You've Gotta Swim

I cannot go to bed early.  Seriously.  I tried going to sleep at 9:30.  I failed.  It's now about to be 11, so I'll try again. 

What did I do in the interim?  I got my writing fix.  As always, I have a number of writing projects going on.  Whether I'll ever do anything with this one, I cannot say.  But, if nothing else, it is a form of a journal.  It is a way to share some of the stories of my youth with my posterity. 

And because my dad loves to read anything even remotely Panama related, I figure I'll post it here for him.  The title of this blog post is a song.  It's also what I will name the "chapter" if I ever was to get this thing published.  Not because the lyrics lend meaning to what I wrote.  But because those specific words do tie in well with the topic.  And I like to take creative liberties :).  And I also love the song.

So here it is:

"Growing up as the child of two former lifeguards meant one thing was beyond certain:  I would learn how to swim.  And, honestly, that makes sense when one lives less than an hour from two major oceans.  

One of the many perks of being a U.S. Civilian dependent overseas was the swimming pools.  My family’s swimming pool of choice was Los Rios Swimming Pool, which was a mere 5 minute drive from our house.  It was free, people.  Free.  Only in recent years have I come to realize how wonderful that really was.  And the result is that I now feel slightly insulted when the YMCA wants me to actually pay to be able to swim in their pool.  But I digress…

So yeah, going to the pool was free.  When I was really young, my mom showed her PCC ID Card, and we were buzzed in.  Once I obtained my coveted B Badge (which remains in my possession to this day, attached securely to my scrapbook), I could get in by myself.  And how did I get that B-Badge (also known as the only Green Card Zonian kids cared anything about…)?  I passed my Beginner’s Swimming Test. 

I remember the event quite clearly, though I was quite young.  I am pretty sure I was still in kindergarten.  I can remember being in the “deep end” of the pool.  I was told to swim a certain number of laps free-style.  I remember a lifeguard swam beside me as I swam those laps.  Looking back now, I realize this was a safety thing.  I remember, when I completed my requisite laps, I was told to get out and go to the “Baby Pool.”  And I remember being afraid I’d failed.  Turns out that’s just where they sent you when you were done so they didn’t have to worry about you drowning or something.  Because I passed my test.  And I got my B-Badge.  And forever affixed to that card is my kindergarten picture – for identification purposes, of course.  Because even at the age of 16, that picture still screamed Hila enough that they let me in ;).

I continued on with swimming lessons for a few more years.  My parents required that I complete the Swimmer’s level course.  So I think that ended up being 4 years of swimming lessons.  I learned how to tread water.  I learned how to use my clothes as flotation devices, in the event I fell overboard fully clothed in jeans (try taking jeans off in water…  Seriously takes some effort!).  I learned how to do the back stroke, side stroke, breast stroke, and elementary back stroke.  And probably some other things I have forgotten now.

Oh yeah, did I mention that swimming lessons were free, too? 

I have many more memories from Los Rios Swimming Pool.  Birthday parties held there (also free), lifeguards flirted with there…  That pool was the scene of many great moments in my history.  And who knows?  Maybe I’ll share more of them eventually.  But for now, the swimming lessons should suffice.