True Story Tuesday - Swimming with the Fishes

True Story Tuesday – Swimming with the Fishes

I have taken two cruises in the past, the

first being in 2003 and the last

being in 2006. The first was with

my sister in law, niece and nephew

and the last was my sister in law,

her parents and a boat load of her

relatives. I enjoyed both cruises but

I have to say that the first one was

the best as far as the people who

worked on the ship. The second was

the best for the things that we did.

I am actually going to reflect this post

to the second trip which was to Cozumel,

Mexico and from there to Panama and

from there to Oche Rio, Jamaica. This

cruise was a longer then the first one

so when we finally made it to Jamaica

we were so ready to be going home that

we did not do anything in this port but

walk around Oche Rio. The things we

did before then took place in Cozumel

and Panama.

Cozumel being where I swam with the

fishes! Big fishes! Dolphins to be exact,

which actually they are mammals and

not fish at all. But my title would not

have been as fun if I put “swimming

with the mammals”! Right?....Right!

Now, with this post you have to keep in

mind that I don’t do water. I respect

water, I like to get in the pool and float

around but I don’t swim. I don’t like

water in my face and that includes in

the shower either! With that said I

must say that I wished it was different,

wished I did not have this fear of water.

I know that there is a whole other life

under the ocean that I will never be able

to view other then on tv. I would love to

be able to do that but its not happening,

I only have so much brave in me!

Back to the “swimming with the fishes”…

swim suit on, nerves up, off to the dock

we go! Lori (sister in law), her Mom

(Eva), her Dad (George), me and

about 5 or 6 other people that we did

not know. The dock jetted off into the

ocean and it had a metal wire platform

attached to it under the water, this is

where we were to stand.

You had two non swimmers in the bunch,

Eva and I, so we were wearing life jackets.

And I will have you know I was holding

onto that dock with all my life…..but I

had to do this, I would have been so mad

at myself if I had not.

Our instructors were great, two in the

water at all times, and then there were

two dolphins. Beautiful creatures that

were introduced to us and as they swam

by (really, really close) we reached out

to pet them. Okay, I am thinking that is

not so bad as I still have the death grip

on the dock. Then came the time to do

the tricks!

The first trick was that we (the ones that

could swim) would swim out into the

ocean and the dolphins would come up

next to us and we would grab a fin (the

one that sticks up our of the water) and

we would be carried back to the dock.

Simple enough, only I did not swim!

That is where the instructor pulls you

out into the ocean! But it was well worth

it, I loved it all. The beautiful creature

swam me back to the dock.

As one instructor told us what they

expected out of us on the next trick

and they told us how this would take

place I proceeded to tell him no….I

was not doing that! He laughed and

proceeded to beg me, which at this

point I told him to get on his knees.

So there on the edge of the metal wire

platform, he got on his knees and asked

again. Okay, I am a sucker, he did get

on his knees so I agreed. By this time

my fear was not what I had on my mind,

all I could think about was being out

there with those dolphins. So once again

I was pulled out into the ocean and I laid

over on my stomach, feet and hands

positioned like I was told and all of a

sudden I had two dolphins lifting me up

out of the water with their noses at the

bottom of my feet as they swam me back

to dock. So much fun! I was flying but

then as we got near the dock (I had seen

the others do it), I knew the part that I

was not going to like was about to come….

the splash and the water in the face!

So as the dolphins lowered me into the

water, as I was being taped by the instructors

on the dock, I yelled out “oh sh__”! When

I cleared the water from my face, everyone

was laughing! Yes, even at the cost of that

video, I had to have one. I figured I would

never swim with the dolphins again and I

wanted proof that I had.

During this adventure we danced with the

them, kissed them, sang with them…..

it was well worth the water to the face.

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam