ups and downs

---

my second day at the beach i decided to go snorkeling. i considering diving but it was diving in the open ocean, the indian ocean no less, so the instructor recommended that since it's been so long, maybe i should dive first where it's calmer. so i agreed and decided to play it safe...or so i thought.

we got to the site and the swells were about 3-4 feet. i wasn't liking the looks of it from the boat but put on my mask and fins and bravely jumped overboard, holding on to the boat. for dear life! i couldn't let go. well, let's say wouldn't. no, actually, i think i was physically unable to pry my hand of the bow.

well, when there's a will, there's a way and there's a solution to every problem. i got back on the boat and they fitted me with a life jacket. i'm not proud. well, not when it comes to drowning anyway.

after getting over the initial humilation of actually wearing a lifejacket while snorkeling, i started to get used to the up and down feeling of the ocean and actually stopped hyperventilating into the snorkel. the guide holding my hand didn't hurt either.

are you seeing a trend here?

then i just got lost in the world beneath me. it was beautiful. so many fish. unicorn fish (strange looking things), tiger fish, star fish, parrot fish, big schools of yellow fish and black fish. then the sun came out and the coral glowed.

then, suddenly i felt the sea. attacked in cold jelly. i was stung on the hand by a jellyfish. muhamed ali should have said "fly like a butterfly, sting like a jellyfish." man, they pack a wallop. my hand blew up where i was bitten and the pain shot up my arm. i kept fisting and unfisting my hand as i swam back to the boat hoping to stop paralysis (like that would work). lucky they had vinegar on the boat which kills the sting. they should have a packet of it in the life jacket, next to the flashlight.

i think i'll stick to diving. it's safer.

---