My Dive Buddy Was Bit By A Shark (one of them...not the girl)

Dec 15, 2007

So,

It all started... well over a month ago, but that has already been said. No, this one kind of started last week. I was suppose to go last weekend to dive, but with that huge swollen eye and my finger getting bit by the spider I just didn't feel like it. So we put it off until this weekend.

I went diving.
Like I have several times in the past two months.

This morning I got up and got ready, putting 50 SPF sunscreen on before getting dressed. I remembered to put in my contacts and to bring my cell phone for the pictures. Then I took off all my shineys. My rings, my jewelry, everything that glimmers or shines. Cause, I'm not that stupid. You just don't dive with shineys.
I stuck my sickness patch behind my ear, climbed on the boat and sailed out to sea.
I got my gear ready, putting the BCD on the tank, followed by the regulator, checking my air, getting my mask and fins, making sure I had my weight belt. I was set.
Today was the deep water dive. The final dive for my PADI certification. I turned my air back off and set it to the side (secured) until we arrived at the dive site.

Then we go back up on deck and start chatting with the crew. And boy am I ever glad that we waited until this week. Last week there were 5-6 foot swells. I know that I would not have made it on a day like that. The dive would have been overly short and not much fun for me.

Thank you little spider.

Anyway, after a bit we arrived at the dive site and were able to go down and dive. I started to feel a little ill. Not a good sign. It made me a little nervous. I got into my gear and we slid into the water fairly quickly. It wasn't until I was in the water and feeling the waves lift me up and down, up and down, up and down, that I finally had to puke. So I did. But it was nothing like before. Nah, this was more like a Lance Armstrong spew to feel better. Then I worked my way over to the chain and we started down.

It was nice.
I had to wear a glove on one hand in order to work my way down the barnacle covered chain to the sunken ship. We made it down to 18 Meters/60 feet. It was glorious. Okay, not as great as the sea turtle (whose video and picture are now on my photos page) but pretty darn awesome. I had the chance to hold a sea cucumber. I still get a thrill from it, from running my hands on a living creature in it's own environment and then putting it back and leaving it to it's existence. Possibly to talk to it's freinds about the close encounter with the strange white fleshy kind. I also had the chance to hold this weird seaweed like thing. I don't know what it was. It was kind of like a strange flower but it really clutched at the skin when I held it, and it was cool. I have a picture of that too.

Now to the part you really wanted to hear about, since you are reading this and probably read the title first. One of the ships crew, a really nice guy that we have come to know after so many dives, decided to do a dive today too. And he didn't take off his shiney. Probably forgot that he was wearing it. He was really nervous and hesitant about going down. Took him almost 20 minutes before he finally sank into the murky waters. Ok, so visibility was a little low. not that bad though. I could see plenty of fish, as you will see from the photos. It is called the Al Saud Wreck, so look in that folder for the pictures. Anyway, He was wearing a small ankle bracelet and it was shining nicely. Which is why the ladder shark decided to take it from him. Got him but not bad enough to freak anyone out. In fact, he asked us all very nicely not to tell his boss.

It was a memorable experience and a great reminder as to why you need to follow the rules, and remember the rules while you are at it.

I had a great time, wasn't sick after we got back up and went out to lay in the sun. My other buddy lay out in the safety net below the bow and took a little nap. It was a glorious trip and I had a great time. I would recommend the dive company to any and all people in this particular area.

It is called Arabian Diver. I really recommend their dive at Snaper Ali. You can see the photos of that in my folder as well. I am not as big a fan of the Al Saud Wreck dive, but it was still a blast. Even with the shark bite.

Right now, I still think it was just a cool experience.

I am tired and going to go take a nap. Have a great day!

The Shayla (head scarf)

Dec 8, 2007

This last weekend was UAE's National Day celebration, which is technically close to 4 or 5 days of celebration.  Thursday (the end of the week in the UAE) was National Day Celebration Day at my school and at the kids school.
Remarkably, I was able to attend all of the required functions for work and still make it to see some of the festivities at the kids school.  I dislike how often I am unable to attend school functions and activities with the kids, so you can imagine how happy I was to see my kids in their own setting.

