Semester 11 Chapter XVII: Sleeping During Movies

Hello everybody and merry fucking Christmas. As you probably know, I’m not the biggest fan of the holidays but if people take the opportunity to spend some time with their loved ones, slow down for a minute and take couple of deep breaths, I’m in. So I hope that apart from this consumerist bullshit, buying all bunch of stuff that’s gonna be thrown away in like a month and getting yourselves stressed for no reason, you had a chance to dedicate some time to appreciate yourself and people in your life. I did my best to do so anyway… 

 

Okay, got new A Boogie in the headphones and I’m loving that shit. I’m fresh of some good old morning workout, sun is shining, it’s a new day… Chilling over here… These past couple of days were pretty nice. Some of my students are taking a break from classes until the new year’s so I have a bit more time to relax, walk around, reminisce and hang out with my people. 

I made it to Tenerife Tuesday evening, got picked up by a friend and we went straight to 33 Vueltas for some welcome house wine. On Wednesday, I drove to Mercadona to do some needed shopping and I also stopped by at this Chinese mall around the corner where I bought a frame for a print my friend got me in the Czech Republic. Having that shit on the wall in my room makes the whole motherfucker feel more like home. In the evening, I watched Casablanca for the first time ever. And that shit blew my mind. See, sometimes it’s a bit tricky watching movies that are this old. Shit that was totally acceptable and tolerable in 1940s or 1950s fortunately doesn’t fly today in most circles and lotta movies from that era are a reminder of that. But man… Casablanca is beautiful. The screenplay is fire and I was enjoying the whole ride. Made me think I might wanna fill some of gaps in my movie knowledge and go back in time more frequently.

 

Thursday evening I met up with my friend to watch the new Matrix. I think I liked it but the problem was I got a bit faded before the movie started so I was drifting off at points. Gonna have to re-watch it. Friday, I drove to Los Cristianos to pick up money I was owed by the dive shop and to pick up my gear for a dive with my friend from London. I still have no idea whether there’s any future for me in that shop and I’m totally ready for whatever. After that, I managed to change the battery in my dive computer. You see, sometimes dive centers offer that service and they charge ridiculous money for it. I’m talking like 20-40 EUR easy. Now, this guy in this tiny shop in Los Cris did it for 4.80 EUR and shit works like a charm. Kudos, old man! 

I picked my friend up at her spot and we drove to Abades to do the dives. I met with a friend running a dive shop over there and it was a great hangout. Almost no wind, lotta sun, good vibes, turtles and rays under water, some beers afterwards. Later in the afternoon we went back to Cristianos to do some shopping in the Chinese store. I had never been there before and I’m really happy I’m aware of it now. They have homemade tofu, they have all kinds of noodles and cheap veggies I haven’t seen since Shanghai… It’s a great supplement to Mercadonas and all the local supermarkets. We ended up at my place cooking some delicious Asian dishes, drinking whiskey and wine and overall having a good time. When we got ourselves stuffed, we watched the Lego Movie. And I totally fell asleep watching that. When I woke up for the subtitles, I drove my friend back home and concluded the Christmas Eve. 

 

I spent yesterday working out, walking around the hills and lying on a beach listening to some new tunes. In the evening I met up with my diver friend for some drinks and then for another movie at mine’s. And yet again, we both were falling asleep while watching it. I actually don’t mind sleeping throughout movies but last week I totally did more of that than usual. 

 

I slept pretty well today, after some time I have a full day off… Like literally zero classes… And I’m not entirely sure what I’m gonna do with it. Something’s gonna pop out for sure. I want to send shout out to all of my people. Lately I’ve been thinking about reaching out to some people from my past just to check up on them. So maybe I’ll do some of that too. It’s all love tho. One! 

 

Highlights:

• Diving.
• The watch guy.
• Casablanca.

Semester 11 Chapter XVI: Flashing Lights

Okay, last week has been a fucking ride. At the moment, I’m at the Vienna airport looking out this big ass window, watching planes go by. It’s a sunny day and in couple of hours, I’ll be chilling back in Tenerife. Lotta shit happened tho so let’s get right into it.

