This weekend was one hell of an adventure from start to finish. We found out on Thursday that Steve-O wouldn't be able to get the keys for the beach house and we already had all of the food bought for the weekend for all 12 people. Cathleen, Krista, and I went into crazy beach house hunting mode. We called so many places, but because it is the busy season, most places were either booked or out of our price range. We ended up settling for the only place that we could find with one day's notice. It claimed to house 7, but it was a 2 bedroom with 1 double bed in each room and a futon. I would say that using the futon, it could comfortable hold 4-6. We had 12 people. We had brought three air mattresses, one double and two twins. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to work, but there were two hammocks and a lot of lawn furniture that were made into makeshift beds. I was really glad that I brought my bed, because we all know how pleasant I can be when I don't sleep well. The good new is that it was right on the ocean. It was an amazing view and the ocean waves were so loud.
The beach house itself was really cute. It reminded us more of something you would find on a lake, than the beach. The funny thing was that it was on this row of mansions. It was sandwiched between two huge stucco houses with private pools. When I was looking online, some of the places like the ones next to our little cottage were going for over $1000/night. I don't remember exactly what we paid for our house but each of us paid $35 which covered both nights. I guess that is 12*35, I just don't feel like doing the math. Either way, it wasn't that expensive.
Saturday morning we got up and met up with our surf instructors. Nine of us tried surfing. Jason had been quite a few times before and Krista had taken lessons with the group that taught us. I was a little scared. I'm not an outstanding swimmer by any means and some of the waves were above my head. For some reason, my fear went away once I was in the water. I was using a board that was made of plastic and some of the my friends were on boards that were more foam like. Mine was harder to balance on and I think that I wasn't scared anymore because I was concentrating too hard at staying on...and because our instructor told us that there were two rules of surfing "keep your mouth shut because swallowing water is how you drown and no panicking." I think it is safe to say that no one will be asking me to star in the sequel to "Blue Crush" but I did almost get up a few times. It is much harder than it looks, and much more tiring. Twice I got stuck in a long series of waves that just keep pushing you back. The trick is to paddle straight into the waves. It was super tiring. There is a good reason that surfers are so in shape.
After surfing, we went home and had some lunch. I took a little cat nap in the hammock and then we all went to Tamboo Tavern for a few drinks with our surf instructors. Roger who own the company is Brazilian, and Nago, the one who taught me was Puerto Rican. He had been surfing all of his life, but surprisingly, it isn't his first love. He is also a boxer. He was telling us that he boxed and played baseball for the University of Puerto Rico. It seemed kind of crazy to me, but he had his Master's in Business Administration. I think that part of the reason that someone with a masters is a surf instructor in Puerto Rico is because there aren't many opportunities here. A woman who sold us shoes at Aldo told us that she had gotten her master's from IAUPR, granted I don't know what in, but someone with a Master's shouldn't be selling shoes at the mall.
Sunday was a lazy day. None of us moved until 10 am. And when I did move, I realized I hurt in places I didn't know I could hurt. I had gotten sun burnt at the beach in weird places like the back of one of my calves and places that got uncovered when my tank top got stretched out surfing and the surf board bruised my knees and hips. My armpits killed, but not nearly as much as my abs. I had to use my hands to sit up they hurt so bad. They still hurt today, but it was good for me. We made breakfast together and then cleaned out the house. We went for a walk on the beach and Jason cracked open some coconuts for us. It was a great day to relax. Just what we needed after last month.
In other new here, I started training for a 5k. I know that most people can run a 5K no problem, but I can't so this is going to be a challenge for me. We thought we had a race picked out for May 1st, but then we realized we have a test the next day and proficiencies start that same week. I hope we find another one, but either way, this will be good for me. I may need some help with motivation. I really don't like running all that much.
Elizabeth is going to come and visit me in April!!! I can't wait for her to come down. It will be so nice to have one of my close friends around. I'm already trying to plan out things I want to show her.
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