Semester 10 Chapter VI: Major Moves

Microphone check one two, what’s up everybody! Okay, saying that the last week was eventful would be an understatement. Let me start with differences between PADI (the initial organization I did my dive instructor certification with) and SSI (the one I crossed over to recently). Now, I don’t wanna act like I’m an expert or anything but it’s pretty interesting listening to people who are certified or have experience with both... Everybody prefers SSI for some reason. Now, I’ll see what my experience will turn out to be but so far so good. So get this... After I did my crossover last weekend, all it took paperwork-wise was to do like 3 e-signatures on the guy’s tablet. Next day I was an instructor in their database. With PADI, the poor guy in charge had to collect dozens of papers from everybody and it took them like a month to process them. So that’s one. Two, once I got certified, I got to acknowledge how good their website is (no disrespect to PADI but theirs is crap). So there I am, browsing jobs in the SSI database, sending out CVs and what do I find? A Czech guy posting a job for his dive center in Croatia. CV sent. Next day I get a phone call from this 57 years old diver, we had a great chat and two days later I got the gig in the city of Rabac starting May. Now, I don’t wanna say that SSI is this much better but it took me 3 months of blood, sweat, tears and slaving my ass off for free to accomplish absolutely nothing with PADI, and it took about 3 days of doing very little to get a job with SSI. Maybe it was just luck but fuck it, who cares. Couple of blogs back, I said that one of my goals for this year was to get a job in diving. So unless covid’s gonna fuck this up for me, this box is ticked. It feels major, it feels good and I’m super excited about it. I told my host that I’m leaving mid- April, I’m doing a quick stop in the Czech Republic to see my fam and them I’m off to new adventures.

Telling my Indian hosts that I’m leaving was a bit sentimental. We really made friends here and they jokingly refer to me as their adoptive son. I’ve loved staying with them and who knows... Maybe I’ll be back at some point. I like it here. I also booked my flight back home. Booking anything these days feels like a gamble as you have no idea if the flight’s gonna take place or if they gonna let you from or to the country and under what conditions. But here I am. I also got reminded that my days of travelling with carry-on only are gone. Diving gear ruined it all. Oh well... I think I’m ready to bounce tho... Most of my favorite Tenerife people have all left the island and the last one is leaving next week. And as there hasn’t been a diving job anywhere around, I’ve started feeling it’s time to move. Not because it’s bad over here but because I’m getting to neutral. And I hate neutral. I need shit to move, I need things to evolve, I need people to meet and vibe with... And the way shit fell into place with this SSI is crazy.

I went diving with the Medano guys on Wednesday too. They brought me along with another instructor, their divemaster and a customer. We did Las Eras and the instructor led took us to places I haven’t seen there yet. Great fucking dives. Positive vibes only. Even got to get my shit off with this German girl. We dug a bit into feminism and some other of my favorite topics... Real nice day.

Then there was weekend. So my friend wanted to her Advanced. Since for a somewhat freelance instructor it’s way easier to do this through SSI, I decided to do just that. The Medano guys would process the paperwork and get the e-learning and we would just get the gear and a car somewhere. I got a contact of this lady in Abades renting gear at very reasonable rates and I got a reservation for a car. Now, I’ve booked a car here before and it went smoothly. So I didn’t expect any complications. Boy, was I wrong. Turns out most companies over here require drivers to have their license for 1-2 years to rent them one. So the last time was probably a mistake on their end. I eventually found one that seemed not to care and made the booking. When I got to the airport to pick that motherfucker up, they sent me right back. Not enough years on my fucking card. So for a moment, the diving weekend was in jeopardy. However, Saturday morning, my friend figured it out and we got a nice Fiat Panda for 12 days. So we were back on. We spent the day diving in El Poris. I did Perfect Buyoancy and Navigation with her. Two great dives.

Sunday, we went to Tabaiba to do Deep and Wreck. I felt I sequenced the whole training well. I didn’t start with Deep and left it for the second day. I made sure the vibe was okay, I was paying attention to the overall energy is and I repeatedly stressed that in case of any discomfort during the decent, I want to know. Been taking notes on all my courses in the past and I felt really confident and happy hitting the water.  We made it to the wreck and when we were at the deepest point, my friend went straight into a panic mode. We’ve dealt with it and besides a bit of an ear squeeze, there’s no damage done but it’s an interesting thing... Later on, I learnt that she didn’t feel good on the descent but kept giving me an OK cause she thought it might pass. Now, dealing with shit at 15 meters is a bit better that dealing with it at 30. And I specifically asked to signal any level of discomfort prior to the dive and I was checking like every 10 seconds. Point being, sometimes you can’t control everything. And another point, with diving there’s no faking shit. You either feel good or you don’t. And trust me, if you don’t feel all good at 12, you probably not gonna feel amazing at 25. Well... Another experience. We brushed it off, did a coffee, stopped by at Abades to return the gear and tanks, and grabbed a drink over there. I got myself a knife and a reel while at it. Last two things I was missing.

So that was that. I’m excited about Croatia, I’m grateful for Tenerife and I’m super happy about the idea of seeing everyone back home for couple of days. Got new Lana Del Rey in my headphones, shit feels good. Oh, and I totally didn’t do any photos last week. So next time... Sending love to everybody out there. One!

Highlights:

• First real diving job secured!
• Driving around the island once more.
• Diving, diving, diving.