 

The beginning of last week was pretty awesome. Me and the girl I probably hang out the most on the island got ourselves some tanks and went to El Tablado to do a dive (my first time doing that site). Not for pay, not with clients, just two instructors going for a fun dive. Now, it’s often said that people in diving should do this here and there but the truth is they rarely do. You usually don’t have much time and when you finally have some, you incline towards doing anything but diving. And honestly, if it wasn’t for a fact that business is basically non-existent in the dive shop these day, we might have not gone for it in the first place. It was super nice tho. Nothing particularly out of the order in terms of things to see down there, but it was super relaxing and recharging. Afterwards, we stayed on the sun for some time and then we drove back to Los Cristianos, making a short coffee stop on the way.

 

I also managed to deal with my car. Eventually, I went with the same mechanic that fixed some minor shit on it when I was buying it. The guy is super nice. Seems like a pretty tough Romanian but when you speak to him for couple of minutes, you find out that he’s just a loving dad that puts good energy and his loved ones above all. Plus he speaks good English and I feel pretty comfortable having a car guy who I can communicate with. He ended up changing the whole distribution kit, water pump, fixed a leak in the engine and kinda fixed the sound system too. It’s not perfect but it’s way better. If the car’s gonna be good for a bit, it was 250 EUR well spent.

 

I also managed to grab a beer some divers in Medano, I was out with my friend from London couple of times (once in Los Cristianos, once in 33 Vueltas) and I spent Saturday morning with the diver girl. We hung out in Las Galletas and she eventually dropped me at the airport. I figured she might as well use my car when I’m not here.

 

I made it to my bro’s apartment in Prague Saturday night and we ended up talking till like 4am. At 9:30 I was already on a bus to Brno, I did lunch with the fam and went for a walk with the dog after which we proceeded to my sis’ apartment for dinner. Later on, we got joined by some of my closest people who have lived in Canada for these past couple of years. Seeing them in person again felt absolutely beautiful and surreal. I feel we immediately got on our back-in-the-day wave. Good shit. And man.. Being with the family was so good. My nephew is still uncontrollable and full of energy, his moms are gorgeous and my dad is doing great with his partner. Shit makes me filled with joy. I even got some gifts as I’m not gonna be around for the actual Christmas Eve.

Monday was insane tho. I woke up early do go do my PCR test. I don’t really think I need it to get back to Tenerife (to tell the truth, I didn’t really need anything on the way to Prague; on the paper it looks super strict but in reality I wasn’t asked to show neither vaccination certificate nor negative test at any point) but I really wanna be 1000% sure I’m gonna get back there. As much as I love my people back home, I can’t risk getting stuck in the Czech Republic for the winter. Wouldn’t survive it. When I got back home, I found out that my laptop decided to go dead on me. Wouldn’t go past BIOS giving me critical hard drive failure prompts and shit. I tried to play with it for a minute but the situation was clear. Laptop decided to go to the computers’ heaven. Unfortunately, my job and my lifestyle does not allow me to go couple of weeks without a laptop so I stormed out the flat and went to get a new one straight away. So yeah, got a new one. And since I’m a fucking idiot who doesn’t back up anything ever, I’ve lost whole bunch of shit including some pretty useful textbooks and passwords. Fuck me. I put my old one into a repair shop so we’ll see what can be done.

 

 

In the afternoon I went to my dental clinic where we decided we are not doing any more braces. Shit is good now. I’m gonna wear retentions for some time and I’m gonna do whitening at some point but the teeth are straight. It’s still hard to believe but it feels awesome. In the evening, I met up with my Canadian friends, with my YLP bro and with my sis and them again. I also ran into couple of people I at night. Great vibes. When I woke up, I enjoyed breakfast with my dad and his partner. Dad also walked me to the bus station. These three day flew by so fast but it was so good. I’m sleep deprived as fuck but that doesn’t bother me at all. I’m getting back in March to do some tattoos, to finalize the teeth and possibly do some trips and I can’t wait to spend some more time with everybody. It’s all love.

