Adaptation

In the middle of December, I took an open water scuba diving class in the capitol, Santo Domingo. The number one thing to remember when diving is to always keep breathing. Sink or swim becomes drown or breathe.

The first couple of classes were lectures and diving in a pool (that was 10 feet deep). Then it was off to the ocean, the Carribean Sea, to do the first dive to 35 feet. The books and papers go out of the window, and you have to rely on everything that you obtained in the last two days. When you first jump off the boat, you're in nothing short of chaos. You're adjusting your gear, refitting your goggles, and trying to breathe. Even though you can breathe through your snorkel, you can't help but hold your breath when a wave dunks your head underwater. You think that you are already losing control, and you are having second thoughts about if you can do this. But then you get the signal, change your snorkel for your regulator, and you let the air out of your jacket, as it's time to descend. You start to breath through your regulator, your heavy air tank is now weightless, and tiny fish start to swarm around you. You are in a different world now; one that is entirely different from the surface. You defy gravity like you are in outer space, you crush human limitations by breathing air underwater, time slows down, and though colors are lost the further you go down, nothing has ever looked more beautiful.