Unda Da Sea

Originally posted June 1, 2004. 

All our itinerary said on our last day was “free day at the beach” and we knew that we wanted to dive. I am already certified thanks to the W&M kinesiology credit requirement which I filled with a scuba class freshman year.  Ben was looking forward to his first experience with open water diving.

Submersion. 

     We had already signed up for the course when we were at the hotel Sunday night, so things were all prepared; we just had to show up.  I was doing a refresher course since I haven’t been diving since Spring Break 2002, and this was combined with my brother’s “Discover Scuba Diving Course”.  We watched two movies, then Ben had to get checked out by a doctor because he had asthma ten years ago, then we went on our first dive.  Our instructor, Frank, a stocky man from Holland who liked to tell jokes about blondes and women, was our instructor.  We had to do some refresher skills and I was having problems establishing my buoyancy and remembering all the procedures.  Ben did fine and was quickly in control of his equipment and his underwater movement.

Colorful reef. 

      The first dive was good for getting back into the swing of things and then towards the end when we got to the reef I had finally gotten neutral buoyancy in the water and really started looking around.  It was so colorful and the reef was absolutely teeming with life.  We saw a Lion fish, the poisonous kind, parrot fish, clown fish, an Eagle ray, a conch, and many other kinds of beautiful, tropical marine life. The 45 minutes were over so quickly, I felt like it had only been five when we finished.

Bro and Sis diving. 

      We got back out of the water on the beach (the reef is only about 50 feet off shore, around 1pm.  We rinsed off and then got lunch at the hotel restaurant. We had another dive from the beach that afternoon but this time we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. Frank guided us out to the reef again and then let us swim as we pleased.  I had the underwater camera with us and we were exploring to our heart’s content. He showed us how to “moonwalk” underwater which is a pretty accurate description. You take off your fins and jump off the ocean floor and then you just kind of float weightlessly and then you exhale you come back down again.  Since you are at neutral buoyancy, you just float in the water, rising and falling slowly when you inhale or exhale respectively.  We were hovering over the reef and enjoying the wildlife and again time passed so quickly, the hour passed before we knew it.  The water was so clear, much better than diving in Key Largo and even that was incredible.  The colors of the coral were surreal.  It was like we were in Finding Nemo.

Nemo!

     After our last dive we sat on the beach relaxing and soaking in our last few moments by the Red Sea.  We went back to the room, watched a movie, then went back to the Egyptian restaurant at our hotel, and feasted one last time for less than twenty dollars total.  I had cinnamon tea to end my meal.  It was only ground cinnamon in boiled water, but I added a little milk and sugar and it was amazing!  We have eaten eastern food here everyday and I haven’t ever gotten sick of it.  I could eat hommus and baba ganoush every day of my life.

Ray

     The next morning we had until 12pm to enjoy the incredible breakfast buffet one last time, then we had to suffer through that awful bus ride again.  The horn on this bus, I can’t even describe how loud it was.  And Egyptian drivers use their horns incessantly: when passing, when behind, when slightly peeved, when saying hello, and even just for the heck of it when no one else is on the road.  I had visions of getting a gun and shooting the knob for the horn off the handle.  I was so fed up.  On top of that we were subjected to even more awful Arabic movies and blaring eastern wailing on the stereo so basically it was 6 hours of constant grating noise.  I was SO glad it was over.  We then had about 6 more hours until our flight at 2am.  We went to an internet café, then ate at a hotel near the airport, and then we slept until it was time to board the flight.  We were so tired from our hard day of traveling; I am still in awe that we made it that far.  We managed to get a little sleep on the flight.

     We arrived in Paris around 6am, got off the plane, dragged ourselves to our hotel who thankfully let us check in super early, then I went for my “goodbye run part 1” to all my favorite sights in Paris: Parc Monceau, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Boulevard Haussman, Opera Garnier, and some little streets in between.  Then I went out to get a nice breakfast for us while Ben rested a little bit more. After we had recharged a little bit we went out to try and sell back my phone which turned out to be a fruitless 3-hour endeavor.  Then we abandoned that idea and went to see the catacombs.  The line was about 2 hours long so we bagged that, went out to La Defense to see the big Arch (of Real World Paris fame) and by then I was so tired and hungry that we went and found a sushi place at 6pm.  This hour for dinner is absolutely unheard of in Paris and the guys who ran the place were staring and I apologized for coming in so early.  They were cool about it though and served us.  Then we went back to the hotel and I was asleep by 9pm.  The next day I woke up early, completed the “goodbye run part 2” passing my favorites sites on the east side and left bank of Paris this time, and then went back to the hotel to get my stuff and head to the airport for my definitive departure from Europe.

     I went with a heavy heart, but also with excitement at returning to everything I know.  I got to the airport (on time!) checked my baggage, and walked to my gate.  I heard American accents floating around the waiting area and I thought about the isolation from the French language I would soon be entering.  Fortunately, I sat next to a young French chef on the way home and he and I kept up lively commentary on the in-flight movies.  He amused me by trying to pronounce the names of towns in Pennsylvania and New York like Poughkeepsie.  So I landed, got my bags, went through customs and they questioned me about the mustard I brought back and then I walked through those doors and into America.  I was greeted by a towering blonde guy with a goatee who claimed he was my younger brother, and my parents.   They whisked me off in our Volvo station wagon and back to the house where I live sometimes, into a room that wasn’t mine.

     It’s good to be back here under the constant hum of the cicada infestation, with these gigantic trees and the familiarity of the roads.  Everything is so easy when you come home, you adjust immediately and it’s hard to think you ever left.  I was going through my pictures last night and I still find it unbelievable that I went some of the places that I did.  The year seems kind of like a dream now that it is behind me, and I am looking forward to see how my experiences play out later in life.  Until then I guess I’ll just have to keep discovering what’s around me.  I’m sure there’s some interesting stuff in America somewhere.