I arrived in Tenerife and behind me was 22 years of living in the ever rain soaked kingdom of Denmark.
In front of me, two months in the, somewhat, tropical paradise of Golf del Sur, Tenerife.
I have no previous experience in diving what so ever, so my decision to do a two months internship, and end up (hopefully) being a PADI Divemaster, surprised not only my friends and family, but myself as well.
Upon my arrival, I was informed that there was a Halloween party later on in the evening, so my first assignment was to prepare a Halloween outfit for that event.
I choose to go with a sado-masochistic-fullbearded Harry Potter (obviously) complete with glasses, cape and a big latex wizards hat.
So, my first real meeting with the whole "dive gang" consisted of a Halloween diner with characters like: Soldier girl, a pirate, el Zorro, crazy she devil and her trident, supergirl, Popeye a witch and something that looked like the offspring of Ronald Mcdonald and Sascha Baron Cohen´s cult figure "Borat"
The 1st of November, I and 3 new interns started: Mahmoud, this tall crazy Egyptian dude (who is definitely gonna break the dive center record in 400 m. swim) Angela, our very own German, who is an somewhat experienced diver already.
And last, but not least, my friend, travel companion and roomate, Andreas, who has been dubbed Perry (my new nickname, obviously, is Kevin).
Besides this lot, there were already 2 interns, who had been here for 1 month so far; Sam and Lydia.
The two of them already seem as experienced in the goings on in both the shop and during dives, as I hope to be one day.
Everyone is friendly and more than willing to lend a hand to a, at times both confused and discreet guy from Denmark - even when he accidently mix up both his own, and others kits
Sam lost his apartment key the other day, and had to crash on our couch one night, while his landlord figured out what to do. (At least he says he lost his key, but I suspect him for loosing his key on purpose, so he could come by and help us finish our newly bought beers).
Lydia took Andreas and I out for Indian takeaway one evening as well, and we had loads of fun trying out some crazy Indian headwear in the restaurant, all the while posing as a statue of Shiva.
My first experience, what so ever, when it comes to diving with full scuba kit, was in the pool around my second day I guess.
Once you get you head under water for the first time and disobey every single one of your instincts, that tells you not to breathe and you actually breathe into the regulator anyway - then your hooked.
Diving has, increasingly everyday, become like a drug to me. Once you are down there, its the best feeling ever, and once your at the surface, the abstinence kicks in, and you want more and more. (I wonder if somebody swapped my cylinder for one containing enriched air, and thus giving me oxygen narcosis?)
Now (8 days after my arrival) I have already completed my " PADI Open Water course", and have 6 dives under my belt (not including training dives in the pool).
If you have never tried scuba diving before, you cannot possibly imagine the feeling you get when you; hang weightless a few metres of the bottom at 12 metres depth - It really is the coolest feeling of freedom!
Or the feeling of being at one with the ocean, you can only get from swimming inside a huge school of fish.
Oh thats right, I got my first confirmed sea urchin kill the other day! Sea urchins are these long spiked freaks of nature, who found their way to the seas of Tenerife due to human interference.
Because they have such long spikes, they have no natural enemies, so its a huge concern that they might spread and crush alot of the original lifeforms found here.
Time really flies by here, and I`m enjoying the company of everyone around me - the dive center truly is a cultural melting pot, employing people from all over the world, all united by a condition less affection for diving and the well being of the ocean itself in general.
Only around one week down, and at least seven more to come, and already my head is about to explode due to all these new impressions.
I cant wait to see what tomorrow will bring!
- Kevin out.
