First off I suppose I should mention that which I am most excited about. This morning upon arriving in the centre Alan turns to me and says I will be getting to have a go on the JJ , he may have been joking or maybe not but what he doesn't know yet is I am now going to be like a dog with a bone and not stop until I've satisfied my rebreather thirst. That feels like an expensive sentence as I type it and I can feel the ever increasing charred remains of what used to be my pockets getting hotter.
Anyway back to other more pressing issues. Everyone at Dive Wise are amazingly friendly. I literally could not feel more relaxed and at home here. My room has turned up more surprises in the shape of a fourth bed which doubles as a sofa.
Today I went in to the centre for a Dive Master orientation with Sarah or Soogle as she is affectionately known here. The reason for her nick name is because she is the fountain of knowledge and I am informed if I have a question she is the lady to ask similar in ways to Google. Sarah did a great job of making the boring task of going through some of the slides as interesting as possible. This may be an unfair statement as some people may find the slides fairly interesting however, I was not ever one for school or sitting still for longer than I deemed necessary. Still it was fairly fun, nothing major new covered but one essential part over and out the way.
Alan the owner then asked me if I would like to go for a car ride with him. We had a talk and for some reason I got quite emotional still I'm hoping for the sake of my man hood and pride I kept it hidden (I realise I'm publishing this online, proving the point it is incredible what people will write online.) I mean this when I say it. I am completely amazed at Alan's positive friendly attitude towards life. It is great to have a good role model to look up to especially as a large part of this course is learning how to become a good role model. Something which, in the past I have not been very good at. I have bent and broken most of the rules and luckily lived to tell the tale and had the balls to publish it online. I feel this is important as it can stop people making the same mistakes and not being as lucky as me. This is something I'm sure Gareth Lock agrees with me here.
People for so long have tried to put me off working in the diving industry because there is no money in it. This is true it is difficult to make a decent living diving, these people have forgotten that money does not equal happiness though. Ha the naive opinions of a 24 year old. Anyway Alan seems like a great guy and kept asking me what I want to get out of my time here. My answers were simple, fun dives, DM cert, some specialities required for DM certification, experience with a very busy dive out fit and some sneaky squeaky mix dives of which Malta has lots to keep me busy.
I suppose before I go any further I should elaborate on the horrible looks I got when I pulled my DIR compliant kit out of my bag and then again when I sorted it all out this morning. Apparently it is not good for the students to see me in different kit however most of the instructors dive in single piece harnesses with wings when they dive for fun. This raises the question why on earth are we (and by we I mean the majority or the diving industry) still in the dark ages of teaching in rubbish kit that even the instructors won't use given the choice? Anyway this is not a dig at Dive Wise or PADI or anyone, more a question I think needs to be worked up through the ranks. I know some people will argue that most people will never complete techie dives and thus not need better kit but the better kit costs the same and why are we working to lower standards of equipment for the average diver who has a 5 year life span. 5 diving years that is. I think this will change in the future as it is now so common place to see people diving single piece harnesses very early on in their diving careers. I do hope I'm right but I feel the dive industry has more to gain from selling everyone recreational kit then a completely new system when they progress to technical diving and this may be the factor that tips the scale.
Alan dropped me off outside my hotel which I have just discovered has a pool and a fully and I mean fully functional gym. YES! I mean all this for €9 a night. Seriously I feel like I am doing them an injustice. I went back to my nice heated room to do the knowledge reviews at the end of the first four chapters of the Dive Master book. Again not really my fortey (sp?) so I decided to get half way have a break return to the centre and then grab a humongous 20" pizza for an amazing €9. Wow! That is literally going to keep me fed for the next two days. Then back to my room to finish off the last two chapters. One last thing I was learned from today and more specifically from Alan is to stay away from the Maltese women because they are crazy. Something else Alan didn't know but I was quick to tell him is that they are exactly the type I go for. In fact just before I started writing this I was walking down the street and I copped a glance from a girl who has dyed her hair bright green. I mean this glance was more like a 10 second staring match before I remembered what Alan had said and decided to head the warning.
With all the knowledge reviews done I passed out from what can only be known as symptoms of food narcolepsy. I woke up feeling awesome it is so nice to wake up and realise you have no places to be or go. I decided to go out for a run as the Marathon is gaining on me faster than I'd hoped. Despite this morning the wind being much decreased from yesterday it has seemed to kick up again this evening so running was, well refreshing. I can not believe how much I love being by the sea. I had forgotten how different the air is. I love it!
Lessons Learned Above;
Money does not equal happiness.
Sea air is the best!
Please sponsor me the Virgin London Marathon is 5weeks away and I am doing it for a good cause ;
http://www.justgiving.com/Benjamin-Curtis123
Stay away from the Maltese women, more on this to follow.
Lessons Learned Below;
Still N/A yet.
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