknown world, which, at the time, I had no idea would impact the course of my entire life.

Although I do not anticipate that scuba diving will necessarily change my entire life course (unless I start and fail a battle with a Great White), it will open a new door to something I have never before experienced.  And, just as I did from day one in Costa Rica, I will again fumble my way through this, nervous as hell, with the hope that at the end of the day I will come up for air and gasp, "OH.  MY. GOD. I WANT TO DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!"  The only way to find out is to take that plunge....literally and figuratively if you will.  So, here we go....!