For National Day  the teachers were ALL required to wear national dress to show solidarity with our students.  So I went shopping and found the cheapest dress I could possibly find that I would be willing to wear.  I found a lot of beautiful dresses, but when it came time to ask prices I found them to be so high it reminded me of trying to bargain in Xi'an. Nasty high.  And the workers had a certain expectation of my bargaining abilities, which means they were shocked and appalled when I turned around and said I was appalled at the quality or insulted by the prices and would walk out of the store.  I even had one guy chase me down the street begging me to come back. It was fun to be back in that mode, especially when so many people here had said that it wouldn't be like that in the UAE.
Baloney!  You just have to expect that they are tripling the prices when you start and work your way to a price you can both be happy with.
Instead, I found a shop where a national was making a purchase and payed attention to the prices being payed.  What made it a delight was that they man did NOT mark up the price when I started asking. It was exactly the same pricing that he had offered the national.  And less than a third of the price every other shop keeper had asked.  So I made up my mind to find something, anything, at this mans store.
I did.
When it came time to wear the dress, I wore it with a little purfume (a tradition here) and I went to the school.  Everyone was dressed like me, but most of theirs were far more expensive.  At least one person I know dropped more than $500 U.S. on one of these dresses. 
I spent $10.  yeah, you read that right. $10 U.S. dollars on a dress in the UAE.  I had planned on sending it to my mother for the fun of it, but I think I will try to get her one of her own instead.  From the same shopkeeper of course.
Anyway, I get in to take attendance in my classes (we had to take attendance and then send the students out for festivities... kind of silly) and my girls present me with a shayla.  A shayla is a long scarf worn wrapped around the head to hide the hair.  It was lovely, just the kind I would get for myself if I had to wear one.  So I wore a shayla for national day.  Then I walk over to my other class to say "HI" to my other students.  They chose to present me with a burkha.  A burkha in the UAE is a small metallic looking mask that covers the nose.  The longer ones cover the mouth as well but the one that I was given only covered my nose and eyebrows, or close to it.
A freind of mine saw me in the teachers lounge and snapped a photo of me in the outfit, so I am posting it here. 

I blocked out the view of what was behind me because it was not a pretty view, and I put both pictures side-by-side so you could get the full effect. The burkha is actually too high up on my face in the photo. It is suppose to cover the eyebrows too.
I wore the burkha for about 20 minutes. Then I noticed that my hands were turning purple from where I had adjusted the little mask.  So I went into the restroom and low and behold, my face was purple.  It turns out that a new burkha has a die in it that will turn the skin bright purple until it has been worn regularly.  Since I am not expecting to wear it very often, I have a feeling it will always turn me purple.  But that just meant that I took it off a little later and continued to wear the shayla for the festivities.
After the festival at work I went to the kids school.  I continued to wear the shayla, but I wore it loose and more scarf like at Will's request.  He rather dislikes the way it makes me look.  I think he is so adorable. We had a great time finding the kids, going out to lunch at the mall (yes I wore the outfit to the mall.. it felt like halloween all over again... and you know how I love halloween). and finally home. 
Now the national dress hangs forlornly in my closet, where it will hang until I can find a new one to hang next to it for next year.... or for gifts to send home.  They are not flattering at all, but they are loose and comfortable and some of them are intricate enough to wear to a formal occasion, but it looks very Hollywood to wear some of them. They really are elaborate. Even my $10 one is rather decorated, even if I do think it looks like I am wearing a bedsheet with a hole in it.
(My coworkers couldn't stop laughing when I told them that... apparently they don't like being told that they must spend money on an outfit for one day a year either.)  

Jonas the cat says hello

Dec 1, 2007

I want to talk to you a moment about Jonas.

In China, we got a Jonas. I bought him for my family as a way to make us all feel a little more at home with where we were living. We had to ask for special permission (and we got it, despite the rumors to the contrary) in order to have him in our home. There were a lot of hoops to jump through to get him. He became and important part of our family. It was painful to say goodbye to him, but regrettably he could not come with us to Japan.

In Japan we talked about getting a cat. I refused. It just didn't feel right at all.

When we arrived in the UAE I asked if it was acceptable to get pets. The response was a resounding YES. More than that, we were encouraged to get pets. From the first day we arrived there were people who were offering to help with finding dogs or cats if we wanted them. So for my birthday, Will got me a tiny little piece of fluff with gigantic ears.


