Sunday, June 10, 2007

Playa del Carmen, Mexico



As I'm here for four days I decide to try and get my Padi Open Water Diving certificate. There's no shortage of diving schools here as the reefs are supposed to be among the worlds best.

At the dive school I've randomly picked from the Padi website I'm shown upstairs to a classroom with my diving manual (that I've been studying since Utila) and Padi DVDs and told to complete the theoretical exercises. It's tough being stuck in a grey room while the sun is shining with only a diving manual for company. I feel like I'm at school counting the minutes until I'm set free.

At 4pm the diving instructor comes in and drills me on dive tables. I'm dreading this bit as maths was never my forte at school. It's not as bad as I imagine and after a few calculations my instructor announces I'm ready for the final exam. I try to think of reasons why I'm not ready but he insists I am. He takes away my manual, gives me the multiple choice exam paper and leaves the room. It's a shaky start. I have no idea about the first three questions so have to guess.

When he re-enters the room, he picks up my manual from the bottom shelf. How did I not notice that it was still in room? Probably a good thing as the temptation to cheat would have been too great.

He starts marking my paper. It's an ominous start - I have the first three questions wrong. I feel like going home now. Miraculously I only have one other question wrong which gives me a score of 92%. I go home happy but tired. Tomorrow the proper training starts.

No comments: