Under the Sea

I am officially a PADI-certified Open Water Diver.

During this past 4-day weekend, I traveled to Taganga, Colombia on the Caribbean coast to take the practical portion of my scuba diving course...and check a few items off my bucket list.  Life-changing.

For the past few months I've worked to complete the theoretical portion of the course through e-learning.  If you are interested, check it out here.  It's super easy and very informative - I felt prepared for the practical portions and it allows you to get the certification in a shorter vacation. 

On Friday night I flew to Santa Marta, Colombia and from there took a 30-minute taxi to a less populated, more low-key town: Taganga.  It is a small fishing community that also has a large diving community and a lot of expats - traveling through or living there I wasn't really sure - but it was beautiful and provided a nice break from the craziness that is Bogotá.

The course was three days long - two dives on Saturday afternoon, two on Sunday morning, and two on Monday morning.  Each day included one dive with many drills and tests (required in order to obtain the certification).  I need to point out that the course was in Spanish - for a few reasons:  1) This allows me to check an item off my bucket list (take a course in Spanish).   2) This made everything a tad bit more difficult and scary.  When someone is talking about turning your oxygen off 12 meters (40 feet) under water but the details are a bit fuzzy about what you should do your blood pressure definitely creeps up.

Anyhow there were many tests - 200 meters swim in open water, floatability drills, skin diving, changing air at the surface and under water, etc. - but the best part was actually seeing this amazing underworld.  We saw turtles, seahorses, blowfish, eels, tons of fish I don't know the names of of hundreds of different colors.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Not sure what else to say.  AWESOME.  Here are some pics of the town and my diving.  I can officially check getting certified in diving off my bucket list.  I still haven't swum with a shark, however, which just means I need to go on another dive in a new place.  On my wish list: San Andres and Providencia.  Anyone interested in joining me?

Bucket list: 13.1 in Bogotá!

So... I have been feeling a bit lazy and bored lately (perhaps these two feelings don't go hand-in-hand...but it feels like that right now).  I'm in need of a project.  I applied for some curriculum development projects - but no one seems to want to hire someone who is working in Colombia. :(  I also have been less active than I should be.  So after reading through my Bucket List for the 15th time and being inspired by friend Ms. Sophia Burton, I signed up for the Media Maratón Bogotá.  No I haven't been running, unless playing basketball once a week with 14 year old girls counts (it doesn't in my book).  And yes, the city is located 8,612 feet above sea level, making breathing a bit more difficult.  Still, the bucket list said run a half marathon in another country, so you betcha I'm going to do this.  I mean I've run a marathon before and I've run two half marathons before...so how hard could this be, right?!

Wrong.

Today, I went for my first run.  Runner's World tells me, if I consider myself a beginner (I do.), that I need 14 weeks to train.  I currently have 21.  So I've decided that I need to run 30 minutes 2 times each week and then an hour on the weekends (ideally).  Today I gave myself 30 minutes.  I ended up running 33 minutes and only going 2.75 miles.  That's a 12 minute mile!  Oh dear.  I've got some work to do.  I'm also totally pooped...and sore...and hungry....and I only went 2.75 miles on a completely flat road. 

Still, I have something to work towards and that feels wonderful.  Will keep you posted on my progress and if you have tips on nutrition, cross-training, etc.  I'm all ears! :)

Bucket List under Attack!

So, I've started a bucket list. It's still a work in progress, a living document if you will, but I was re-inspired to get it done.

Here's the story:
I met this incredible woman who is bar tending on a beach in Rhode Island with a friend of mine. She is very sick, with a very rare disease, and doctors are saying she may only have a few more years. When she was 14 she made a bucket list (before MTV made that show and before anyone was talking about these sorts of things). Since then she's done a LOT! Traveled the world and just really lived life to the fullest. One of the items on her list was to work on the beach for the summer, so three summers ago she got this gig bar tending and now she does it every summer - and until recently this meant she was commuting two hours each way! There is a surgery that she can get that will help delay her death but it's expensive, there's a long recovery time, and she'll need the surgery again every few years and still it may not work. She's currently thinking she's going to forgo the surgery and just make the time she has left. She recently ran into a long-lost love (another incredible story!) and he is dropping everything and then are going to travel together and try and get through her list.

Needless to say I was crying when her story was finished... and feeling guilty about all that I take for granted and complain about. I need to get it together and make the most of my time too!

Which gets to why my list is under attack - SHARK ATTACK!!! Literally.
So, there are lots of things on my list, places I want to go and see and whatnot but the top three right now are:

1) Learn to drive a stick-shift. Anyone want to volunteer their car and time to teaching me?

2) Speak Spanish fluently. Meaning I can get a job in a Spanish-speaking country and be a functional, contributing member of whatever organization for which I work.

and

3) Learn to surf. Not anything too crazy - just stand up, balance on the board, and ride a wave. That's it.

I've been excited because Rhode Island could be a great place for this goal. The waves aren't too big, it's nearby, lessons aren't too expensive and most importantly sharks aren't really a concern. Or so I thought. I am VERY VERY VERY afraid of sharks. Maybe irrational but it is what it is.

A new friend from my grad program just send me this:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/chatham_closes.html


What the what?! I know Chatham is not Rhode Island but they are close and there are not supposed to be sharks up here...especially Great White Sharks!!!! Such a dilemma...