Well, now it’s back to that sunny island. Since I haven’t really spoken to anybody at the dive center in more than a week, I really have no idea what the fuck is going on over there or if I’m still somewhat a part of that operation. Guess, the following days will show. I’m not worried at all tho. I’m bringing a new wetsuit and I’m sure I’m gonna find a way to dive one way or another. Before I go, I would love to thank everybody back home once more. I don’t take this for granted and I feel blessed for all of it. One!

Highlights:

• Fam.
• Friends.
• All the delicious Christmas food.

 

Semester 11 Chapter XV: Don’t Get Me Wrong, Just Get Me Right

Okay, here we go again. Shout out to all the lovely people reading this thing. It’s been a long fucking ride but we gonna keep this shit pushing till the wheels fall off. I got some rap blasting out my bluetooth speaker, I’m fresh out of shower, I got a friend touching down on the island in couple of minutes… Shit’s proper. First things first tho… 

Last week was pretty interesting in terms of diving. The first three days, me and the girl from the shop did the group of 7 people. And fuck being humble… We fucking murdered it. Any instructor would tell you that this is no easy task but we handled it with grace. Thursday, I did two DSDs… Czech siblings, teenagers… All good. I’m not entirely sure what my future is in the dive center tho. There’s no diving these days and I’m also pretty sure they have other people doing dives for them. I’m all good tho… Gonna give it some time and then I’m gonna whatever I feel I should do. The rest of the week was no diving tho… 

 

Friday, I took the car to a mechanic in Chafiras. Let me tell you straight away… Driving through Chafiras over the day is a fucking nightmare. The spot is like 5km away and it took me like 40 mins to get there. Just to find out that they had no time that day. Beautiful. Anyways, I met up with this Czech dude who works with them, he checked the engine real quick and even though he found like 100 different leakages, he said it’s no biggie and as long as I check the thermometer, I should be fine for the time being. That baby is getting a fix up sometime soon anyway. It also turned out that guy is into hiphop and he makes beats. So we exchanged our shit and who knows… Maybe we gonna do a session at some point… On the way back I stopped at IKEA which was just around the corner and got myself a blanket so I’m a bit warmer at night. Totally needed that. 

 

I was out quite a lot two… I went out with my friend’s sis one evening and all of us did a night out the day after. With this guy from the dive center joining. I’m not gonna go too deep into this but it’s crazy how different vibe can get when it comes to people. Couldn’t believe my eyes and ears at some point. We started in Costa Del Silencio in this cheap spot for food called 360 (cause shit costs 3.60 EUR over there), we proceeded to that Black Sheep bar afterwards and then we went to this Guargacho joint to get some hookah. The evening got concluded at my place, with some dope music and a proper chill-out. Clean. 

 

I did another night out Saturday with my friend in the one and only 33 Vuletas. Definitely one of the more interesting evenings. Sunday, I met up with her again along with my flatmate and we did a long ass drive all the way up to Anaga to this Dos Hermanos rock. Just by the sea, it is a great spot for hiking and we did around 10km in the area. Way easier than the shit we did last week in Gigantes. Everything about this trip felt nice and smooth. Fly, banana, fly (I’m literally writing this sentence for myself so I don’t forget one particular moment, sorry!). 

 

We made it back here in the evening, I made myself a dinner, cleaned-up and I’m supposed to receive a message from my friend any second now. Then it’s gonna be me driving to the airport and Los Cristianos. And some drinks and catch-ups after. Overall a pretty good week. Hope you guys have been okay too. Sending some love to everybody out there. One! 

Highlights:

• Night outs.
• Hike.
• The blanket. For real.

Semester 11 Chapter XIV: I Got The World In My Hands

Hey guys, so here we go again. Checking back from this sunny island. I hope everyone’s doing okay, I hope all is good with y’all and your loved ones and I hope everybody stays far away from nonsense and negativity. I’ve been doing pretty good myself this past week… Bit less diving than usual but a whole lot of teaching and some highly appreciated time off.. 

