Never too old to learn

I went to Coron, Palawan with my mom last weekend.

I have made it a point to bring my mom with me in at least one of my travels every year while she's still young and strong enough to be able to move on her own. I have seen how my aunts and uncles wanted to bring my grandmother to places, but they've never been able to since she's already confined to a wheelchair .

Anyway, part of my plans was to make her try scuba diving which I've tried once years ago and absolutely loved . I couldn't afford that yet at the time, so I was not able to do it again... until now

While I was telling her about it, she kept saying he was scared to try it, that she might forget to breathe through her mouth while underwater and she'd suffocate , that she was scared to get near the bigger fish .

I kept nagging her to try it at least once, and if she doesnt like it, I wont force her to do it again. Up to the last minute - like before jumping off the boat while wearing the diving gear - she wanted to back out

But since I went in first, I was able to tell her about the gorgeous sights I saw (I even saw the Pawikan! ), so she probably got carried away by my enthusiasm

So she finally jumped in. As expected, she sank as soon as she hit the water because of the weight of the dive gear and the weight belt she had on. But I guess that made her panic, so she was flailing about when she resurfaced

It took our dive master about 15 minutes to calm her down. Finally, she did and so down they went .

They resurfaced about 30 mins later (it was just an intro dive so they couldnt stay down for too long). She was full of praises for what she saw and kept gushing how amazing palawan was

As for me, I told our dive master that I wanted to finish the PADI diving course so I can get a certificate and be able to go to the deeper dive sites. But I had to learn how to swim first I do know how to swim a bit, but once I try to lift my head above the water, I start to sink

Our dive master offered to teach me right there and then for FREE!

He was such a good teacher that in just under an hour, I learned how to float and keep my body and breathing balanced . Then the next day, when we went island hopping, I decided to practice the breathing and floating techniques I learned while moving my arms and legs. Voila - I could do the freestyle already!

I thought I would never learn how to swim as I've been trying for years and never learned how. I realize now that either I didn't really focus enough or I didn't have a good teacher. Thank you, dive master!

PS - I have already booked our next trip with my mom - Siargao in March 2010, my 30th birthday . While waiting at the airport for our flight from Palawan to Manila, my mom asked me if we were going diving again in Siargao