16th/17th January 2018

Huhuuuu ♥

Two days have passed again (I've been on the road for three weeks now!) - a new diary entry follows!

I'm already in bed, even though it's only 10:00 p.m. and Ben E. King's song 'Stand by me' is still playing loudly through my open window. I've been listening to this song at least once or twice every evening since I've been here. 😅 Their repertoire doesn't seem to be that big. Funny story by the way: Every evening at around 10:15 p.m., the power temporarily goes off here and then back on, which means that even in all the bars and pubs, the music and lights suddenly go out for a brief moment. Everyone here knows this, and yet everyone still yells loudly when it happens. It will probably happen again shortly. Anyway, I'm already in bed because I want to go diving again tomorrow morning, and I have to be at the dive shop at 7 a.m. But first, let's talk about the last two days:

16th January 2018: You might not believe me or at least not take me seriously, but yesterday I was really cold here for the first time. 😅 Yes, I know, you have snow and all. But yesterday we had maybe 23 degrees or so, and when you've always had almost 30 degrees in the days before, that suddenly feels pretty cold!!! Really, for the first time in three weeks, I wore long pants and a jacket again. Strange feeling! 😅

As announced, I finally went diving again yesterday. Unfortunately, the weather was really not good, but that doesn't always mean anything when you're underwater. This time, however, we really had no luck. It was cold, the visibility was poor, and we had a pretty strong current. These are really bad diving conditions, but in general, I'm somehow glad to have the opportunity to improve my diving skills under such conditions. As you know, you grow through your challenges (no, not physically). This was my first fun dive that I didn't do with Maxim as a dive guide, but with a Polish girl named Nathalia, who completed her divemaster the day before. You can imagine diving in strong currents as follows: You always start in the opposite direction as much as possible so that you can use the current to return to the boat faster on the way back. Often, at the end of the dive, you are a bit tired and the air is naturally running low, so it could be problematic if you still have to swim/dive a long distance against the current. By the way, we always start with about 200 bar of air. At the latest, when someone in the dive group has only 50 bar left, we start ascending. I often still have more than 100 bar left, which I find a bit annoying because theoretically, I could stay underwater much longer. But oh well 😊 Having to dive against the current is really annoying. Especially when it comes from the side and you're trying with all your might not to touch any anemone or coral. On the one hand, I don't want to break anything, but on the other hand, it can really hurt if you cut yourself on the sharp-edged corals. Swimming with the current is really cool. A bit like taking a bus. Just underwater. 😅 Something else I noticed yesterday because of the current: I've never been touched by a fish underwater! Even though you're often in a school of fish and they all swirl around you, not a single fish has touched me yet!