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Published: October 14th 2015
Winter is coming
Monday – They are coming
I’ve been finding it difficult to write anything in regards to this day. I didn’t do a lot. There was no diving with any customers and I’m starting to miss the Finnish people and Angela because of it! So me and Belal went on a little adventure to the Falafel place. I’m not sure where it was exactly from the dive centre so Belal was my local guide.
My mind was wandering by itself again though. This time it wasn’t comparing trees between the UK and Aqaba. I was wondering when people come and visit me. I already have a couple of people lined up who want to come and visit and I can’t wait! When they arrive I will take care of them. Mohamed’s brother who owns a shop near to the Aqaba International Dive Center (by the way it is Center here not Centre… Americanisation) and it is a travel shop for excursions to Petra, Wadi Rum, Dead Sea and the like. Mohamed also knows some Bedouin nomads who live in the desert, and I’ve met some myself and they said to me whenever I want
to visit I can for less than the regular touristy price! It just reinforces my idea in life that it is not what you know it’s who you know. I also know a bunch of bar owners so I can get drinks for cheaper too! But people who do come and visit me can bring over sweets and chocolate. Nam nam nam. Well maybe not chocolate as in this photo you can see that chocolate has a short life here and soon ends up looking like 2
nd hand toilet paper.
If anyone is reading this and wants to come to Jordan and more specifically Aqaba just let me know and we can arrange some stuff!
I think that if I didn’t take taxis home and instead Mohamed took me home every day then I wouldn’t know as much Arabic as I do. Ok wait, I’m not saying I can speak it after a month because that would be amazing. But basic conversational phrases, words and greetings is what I know so far. I got in a cab today and I didn’t speak a word of English which I am extremely proud of. I spoke to the
taxi driver about where I am from, what my name is, what I do for work and where it is, how long I plan on staying here for etc. The taxi man who was called Mahamud (phonetically) and I was pretty sure he thought I was fluent. He was laughing and smiling at me the whole way home every time I come out with a new word or phrase, even if I shouted out Falafel he would be in bits.
Tuesday – Neptune of the Sea
I dove today with a British guy from London! His name was Jason and he has a girlfriend from Illinois in the US but she lives in London with him. They were another really nice couple, but I only actually went diving with Jason as his girlfriend doesn’t actually like the diving! She has done her Open Water Course but she says she doesn’t like the responsibility of checking the air yourself and buoyancy etc so she went snorkelling instead. Strange. I took photos for him and we of course went to Cedar Pride and Japanese Garden.
Just before descending to Japanese Garden I saw the Neptune
again. Which is the yellow boat with the big glass dome underneath that people look through. But I didn’t see any gosh darn whale sharks. I really do hope I see one before I leave this wonderful place.
I’ve realised something that I do quite regularly here that is a bit strange. On the dive I did today I was pointing out stuff to the couple and whilst I was in close proximity to them I was telling them to look under a rock to see a lionfish. It suddenly dawned on me that I now find it completely normal when I’m looking into someone’s eyes to just start peeing myself. I was looking directly in to their eyes and communicating with dive language to them but all the while I was relieving myself. I do not know any other job in the world where you can so openly pee in front of customers. Unless you’re a certain type of ‘actor’ in some very niche adult videos.
Wednesday – Winter is coming
We have two Spanish people in for a few days of diving! Specifically they’re from Barcelona, so whether they consider themselves
Catalonian first… I don’t know. I won’t pry. I don’t want to spark a debate about independence. I would do the same if and when I meet some Scottish people. FREEDOM! The first dive we went on was of course the routine Cedar Pride dive, seeing Rainbow Reef along the way. I have to say that the visibility was absolutely outstanding! The plankton are less common in the winter months and therefore because it is starting to become winter the water will just look super amazing and clear. Mohamed said that in winter you can be at the end of Rainbow Reef and see the ENTIRE CEDAR PRIDE WRECK. I think I will pee with genuine excitement if I see that (which will also warm me up a bit).
