My Favorite Place in Costa Rica: The Bottom of the Ocean!

So good news everyone: my lungs didn’t explode! How great is that? Actually, it turned out to be an amazing experience. I’ve actually decided me favorite place in Costa Rica is on the bottom of the ocean. And now I’m a certified scuba diver, which means I’ll probably go diving again in about…oh 10 years or so, if I’m lucky. Actually, I hope I get to go more than that, but ya know, the rivers in Iowa just don’t compare to the ocean.

Anyway, so how does one go about getting certified? Well, on Friday we left for Playa Hermosa (Beautiful Beach). It took us nine hours to get there because of the bus schedules. And actually, we got the last bus that went to Playa Hermosa. The scary part was, the bus was supposed to leave at 5:30, and we didn’t get there until 5:40, but fortunately it was running behind schedule. We finally got to our hotel, which was an ordeal in and of itself, at around 8:00 on Friday.

On Saturday we woke up bright and early to start exploring the pool. But before we could learn to dive, we had to learn how to use the gear. When diving you wear a wet suit, a weight belt, flippers, a mask, and of course, a tank full of oxygen with 3 hoses coming out of it. The three hoses provide air to you, to others (if necessary), and to the vest because you need to fill it with air to float. We learned in the pool first to get used to the regulator (the breathing apparatus) and the buoyancy controls. We all got in a circle and we had to practice taking our regulators out and then putting them back in, using other people’s octopuses (an extra regulator attached to your air tank, used to share oxygen with people if they run out), and taking our masks (goggles) off. Taking the goggles off scared me a little. To get the water out of the mask you push on the top part of it, tilt your head back, and blow air out of your nose. I hate getting water in my eyes, and I definitely hate having a plastic thing full of water suctioned to my head. I did it, and I got some water up my nose and my eyes hurt a little, but I did it without going to the surface.

That afternoon we went to the ocean. Only 6 of us went down at a time (there were 10 total) because we only had one instructor. Dan was my partner, so we were in charge of looking after one another. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous. However, we only went into water that was about 20 feet deep, so you could come to the surface at anytime. We swam through a massive school of fish, and we saw tons of blow fish and many other kinds of tropical fish. We also saw eels and an octopus. I filled up my whole 27 exposure, waterproof camera. So I’m hoping some of those pictures turn out. That dive lasted about 50 minutes. When you start, your air tank has about 3000 psi of air pressure, and you have to come up when someone gets down to 1000 psi.

On Sunday we took a boat out to an island. On the way there we saw “something” whales (I’m so specific, I know), which are actually a type of dolphin. Anyway, we got to the island and all 12 of us went down at the same time. This time we went down to about 50 feet. Some people had problems adjusting their ears to the pressure, but I could swim straight down, fortunately. I just had to keep swallowing. On this dive we saw a sea turtle, which I would estimate (although water distorts the distance and size of objects) was about 3 feet long. It was a Green Sea Turtle, and when people tried to touch it, the guides banged metal snaps on their air tanks and shook their heads no.

We were on the bottom for about 30 minutes for that dive.

On the surface we had to wait 40 minutes before we could go back down. This has something to do with letting your body adjust to the pressure, or air, or something again. I should probably know this since I’m technically certified, but I guess I’ll play it safe and go with guides, or I’ll have to study a bit before I go down on my own. During the 40 minute break, some of us swam to the island and went into a shallow inlet/cave thing. There were hundreds of crabs all over the rocks, and when you got near they just dove to safety into the ocean. It was pretty cool except one of the girls sliced open her foot on the island because it was made out of coral type stuff and was very sharp.

Anyway, we put our tanks back together, got our gear on and went back down. I was one of the first people down, and when we got to the bottom, Myra (our instructor) gathered us together and signaled for us to watch her. She then proceeded to take her regulator out of her mouth, let go of it, grab it again, and put it back in. Then she pointed at us, signaling it was our turn. I had no problem doing this, even though I was 50 feet from the surface, it wasn’t that hard to get the respirator back in and blow the water out. However, when she proceeded to take her goggles off, my heart started pounding. When it was my turn to take my goggles off, I shook my head no… I was not about to fill my eyes with salt water, suction waterlogged goggles back onto my head, blow my precious air out, all while attempting to breath through my mouth—at the bottom of the ocean. I’m sorry, I just wasn’t ready for such daring things. She signaled for me to calm down. And then she asked me if she could fill my goggles with water. I shook my head yes, so she filled them with water just a little over the tops of my eyes. I then attempted to blow it out, and I got it even though it took me a few tries. So essentially what I did was the same thing, but I didn’t fill my goggles with water myself. Who does that in real life anyway? I stayed calm (enough), but I think I definitely used up more oxygen than I normally would’ve.

On this dive, we saw mostly the same animals again. However, there were trumpet fish that were about 3 feet long, 2 inches wide, and almost transparent. I also saw big eels. I think they’re called moray eels, or something similar to that. The guide told me to stick my fingers by its mouth (as a joke, obviously), but I’m not dumb. I’ve watched “The Little Mermaid” enough times to know better than that.

Anyway, this time they decided to only take people up when their oxygen was running low, and since I was one of the first people down (and I did breathe rather heavily during the goggle incident) I had to go up after only 35 minutes.

Even though I love air, and I think there are many beautiful places above sea level, there’s something spectacular about the sea floor. It really is a completely different world. It looks like everything is flying, and you can even fly yourself. You just fly through the water in a world that you don’t belong to, but for 35 short minutes you can. So if there is anyone else out there who watched “The Little Mermaid” as many times as I did or just really loves water, I definitely recommend scuba diving. It’s definitely worth it, even if you do get a little salt water in your eyes.

"Family Weekend" and Fruits

Last weekend I had a relaxing weekend with the family. My family took me to a town that I don’t remember the name of. (I know, I love it when I’m specific). We stayed in Ana’s niece’s house. It’s her second home and it is located fairly close to the beach. We left Saturday morning and came back Sunday afternoon. The house has a Jacuzzi, a cold water Jacuzzi to be exact. But it felt nice since it’s so hot there. On Saturday night we went to town and saw a parade of horses (it has a Spanish name…it might be “tope” but I’m not sure). There had to have been more than 250 horses in this “tope”. After that finished we went to the “Fruit Fair.” A bunch of fruit farmers brought their crop in to sell. Ana bought me a bunch of crazy fruit because I wanted to try it all. I took pictures of them all on Sunday, and then I had Ana tell me the name so I could look it up in the dictionary. However, we don’t have English words for these fruits. Why? Because we’ve never ever seen them or eaten them because they are crazy and only grow in the tropics. Some of these fruits we would never even think of eating because they don’t even look like fruit. As I was writing the names of them down, I wrote descriptions of them. For more than two different kinds I compared them to a potato. This one looks like a small, hairy potato, and that one looks like a big pointy potato. Obviously I’m a potato girl. One fruit that actually is in the dictionary is the soursop (guanábana). If any of you have ever eaten a soursop, please tell me because I will be utterly amazed.
It was a nice relaxing weekend. We ate copos (a.k.a granizados) which are like snow cones, except they’re made with powdered milk and condensed milk as well as the flavor syrup. I also played games, including Uno, with Ismael. An interesting side note about the game Uno. Whenever Costa Ricans ask me if I know how to play (if they’re speaking in English) they ask me if I know how to play One. At first, I was very confused, but when I realized what they were asking me, I found it quite hilarious. Apparently, they think that we call it One in the States. They were quite shocked when I told them that we also call it Uno. Anyway, I just thought that was an interesting little tid bit.
Next weekend I will be traveling to Puntarenas to learn to scuba dive. As long as I remember to keep breathing out as I ascend to the surface (so my lungs don’t explode), I should be fine. No worries.
On Monday I went to Sonrisas (Smiles), a Pre-K school. I’m going to start volunteering there every Monday (even though I’ve only got five left). They put me in a classroom with children who I would guess are between 1 and 2. They can walk, talk in words, and they still poop in their pants…so however old that is. Anyway, I was only there for an hour today. I don’t know if most of you know how absolutely horrible I am with kids. They hate me because they can sense my fear of them. I’m drenched with “Oh-sweet-Moses-please-don’t-puke-on-me-poop-on-me-or-stick-your-dirty-little-fingers-in-my-mouth” pheromones. Anyway, I fed some fruit to one kid and some ¡gelatina rica! (tasty jello) to a cute little girl. Then I attempted to play with them while the teacher changed diapers (thank goodness they didn’t make me do that!). Every time I sat down, Bianca, a cute little girl, sat in my lap. I was ok with it after she got her diaper changed, but before I was slightly uncomfortable with her damp little bum plopped nicely in my lap. She also liked the feel of my stubble growing on my legs and she liked my “cola” (pony tail). I think one of the little girls sensed that I wasn’t actually a native Spanish-speaker (I can’t even fool the little kids!) because she brought me a toy car and said “carro” and she touched the door and said “puerta.” So I don’t know if I was supposed to be saying, “Good job!” or “thank you for teaching me.” Anyway, I think I’ll enjoy spending 4 hours with those guys once a week. They’re pretty darn cute. However, my hands were pretty sticky when I went to dance class, and there may have been feces residue on my pants, but that’s nothing a little water and soap can’t cure.
Tonight I’ve got a potluck type fiesta to go to. One of my Spanish classes is going to get together with some Costa Ricans who are learning English. We’re going to play games and eat food. I’m planning on making some chip dip, but it’s hard when they don’t have the same things we do. And even though Wal-Mart may be the devil, I won’t deny that I miss having so many options in one building.
Anyway, I better get reading some of my novels and doing some other homework. Oh, and wish me luck this weekend that my lungs don’t explode and that I don’t get nitrogen poisoning!