With the IDC (Instructor Development Course) well underway

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On Wednesday I had a day off, so I just stayed home and didn’t do much really. I studied some diving theory and watched a couple of films. At night I had dinner with Rachel and Carl and that was about it. Their house is in a place called Gymea, which is right next to a river and the Royal National Park, so it doesn’t feel like living in Sydney. It’s a really nice area, but it doesn’t have much access to public transportation, which is the main reason I stayed home that day. They live with a blue parrot named Angel and a dog called Splash.



On Thursday I got up early to go with Rachel and Carl to the dive shop to go diving, but it was raining too much and the sea conditions weren’t good at all, so they told me to stay home instead, which was the best decision, because nobody showed up to dive that day. Again, it was very similar to the day I had on Wednesday, so a bit more study and some more films. Not much else to tell. It rained so much that day that I really didn’t feel like going out. That evening, a Brazilian guy, Joal Mendes, came to stay at their house as well, because he’s joining the diving instructor course. He came to Australia with his girlfriend who’s doing a PhD in biochemistry and they’re living in New Castle. He quit his job in Brazil and after having worked in different jobs, he got into diving and became an instructor, but not with PADI, so now he’s doing the PADI instructor course, because it’s a requirement in his new diving job. He's a really pleasant and easy going guy who's always laughing.



Friday morning I went out diving again. Two days in the house really had me wanting to go out, especially diving. I went to a place called “Camp Cove”, with some of the people that are doing their Dive Master course (Dive Master is the first professional rating in PADI) and they were leading a dive there, taking people who didn’t know the site. There were also a few people doing their Open Water course. I managed to do 3 dives with two different groups. The diving conditions weren’t very good, the visibility was only about 5 meters and there was a lot of surge as well. But I need to continue to get my dive numbers up (I need 100 dives to become an instructor and so far I have 75).

That afternoon Rachel, Carl, Joal and I went back home from the dive shop and Joal and I went to buy food to a supermarket while Rachel and Carl went to Stand Up Paddle lessons (they recently bought a board). That night we all made our own dinners and then I went on to study and prepare my presentations for the weekend, while Carl was teaching Joal on how to use the PADI system, work on the presentation formats, etc.



On Saturday, it was time to go to class again, so we got up at around 6:30 and left to arrive at the dive shop at around 7:15. That morning we had a long swimming pool session which lasted for about 6 hours. During that session, each of us (the students), have to teach a specific skill, the same way as if we were teaching a group of new diver. We rotate the roles as instructors and students. While we’re playing the instructor role we have to demonstrate the skills and then the others have to perfom it. The instructor who's actually teaching this course (Carl Fallon) gets the “other students” to deliberately make mistakes or have problems. This is to make the simulation as real as it could be in real life. So for the whole skill, we have to do a briefing following a specific format, then demonstrate the skill and then control that the students meet the performance requirements and solve any problems they may have, while keeping an eye and controlling all the other students. Then we have to debrief the skill following a specific format. Of the two skills I had, I missed the performance requirements in one of the students, so it didn’t go very well (a bit frustrating) and on the other one I did pretty well. After that, we had a rescue exercise workshop in the pool and when we were all done, we headed back to the dive shop, to the classroom. We had classes and then we had to do a presentation called a "knowledge development review", which consists in teaching a subject (they give it to us) using a specific format. I had to teach how to find a pressure group (how much nitrogen is accumulated in the body) using a special calculator, after 2 consecutive dives. In this presentation, I did quite well, unlike the previous week, so I was happy with the score I got. We finished at around 8pm and we were all tired by then. That night, besides Joal and I, there was another guest staying at the house; Martin, Carl’s father, who’s also doing the instructor course. We all had something to eat and then had to prepare the presentations for the next day. I went to bed at around midnight.



On Sunday, we woke up at 6 and went back to the dive shop. That day we had a session in the ocean, in Camp Cove, Watsons Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watsons_Bay,_New_South_Wales). That day we also had to do the skill teaching exercises. We had to do one which is part of a program called "adventures in diving" (I had to teach a knot underwater) and then we had to teach two skills of the Open Water program (the first course to learn how to dive). In this part, I had to teach a 5 point descent (taking the students to the bottom at about 5 meters for their first time) and then I had to teach a calf cramp removal. I did well in all of them, so I was quite pleased with that. After Camp Cove, we had classes again. First, we had a workshop on how to sell diving courses to customers and then we had to do theory exams to see how well prepared we are for the written exams. I did all these exams in January on my previous course, so I didn’t have any problems and passed all of them. I still have to study some specific topics, but not much. We were back home late, and at night, after that intensive weekend, we got to relax. Carl, Joal and I stayed until late having a few beers and sharing diving anecdotes.