The second dive was to the Japanese Garden and this… This dive… Was unbelievable. It started out routine from the dive brief to the descent. I noticed something on the ground just as we entered the water. The water was knee deep and I swear to you the water was like a swimming pool, there was no waves and the biggest ripples were caused by us walking in to
the water. But what I noticed was something besides my boots and it was a girly little bracelet. I picked it up because it is litter but I decided to wear it just before we descended for good luck. So around half way along the Japanese Garden I was taking a photo of some cabbage coral. After I took the photo I looked back to check on the Spanish couple and Maria was the one I saw first. She was gesturing at something out of my level of vision. I turned my body completely around and saw a BIG… ASS… TURTLE. The best thing about this turtle is that it wasn’t swimming away like most of the others. It was swimming straight alongside us! I WAS BUZZING. I took many photos and even had time for a video. It was truly the best dive I’ve had so far! I was so happy that I was with customers too! Combined with the sensational visibility it made for two truly awesome dives and a great way to kick off the dives with the Spanish couple.
After the dives I got to go home early, as it was my turn to.
So I decided to have a siesta and fall asleep watching ‘Fear the Walking Dead’. I was however awoken to a knock on the door and Mohamed was there with his two kids. He was going with his kids to the barbers to get their hair cut. Mohamed said 'Are you coming Adam?'. Just in case you are wondering I told Mohamed that I was looking to get a haircut earlier in the day. He didn’t just bang on my door demanding I get my hair cut because I’m a scruffy bugger (which I'm not! I got a 5/5 for appearance in my Divemaster evaluation in Tenerife!). So the 4 of us got in Mo’s car and the kids automatically got in the back seat without any awkward looks and conversations about the fact it’s courtesy for me to sit in the front but also necessary with my long legs. Mo’s kids are very well behaved and polite. When we were in the barbers there was one guy cutting peoples hair but fortunately we were the only ones in the building. I let the kids go first to try and pick up phrases that Mo would say to the barber
about the style of his kid’s haircut. Nouris and Ahmed both have a similar hair style to me (short back and sides) therefore I thought if I can pick up little words here and there then I could have a go in Arabic. But they spoke so quickly I had no idea what was going on. Mo was again the translator and he was telling me that the barber man was Syrian and knew everything there was to know about football, and especially the Premier League. Mohamed told him I was from Liverpool and the barber was made up saying famous player’s names to me and I was nodding and smiling like a Churchill bobblehead (the car insurance dog, not Winston). The barber then said the word ‘Balotelli’ and I frowned and shook my head saying ‘Nurrrhhh!!’ he laughed, I laughed, Mo laughed, we all laughed. Good times were had by all.
Thursday – I have quite a big package
I did two more dives with the Spanish this morning and this time round it was the tank that we saw. The tank is something that you have to see if you’re in Aqaba for
diving. Obviously Cedar Pride is first and then the Japanese Garden is good because it is so close to Cedar. At the tank it was just the three of us at the dive site, not even a single sunbather. Very peaceful. We spent around 10 minutes at the tank, taking photos in the 4 metres of water that it is in. We went deep on our first dive in the hopes of seeing something big and fishy and of course that's what you should do on your first dive. We however did not see anything out of the ordinary but no doubt the reefs were still very beautiful. We finished the dive and ascended. Mohamed was in the water with two people from Romania, a man and a woman. They were doing an intro dive at the tank site. I could see Ahmed Qatawneh (Mo’s dad) waiting with Belal by all of our equipment at shore. I went over, said hello and chatted for a while. Ahmed then took back Belal and the Spanish in his own car along with the empty tanks (what we breathe from not the piece of military equipment).
I was left at the
site waiting for Mohamed to return from his dive with the Romanians. As we both had to drive to the Rainbow Reef dive site because 4 French guys were doing an intro dive later on in the afternoon. I mooched around the equipment trying to find my crisps that I bought earlier as I was quite peckish. What I found though was even better. My diving boots! They had found me! I was at first in shock because neither Belal, Mohamed nor Ahmed said that my boots were here. But they were! With ALS on the back of them! (I didn’t wear them for the Ice Bucket Challenge, ALS are my initials).
When we finished the day of diving we returned to the shop and my package was waiting in the dive centre. It was packed and shipped in the middle of September by my father, so of course it had a bunch of CDP Print Management promotional stuff inside. But there was also a LEGO Scuba diving set thing and my sunglasses! The prise possession though what I wanted was also here which is a LEGO Indiana Jones complete with his hat and whip! This of course
now means that when I visit Petra I can take Indy along for the ride and try to find the true grail of the carpenter and have eternal life, hopefully I won’t choose poorly.
Friday – Final dive with the Spanish/ Catalonians
I did another dive with the Spanish couple this morning. This dive was at the Cedar Pride site but instead of spending the majority of the time at Cedar Pride we went over it and past it towards the platform which was used in the sinking of Cedar. As just past the platform is another reef but it is around 25 metres at some parts meaning that visibility isn't great compared to Rainbow Reef or Japanese Garden. However this was the spot where me and the Finnish group and Angela saw the blue spotted ray, it is also that spot where the tiger shark was found (and that I just missed grr). So I was hopeful we would see something nice. The visibility around the 25 metre reef wasn’t great when we got down there. It was still very good, around 10 – 15 metres but that is bad in the Red Sea
(which I am thankful for!). I still had my fingers and toes crossed (as I can now cross my toes, what with my big boots!) to see something to take my breath away but unfortunately nothing out of the ordinary was to be seen. Don’t get me wrong there is still many fish to see and great cabbage reefs (my new favourite type of reef) but I was really feeling like this dive would have concluded the 3 days that the Spanish couple were with us for in a really great way.
In between the first and second dive with the Spanish I did a DSD with a guy from Holland. He was a cool and nice Dutch guy (yet again!) and had dived before but he isn’t a certified diver. But because I’m a DSD leader I can take him out for a little swim so that's what we did! He had problems equalising so we stayed at about 7 metres for the dive at Rainbow Reef. He loved it though and said he would return. He also said that he will do some 'internet' stuff for us as the prices at our dive centre were very
good. What 'internet' stuff is, I don't know. But we shall see.
For the Spanish divers we went to Black Rock and Cable Reef. Around 5 minutes in to the dive I had the urge to get naked. Don’t worry I didn’t have Nitrogen Narcosis (which makes you stupid as you dive deeper which I have explained before) it was because this was the same diving route that I went on with the Finn’s and Angela for their last dive here and where I was naked!
Upon returning back to the dive centre the Spanish were super appreciative of all the dives that we did together. NO TIP THIS TIME. But hey come one you can’t always win and the money here isn’t my main motivation. I did however ask them politely if they could leave a review on TripAdvisor to get us to number one as at the moment we are number 4 in Boat tours & Water Sports in Aqaba but we should be technically at number 3. This is because number 3 is called Via Jordan Travel – Day Tours. So it isn’t even a dive centre and from what I can see
they only do excursions to places like Petra, Wadi Rum, Amman, Jarrash etc. Meaning they don’t actually do any dives! Yet they have tags on their page for Scuba and Snorkelling. Frustrating!
We have a new Open Water student here. Her name is Homaira and she lives in Amman and has decided to do her Open Water course, which was recommended to her from the Kiwi diver that was here last week who is her friend. The Kiwi diver was recommended by a girl who was here before her called Megan just before I arrived here so it’s a nice domino effect that is happening, who knows how long it will go! Homaira will be with us until Sunday and then she catches the last bus at 6pm back to Amman. Just enough time to do her Open Water course.
Saturday – Damn Facebook!
I’m FUMING. Divemaster Scanlon had no dives today but that isn’t the reason I’m angry. I uploaded some photos to Facebook today as I wasn’t diving so I had time and I changed my profile picture to where I am naked (with my trusty sock) from my 100th dive.
But an hour or two after changing my profile picture I received a notification from Facebook saying that someone had reported my photo for nudity. DUH FUCK? I checked Facebook’s policy on nudity and it says that an centred focus on someone’s bottom, showing genitalia or nipple on a females breast showing (unless it’s breastfeeding) are all not ok! But I didn’t show any of that, except for my derriere but it wasn’t focusing on that. However Facebook removed them all anyway! I guess I should have used a bigger sock…
We’ve been having some issues with the van lately. The main issue is that we have to push it in order to get the engine started. Me and Belal were pushing it as hard as we could and Mohamed was fiddling with the pedals in the van. But we just couldn’t push it fast enough. We needed help. I asked the shopkeeper who I always buy snacks in the Divers Café and I get along with him surprisingly well even though we don't speak each others language. Belal asked the guy who is in a food shop next door to our dive centre who is also a nice
man. So the 4 of us pushed as hard as we could and Eureka! We got the engine going! Next time Mo will just park on a hill and let gravity do the work.
Me and Homaira were chatting and it turns out that in Amman she works for the U.N. and has lived in Amman for two years. She is a cool girl and we went out in the evening to my favourite little pub, the ‘Irish’ bar. Mike (the owner) was there of course and he was overjoyed to see me again! As was I, he’s a nice fella. Me and Homaira are both Brits so naturally the first things we talked about were the weather in Aqaba and Amman in comparison to the UK, missing roast dinners on Sundays and football. It turns out she is a Manchester United supporter. I’m not a fan. Her family also support that team. I mentioned that I worked for LFC as a tour guide in Anfield and so I could quite easily reel off the MANY trophies we have won in our history, she was impressed of course who wouldn't! At 11pm we decided to call it a
night at Mike’s and go and eat some Falafel. We would have stayed out later but Homaira was on a two drink maximum what with her exam the next day and diving. She was a bit paranoid about mixing drinks with diving which of course is a big no no, but two drinks is more than ok. But before we left there was the bill to pay. I insisted that I pay it but Homaira is a feisty one and so we went Dutch. So there was no sneaky Leslie.
Sunday - Brainstorm
Mohamed took out one guy for DSD (Discover Scuba Dive) and the lucky little fecker saw this turtle close up! I was ever so jelly. Today for me though was another no diving day but that doesn’t mean Sunday can’t be a Funday. It was just me in the shop as Mo was with Belal and a new guy called Ahmed who is from Egypt doing his Divemaster training here. But around midday the other Ahmed (Mo’s dad) came in the shop and brought me a pomegranate. I have never actually seen a real one before, I only ever have it
in juice form from Tesco. They’re very seedy and the juicy stuff is around the seeds so you pretty much have to swallow them. Excellent evolution! In between stuffing my face Ahmed was asking me of my opinions of the dive centre and Jordan in general now that I’m here compared to when I was in Liverpool. I said that it is better than what I was expecting especially in terms of diving and the dive centre itself. I like the way that it is just me and Mo at the moment (in terms of professional divers), it’s more personal. The dive centre is run the way I like it which is people first not the profit margin. Mohamed is very good at making the customers happy and going that extra mile for them whenever he can. Nothing is too much to ask.
Me and Ahmed were talking some more and he was telling me that if I needed anything in regards to stuff to help the dive centre then the expenses would be covered. I can bring ideas to Mo and Ahmed about things we can do. Something which I sort of did at LFC but I
know this time it will be much easier to get stuff done! An idea which sprung to mind straight away was selling merchandise with the dive centres logo on as a souvenir for customers, another idea was selling USB sticks as when and if customers don’t have anything to transfer the photos from a dive on to we can sell the USB drives to them with all of the photos on it which is a win win for both sides.
I was drawing and brainstorming ideas of what to do in the dive centre for the rest of the day. Lots of things are floating around in my head right now of simple yet effective things we can do here in the dive centre. An example was when I was trying to find the open water exam for Hamariah, I found Ahmed’s diving manual book from 1977. Fucking relic and a half, even Indiana jones would take it and then be chased by the big ball shaped rock.
I was also doing some work for Mohamed in the shop and I’m currently in the process of changing some Trip Advisor information and I imagine by the time I write my next blog it will be on the website.
Homaira had to be at the bus station at 6pm as that was the last bus left for Amman and she finished her exam just after 5:30pm but we just had enough time to go over the corrections on her exam. Then Mohamed whizzed her to the bus station, luckily the van got fixed today so we didn’t have to push it to start the engine. Homaira was a lovely woman and we both said that we will meet up again of course, when I visit Amman and when she visits Aqaba again for some more diving and she said she will bring some friends down! The more the merrier!
Until next time Caimans.
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paul scanlon
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Divemaster Job in Aqaba
It is great to know that my son is having a good time, very proud...