THE LESSON We met our friends the Walters: Darin and Alison, and their kids: Oscar (12), Maya (10), and Hugo (5). Today, I was learning how to surf. Darin gave me a lesson on the beach. We used his surfboard on the sand instead of trying in the water. Darin told me several rules:                -Have your toes just over the end of the surfboard, so you toes can feel the water but not your heel.                -Your lower chest and upper hips feel like they’re supporting you. Like a triangle.                -Before you get up, slide your left foot closer to your right calf, and bend the left knee.                (You’re still lying down)                -Place your hands right under your shoulders.                -When you get up, as fast as you can, move your left leg so that it is going diagonally across your body; make sure the foot is pointing with the leg. Now you should be kneeling on your right leg, and your left thigh, with your arms braced on the area in front of you.                -When you’re balanced, stand up, with your arms half-stretched in front of you. “Ready to give it a try?” Darin asked. “Yeah!” THE SURF I followed Darin out into the sea. The sand stayed about level, but the water somehow got higher and higher. I copied Darin and jumped when the waves reached us. This way we didn’t get knocked over, and our heads stayed above the crest. Mostly. Eventually, Darin stopped and yelled, “Alright! Lie down on the board!” I lied down, and he brought me a little farther before spotting a medium sized beginner wave. Then he turned the board around so I was in position. “Don’t get up until I say go! ‘kay?” “O.k.!” Suddenly the wave was upon me and everything seemed surreal. I heard a “NOW!” and executed the movements I had been shown. I stood up. I had done it! On my first try I had stood up on the board! I was surf-BLUB! I had been up for about 1-2 seconds before falling in the water. The board floated back towards me thanks to the rubber tether attaching me to it. Darin was walking up with his arms outstretched and a big grin. “You did it! That counts!” I smiled and picked up the surfboard. “Wait”, said Darin , “You hold the surfboard by the front. That way it doesn’t smack you in the face when a wave comes.” We waded back out and did it again, and again. Darin tested my paddling which was quite pathetic but then just pulled me along on the surfboard. I actually made it to shore, standing, twice. One of those times I was thrown off by the sudden stop. Another time I had stood to far back on the board and it sunk in to the wave. But overall I was having a blast! I didn’t want to stop. After I did my last run I gave the board to Darin. “It’s your turn. Now how do I get this tether off” I said, as I struggled to undo the Velcro. “It’s stuck with you for life. You can’t take it off now” Darin chuckled. “I don’t want to surf for that long at a time!” We laughed. When I got back to shore, the sides of my lower chest were red. I watched Darin happily as he surfed for a bit. Darin said to my parents that I was a natural, but we all agreed that he was just a good teacher.

Everyone changed in to clothes and we headed to a restaurant right on the wharf, overlooking the area we had just surfed on. I ordered veal schnitzel along with Oscar. Hugo had fish, Maya and Katherine had steak sandwiches, and the parents had beer, accompanied by something, I’m sure. We were at Bier Café after all. (BEER-Ca-fey) When the kids finished, we played on the beach for awhile. Penguins were supposed to come out but they had supposedly left for a little while; either a few weeks or three months. There were multiple sources. We threw Katherine’s flip flops at the seagulls to try and get a picture or video of them flying. Oscar finally told me to take the camera and give him the flip flop, for he was a better chucker. We also found blob jellyfish and small man-o-wars. Did you know that if you step on a man-o-war they make a popping sound? But be careful! Oscar said that a Man-o-war, or Blue-bell’s, stinger still could hurt you even if they had washed ashore. I guiltily recall that Oscar had said that they could have been dead OR ALIVE! I’m sorry I squished you blobs, and sorry for the stepping on’s blue-bells. After awhile Oscar and I went to Ben and Jerry’s to get some ice-cream for all of us. Back at the wharf, we found out that the spoons were flimsy to the extreme, and as Oscar said “No wonder they were free!” The Ice cream was packed hard, which made it extra difficult. So we grabbed some of the café’s metal forks. Hugo ate almost the ENTIRE tub! Big appetite for a five year old, eh? Soon we were in the big hours of the night and it was time to go home. I told everyone about the “Hunger Games” series, all the way to the taxi stand. There we said goodbye to our friends and rode back to the Shangri La. Our taxi driver was very sociable and we had a wonderful conversation. We plopped in to our beds, exhausted. What a day! Surfing, AND Ben and Jerry’s! Bliss!