Random Fun

I haven't been quite a diligent about keeping up with writing so there are only a few random things i have written on that I will include in this post.
#1-Volcano Hiking..no biggie!
Our most recent hikes were day long adventures. One led up to the only existing set of boiling ponds in the world! The steam held an excruciatingly strong smell of sulfur and the water burned…literally. We had a chance to put mud on our faces and pretended to be jungle people for a while which was pretty fun. We stopped at several spots along the way to swim in the warm water. Another cool thing was we went hiking in one of the spots that the second Pirates of the Caribbean was shot in; the scene where they are in the canyon swimming around and the natives are up on the cliff shooting arrows at them. So amazing to think i swam there too!
#2-Night Dives
First night dive: April 2, 2010. In a word: INSANE!!! It was one of the coolest things I have eve done. I was in a group with five other divers and we started the dive right off the stern of Argo…quite a drop! That first plunge in to water was actually pretty scary but it was only a moment. Descending down to a depth of 40ft for 45 minutes it felt like we were navy seals of something…It was…eerie. You are completely surrounded by an inky darkness; the water seems to be thicker in a sense. You can’t see anything except for the small beam of light coming from your flashlight. We each had a red glow stick attached to our tanks so when we turned off our lights all you could see was a faint outline of five other divers with little red lights hanging from them. We saw an eel, a couple of sea snakes, a squid, and various other fish. It was definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had!
#3-Certified Rescue Diver!!
Myself, along with three other students have officially become rescue divers! It was some intense training and then testing but it was all worth it. After we had finished our training we were "on call." This means that at any point (day or night, meal time, or classes) we can be called on to deal with a "unplanned rescue scenario". They would often include things like panicked diver, tired diver, or unconscious diver, or a combination of the three. It was very stressful and our fellow shipmates would often be watching. We had five of these scenarios and we were all able to pass them! The four of us called ourselves the "Ninja Turtles" because yes, we are just that cool =)