IM ALIVE!

How many times have we
forgotten to live, focused in our obligations and surviving, forgetting
completely the sense of live, and all the dreams that we used to have when we
were children.

Well, I can say that dreams
exist, and they can come true, all is to keep the faith and look in to your heart
and wait for the magic to make them real.

I can tell you that since my
childhood the love for the sea and its living creatures was fomented by my
parents to whom I am deeply thankful for
the orientation and the support they gave to me, so we can say I grew up
surrounded by fantasies and dreams about the blue.

Later when I saw the jaws
movie, this incredible animal that I used to know in my books, owned all my
dreams and full me of fear and fascination, becoming my favorite animal
therefore I have always wanted and feared at the same time to face him.

Today I want to talk about
one of my dreams come true:

The encounter with my
childhood friend, something that I thought impossible, so far but in the same
time magical.

I know that diving with
sharks sounds difficult to believe, incredible, even suicidal, but in our
dreams nothing is impossible and this is what happened:

Two years ago on December, I
went for diving to playa del Carmen, having on mind to do 2 immersions just to practice,
I should say that 2 immersions became 11 and was the beginning of my diving
obsession

Life is never wrong and
always bring us to the place we should be, we just have to let us go with the
tide, and as easy as that, a friend of mine brought me to the scuba 10 diving
agency.

There I met Gerardo Rodriguez
(teacher and friend), My first instinctive question was, “is there any chance
to see a shark near here?” I was so surprised with the answer “ Yes, Bull Sharks”
but what comes next let me speechless, it was possible to dive with them
without a cage! Oh my God! My head start spinning and thinking what this meant
to me.

I couldn’t believe it, actually
the bull shark (Carcharhinus Leucas) is considered among the three more dangerous
sharks with the white ones and tiger sharks.

Its an animal that could size
3.5 meters and weight 250 kilo, he uses to swim in shallow waters looking for
his prays, it’s the only one who can swim in sweet water and its known by many
names in the world like zambesi shark, amazons, Mississippi, but wrongly known
by everyone as a man eater!

The night before I couldn’t
sleep, I felt like a kind of fear but in the same time a really big emotion, he
and me have an appointment since I was a child.

The morning came, the sun was
shinning as always, nothing strange, despite that, all my self knew that this
was a special day, one of the more special days of my life, I cant deny it that
for one moment I though not showing there but when I notice it I was in the
diving shop.

I arrived early to the diving
store, we prepared our equipment, did a little briefing, to descend 25 meters
and look for the bull shark, opposite of you can think its pretty lucky to meet
them, its an encounter that cant be guarantee, but even not being sure to find
them, we departed in their search.

Opposite feelings were
crossing my mind, thousands of questions meanwhile we were preparing ourselves
to jump in to the water: Could it be dangerous?, What would I feel when I see
him? Could I be able to control my fear? Maybe this is not a good idea…….

Meanwhile this questions were
crossing my mind finally I heard the final countdown to jump in to the water,
there was no turning back and when I hear 3 I let myself jump in to the blue,
on my way to fulfill my destiny.

Rapidly we descend 25 meter
deep, there were no reefs just the sandy bottom, no sharks, but there I was in
his home, his domain.

All my being wanted to see
them, we had an appointment since so long ago, and meanwhile longer was the
waiting, more anxiety I was having, suddenly when I didn’t expected my buddy
diver Will called for my attention and did the signal I have waited……….

YES SHARK
!!!!

A stroke of adrenalin hit my
body, I didn’t wanted to look, but in the same time I couldn’t avoid it, and
there like a ghost his silhouette emerged from the blue sea.

How much beauty, how elegant,
was Him!, finally we were face to face, Him!, infinitely superior, adapted to
his world, meanwhile me, a simple invader that clumsily tried not to loose his
breathing and runout of air with the thrill of seeing him.

For a moment, there was
nothing else, just the blue sea, he and me, finally face to face, I had no
fear, the only thing I can tell is that there are no words to express my
feelings, and there will never be, just the ones who have been there can
understand it.

We are used to associate the
tears with sadness, well, I can tell that my tears that day were not of sadness,
were more like thankfulness, amazement, and love, it took just one look in his
beautiful eyes, just one, all my being understand and scream inside me full of
happiness

IM ALIVE!

He just appear again from the
nothing, came near me, there are no more impressive thing than look at them
staring at you and launching at you in full speed, and in the last moment they
turn to the side, meanwhile you feel the impotence, admiration and respect for
an animal that have been misunderstood, and has been called murder, when the
only truth is that he never had care about men, and the only murder it’s the
human being.

We passed forty minutes in
the bottom of the sea with the sharks appearing and disappearing in the deep
blue of the ocean, this time weren’t many, but just enough to understand what
is to be alive, and realize that the only thing that will come with me to the
end of my road it’s the dreams that came true like the eyes of a shark.

Many more times I have jumped
in to the water with them, but I can help it, and every time its different,
sometimes they are few, sometimes there are many 6, 9 in the same time, other
times we have to look for them but sometimes you have a chill when you meet
them in the middle water or in the safety stop.

My buddy divers with whom I had
share this immersions, have always felt under the spell of their eyes, even
they had compare this with a religious experience, almost mystical, and they
have understand what is living about even just for a moment.

The sea, where all the
borderlines disappear, where the impossible turns possible, where all the images
substitute the words, where the children become man and the man become
children, place of the legends, where the dreams can come true, where you can
be one with the nature and get lost in a sight.

The eyes of a shark, where
the time and space disappear, where you can find grace, hope and peace, where
you can understand that life is one and you have to live it on top.

Don’t let that the magic of
their look will be vanished forever.

The sharks are endangered
species, the human selfishness, the irresponsibility, and ignorance have
polluted their home, they have been killed by thousands and they are the
balance between prays and predators.

I can help the pain that
causes me to see that man, mutilate them cutting their fins and tails just to
make a soup! Throwing them alive in to the sea like a disposal, to Him a living
marvel, to Him that have existed millions of years without evolution, to Him
that with his only presence show us what is life!

Please help us to keep our
seas healthy and all his living creatures, say no to all the shark products!

In the end of my first
immersion with sharks, there were no borderlines, no languages, all from
different countries, even continents, but we were just a bunch of kids
laughing, talking in the same time, amazed of have seen the king of the ocean,
jokes, memory pictures, friendships that will last forever reunited by the deep
blue ocean, the same as always

WE ARE DIVERS!