After that drill we had to practice taking our breathing apparatus our of our mouth and putting it back in. We decided to move away from the dock hoping that the water would get a little clearer. Again we went down one at a time and I was able to do so. We always went down to the very bottom to do the drills and let me tell you the rocks and everything were slimy and gross, but I made myself do it. After Haile took her turn Pastor Jordan said we were going to go down a little deeper. He took both of our hands and we went under the water and started swimming.
It’s a good thing when scuba diving if you are a sinker and that’s what I am. However it’s not a good thing in scuba diving if you are sinker and have a huge fear of being in the water with fish. As we were swimming I could hardly see a thing. The only sure thing I knew was that I was still holding Pasto Jordan’s hand. Like I said earlier though I am a sinker. I could tell Pastor Jordan and Haile were a little bit above me because my arm was above my head and I was dragging along the bottom. It was slimy and things kept moving around my legs. I started to freak out and I tugged on Pastor Jordan’s arm because I couldn’t signal to him. Thankfully he figured it out and we surfaced. I wanted to cry. I was terrified and I wanted to be done. He said it was okay and that we had actually gone about 10 feet deep. I kind of felt pathetic. We swam above water back to the dock and saw that the boys we back from their dive. They only had 500 PSI left and had gone down to 75 feet. I looked at my gage to see that I still had 2500 PSI out of 3000PSI. (PSI is how much air you have left.) The boys said that at about 20 feet the water cleared up. Pastor Jordan asked if we wanted to try again and I said sure because I wanted to try to go to 20 feet. As we started off again I realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t relax my breathing, I couldn’t see, and I didn’t want to sink to the bottom. I went back up and told Haile and Pastor Jordan they could go, but I had to get out of the water.
Mac and Paul helped get my gear off and I crawled out of the water. I was shivering and my lips were blue. The boys loaded up our stuff into the truck and a few minutes later Haile and Pastor Jordan emerged. They didn’t go very far. Everyone said they were proud of me for facing my fear, but I was just mad at myself. I wanted to say I did it, but I felt like I didn’t face my fear at all. That’s why quit and got out of the water. I was terrified. Pastor Ben told us that we would probably be sleepy and hungry. He was right. I just wanted a hot shower, food, and a nap. When we got back I ate lunch and took the coldest shower of my life (it was one where you turn on the water get everything wet, turn it off, soap up, wash your hair, turn it back on, rinse off and get out) and then I put on my pajamas and sweatshirt and I crawled into bed. I slept for a good 5 hours.
I am glad that I attempted to scuba dive at least. I think if the water was clearer I would have been alright. Maybe I’ll attempt it again in another country, but then again there would probably be more fish there so I don’t know. However, here are a few pictures to prove that I went. 😀
PS. I think I drank about 5 gallons of lake water and I learned my lesson of Do Not drink the water. I was sicker than a dog Monday night and all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday morning I went to the hospital and found out I have a parasite. I got a shot in the butt and 3 different kinds of pills to take twice a day for about a week. I was also put on a no dairy, no fruit, and no juice diet for a week. Now I am feeling better, but I had no idea a person could be that sick form water.
