Week 3 - Drugs

Published on 8 January 2023 at 05:49

Uuhhhhh.... exciting stories happen in Mexico, I have to tell you! You could do without some of it, but you can learn something from every situation. (Of course you can also learn from others, but your own experiences are more impressive). AND: Demo, demo, and demo (!WARNING! Long story!) - By the way, the picture is of the pool area of ​​the Hotel Catalonia Playa Maroma

 

Monday (19/Dec/2022) - like Wednesday and Thursday last week, Monday was a day dedicated to demos in the pool. Within 2 hours, 12 demos with interested parties carried out in the pool - from young to old, all possible nationalities and languages; share an interest in trying scuba diving! Or just to do something other than laze around the pool all day - whatever the reason, it's very interesting that there seem to be people with a natural gift and those who need a little more care underwater. But what they have in common is that everyone says thank you at the end - even if they have come to the realization that "it's not for me!". Some things you just have to try before you know for sure!

Tuesday - my day off, but only in theory... Monday evening the info: "please come to work tomorrow, we need you". So to the base, learned there: 3 DSDs plus a certified diving on the program for me! Our boat not available (service), so theory and pool in Maroma, and then by taxi to my old base in Playa del Carmen to do the sea dive there. The 4 people turned out to be a family from Canada - mother and father (both around 60 years old), the son (about 35 years old, certified as "Advanced Open Water Diver", last dive September 2022) and his wife. The theory went quite well so far, from time to time the mother and I had communication problems due to language (French from Canada) coupled with age and unclear pronunciation, but nothing we couldn't solve. The first lesson came in the pool - for me! Do not take a certified diver close to beginners into the pool! The (possible) problem with this: the "advanced" diver attracts the attention of family / friends and thus impedes the learning progress of the students. He may even start showing some exercises that are completely out of place for the current situation. Well, enough experience on my part helped me to get the situation back on track, but I could have saved myself the loss of time and friction with the "troublemaker". Friction because the program specifies very clear goals and structures, and deviations from them are out of place - even if not everyone sees that. So, a little later than planned but still with enough time until the planned dive we all 5 got into a shared taxi and drove to Playa. In the taxi there was a verbal argument between the son and his wife, whereupon the wife said "I'm definitely not going diving"... Good conditions. When he arrived in Playa, the son separated himself from the rest of the family, but I thought "Coping strategy for stress, all right - it's almost an hour until the dive, he'll come down again". Also, I'm a dive instructor, not a family therapist. The four then equip themselves and the briefing for the boat and the dive went well again - we were ready for the first dive in the sea! After the experience in the pool, I asked Alyssa - my first student ever, who is now a divemaster - if she could accompany me. Also Igor, our photographer, joined us because the first dive is something very special and he takes really great photos and videos! A second group with a total of 4 divers was on board. In any case, we all took the boat to the dive site ("Cueva de Pargo", maximum depth of 12m, therefore ideal for beginners). When we got there, we all went into the water and met at the buoy - with a rope to descend. We stopped the first descent after less than 2 minutes because the mother had a problem with her regulator. So everyone comes up again to clear up on the surface, practice and prepare for the 2nd attempt. So far there was nothing unusual since the switch from pool (no waves, current, "blue" water, clear view) to sea ("dark", waves, possible current, excitement and stress) is not easy. So, dive down the rope; my hand is the lowest, my DSDs arranged above it, Alyssa for the end. Igor with the camera circles us, I told the son (with more than 80 dives) he can, but he doesn't have to use the rope, he should just stay close to us and at our height (or depth). Descent works quite well - to a depth of almost 6m. I'm just beginning to show the first fish when both ladies give me the unmistakable signal "appear!". So I give everyone the "up" sign and start going back up the rope with the two of them. Alyssa follows with the father, Igor makes videos. Out of the corner of my eye I see that the son is watching us and lingers a little longer - but he is certified and has heard the briefing: "we always stay together; if one climbs, everyone climbs!". On the surface then the feedback from the two women: "I can't do it" or "I had to throw up!" (repeated on a continuous loop). Despite reassurances that this happens fairly often (it's not uncommon to throw up underwater), both ladies abort the dive. As I signal the boat, I realize the son isn't on the surface yet. So I ask Alyssa to go down one more time and accompany the son up. After a minute she reappears alone: ​​"I can't find him!". Igor scans the surface of the water for rising bubbles - thank God it was relatively calm with small, slow waves. By the time the boat got to us, Igor had located 3 bubbles, but each one caused by a group of divers! Since the son has been under water solo for 10 minutes in the meantime, I decide to end the dive for the father as well and continue the search from the boat. Additional information: after 20 minutes of unsuccessful search, we have the requirement to notify the harbor master, who then initiates a major search with the navy, coast guard and police. So: Igor is in the water to search from there, Alyssa and I are in our gear, ready to jump in the water as soon as the captain, our boatswain or one of the family members spot new bubbles. just before 20 minutes is up we spot a small area of ​​bubbles some distance away - a lone diver! Alyssa jumps into the water to check, almost simultaneously her son appears. When everyone was back on board his first question was: "can I go diving with my father now?": I explain to him since he is the most basic safety procedure - if you are separated from the group, no matter why, you search 1 minute and then emerges to reconcile on the surface - diving is over for him today. As an Instructor I am responsible for the safety of ALL divers I dive with and anyone who grossly negligently violates the base is a danger to themselves and others. Then the son gets abusive and not only calls me all sorts of swear words and demands a refund - not just for his dive but for all 4. Alyssa's hint that I'm only the diving instructor who has to decide in terms of safety and for refunds am not responsible (that is done by the head of the base) unfortunately falls on deaf ears. After about 5 minutes of non-stop cursing and scolding from his side, the verbal attack gradually dies down. After another 5 minutes the son starts to put his gear back on! When asked about this and pointed out that he would definitely not go back into the water, begins an even heavier tirade of abuse directed against everyone and everything, culminating in him starting to lash out wildly and insulting all the employees on board in the wildest possible way. Even with the help of the captain, the boatswain and Igor, he couldn't be calmed down and eventually fell back into the water - more than he jumped. Since I am responsible for all customers in my role - I got back into water. However, I didn't dive down like he did, but stayed behind and above him on the surface. You have to know that the spot there was a maximum of 6m deep and practically only sand, so there was very little risk of injury due to the environment. In addition, the boat crew had a clear position indication of the whereabouts of the diver. Additionally, to be honest, I was just scared he might try to physically attack me underwater. Psychologically, the whole thing was an exceptional situation anyway. Another note about solo diving: it requires special training and additional equipment. PADI offers a corresponding course, with the requirement to have at least 100 dives. After another 20 minutes (in the meantime the boat had picked up the 2nd group of divers) the son came back to the surface - only to almost start a fist fight back on board! I was so drained and lacking energy after this experience that I just sat in a corner on the way back to the base and tried to breathe the stress away....It was interesting, by the way, that the family never once tried to calm the situation down. Back at the base, the son was the first to storm off board (i.e. "jumped into the water") and ran into the base - I helped all the other divers to get out, most recently his wife, who was still (or now even more) nauseous . When I was the last to disembark (after a brief exchange with my colleagues about what had happened), the base manager asked me to give him my view of things. After I had finished my description, my colleagues took me for a beer - but that wasn't the end of the story! ) and ran to the base - I helped all the other divers to get out, most recently his wife who was still (or now even more so) nauseous. When I was the last to disembark (after a brief exchange with my colleagues about what had happened), the base manager asked me to give him my view of things. After I had finished my description, my colleagues took me for a beer - but that wasn't the end of the story! ) and ran to the base - I helped all the other divers to get out, most recently his wife who was still (or now even more so) nauseous. When I was the last to disembark (after a brief exchange with my colleagues about what had happened), the base manager asked me to give him my view of things. After I had finished my description, my colleagues took me for a beer - but that wasn't the end of the story!

