Diving really took off on the third week. Chad fixed the compressor so dive training got more intense and the compressor seemed to be turned on 24/7 so group after group could go out. I got my chance to go out on the Tuesday and do my first scuba dive.

I had struggled the previous week with my 200m swim test and got rather flustered due to the waves and the salt, but Chad was amazing and took me out for a one-on-one session to try out the scuba equipment without doing any skills just to get used to it. We kitted up and waddled out to cheers from my on looking fans. After he had got me to take my first breaths underwater and taught me how to retrieve my reg, we spent half an hour or so just snorkeling around and then swimming round deeper. The number of fish we saw was incredible and the water clarity was pretty amazing. It was weird getting used to the bubbles blowing up from my reg every time I breathed out and I kept knocking my fins together but I was soon so in awe of the whole experience and totally in love with scuba! We got out when we started to get a bit cold, my kit seemed so heavy after getting out of the water and I almost fell over trying to wade back to shore.

The same evening it was the GreenForce leader, Alessia's, birthday and so we had a bonfire and cake. We would get cake on a bi-weekly basis made by a woman in the village who walks over to sell us slices. It would usually be banana and chocolate cake with day-glow pink frosting and sprinkles - sooo good. We also received our first ration run that evening. This is when a camp leader and volunteer would travel back to Savusavu to pick up our food supplies and would buy any other treats we listed down. The only thing I desperately craved was hot chocolate and so chose that for my ration; other volunteers tended to choose peanut butter, nutino (nutella) and alcohol.

The next day, Wednesday, I got to go for my first official open water training dive, confined water 1. This meant doing a load of skills in about 5 metres of water. I had a briefing with Chad and we waded out like before. We went over yesterday's reg training and moved on to clearing my snorkel, moving between snorkel and reg and mask clearing. It was here I had a bit of trouble; I had to fill my mask up a little bit and then hold the top of my mask and breath out through my nose. It started off fine but instead of breathing out, I breathed in through my nose taking in all the water that was in there! I tried again but I had lost my confidence started to get a bit panicky, as the sensation of water around my nose was all I could think about. It was here that Chad suggested I try breathing in and out my reg underwater without my mask, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. We carried on for a swim as we had done the day before. I knew I wouldn't be able to get back in the right mind set so more annoyed with myself than ever, we just went back in to camp.

The rest of the week only got better. We said goodbye to the first camp doctor and a couple of volunteers but welcomed the new camp doctor and 5 new medical students, all friends from the same university who all by chance booked on the trip at the same time. Although I didn't go out diving the rest of the week I had got into quite a routine of waking up at half six each morning - no particular reason, just the sun was up so my body thought it had to be too. I would wander down onto the beach with my journal or a book and enjoy the calm of the beginning of the day. I would often catch the end of the sunrise and the first light of day would always provide me with a new and beautiful photo composition. I would be joined bit by bit by other reader and a small group of girls would do a yoga session at seven each morning.

We finished our ATLS course at the beginning of the week. We practiced what we had learnt in scenarios put on for us at random times of the day. Other volunteers even began to step in to be our patients. We each had a go at leading a scenario, giving orders and running through the order of ABCD etc. We had asthma attacks, burns, stings, machete and alcohol-related injury as well as some more complicated situations for the med-students. It was a great way to put our knowledge to the test and as a pre-med learnt a lot from watching the med students at work; I don't think I will forget them in a hurry.

Once the doctor left camp, it took several days before the new doctor started anything with us so I had plenty of time to read, do my washing and hang out with the other volunteers. Friday night parties always made Saturday a lazy day for playing card games, watching movies and the occasional swim or snorkel.

On Sunday we went back to our village and our host families. It was easier being with them for the second time, as we knew what to expect and how to behave without offending their culture. I met my parent's son, Sero, who was on his school holidays from his school in Labasa (on the mainland). This is where all the village teenagers go for their secondary education. It was then the same, church and then lunch routine but I wasn't tired enough for a sleep so my sister, Malika, and I listened to my iPod and played around with my camera again. She fell asleep listening to Larry Norman and I dozed a bit. She woke after 3/4 hour and she took me on a tour of the village. We ended up back with the other volunteers who were chilling out in the shade of the community hall, as it was a particularly hot day. Children swarmed around us and we taught each other hand-clapping games and children's songs (when we could remember them!) What was incredible was that they were singing songs like 'Ging Gang Goolie', a well-known British campfire song, but in Fijian. Other nursery rhymes like 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' I could understand them knowing, but this seemed so far removed from reality.

As the third week came to a close it seemed so strange I only had one more full week left...