It took a long time to name him (possibly her... we still don't know). We started with Sassy... and while he is a very sassy little fluff ball, it just didn't seem to fit at all. We tried out patches, boots, mouse-y (that was Rae's contribution) and many more.Then one day he ran out and attacked my left leg from under the couch and I said "Jonas" in that rather musical way that only a mother or child can say it. (hear yourself saying Mo'om in your head.... that was how I said it). It was reflex. After having Jonas in China for so many months it just came out. and it stuck. The kids started calling him Jonas and he started to respond to it.

 Well that was two months ago. and he has certainly grown into his name.  He is just as lively and loving, just as attacky and vibrant, and he is definately one of us.  

I would like to take this opportunity to share with all of you my newest family member... he has made it past that rough patch where we were a little afraid that he might not make it.  After all, he was an abandoned kitten when we got him.  He had been left at 3-4 weeks old (very young!) and we were really worried that this little fluffy thing with a swollen belly and giant ears would not last long.  He is a true champion.  He made it. And now he is about 2 months older and a whole lot bigger.

Jonas says "hello".



Edit 2010-  Jonas is a resounding GIRL.  and doing just fine, thank you.

Swimming with Sea Turtles

Nov 24, 2007

This Saturday I went diving in the oceans around Ras Al Khaimah for the third time. (the second time didn't really count much because it was from the beach, even if I did get to hold a Sea Cucumber... yeah!) I was prepared for the issues I had faced the previous time, wearing a motion sickness patch and taking a nodiz pill just as I got on the ship. It is a beautiful ship and I really wanted to enjoy this trip. We arrived at 8am and were right on time, the rest of the divers arriving at the same time. This time we were with a group of Arabian sport fishermen and divers. One of them was a member of the coast guard. I think he was just checking out the ship.
Anyway,
We headed out to sea. We were going to dive first, me and my dive buddy, at the site of a deep wreck (lowest point is 25 meters, but we were only planning on 18 meters at the deepest). I was worried. Today is the day of my final exam. 50 questions on a topic that includes mathematical equations relating to nitrogen times and maximum depths. I spent most of that early trip reciting things in my mind, glancing over my book now and again to make sure I understood aspects. I even made up funky acronyms to help me remember which things come when. Not that you really want to hear about me studying while riding on a yacht out in the ocean.
Sooner than I expected we arrived, and I hadn't gotten sick. Not even a little queezy. I was doing beautifully.
Our dive instructor dove in to tie the yacht up to the buoy marker for the dive and as I watched she swam. First she swam out to the buoy and yelled back " the current is really strong". The captain turned to me and my buddy and said "I sure hope you two are strong swimmers". !!!!! Well I know I am, but my buddy is a little less sure of herself, so I just smiled and turned back to watch the instructor. She dove down to the chain... and missed. She did it again... and missed again. The current was so strong that my instructor could not tie off the lead rope. So they hauled her back to the ship and we canceled the dive.
When a dive instructor says no, you can bet that I agree completely!!!
So we turned the ship to head to an alternate dive site (one I had never seen or heard of) and off we sail. Brunch is served. I had salmon with poached eggs on a bed of fresh baked bread and a side of fresh fruit. Yeah baby! I ate every bite, with great joy. Delicious.
We arrive at the site, again sooner than I expected. We prepare our equipment and choose to get into our gear in the water. It just looked like more fun to me. We slide into the water, it is so nice against the hot black wet suit. I place the regulator in my mouth, slowly let the air out of my BCD jacket and sink under the waves. At first I couldn't get down. Then I realized that I was not breathing deep enough, so I let out all of the air in my lungs and took slow, long, measured breathes, exhaling completely and remembering to equalize my ears at every meter. I sank into the water and down, down down to the bottom. And there in front of me lay the remains of a sunken ship, shattered by age and wear into scattered pieces across the sea floor. And there is the hull, a hulking dark shape in the distance. Slowly we begin to glide across the ocean floor towards the dark shapes. Then, it comes into view. A living breathing thing. A mass of metal overcome by coral anemone and giant sea urchins. At each breath it seems to take, a curtain of fish shower across like a living waterfall, multicolored, multi-shaped, yet uniformly moving making the this skeletal remain one of the most beautiful and vibrant I have ever witnessed in my life. And as we swim around this beautiful living reef, I spot something more exciting to me than anything else can be. A sea turtle. A beautiful sea turtle, his shell caked with barnacles, his head stretched out among the fish, his flippers moving him forward in a steady beat. He was gorgious, one of the truly great thrills of my life. We followed him around for a time and then we swam back to the wreck. We spent about 50 minutes swimming around and around that wreck, finding fish, playing with everything we saw.
Too soon for me, we returned to the ship (I was at the point of air when the instructor had said we would need to return, so I suppose we had to)and it was time for us to take our final exam.
It didn't take me very long... For some reason I take to this like a fish to water.... I passed.
While we took our exams the other divers went for their turn under the water. Then the others came up and we headed back for the docks. As we sailed back it was time for dinner. I had the doris fish with a creamy gorgonzola sauce and boiled vegetables. It was amazing. I had such a good time. Took a few photos, got back to the dock, and headed home.

