EL SURF: EL SEGUNDO INTENTO
- Hannah McDonald
- Jun 11, 2017
- 2 min read
It was so hard to get out of bed this morning, but the waves awaited. Walking down to the surf shop, my stomach was churning with nerves, especially after Thursday's experience. Once again, we struggled to put on the tight wetsuits, grabbed boards, and headed down to the beach. After reviewing how to stand up on the board in the sand, we made our way into the water. There was a remarkable difference. It was low tide, so the water was much shallower. The waves were also much nicer. Farther out there were definitely some big ones, which every so often we would get, but it was nothing compared to Thursday. The instructor started by pushing us into the waves. After he pushed us, we would feel the wave take us, then stand up. Following several roll-offs, a few nose dives, and a few immediate fall offs, I managed to stay up and ride one in. The balance was difficult to find, but I got it a couple times. Feeling more confident, I decided to try one myself. I saw the wave, started paddling, then immediately fell off. On the second try though, I got it. I stood up for a solid six seconds without any help. Then lost my balance and fell into the wave, of course. Other than finding it difficult to fight the current at times and being taken out by one wave, it was a successful lesson. Managing to ride one all the way in and to stand up by myself, I was proud. I wish I had pictures of it, but there was no way to bring a camera out there during the lesson. It was a much, much better experience than Thursday, but we will always have that story to tell as well.
Exhausted from surfing and from the week, Makaela and I decided to take an afternoon to just relax. After we each washed all the sand out of our hair, she came over to my host family's apartment. My host mother made us seasoned rice with vegetables and chicken for lunch. For dessert I had a peach, which are so ripe and juicy here. I can't get enough peaches. The afternoon then largely consisted of napping. For dinner I had chickpeas in some sort of sauce, which I never quite identified.
We have officially made it through our first week here in Spain.
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