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A quote from the photographer Bill Cunningham says that “he who seeks beauty will always find it”. As a birthday gift this year, I decided to look for new pleasures, so, I traveled to a place in Brazil that I never visited before but that is commonly known for its natural wonders. I also wanted to do something that I never did before, so I chose somewhere I could do open water diving. I have not only found beauty, but I was also mesmerized by the charms of Arraial do Cabo in Rio de Janeiro. I arrived in the downtown area of Arraial on a Saturday evening. The downtown of the city does not offer much but the simplicity and calmness of a countryside village. The next day early in the morning, I walked to the coastal region where I would board “Freedom”, the boat that sails to the diving area. I immediately understood why this place is called Praia dos Anjos (Angel’s Beach). It is heaven on Earth. The seawater was deep bright blue like an immense lapis lazuli. The beach was surrounded by valleys of thin white sand and green vegetation, trees and cactus. In some of these valleys, many tiny white homes were held high and still next to each other resembling those that we see in the Greek architecture, but different in their very original way. I was also fascinated by the many boats of different sizes, color, types and names, such as “Ben Hur” or “Poseidon”. One of them was being steered by a majestic woman and her little daughter both holding the ship's wheel with a contagious smile on their faces. It is incredible how people in the region exhale a kind of contagious and almost magical happiness. We arrived in the diving area. I put the wet suit, booties, flippers and mask on, my diving master prepared the oxygen cylinder and rest of equipment and gave me some instructions. First, in order to got into the water, we should take what they call a “giant leap”. One should spread the legs the maximum that he could, wearing the flippers, and immerge into the water. A leap into the unknown of the 18 meters deep waters of Praia dos Anjos. I didn’t have much time to think. I had already received all the guidance that was needed, “breath through the equipment in your mouth”, “If you feel pain on your head or ears, press your nose and pull the air to balance the pressure”. I didn’t give attention to the anxiety, fear or overthinking that were trying to take control over myself, I just dived. Diving was like entering into a different realm of reality. I was surrounded by light and blue and my awareness was different. It is difficult to transcribe the exhilaration into words. I saw coral reefs, sea jellies, squids, shoals of fish of so many kinds and colors that when the sunlight of surface touched them I was certain they were precious living creatures shining in blue, red, orange, brown and yellow. Suddenly, I sighted a large marine turtle swimming next to me. The diving instructor guided me to an underwater cave in which there was a statue shaped as Christ the Redeemer. I am not a religious person, but I could only thank Him for this incredible experience. When I came back to the surface, I checked my watch and noticed that we have been underwater for more than one hour and was amazed that it felt like a few minutes. Beauty has overjoyed me.