On Monday, I had arranged to meet up with an old classmate of mine from the Naval School, José María Pinto. He retired at the end of the year 2000 and then in the following 12 years, I ran into him a couple of times in a skiing center in Chile.

In January, while I was doing my Dive Master course in Chile, I ran into him again. He told me that he was coming to Australia with his wife, Andrea (they got married about 2 weeks ago) to study an MBA, so we made plans to meet up in Australia sometime. They arrived last week and they left today (March 6th) to travel around South East Asia until July, which is when he starts his MBA. Anyway, on Monday, the 3 of us met in Circular Quay (the place where the ferries in Sydney come and go) and we decided to take a walk, buy food and go to a park for lunch. We walked past the Opera House, through the Botanical Gardens, past Kings Cross, where we bought sandwiches and beers (Kings Cross has been known as the Red Light District of Sydney, and it’s also a renowned backpacker’s destination). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Cross,_New_South_Wales. We ended up in Rushcutters Bay, where we had lunch. This area is a really nice part of Sydney: it’s a series of bays with beautiful houses and marinas everywhere. Past Rushcutters Bay are Double Bay and Rose Bay. After having lunch, we walked to a place called Darling Point and then went to the Edgecliff train station. Outside the station we had coffee and more good conversation. At about 7pm they had to meet Jose María’s brother in the University of Sydney and I had to go to Felipe Kovacic and Isa’s house for dinner, and we all took the same train. I got off in Central Station to show them where they had to go to get to the University and there we said goodbye. The afternoon I spent with them was really nice; it was great to catch up after all these years. From there I took the train to the station in Artarmon, to get to Felipe and Isa’s house.

I got to the Kovacic’s house at around 7:30 and as always, it was a pleasure seeing them again. On Sunday they had celebrated their son’s first birthday party (I missed it because of the diving course), but they had saved me birthday cake. That day I received my “white card” that allows me to work in construction because it was delivered to their address. Again, I had a very good time with them, good conversation, good wine, etc. I had to leave in a hurry at 10:30 to catch the train and arrived at the train station in Gymea at midnight. From the station to the Fallon’s house it’s a 40 minute walk, so I went to look for a taxi. I asked the only taxi driver there was around how much it would cost me more or less to get to the house. He realized I wasn’t from the area and after thinking about it, he told me it would cost me 20 dollars. I said, "OK" and then he asked me if I had them and that I had to pay him beforehand. I told him I wanted to see the meter and when he said, "No meter! You just pay 20 dollars" (all with a middle eastern accent), I realized he was ripping me off, so using all of my self-control I didn’t tell him to go #”!!@ himself and just left and walked all the way home, which wasn’t that bad. I got home at 00:45 and went to bed.



On Tuesday, I didn’t do much, just stayed home and watched movies. I got an e-mail from César Silva (a Chilean friend of friends I met here), saying that there was a construction job for me starting next week, but I told him I had already started the diving course and that I’m determined to end up working in that. We still made plans to meet for lunch sometime and catch up. Not much else to tell about that day.



On Wednesday, I slept until late, woke up, prepared lunch, watched a movie and then watched a DVD on Emergency First Response (as part of the course, I also have to take an exam to become a First Emergency Response Instructor) and at about 5pm I went to take a walk to the Royal National Park, which is about 5 minutes walking from the house http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_National_Park. I wanted to take a few photos and get acquainted with the place to go jogging in the following days. I walked for about 6km, took some photos and went back home about 2 hours later. I then took a shower, made something to eat (oven baked potato slices and meat) and now just finishing this post. Tomorrow I’m doing 3 dives and in the evening, Rachel invited me to a gym to have a boxing practice (that’s right, tomorrow I may get beat up by a girl). We’ll see who comes home with a black eye 😊 .

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Photos

IDC students
Ryan, Adrian, Martin, Daniel Mk 2, Kane, Daniel Mk 1, Reigh, Joal, Carl

Toilet in Kings Cross
This is the toilet of the place where I bought lunch