Simone (Simme) Bennett:
CLASS OF 1982
Springbrook High SchoolClass of 1982
Silver spring, MD
Lynchburg CollegeClass of 1986
Lynchburg, VA
American University in CairoClass of 1984
Cairo,
White Oak Middle SchoolClass of 1979
Silver spring, MD
Westover Elementary SchoolClass of 1976
Westover, MD
Simone (Simme)'s Story
Besides what I wrote in the other section...hmmm...I married Eric Washburn in 1994. He is my best friend, husband and lover! I kept my maiden name though because I'm a pain in the butt and don't believe that women should have to change thier name when they get married.
I'm addicted to studying the Japanese Heian era, kimono culture and Geisha culture. I have about 200 books on these subjects including art books, etc. I also have quite a collection on books on the Ancient Celts and Egyptians and world mythology and religions.
I've been to Egypt twice (once for a Fulbright scholarship), Greece once, Canada several times, Hawaii five times. In October 2001, I went on a two and a half week trip to Japan which was absolutely one of the best experiences I've ever had in my entire life. I picked up more Japanese in two weeks than I did studying it before I went. I want to continue learning Japanese as I think it is a beautiful language. Once I improve my Japanese I hope to integrate it into my husband's and my computer business in some way. Either way I definitely want to go back to Japan in the next few years. Next time I'll drag my husband with me ;)
Eric and I had our 10 year anniversary on July 31st, 2004. We spent 10 days in Vegas and renewed our vows there with some friends and family. My photo is actually from a different trip to Las Vegas, but that's my honey and I! Isn't he handsome? He is THE BEST HUSBAND EVER! Gals, marry your BEST FRIEND (whether you are straight, gay or bi...best friends make the BEST marriage partners!). Enough said. We intend to renew our vows in Hawaii in 2014, this time we wouldn't invite anyone to join us like we did in Vegas and just have it be a spiritual and romantic event, becuase it would just be too darn expensive to pay for anyone else to meet us and then pay for the celebration afterwards (like we did in 2004).
As of September 27th, 2008, Eric and I passed our last test and are now Open Water Dive Certified by PADI, one of the two respectable dive schools out there that are not connected with the military. This is not a resort scuba class where you can go with dive masters or just do a scuba at that resort, this is a certification course. They throw a lot of info at you in a weekend for the paper tests part of the certification PLUS you have all your confined water dives at the same time. It was exhau...Expand for more
sting, but the practical part is fun. I also enjoyed the open water dives in a quarry about an hour from here, altough the second day we did our last two dives the water was chillier than the first two which we did in August after we got back from our Vegas trip and between the two big conventions we had to go to. I liked the cooler water as I only felt it through my hands, and it wasn't so hard to sit out between dives (so you can dive again and not worry about nitrogen levels) when you aren't in your wetsuit and overheated like we were in August for about an hour.
If you are considering a true scuba dive certification course, go with someone like PADI divers (the one we took) or SSI or other well known, international scuba certification company. It is just a little more expensive to go for an open water dive certification while you are at home vs. the money it takes to get a basic scuba license (not even certified and you will always have to dive with an instructor) at a resort or something on your vacation time (and does not take up three to five days of your vacation time!).
We did all this because we are going back to Hawaii in Jan 2009 and we wanted to do more than snorkel and snuba this time. We both love the underwater world and this will give us a chance to see more and experience more.
Can you tell I'm psyched by my new skills (and future certification?)? HELL YES! This is the first time in a long time where I've had to learn a new physical skill and I wasn't sure I would do well, but it turns out I'm good at this.
When I was a kid and got asthma all the time, I never would have imagined I'd be able to do this. I still get asthma if I'm around smoke or certain animals, because of my allergies or if I get a cold with bronchitis, but you aren't supposed to dive with severe allergies or a cold anyway, so my asthma isn't a problem for me (it would be if I got the kind where you get asthma during exercise, but that is not the kind I have).
This year, depsite financial issues, has been a pretty good year so far...and we are still on track for our Hawaii trip as of the beginning of October, so even though things will be busy and tight financially until then (due to the current credit crisis) I'm still stoked for the Hawaii trip and scuba diving in my favorite "natural" place (Kyoto is my favorite city) in the world that you can do diving in.
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