Open Water Dive #1 & Pro Skateboarder (Greg Lutzka)

Sat. May 20 - I had my first open water dive today in Aci Trezza, which is about 30 minutes north of Catania. Sylvie and Giuseppe's (our SCUBA instructors) dive shop is in that town and their boat is docked at a small port in Aci Trezza. Aci Trezza is where the famous Greek mythological "Cyclopes Rocks" reside. They are beautiful and huge just sitting there right in the ocean. There's a bunch of pics on the internet if you look up Cyclopes Rocks. I rode with some kids from the class and we needed to be at the dive shop by 8:45am. We got the gear ready and packed all of our equipment into their truck and headed to the pier. Once we got there, we loaded the tanks and gear onto the boat, got our BCDs ready, and got into our lovely, tight, wedgy giving wetsuits. It was about 9:30am when we got to the dive spot, which was in Aci Castello at the castle. We were underwater for a total of 54 minutes and dove to about 4 meters. We had a large group working on the skills and learning how to adjust for our buoyancy in salt water, so it took awhile down there. After we were finished with the skills and lessons, Sylvie took us on a short Discovery Dive to see the dive spot. The water was a lot merkier than I thought it would be, but it was still relaxing and beautiful. I saw some cool fish, theres one thats my favorite, its like 20 different colors. There were some sea urchins, little crabs, and a lot of anemones (sp?) and underwater seamoss. It was a lot of fun once I stoppedbeing nervous.

Greek Mythology "Cyclopes Rocks"

Sylvie & Giuseppe's Dive Boat

Aci Castello Dive Spot

I headed back home to Sigonella because the new Interns were coming in today and there was a big Skateboading Contect going on featuring a pro skater. It was called the Extreme Sig Slam Skate Contest and Greg Lutzka was the guest appearance. It was at our skatepark for kids 14 and younger. I love watching the little kids skate. They are so cute. I was supposed to help work it, but I really wanted to get a dive in since I only have a short time left here in Sicily and I need this certification to be complete by the time I leave. I got there and Juli had already went to her room since she got in this afternoon. James told me to find out what room she was in and introduce myself to her. The other intern's parents live here, so he is staying with them in Marinai. I walked around the skatepark for a little bit, but the event was pretty much over. Greg was just signing autographs now. James told me to go out to dinner with everyone tonight to meet everyone that was here with him and meet the new intern. I first went home and took a shower to get the crusty salt water out of my hair and took a nap. It was a long, exhausting week. I woke up and went and got Juli to go stand out in the parking lot to wait for the van to pick us up and bring us to Catania for dinner. We went and picked up Greg Lutzka, Master Chief Hickman (from MWR Headquarters in Millington, TN), and Dave (came along with Master Chief) from the Navy Lodge and we were going to be meeting up with James Baker (MWR Director) and his wife downtown. Juli is really nice, she had extreme jetlag, but we forced her to stay awake to get use to it faster. We parked the van in Catania and first headed to a small bar along Via Entea. It was nice to talk to Master Chief about MWR without feeling any pressure or anything, MC Hickman is hilarious. The good things about Master Chiefs is that they've been in so long and don't really care much anymore. They drink, they smoke, they curse, they just go out to have a good time. It was fun. After the bar, we headed over to the restaurant. It was kinda fancy and a few of us were a little underdressed. Oh well, they put us in the back. Most of the night, I spent talking to Greg. It was probably nice for him to talk to someone his age and a civilian since he's been promo-ing the European Naval Stations recently. He was really cool and didn't come off as arrogant or rude. He is 21 years old, been in the Pro-Circut for about 6 years, from Orange County CA, loves to skate, play his guitar, hang out with his friends and family back home in Milwaukee, and party it us in Las Vegas. The food was really good and I tried a bunch of new things. I had octopus, pan fried swordfish, fried calamari, a bunch of strange sausages, etc. Juli was really tired, but she did really good, especially being around such important people. It was a good night. We headed home and I found out there was a going-away party for two of our friends from the hospital, Merranda & Diana (they came on my Aeolian Islands trip). Joe was designated driver for the night, so he was gonna come pick me up when I got home so I could hang out at the house party for a little bit. I decided to ask Juli and Greg if they wanted to come to the party. Greg Lutzka was totally down for the idea. He probably hasn' t seen people our age in awhile and being under the Navy's eye lately on his tour, he barely has any free time outside of the demos. Once we got back to base, Juli and Greg were gonna come, but the catch was..Master Chief had to come too b/c he is responsible for Greg. That was cool with all of us and Joe came and picked us up and drove us to the party. We were squeezed in a little Fiat, but it was hilarious. We got to the party and it was pretty funny to see an aold guy roll up into the party with all of us. I introduced Greg & Master Chief to all of my friends and told everyone that Juli was the new intern. We didn't stay for very long because they had to catch a flight at 5am. We got them home, Juli went back to her room, and Joe and I went back to the party to help clean up and say our goodbyes. I got home around 3am.

Me, Greg Lutzka (Hot Pro Skateboarder), and the new intern Juli

CHEERS! I think he's had a bit too much to drink. Check out my tan...oh yeah!