 

 

I have totally dealt with some things I’d been postponing for quite a while. Had some days off at the dive center so I actually had enough time and energy to do so. Friday, I copped a new pair of sneakers at this tiny shoe shop in my town. There aren’t too many shops here to begin with so when I noticed this one, which is actually located in my complex on the outside by the main road, I figured I might as well check it out. It’s a small family joint ran by this lady who actually speaks some English and we ended up chatting for a bit. Pretty lovely experience. And I left with a pair of snow white sneakers. Not the best color for my type of lifestyle but they were the only ones in the size I needed, they were for a good price and I really wanted to do business over there… 

 

 

Saturday, I took a long fucking walk around the hills nearby. I made it to Costa Del Silencio where I stopped by at this Indian store to get myself a SIM card. Yup, it’s official… For the first time since Shanghai, I have data in my phone. Jumping back to 21^st century. After that, I walked some more to Las Galletas, explored that place a little and made way back home.

 

The absolute highlight was Sunday tho. The girl from the dive shop has her sister visiting and the three of us planned a hike. First of all, her sister is cool as well… We grabbed couple of beers earlier in the week and the conversation just flows. Anyways, we met up in the morning, jumped into a car these two borrowed from one of their friends and went to Santiago Del Teide for some morning coffee and snacks. The café we went to happened to have vegan cakes on the menu. I got some caramel chocolate thingy and it was gorgeous. I don’t even remember what was the last time I had a cake beforehand. We then proceeded down to Los Gigantes to do the hike. I found this trail with two tunnels through the mountains.. They said that it’s pretty difficult for two reasons. The profile of the trek is challenging and it is not marked very well. Both things turned out to be truth. First part of went around the cliff high above the sea with nothing to hold on to and a very narrow trail. After about an hour and a half we ran into this walk-through in this massive rock that had a small door in it which was locked. There was no safe way to walk around that motherfucker so we just sat nearby, ate some food and talked, thinking the hike is over. With some help of people passing by, we figured that there is a way to climb up some more tho, so we eventually discovered the first tunnel. It is big enough just for a person to walk in it head down (nothing for claustrophobics) and it is like 1km. Pretty impressive. Watching the small light at the end which wasn’t really moving any closer for quite some time had a certain mystique to it. Then we proceeded into the hills which was fucking beautiful but we were also running out of time with the daylight and the second tunnel was nowhere to be found. Luckily, at the end we managed to find it too and made it safely back to the civilization. The last thing we had to do was to cross a private property with this cute donkey roaming around. We weren’t entirely sure if the guy was friendly or protective but since we all made it, I think he was really just nice. What a hike tho! About 10km, the views were spectacular and there was the perfect amount of adventure… Awesome. We concluded the day with some drinks in Costa Del Silencio. Vibes at their best. 

 

As for diving, I finished this open water course with this Latvian guy. For his final day, we went to Abades and we saw two turtles, a ray and a cuttlefish. Super nice. I’ve been also teaching a bit more than usual and I got some new gigs for pretty nice rates. Shit’s proper these days. Plus I did some more proofreading work for my pops.

It’s yet another Monday morning, I’m listening to some Jazmine Sullivan, sun is about to come up and I have plenty of beginner divers to take care of today. Me and the girl are going to accommodate 7 open water students. It’s gonna be a challenge but I’m pretty optimistic about it. And I’m also pretty sure I’m gonna have some serious talk with some people in the dive shop. Cause I’m done tolerating certain shit… And I can’t wait for it. Oh, and I’ve also caught up with some more of my loved ones. Good stuff. Overall, it’s all good over here. Sending love to all of you. One! 

 

Highlights:

• The hike.
• The fact I have data.
• Diving.

Semester 11 Chapter XIII: Heating Up

What the fuck is up everybody. Another Sunday has arrived and the world is still going bonkers. We’re kinda dealing with record covid numbers all over the place, we got more people in hospitals, we got more people dying… And then we got anti-vaxers. And I would like to express sincere fuck you to all of them. We’ve all been injected with all kinds of shit ever since we were born, we have gotten vaccinated for all sorts of crazy stuff with little to no idea what exactly it is or what it does… Shit, we’ve all bought drugs from a local dealer somewhere by the restroom in a club at some point… So just take the fucking jab, fuckers. Might not be the way out but it’s totally better than nothing. And no, your opinion does not outweigh conclusions of medical experts. 

 

Okay, back to this little life of mine. There has been pretty cool things happening this past week. First of all, I got in touch with the barber guy who used to maintain my hair during my past visit in Tenerife. He still does his thing so Tuesday after work, I hopped in my Punto and drove to my old neighborhood. The guy has changed his place. Same building, just a bit further down the hall. What was kinda fun, he hasn’t dealt with electricity yet and since I showed up in the evening, we ended up dealing with some open air action enhanced by flashlights. But then again, I’ve always been a fan of bizarre barber shop situations so I was enjoying the whole ride. Needless to say the guy delivered. He knows his shit. 

 

I’ve been also out couple of times for some drinks plus I went to the movies. On Saturday, we went to a mall in Costa Adeje to catch the new Gucci movie. It was a proper movie hangout. Some cheap booze, whole bunch of snacks and a pretty good flick. Pleasantly surprised. And kudos for not playing commercials at all. You gotta respect that. 

 

 

Outside of that it’s been the same old. I’ve been diving a lot having fun with it… I’ve been teaching a lot too… Plus I have negotiated some better rates for that. It’s pretty cool when people request you and when you’re in a position of going “my way or highway”. Still lot of work to do in that department but I’m definitely getting more comfortable. 

I’ve prolonged my SSI Instructor membership the other day. Not sure if I’m gonna do the same for PADI but I have couple more weeks to decide. Plus I’ve been in touch with my loved ones. You know what it is, you know exactly how it goes down and we see each other crystal clear. There’s some hugs and long-ass nights loaded up in the barrel and we gonna let that shit go at some point. It’s that mixture of sad cause we don’t see each other nearly as often as we should and excitement cause it’s bound to happen. And I like some of the news I’ve received last week. So until then, make sure you’re safe, stay positive, stay healthy and don’t entertain bullshit. One! 

 

Highlights:

• The haircut.
• The movies.
• The love.

Semester 11 Chapter XII: Energy Levels

Yo, it’s Sunday morning, I got new Viktor Sheen in the headphones, the view out my windows is as beautiful as ever and energy levels are just right. The other day, I went for a run into the hills as I sometimes do, and for some reason, there were some barriers with “no entry” signs all over the place. I did what any reasonable person would – ignore them and just carried on. To my surprise, I eventually ran into a movie set. Fucking trucks, stalls, the whole crew… So I turned around and found a different trail. Those fuckers are still there tho. Here and there, I see a fleet of cars and vans making their way through the stony terrain when I look out. Hope they gonna wrap it up soon; it’s my area after all, innit? 

 

I have to say I’m getting a bit more optimistic about the dive center and its future. We don’t do cheap stupid shit, we do solid diving. The aim is not the get dozens of people for dumping prices but to keep the operation small and comfortable for everybody. I really enjoy diving like that. Plus I wanna believe that we are setting up a team that’s gonna last for a bit. I get along pretty well with the girl who has jumped aboard and apart from giving her lifts to work and hanging out during working hours, we sometimes go out for drinks or short trips in the evenings. Shit feels nice. Over the past couple of days, I finished an advanced course, I did some fun diving which went awesome (got a tip for that too) and I’m about to do some more today. I also went to San Isidro the other day to do my diving medical certification for another year. Short session for about 30 EUR. Happy days.

 

I don’t really have that much time for workouts but I usually do a set of pull-ups and some sit-ups before I leave the house in the morning. Overall, I still feel healthy as fuck. Teaching goes well too. I’m still figuring everything out but the balance is there and I’m gonna do my best to keep it like that. Oh, and I managed to do some more online hangouts with my loved ones. Shit… I still got some love waiting for me all over the world… Can’t wait to collect it all at some point. And you can bet your ass I will! 

My thoughts are with the people who live in areas heavily affected by covid. We live in strange fucking times so let’s just try to be human to one another. Small actions matter, everything is connected, this is no time to be cynical. I also wanna send my love to Shanghai. You know exactly why. You know how it goes... Keep it up, keep shit positive and don’t entertain bullshit. One! 

Highlights:

• All the new music out. God damn.
• Diving. Had so much fun with it last week.
• All the evenings out. Good vibes only.