Never say "Yes, I do"

by Jefferson Pereira (Brazil)

A leap into the unknown Brazil

Throughout my adolescence, knowing the sea was my highest priority. Despite living in Brazil, a country full of beaches, I only knew the sea in New Zealand, country where I did a cultural exchange. I met the sea in a camp made by the school where I studied. We camp in an island. As soon as I got to the island, I saw the sea and ran towards it. I was very excited. As I touched my feet on the sand, I cried a lot. I stood for a few minutes admiring that immensity, while I heard the noise of the waves breaking into the sand and I felt the breeze coming from the ocean. I ran in the sand and screamed a lot, I felt myself free. I also tasted the seawater to feel whether it was salty or wasn’t, and it was really salty. Every time I remember that moment, I can feel the same emotion I had at that time. No doubts, the best feeling I've ever felt. After that moment, I thought nothing else would surprise me. I was wrong. We were divided into groups. Each group had to perform many sports activities on the island. As my English wasn’t very good, I decided not to seem rude, so I followed an advice that a Brazilian friend gave me before the trip: “in doubt, always say “yes, I do””. So, for almost everything I was questioned, I’d say “yes, I do”. That advice seemed to be working, until my group's instructor asked me: - Do you know how to dive? I didn’t understand the question very well, but I answered him: -Yes, I do. However, I only realized the content of question when the instructor started handing out the wetsuits. I was getting desperate because I couldn't swim and had almost drowned in a swimming pool in Brazil. Then, I was very scared. But, I had already said "yes, I do", so I couldn't go back, actually, nor did I have as, because I was too shy and had no confidence in my English to try to explain such a thing. As I put on the wetsuit, I was getting more desperate, but I had nothing to do. After the instructions, we did a test and I did well, I was surprised with myself. So, I thought everything would be fine. The time has come for us to go to the high seas and swim towards a small island that could be seen from the shores of the sea. The group started swimming towards the small island, I decided I would swim as soon as possible to get to that island and get out the seawater, so I did. However, in the middle of the route, I was already tired and could not stand still on the water, because I was afraid to sink, thus what was left to me was to keep swimming. Despite the tiredness, I kept swimming. Everything was going well until I swallowed water by the snorkel. I couldn’t breathe anymore, so I took off the snorkel. As the waves move, I drank water. At that moment, I was really desperate. So, I started screaming in Portuguese and also in English asking for help as I was hitting the water. I thought I was about to die. An eternity passed on to me until the instructor came to help me. He carried me on his back to the island. I only thought of two things at that moment: I'm alive and what a big embarrassment I’m passing by. Upon arriving at the island, the instructor asked me if I couldn't swim and I answered him (differently from the advice of my Brazilian friend) "No, I can't". From that moment on, everyone was very careful with me and also praised me very much for the courage. In the end of this wonderful experience, I met the sea (my biggest desire until that time), I swam in the ocean (even not being able to do that) and I learned a valuable lesson: never say "yes, I do" when you don't know what the question is about. That lesson I'll never forget.