Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear - Mark Twain

We have been in Fethiye since the 20th and we leave tomorrow for Selcuk. Having lived in the Post Soviet Caucus region for the past two years I have repeatedly heard people talk about the beauty of Turkey. Not once did I consider that they could be understating the fact. Turkey is all the good things I heard it would be . . .PLUS SOME. We stayed at a hostel right in the center of Fethiye about a 6 minute walk to the pier and a 15 to 20 minute ride to really good beaches. R wheezy, the boys and I were only able to grace the beaches with our presence once this time around. The rest of the time we spent * drum roll* . . .getting OPEN WATER DIVING CERTIFIED!YYes ladies and gentlemen R wheezy ,Bop and I are now Scuba certified for open water. Let me tell you guys how this came about . . . It began 2 months ago, in a far away ,mystical land called , Armenia. R Wheezy is surfing the internet trying to plan out our itenary, then suddenly turns to me and says " Hey you want to get scuba certified" Now R Wheezy is slick like that because at that very moment I was enjoying something called a cafe glace. This is a coffee drink , blended with vanilla ice-cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup over a dollop of whipped cream. She knew at that very moment I would say YES to anything just to be left alone with my drink. That, and for some reason I don't hear too well when I have my sun-glasses on like I did because it was a sunny day , and when that happens I usually just nod my head and pretend I heard. So that's how I got roped in. . . Flash forward 2 months.. .
         I am putting on a wet suit and pulling up from the knee because it's wet with salt water and sticks to my skin. It's my final dive today and I 'm wondering to myself how many jelly fish are going to sting me this time, if my face mask will fill up with water again, and if  I'll have to exhale into them so that they might empty or if my awesome instructor will suddenly and unexpectedly yank my regulator ( oxygen source) from my mouth in order that I might learn to be prepared for emergency situations. I'm also stressing that at 18 Metres / 60+ feet under water I will suddenly panic, realise I am out of my comfort zone, thrash my way to the surface and then die from decompression sickness or exploded lungs. Hmmmm . . . I get into the water and we begin to dive, it's quiet down here * dammit* I just got stung,  1, 2, 3 times and that last bugger got me on the lip oh well , these don't hurt to bad ( like stinging nettle). I'm relaxed, we go deeper, I have to equalize and my ear pops, I find my neutral balance and all is well, 18 Metres, 19 Metres, 20 . . .and I smile. I am not panicking and I am not bleeding from any orifice. I have more air in my tank than anyone else and I am at ease. We complete the dive after we've seen a sunken boat, some 1000 year old pottery , some grasslike fields , some coral and 4! ARGGG that last jelly just HAD to get that last sting in ( if only I could see those transparent gremlins before I swim into them). We ascend and I take off my gear . . . weight belt, flippers, BCD and disassemble them on the boat. On our return back to shore my instructor hands me my diver card stating I'm certified,  after  scoring our tests and shakes my hand. I then realise . . .OH SNAP YALL!!! I AM A CERTIFIED DIVER!! who woulda thought!? great times , excellent experiences with lovely folk , thanks R wheezy .

Sincerely,
Dee