Today was a day filled with relaxation. I woke up without an alarm – only the chirping of birds. I put on my swimsuit and headed to the beach. By 830am, I was already melting and ready to jump in the waves. After a brief swim and reading, we had breakfast. I ate a fruit salad and bread with honey.
The first beach adventure of the day was surfing. I rented a board from our hostel for $10 and thought I would give it a shot. Not learning to surf is one of my regrets while living in LA. I had seen it done a thousand times and figured I could pick up some tips from Logan and Molly. I followed after Molly, paddling against the waves out past where the waves break. We both laughed about how out of shape we felt and how exhausting it was to paddle (my shoulders were nice and sore the next day). We decided to go over by Logan on the other side of a rock projection and surf there. This was quite the paddle. After a brief rest, I was ready. I tried to sit on the board but my balance was terrible. I think it was combination of exhaustion, the board being a bit too wide, and lack of experience. I was feeling confident but a bit nervous about this whole thing. I figured I would just wing it and it would be fine. However, on this side, the waves were bigger. While waiting for a wave, I got rocked by what I thought was a huge wave (maybe 3 feet). I got knocked from on top of my board and sucked under. I could feel my board being pulled away and freaked out a bit. I knew to remain calm and I would be able to surface soon to catch my breath. I didn’t know if my board was going to drag me along or not. I decided to undo the board’s leash from my ankle and decided I would just rather pay to replace the board. When I surfaced, there was a second wave crashing over me and I held onto the leash with my hand. I knew I needed to get back out to the ocean before the waves broke. This was difficult considering I was now holding the leash of my board and my swimsuit top had come undone. I made it back out and decided I wasn’t ready for all of this. To compound all that, my foot was bleeding. I think I must have kicked the fins in all the tumbling. In order to get back to the beach, I had to paddle back over to the other side. I was pretty shaken from the crash and utterly exhausted. I was paddling against the current and my arms were so tired. I was worried I would get sucked into the current near the rocks and not be able to make it. On my way back, I got rocked by another wave. This time I got back on my board much quicker but was so exhausted. I think adrenaline was a big help. After a short bit, I realized I was able to stand and walked into the shore. I was thankful to have my feet grounded and relaxed. The salt water was no help to my foot which just continued to bleed. I went up to the hostel before lunch and cleaned it off. No pain, just lots of blood. I read in a hammock before lunch. I still really want to try surfing again but I am going to start with something smaller and a teacher. Perhaps I will go visit Logan in Costa Rica and try this all again.
For lunch, I ate a delicious kabob of steak, green peppers, and onions covered in garlic. I also enjoyed a cold orange Crush. After lunch, I went back to the beach. I spent the afternoon taking in the sun and reading. The ocean was beautiful. As the sun was starting to set, some local fisherman came to the beach and put their boats in. They catch all the local seafood we ate the hostel and sell some to the local families as well. Just before the sunset, I took a quick shower to rinse the salt off and changed for our ride back to the city. We all sat together on the beach and watched the sun go down. We took a million pictures and tried to be creative with the shadows.
As the darkness fell and the stars came out, we headed up the stairs for dinner. We ate paella of fish, chicken, beef, shrimp, and crab. It was a bit crunchy but quite good. Then it was time to pack up our stuff and head back to San Salvador. We were all exhausted and pink for our day in the sun. It was nice to go back to a warm shower and bed sand-free. I slept really well.
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