It's raining, it's pouring...who cares? We're underwater!

I have suffered from motion sickness for all of my life. As a kid, I had to gravol up for all kinds of car and bus trips, which made me a gas to be around on school field trips. Although I am better, as an adult, I still always try to sit in the front seat and I refuse to even attempt to read anything in a moving vehicle. Seasickness has always been a problem for me, which is unfortunate, since I really, really love the water. About 5 years ago I tried to learn how to surf in Hawaii and, after making it up on my board a couple of times, I was hit with a sudden wave of nausea and had to be dragged back to shore by the instructors (handsome surfing instructor / firemen, no less), where I lay on the sand face down for about an hour. It was so bad, I could have had my pants down around my ankles and people turning me into a human sandcastle and I would have neither cared nor moved.

Up to this point in the trip, I haven't been too bad. I've kept a stock of ginger candies with me for boatrides, and have, so far, survived some longtail boat rides, a couple of ferry trips and a speedboat or two. But today there was a downpour, and the waves were a touch choppy. Apparantly, this doesn't affect the diving experience at all, so we all suited up and got our butts out to the boat. Ther boat ride out was fine, I jumped into the water just fine, went down the line just fine, swam around just fine, did all the "tests" just fine, enjoyed the coral and the fishies, and ascended to the surface just fine. And that is where the just fine ended. Bobbing around the sea in my Buoyancy Control Device (fancy kind of diving lifejackety thing) I started feeling a tish bit woozy. Then I got out onto the boat and suddenly things just felt a little bit all wrong. If you've ever had seasickness, it's not necessarily about feeling like throwing up. In my case, I tend to struggle with balance, and I can't tell which way is up. Luckily, our expert instructors (Flavius and Santi) could immediately see the signs and helped me get out of my gear and sit down. Then I felt a squeeze on my shoulder and suddenly, a cup of ice cold water was poured over my head. Then again. I was a bit stunned, but it was quickly explained to me that this makes most people feel better. It did work, but I think they were having a bit of fun with it.

We had one more dive to do and, to be honest, I was desperate to get back under the water where I knew I would feel better. And I did. The scuba portion of the day was really terrific, although we didn't get to see a whale shark like the group in the morning (apparantly, the only shark-related death in this area occurred a number of years ago when a german tourist went spear fishing alone and carried his game bag under his arm...the shark bit his arm, and he died after reaching the shore...lesson to us all) but we did see some marvellous fishes of all shapes, sizes and colours. Alas, back on the boat resulted in another few cups of cold water being poured onto my head (by Krisi, this time, I think she enjoyed it). They've promised me some anti-seasickness tablets for tomorrow. And I am currently one gravol happier.

I can't wait for tomorrow's dives! But first, a movie in the bar and some studying with my group for the final, tomorrow. It's the first time I have taken an exam in years. Wish me luck!