Semester 9 Chapter XX: Breaking Loose

Yo, so last week I was talking about some lines I felt needed to be drawn in regard to my situation here so I spent quite some time doing exactly that, getting my energy levels back to wherever I want them to be. See, diving as a job is quite difficult in the middle of covid. Do I want to dive every day? Absolutely. Do I still enjoy every moment of it? You bet. But I can’t really do this shit for free at this level anymore. Not in this setup, not under these circumstances, not with this energy around... So from next week, I’m basically cutting it to 50% and I intend to use the extra time to do some more teaching (which actually pays) and just to take shit easier and chill out. You know, like wake up in the morning, teach a class or two, go for a run, lie outside and listen to music. Looking for real diving jobs and shit... All is good and I’m happy with it for now. 

These past couple of days were pretty eventful. My fellow instructor finally got back here (took him like 2 weeks and 3 tries) so there was whole lotta hanging out; Sea Cowboys reunion. Lotta beers, some whiskey (he even got me a bottle of some real nice shit from Ireland), some diving and a trip to Abades, where we finally checked out the church on the top of the hill and the whole complex of buildings around. They started building that shit in 1940s as a leprosy colony but never finished it as cure for it was found before they had a chance to. Over the years, it served as a training spot for police and army, as a site for some movies and apparently also as a popular destination for graffiti writers and squatters. It’s pretty amazing they have not conserved it or turned it into some kinda museum or some shit yet. All the buildings still stand (barely) and you got it all over there: the massive church, a hospital, housing blocks... It’s really enormous. We got a 6-pack and drank it on the rooftop of the church. Watching the village, the sea. Talk about a vibe...

On Friday, me and my friend went for a dive to Playa Paradio. I’ve never done anything like that before. It wasn’t through the shop, it was literally just the two of us – two instructors having fun. I really believe this is something instructors should do regularly. No responsibility, no supervisors in the picture, just pure joy. It was great. The only problem was the van. See, I got to use the shop’s van for my own purposes as I used to drive it on the daily anyway. As long as I put some gas in it, all was good. However, the van is pretty old and apparently has seen a lot. The first red alert came the day before when we did the Abades trip. Engine light went on, thermometer shot up to the red and we opened the hood just to find the water tank empty. We refilled it and that was that. Well, the day after the same shit happened like 5 times over a 20km drive. So we got a bit of an extra adventure. Stopping at highways, asking strangers for water... We managed tho and once I got that fucking vehicle back to the shop, I just left the keys over there and after pretty long time took a walk home feeling happy that fucking thing didn’t blow up on us. No idea, when that shit is gonna get resolved but I’m with no car once again. But the dive was awesome, the day was beautiful, we had a beer after to celebrate it all. Fucking gorgeous.

 

The next day, we planned this trip with two of my other friends. They picked me up around noon and we took it to the north-west side of the island. We did a short hike close to the village of Masca and then made our way to Buenavista. See, our final destination was Punta de Teno, basically the furthest north-west point on the island. However, you cannot get there by car cause the road can get dangerous due to falling rocks. Only pedestrians, cyclist, residents and buses. So we had some beers in Buenavista, hopped on a bus and off we went. Teno was amazing. It’s these huge rock structures, crystal clear sea and a lighthouse. Shit looks like a fucking fairytale. We even went for a swim while we at it. And the water was actually super nice. Since I always hit it with a 7mm wetsuit, I kinda expected some Artic shit but it was great. Gotta appreciate things like that in January. We wrapped up the day with some additional beers at Puerto Colón.

As for diving, I finished an Advanced course with this girl on Monday and I also finished my first DM candidate. My certs are going up. Slowly but steadily. We even tried a new site (Alcala) on Tuesday but the visibility was absolute crap. Hope to get back there soon to do it justice.

It’s yet another beautiful Sunday over here, got some Dolph in my headphones and I’m figuring out what to do with the day. Gonna go for a run for sure and then probably meet up with some of my favorite peers over here. Hope everybody’s good. Take things easy, stay safe and keep shit positive. And when you got something nice to say to your loved ones, fucking do it. One!

 

Highlights:

• Dive with no responsibilities whatsoever.
• Road trip to the north.
• Having my diving partner back!