I will post the photos soon, even though there are not many of them. But, it will be a few weeks before the underwater photos and video are developed.... Yeah, you didn't think I would forget to take pictures did you! I love sea turtles.

Hope you are having as good a time as I am!

Seasick 2

Nov 17, 2007

Again, warning this contains graphic descriptions of my rather unfortunate scuba experiences.

The dive master asked if I would like to climb into the water. Apparently getting into the water can sometimes relieve the feelings of seasickness. I was up for anything at that point. My stomach felt like it couldn't take any more. So, I took of my outer clothes and walked to the dive platform. I jumped into the water. Just me, my swimsuit, and the ocean. For a short time I started to feel better. Then I realized that all that vomiting had left me as weak as a day old kitten.
The seasickness was gone, but I wasn't sure I could continue to swim against the current to stay near the boat. It was a fair current. Actually, it probably wasn't that strong at all but with as bad as I was feeling it felt like the current was ready to pull me away. I stayed in the water for 20-30 minutes using my feet to hold on to the dive buoy. Thank goodness for my monkey like toes.

I climbed out of the water and back onto the boat, ready to watch the video. I knew the sickness was going to come back, but I sat below deck and watched the whole video, nursing an ice cold glass of water and taking small measured bites of bread.

Then the yacht moved to the shallows so that we could try to practice the skills that we had learned. Before getting out the gear, we went through the usual gear lecture and a review of all the things we needed to do during this dive. Then we geared up. I have to be honest, seasickness is the one time that I tend to run hot.

Usually I run cold. You can ask my friends. When they are hot I am comfortable, and when I am cold they are comfortable. But not when I am suffering from motion sickness. Then I run hot. Really hot. So trying to put on a wet suit and wait for my turn to get in the water was torture. I felt like I was totally on fire.

I did the giants stride and got into the water. What a relief it was. But I was still feeling poorly. They signaled us to use the line to go down. So we slowly worked our way down the line. I had to stop part way because my buddy was having mask issues. That was fine with me, I prefer to equalize for a while anyway. I like my ears and the way they work. I don't want them to get hurt, so taking my time was just fine.

Then we sank to the bottom. We were suppose to do our skills, but the bottom was completely covered in spiny black sea urchins. No place for us to try our thing. Not unless we wanted to be stuck. So instead of the skills practice, we ended up doing a short exploring swim. I realized that I was much better at scuba when I did it last time. Of course, I was also doing Tai Chi at the time and my breathing was in much better control.

Anyway, it was a lovely swim. The brain coral and the little fish were wonderful. I really enjoyed myself. Finally relaxing and having some serious fun. I loved it.

One of the divers started having bouyancy problems, so we had to cut it a little short.
The ascent was fine, the swimming was fine, but when I got to the top of the water it hit me like a ton of bricks. I carefully filled my bcd with air so that I would float, then took my regulator out of my mouth and puked as hard as I could. I quickly placed it back in my mouth and took a long breath. Then I pulled it out again and puked hard. I could feel that there was nothing left and the dive master told me to go ahead and puke into the regulator, just leave it in my mouth. So I put the regulator back in my mouth and had the dry heaves at the top of the water. It was quite a horrible experience.