Wednesday - How do I behave if I bump into the son in the hotel today, or his wife, the parents? And what's my base leader going to say about this? My base leader was at the hotel extra early - t heson had actually planned a diving trip to a cenote (water-filled karst cave) for that day.And he (my BL) canceled this excursion due to the incidents on Tuesday - however, the son did not show up at the agreed time. Around noon the father approached me and apologized to me. He understands my decision and he's sorry for the whole story, he's also sometimes afraid of his son - who's undergoing treatment for his drug addiction! (Before you can go diving you have to fill out a medical questionnaire, The last question is: "Do you take drugs or have you used drugs within the last 5 years or are you currently being treated for this?" - everyone can guess who answered this question with "NO"....). Incidentally, the drug in question is known in Austria as "marching powder" because of its stimulating effect...(Source:here ) Well, that explains the very strong reaction to external stressors, but unfortunately there are no discernible signs of the underlying problem - at least not that I know of. (If you know of such a sign, please send me a message by email ! - Thank you). Then I filled the rest of the day with demos in the pool.

Thursday - again interesting from a time management point of view. Started at 9:00 am with 2 customers who hadn't been diving for several years and therefore did a so-called "pool check"; so a quick review of the most important skills for divers. The content is not very different from DSD, but it is more of a (review) conversation than a monologue for the theory. Anyway, the two then wanted to go diving into the sea immediately because their toddler was with the (grand)mother in care the whole time ! And at the same time there were 2 customers who had only booked 4 days in Mexico and wanted to leave on Saturday! But today 2 dives... The pool check doesn't take long, so we set sail about 20 minutes later than usual. First dive site: Eden Rock - with good visibility! The problem is: this dive site lies across the direction of the main current: If there is sand in the water (e.g. after rain or strong wind) then it collects in Eden Rock and remains there for several days! But we were lucky and had a visibility of 15m and more! Shortly back to the beach to let the two get off the pool check and straight on to the next dive site: Aquarius! As one of the divers breathed the air in his tank quite quickly, we were done by the usual time - just so I could hear: you have 3 DSDs in 30 minutes! Just enough time to rinse and hang up the gear before a man and 2 lads stood in front of me! So again basics of diving theory (physics, physiology, technique and equipment), jumped in the pool and back to the boat - just coming back from the snorkeling trip! 3rd dive of the day: Labyrinthos! Similar to Eden Rock, but not one large coherent coral block but many individual ones distributed! And here again excellent view! And what was particularly important to me that day: the feedback after every dive: "Thank you - it was really great!"

Friday - In addition to 3 other DSDs (again a family), today was an important day: I received confirmation of my work visa application! With this I was able to make an appointment at the consulate in Vienna and then I should get the corresponding visa quite quickly! Oh, and there was a real downpour with water ankle deep on the road after 5 minutes! And then it rained for another 90 minutes! That was very impressive, if a bit scary! 

Saturday - Yesterday's rain was the forecast for today, and so it was! Not quite as hard anymore, but too hard to get the boat out, even too much to get people in the pool! Therefore: a short day! (and that on December 24th - such a coincidence!)

Sunday - Diving is a water sport - you get wet. But if you're in the pool all day and it's raining, you risk a bad cold. That's why I postponed the course planned for today until tomorrow (the student is still here for 6 days) and started my way home at noon today. After all, the water was back in the pipes, because this morning there was no water in the apartment, that means no shower, no flushing and also no coffee... Interesting that all the water falls from the sky, but none in the apartment has to wash.

 

TL;DR: bad weather (rain and 20°C), a customer who almost starts a fight and a lot of time in the pool.

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