Semester 9 Chapter XIX: Drawing Lines

What’s good everybody. First of all, let me shout out new Carti’s album one more time. That shit is absolutely amazing. It’s so unorthodox and creative it’s blowing my mind. Haven’t felt like this about a project since Yeezus. Okay, also shout out to Tenerife. Even though we are apparently experiencing coldest January in years over here, it’s still nice. I mean, I can’t wait to get real summer back again but this is not bad. Also, covid... So the situation here is getting a bit better but that might not mean much. In the Czech Republic, on the other hand, it’s going absolute shit. Reading the news about vaccination coordination, it’s really hard to comprehend the degree of incompetence showcased by our leadership. 2021 is yet another chapter of the shit show that started a year ago. 

When it comes to diving, I still love every second of it. And it loves me back. Last week, I was turning an Open Water diver whom I certified a while back into an Advanced diver. She had no plans going that far but she was enjoying herself so much she just went for it. That makes me feel great. I was also diving with this British dude couple of times and got a bottle of Red Label from him as a thank you for the good time he had. It’s really fucking awesome. On top of that, I did another OW cert and worked with our DM intern. I feel like I get reminded that I’m pretty good at what I do every single day. And I’m really starting to feel uncomfortable bringing all this business and extremely positive feedback in for free. I don’t really vibe out amazingly with the organization and I’m kinda getting a feeling that they expect me to do this under these conditions for god knows how much longer. Which I’m totally not okay with both on energy level (cause I’m a strong believer in that) and on financial level (cause honestly, I’m barely getting by with this setup). So two things are happening. I’m obviously sending my CV left and right (which is a bit of a struggle in the midst of this covid era) and I’m also thinking about easing up a little. Possibly dive only 3 or 4 days a week and focus on language teaching or just chilling out instead. Basically to make the situation a bit more financially okay for me and to make it more acceptable for my ego. Because I’ve totally reached a point where whatever this is... it’s not fine with me anymore. I mean, I’ve been practically carrying the whole dive center by myself for more than a month now for fuck’s sake; no assistance, no mentoring. But then again... This is only noise in the background. The diving itself... I was made for this.

 

What else... Haven’t been too social this past week. Got myself out on Friday when a friend of mine invited me over for a dinner and some drinks. She made some noodles with sesame sauce. Reminded me of Shanghai. Awesome meal. I kinda missed the curfew time that day and man... When I was driving back home, it felt like I was in some sort of computer game where they forgot about other characters and traffic... It was literally only me. Crazy. I also got into a habit of evening walks around the beach. Just putting some music on and roam around. Today’s my day off, I already finished my workout and I’m totally doing some running later on.

I’ve been in touch with all my people too. I honestly hope that 2021 is gonna be a year of reunions. Listening to the new dvsn now (shout out to you know who), enjoying slow paced day for a change. I hope everybody’s doing okay and everybody’s staying safe and healthy. Keep it up, keep shit positive and don’t entertain bullshit. One!

Highlights:

• New dvsn.
• All the dives. That’s always gonna be a highlight.
• Fight Club & 21 Grams. Gave those movies another go last week. Fucking classics.

Semester 9 Chapter XVIII: Waves & Wind

Okay, so the new year is starting off beautifully. We are getting record numbers of new covid cases and it feels like that shit is never gonna end. I really wonder about all that vaccination shit. Hopefully it’s gonna do something. We also witnessed bunch of armed rednecks taking over Capitol. I would like to express my sincerest FUCK YOU to America. I’m 100% positive that if those people were any other ethnicity than whites, police would shoot that bitch up in a blink of an eye. The fact that those fucking imbeciles got back home after that fiasco is beyond me. And if you put that shit in the context of unarmed black people getting shot by police casually over these past couple of years... Shit makes me wanna vomit. Good job, assholes. 

 

Alright, back to my shit. Last week, I had only two diving days. I was working with this divemaster intern, going over skills and scenarios he has to go through to complete his certification. I had fun with it, I enjoy the guy’s company, it was nice. Tuesday afternoon, I was doing swim tests with him which basically meant I was sitting on a rock in the water timing him. Drinking coffee, having my lunch and absorbing sunrays. Felt a bit like a dick but it was awesome. We flushed his performance with a beer in a local café after. Lovely day. 

 

For the rest of the week, diving was cancelled. We had a crazy wind situation over here which was accompanied by occasional storms in the beginning. The conditions weren’t really suited for anything diving related. I took the opportunity to intensify my workouts. Apart from my bands shit, I really got back into running. Every single day, no exception. And it feels good.

 

I also got myself out twice last week. Once in Puerto Colón and once in Playa Las Vistas. With different people and different vibes... Both extremely enjoyable. Overall, these non-diving days were pretty cool. Can’t wait to get back in water the next week tho. Got some more courses to conduct and I already know I’m gonna be enjoying those.

