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.

Semester 11 Chapter XI: Living Underwater

Hey guys, what the fuck is up. New week has started and your boy is back on it with a new installment of this motherfucker. Back in the dive shop, some new tunes blasting out the speakers… It’s another beautiful day down here. I wanna start by sending some healing energy to mainland Europe and all the people affected by the recent wave of covid. God, how I wish this shit was over with… And the governments did a bit better job managing this shit. Seems like we are really bound to live with this thing long-term. Honestly, the way shit is going, I feel like I’m having a deja-vu sometimes. Last year was very similar. Shit was falling apart back home while Tenerife was doing relatively okay. Sun, diving, open bars… This situation totally rings a bell… 

Okay, so last week… Basically whole bunch of diving. The most entertaining was the beginning tho. Monday and Tuesday, I took this Finnish girl out to Marazul and Tabaiba. She was a pretty good diver so I just went with the flow and enjoyed the dives. The rest of the week was courses. I did one open water and started an advanced. Little more work but some interesting boat dives by Palm-Mar… All good.

 

My friend from the Czech Republic was here till Wednesday and I managed to show her around Montaňa Amarilla on Tuesday. We had some dinner in Las Calletas too. I’ve been also dealing with the insurance for my car which is a fucking headache around here. If you’re a relatively new driver, they rip the shit out you. I understand that they have set some rules (at the end of the day, they apply everywhere to some degree) but charging people with 1+ years of driving experience about 4 times as much as those with 5 years is insane. Lotta companies won’t insure me at all, some have packages for about as much as my whole fucking car cost. It’s a headache. I mean I get it but I know people who did their license at 18 and haven’t really driven since, whereas I did mine recently have been driving all kinds of cars like all the time since… But it seems I’ll be able to figure this out real fucking soon so fingers crossed. It definitely bothers me tho…

Outside of that, it’s been the usual. Some teaching… When I have a morning off, I devote it to working out and running… I live good, I eat good and I do small steps towards socializing. Was out in Guargacho with a fellow instructor who happens to live there as well. Lovely evening… 

 

And that’s that. Got some more diving ahead of me this week and it’s possible I’ll have to spend some time in the dive shop too since our divemaster is about to jump into his IDC course. All is good tho, things are moving, I’m having a good time... Shout out to everybody reading. One! 

Highlights:

• Diving.
• Night out in Guargacho. That place has a super-local vibe for real.
• Spanish. Started watching some youtube lessons here and there. Hope I’ll stick to it.

Semester 11 Chapter X: Shifting

What’s up y’all! Another Sunday in sunny Tenerife. At the moment, I’m in the dive shop about to do a dive with some beginners. Last week was a time for re-calibration and some fine-tuning of my situation over here. I’ve been giving it some thought and I figure I don’t feel okay with working in the dive center full-time. See, diving is a beautiful thing but it’s not a job you would do for money. You can earn some pocket change as an instructor but it’s not really any kinda income allowing you to comfortably cover your existence. And I don’t want to spend my whole days in the shop just to come home and do some teaching to keep afloat. Plus I want weekends. So I sat down with the boss and we basically agreed on me freelancing. I’m not gonna get a contract, I’m gonna get called up for dives if needed and that’s that. This month, I’ll try to be around a bit more to help out but starting December, it’s gonna be different. And man… It lifted quite some weight off my shoulders. Seems like freelance teaching and freelance diving is the way to go for now… So we’ll see how this works out… And I celebrated my decision by booking an appointment with my tattoo guy for March. Because I can. 

 

Okay, so what’s been up… I dived both Monday on Tuesday. Monday morning, I took these two guys to Las Eras for some fun diving marking it the very first diving gig after the takeover. Our first customers. In the evening, I went to Las Galletas which is about 4km from my place to catch up with one of my Czech friends. I have a long history with the guy, most of which is documented by this blog. The guy I met in Shanghai, heavily into making food… We met up in Croatia in the summer too… He was on the island for the night so he got in touch. He picked this 33 Vueltas spot in Las Galletas and it might turn out to be my next favorite spot. Real nice café bar with a great vibe, good drinks and some vegan shit on the menu. The talk was also cool as hell. Appreciate it. 

Tuesday, I did a DSD at Las Vistas beach with this Czech guy. Only reminded me how much I love doing this shit. Tuesday was kinda crazy tho. I started the day by meeting up with the lady I pay to help me with all the Spanish paperwork and administration. I picked her up at her spot and then we headed to the police station to get my local identification number. After that we took a ride to San Miguel where we registered my accommodation and then we proceeded to Adeje where I finally put the car on my name. And only after that I made it to the dive shop to do the diving. Plus some teaching afterwards. Quite an eventful day. 

 

On Thursday, another friend arrived to the island. I picker her up at the airport and brought her to my place where she spent the next 3 days. I actually managed to take some time off both from diving and teaching so I used the opportunity to show her around. On Friday, I took her to Santiago Del Teide and Los Gigantes and on Saturday to Abades and El Medano. Nice trips… Felt good to be back at those places. Oh, and my car managed. I’m starting to really like that motherfucker… 

 

At the weekend I dived too. Those were shit dives tho… Right at the Los Cristianos Beach. The only reason we do those is because the previous owners sold a whole bunch of dives on some bullshit website for peanuts and it literally makes no sense to put any extra effort into it. Nonsense. We all decided that this is not a way to go long-term. Thank god… 

 

So yeah, new places, old places, some familiar faces… Feeling good about all that. One of those weeks when it seems shit goes right. Wanna shout out all my people once again. Got in touch with some of them, got many on my to-do list… It’s all love… One! 

 

Highlights:

• Being out there once again.
• Some time off.
• El Med Veg. Amazing vegan joint in Medano. Go and support!

Semester 11 Chapter IX: Swerve

What the fuck is up. Checking back in from sunny Guargacho, fresh off a run, new BIA on deck… Feeling good in this motherfucker. So without further ado, let’s get to the shits…

Last week was basically all about gearing up to take over this dive shop. We’ve been meeting there every morning and done everything from long ass discussions on how to handle shit to trips around the island to dive or meeting people that might come useful for the operation, and running around different offices to deal with both personal and business paperwork. All that with some coffee, beer and falafel in between. 

 

I haven’t really had that much time time outside of that and to tell to truth, most of it I spent teaching. I’ve been kinda assessing shit these past couple of weeks and I’m totally ready for the next step. I love this teaching shit and I love diving… And I sincerely hope the combination of the two is gonna work for the time being… But even if not, it's all good. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be at the moment but I’m also looking forward for the future… Whatever it shapes up to be…

When it comes to dives, me, the divemaster and the boss did Tabaiba together. I always enjoy being there. And I feel really good under water… All skilled-out and shit… 

 

I finally had a chance to do some running too. In my area, you can just run around these lava-made hills with cacti and some random bushes around which definitely has its magic. I’ve been trying to keep up with my workouts too. I really appreciate my flatmate putting a bar on the top of the kitchen door frame. Props. And that’s basically it. Didn’t really do much pictures because… Well, I was busy… But I’m gonna get better with that. Shout out to all my people! One!

Highlights:

• My Name. I’ve been on Korean series so heavy lately.
• Online catch-ups with my peers.
• My flat. I really enjoy having a place like this.