I swam over to the dive bouy line off the back of the boat and as the others were getting out of their gear I lay floating on my back holding on to the line and trying to stay centered. I took off my weight belt and handed it up. Then I took of my fins, carefully one at a time. Then I took off my BCD and tank. Of course, through it all I still had the regulator in my mouth. I kept it in my mouth until I handed up the BCD. Then I climbed slowly and carefully out, shaking the whole time. When I got to the platform, I sat down on it. I was just so uncomfortable and shaky. It was really hard to climb into the hold to take a shower. The water felt good, but being inside when ill is so much worse than being on deck.

I got dressed and went back on deck. We had our after dive debriefing and made our plans for the following day. Then we went to have dinner. I sat down at the table and a beautiful plate of soup, this lovely lentil and vegetable soup, was placed in front of me. I took one look and knew it would never get passed my lips. SO I apologized and told them I could not eat it. They brought out the second course, the salad. I nibbled lettuce, took a taste of tomato, and ate two pieces of cucumber before my stomach said it was bordering on unhappy. So I sipped ice cold water. Then came the final course, a delightful little fish with this beautiful side of vegetables. It was absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have tried it. The dive master asked if I was going to be able to eat it. I told him no and he asked if he could have it. I said "please, nothing would make me happier". So he did.

And I know it was good.

They cleared off the table and I spent the ride back with my head on my hand slightly tipped to the right side staring hard at the horizon. As we headed back to the shore I laid my head down on my arms, still staring at the horizon line. And I fell asleep. It was a lovely ride in. I woke up about 15-20 minutes later and we were almost to the dock. We tied up and disembarked.

It was a lovely trip.

I highly recommend Arabian Diver in Ras Al Khaimah for diving training classes.... and taking your motion sickness medication BEFORE you go!

And that is what my first day of diving was like.


The second day was much better, I had fun and no real problems. I am back into scuba and loving every minute of it... just not the before and after...

Seasick

Nov 17, 2007

Before I write this blog, I wish to post fair warning to those who wish to read it. The title is not the slightest bit off from what I will discuss here today. I suffer from acute positional motion sickness, and when I get an attack it is more than colorful to describe. As such, if you have a weak stomach or are feeling the slightest bit queasy, please do NOT read my blog.
thank you.


On November 16th I got up at 6:30 in the morning in absolute excitement. My first day back in scuba diving. I caught a ride with my friend (my scuba buddy) and we drove out to the marina, to the yacht.
It is a great yacht. A beautiful sailboat with a diving platform off the back. We climbed aboard. Met the captain and the dive instructor, as well as the dive master and numerous other divers who were going with us. Most of those divers were going down to a wreck to explore, or finishing their training, or just out having fun. There was even a couple that were celebrating their anniversary and out for a ride on a yacht for the day. It was lovely.

As soon as I stepped on deck I had a feeling of regret. I had forgotten to bring any medication and stupid me, I didn't think to ask. But for the first 2 hours I was fine. felt a little queasy when they turned on the diesel engines to motor us out of the harbor, but all in all fine.

Then we were asked to go below to watch the introductory video. I sat down below deck as the video started. The dive master turned and asked if we had any questions. I promptly asked him where I would be permitted to be ill. He gestured above deck and said, over the side please. I climbed the stairs, sat down next to the railing, looked out over the sea, and hurled.

Then I felt better for about 5 minutes. Then it came rushing back and I was clutching the rail for dear life, certain that I was experiencing a similar affair as one my mother had once described to me involving a whiskey I know I will never even try. I puked so hard I could feel my anus trying to leap out of my mouth. I don't remember puking that hard before. I was very relieved that I didn't shit my pants.

Then I was unsteady, shaky, and felt like I couldn't even lift my arms. This feeling remained for quite a while. At that point, brunch was served on the yacht. It was quality service, a lovely omelette with peppers, a side of fruit and a glass of fruit juice. Since my friend is Turkish, she was served bread. Glorious bread.

I was feeling a little better and wanted to do anything to help, so I had a little of the omelette, I tried some oranges and a little apple, and ate some of the bread. about 10 minutes later, I lost that too. But it wasn't as bad as the first go.

The dive master asked if I wanted to go into the water.

Too be continued...