Weather is still awesome here, although the top of Teide is covered with snow. And from what I’ve heard, you can’t really drive all the way up there now. Not really safe with all the snow. Down here, it’s still nice and warm. I also contacted my braces clinic back in Brno and asked them to send me another bulk. I’m running out of them and I’m gonna need a re-up soon. They work tho; shit has definitely improved over these past couple of months. I got new Playboi Carti in my headphones (it’s fire), I got the rest of Sunday ahead of me, and I got a week of diving and teaching ahead of me. Sending some love from Tenerife to everybody. One!

Highlights:

• Running.
• Trae – Real Talk. Listened to that track after couple of years and got goosebumps all over again. That shit is absolutely insane. The whole Restless album is.
  
• Some more positive feedback on my instructorship. Even from the shop owners. On the right path here.
  

Semester 9 Chapter XVII: Scratches & Turns

Yo, so 2021 is here. In terms of covid, we’re not looking at the best start. Everything seems to be getting absolute shit yet again so let’s hope that the vaccination is gonna make some positive difference. Also, UK is finally out of EU so that bullshit is over. I’m still not sure wtf was all of that about but here we go. In many ways 2020 did not put the bar too high tho, so hopefully this year is gonna turn out a bit better. I feel we all deserve that. 

 

For me this past week was loads of work again. I had some students to certify, some fun dives to lead and whole lots of miles to drive in between. On Monday, I kinda scratched a fucking car while parking in Tabaiba. It was really just a scratch and I barely noticed it but there was this Spanish lady inside the car and she insisted on exchanging insurance info. Since she was not speaking English at all, I really appreciated having this new divemaster intern, who happens to be from Cuba, around. All went well, no biggie. Apart from Tabaiba, we did dives in Las Eras, El Poris and Abades.

And then there was New Year’s. I honestly didn’t have any plans all the way up until 31^st morning. Then I went diving with this girl I certified recently and since she was in a similar situation we figured we might as well meet up in the evening, and she ended up inviting another two of her friends. Now, the regular closing hour of bars during the pandemic is 9pm. However, since it was New Year’s Eve, the generous Canaries’ government extended it till 11pm. Which does not make any fucking sense if you ask me. Either allow people to actually wait up until midnight or don’t change anything. Anyway, we met up in this El Puerto spot in Puerto Colon, stayed till 11 and then bought some more beers and whiskey in this convenient store (those motherfurckers apparently run 24/7 no matter the curfew) and chilled out in a park waiting for the midnight. I got pretty drunk and got home shortly after 1am I think (which was the extended curfew for the day; normally it’s 10pm).

 

Friday was a free day and I took full advantage of that. Since I don’t suffer from hangovers ever, I was up around 7am and after like forever, I put on my running shoes and went for a run. Was kinda worried that those couple of months of not running would have done some damage to my stamina and comfort level but it all went smooth. Made me realize how much I missed that. Then I did my resistance band workout and spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching series and taking walks around the town.

 

On Sunday, our New Year’s squad got together again for a trip all the way up north to a different part of Anaga. I hopped into the van, picked up my friend, then we headed to the airport where we picked up the couple (they were returning their rental car over there) and we proceeded to Santa Cruz, where we got joined by this Cuban intern. From there it took us about 40 minutes of super narrow roads with sharp turns to reach our destination. The guy’s parents live in Santa Cruz so we just followed his recommendations. The village’s name was Chamorga and it was our starting point of about 7km hike across the hills and valleys with spectacular views on the sea and nature. Completely different from our last week’s hike. Way more rocks, no woods, whole bunch of cacti (ha!). Super nice. After that we got some drinks in the only café in town and headed back. And I did some serious driving. Not only I had to do that impossible shit back to Santa Cruz again, it was raining too and the visibility was total crap. I’m really leveling up with my driving over here. The guy invited us to his parent’s home, where we got some more beers and mezcal (this Mexican liquor made out of cacti... I fucking love that word). And around 7pm, I was driving everybody back to Los Christianos. Parking the van in the evening and going home for some dinner felt real good.

 

And that’s it. New week has started, got some diving ahead of me today and also, my teaching schedule is coming back to normal after holidays. I’m gonna be busy. I wish 2021 is good to us. We’ll see how everything goes. I’m gonna talk to you next week again. In the meantime, stay safe, stay positive and don’t entertain bullshit. One!

 

Highlights:

• Family Guy. Almost forgot how amazing that show is.
• My driving skill improving day by day. I’m really making progress here.
• My diving students. I really fucking appreciate all the positive feedback I get. Feels great.