March 13, 2017
Landing in Bonaire brought a lot of anticipation and excitement for the upcoming week. When we first got here we felt the warm, humid air as we walked out of the airplane door onto the open air jetway. The drive from the airport to the downtown in Bonaire was quaint and filled with graffiti murals. The island’s entire atmosphere felt relaxing and like “paradise”. Once we arrived to our hotel we were briefed on our up coming scuba certification.
The first two days consisted of reviewing and learning what we already knew from the pool and bringing it to the ocean. There were many nerves and fears that made people anxious. We were nervous that our ears wouldn’t equalize and that we wouldn’t do well under the water. However, our scuba instructors made us feel comfortable and have supported us through this entire process. Waiting in line for our first entrance into the water was energizing but frustrating because we took a long time to finish the process of getting in. The tasks that we had to do the first couple days were nerve racking because they were putting me outside of my comfort zone. We were most nervous about taking off the entire mask,putting it back on, and clearing the water filled mask. because we wear contacts and were scared that they were going to burn our eyes or get washed out. We had four dives in the past two days, which were exhausting, but worth it to finally get to dive freely. Hearing tonight that we are finally open water certified we felt so accomplished. This certification meant to us that we would be adventurous and safe while venturing through the vast unknown, the ocean. Overall, we are excited for our upcoming dives and what they entail.
P.S. ALL students successfully completed their certification. Molly B. ‘19 and Greg Johnson still have one final day of certification dives before attaining Rescue Diver status.
P.S.S. Due to limited internet connections, the group has been unable to send accompanying photos.
