Apologetic no more

Current location: Hitting the waves in Jacó, 9°36’50’’ N, 84°37’48’’ W

“Are you OK?” I ask as soon as the girl pops her head out of the water. I am a little unsure whether my board hit her or not, I think that it must not have, but I figure it’s better to ask. “I’m fine she replies” shortly and then adds “but I don’t know if my board is okay…” That last comment made me make up my mind. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to apologize for being a newbie surfer any more. I’m fed up with it. Yes, I don’t always have control of where my board goes, but I try pretty darn hard to not get in the way of other people for this exact reason. If they then seek me out, steal my wave that I so clearly has lined up for, and then gets upset when I don’t move for them, then their boards and bones can break as much as they will – I’m not going to bat an eyelash. I have up until now felt a little bad for being a little clumsy in the water, but when I made the comparison to ice hockey all of my empathy for these semi-pro local divers dried up. If you’re a pro hockey player you would 1) Never go skating practicing backwards speeding where public skating with newbies takes place (that’s just ridiculous). 2) And if you do, you don’t run into the four-year old toddlers and their awkward parents, because if you do it’s your own fault. 3) You don’t hit people unless you actually don’t know what you are doing. How am I supposed to get better if people don’t give me the space and chance to practice? The bottom line is that the actual pros I have meet down here so far are excited and love to have newbies in the water because they want to spread the love they have for the sport to other people, much like when I see toddlers skating for the first time. After I got over my initial scare with the local girl, I finally was starting to enjoy my surfing afternoon. After having being stomach ill for 2 days I was stoked to get back in the water and watching the sunset like an orange taking a dip in the pacific. I never get tired of watching it. The light plays in the water and the explosion of colors is impossible to make justice in either words or pictures. But for my own sake, to remember these magic sunsets, and what they mean to me, I brought my camera and took some pictures. There are only a couple of more days left before the university opens again, and I am excited to get back to work, but for now I am enjoying life, just like it’s meant to be.

#surfing #costarica #impressions #beach #sunset #mfs #eckardtadventures