This morning Tash and I got up early for our surfing lessons. We had two instructors, Diego and Axel, who were teaching us and a family of four. We spent the first part of our time on the sand. The instructors drew surfboard outlines for us and showed us proper technique. We had to practice laying on the boards and then jumping up quickly into the sideways position. After some sand practice, we headed out to the water. The boards were huge and incredibly awkward (earlier we saw a couple take off from our hostel with two rented boards and head toward the beach-- there is no way I would've been able to carry my board all the way to the beach. I struggled carrying it from the surf to the sand).
My instructor was awesome and helped me position myself in the water. He saw a wave coming and told me this was the one we were going to catch. He yelled for me to start paddling and then told me when to stand up. I hopped up and didn't lose my balance but instead rode the wave in toward the shore. I was so fucking excited that I had ridden the first wave that I'd tried! Earlier this morning I was thinking I'd be lucky if I got the hang of it by the end of my lesson and was able to catch one or two waves. Boy was I wrong! Now I was hooked. I grabbed my board and headed back out to the water to ride again. Diego was really helpful because he told me which waves to catch and he helped me by yelling "Stand!" By the end of our hour though, Diego was letting me judge which waves I should take and letting me "feel the vibe of the wave" in order to determine when to stand. Surfing on my own was a bit more difficult, but still manageable.
Meanwhile, Tash was battling her board, much like I had been yesterday with the paddles. She just couldn't seem to get up. She tried, and tried, and tried some more. Our instructor even encouraged her with the kind words, "don't suck, try harder", which should have been all the motivation she needed :) Finally, after a much needed fruit and water break (you don't realize how exhausted you are until you get out the water), Tash was able to get up on her first wave. We all (instructors, myself and the family of four) were so happy for her!
Surfing was one of my most favorite activities in Costa Rica. I would definitely love to go again sometime!
After finishing we headed back to Flutterby for lunch. I ate a hearty meal and then relaxed in a rocking chair on our cabin porch to finish my book.
Around 2pm, Tash and I waved Flutterby goodbye and headed to the bus station, where we waited for 2 hours. Our bus finally picked us up and we started our 7 hour bus journey to San Jose.
When we arrived the station was closed so we were caged in in a very awkward way. It was like being in a zoo. All of the taxi drivers were outside hooting and hollering and waiting for us to step out of the metal enclosure. Tash and I were incredibly overwhelmed and grabbed a man who wasn't straining his vocal cords to get our attention. Overall, Tash and I didn't get a good vibe in San Jose. To be fair however, we arrived at night, when it was dark, and most establishments were closed. We tried to ask our hostel clerk if it would be safe for us to walk and get a bite to eat but he just smiled. This exchange turned into Tash and I trying to act out our question by using the words "hombre mal" and pointing at the street. Needless to say, this charade ended with Tash and I on the streets hoping that we wouldn't be "mauled" by an "hombre mal". We found a bar so had a quick beer (this is where I first experienced the classic "beer napkin" tradition of central america") and some food (did you know that "rice with shrimp" and "shrimp rice with" are actually two different dishes? Me Neither!) before heading to bed. We had to be up at 3:30 the next morning for our flight to Cuba.
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