Location: Wayag, Raja Ampat
Today began at the crack of dawn, around 7 am. Although I was not sporting my formal skipper attire for our morning cockpit muster like last time, I did come prepared with party streamers to celebrate the joyous occasion of July 31st, which is HUMP DAY. Supplementing this joyous occasion, our head chef, Addy, spoiled us with delectable banana bread with yogurt and fruit garnish. It was going to be a good day. After breakfast, it was time to separate into our two groups to continue rescue diver skills. When I reflect on my relationship with scuba diving, it really is hard to believe just how far Ive come since day five when I was stricken with fear, teetering off the side of Argo, unable to jump into the water. Today, eight other brave souls and I completed this endeavor. I WOULD say that we are fully rescue certified, but I would be lying since we still have to complete impromptu scenarios given to us by the staff over the next few days. Some noteworthy skills that we learned today included rescuing an unresponsive diver in the water on the surface, pulling up said unresponsive diver into the dinghy, providing first-aid, protocol underwater for dealing with unresponsive divers, and underwater navigation to find lost divers. It was a long, tiring day but also very rewarding. For our squeeze question this evening, I initially began by asking the group a question that had been lingering on my mind for quite some time: in a fight between a grizzly bear and a silverback gorilla, who would win? After a few tepid sighs and jeers from the crowd came to me earlier in the day, insisting I ask their question instead, I opted for the backup question that I knew would make everyone happy: what is your comfort food? Some choose to just answer the latter, while others choose to answer BOTH their favorite comfort food as well as who would win in the fight. Highlights from tonights squeeze session include tuna bagels with chocolate milk on the side, after-school spaghetti made with love, plain Pillsbury frosting, and vegan mac and cheese. I will leave the gorilla vs. bear debate up for interpretation. To end our nightly squeeze, I opted to have everyone reiterate Spencers rendition of saying Galley Gremlin at your service in a nasally British accent that he does every time he is Galley Gremlin. I like to think everyone got a kick out of it. P.S. A gorilla would definitely win