Lazy Sunday

Sunday is my favorite day of the week and today was one of the best days I've had in a long time. The family went off to explore the island while I stuck around the hotel because I had my surfing lesson today. I asked the concierge where was a good place to have a really good cup of coffee and they sent me to the breakfast buffet. I didn't eat that much because I didn't want to get lethargic before my lesson, so I did my free-write over breakfast. Then I headed out to the pool and read a few pages of Freedomland, this book I've been starting and restarting for years now (I keep bringing it with me on trips, but never get through the first 50 pages because it never grabs me). I'm proud to announce I'm on page 89.

I chose the noontime lesson because the rep from the school said that was when the best waves were. I showed up and this one instructor kept staring at me and when they were going over the lesson on how to stand up, he kept talking to me so I figured if I end up in his group, it'll be good because at the very least, he seems like he'd be pretty motivated to make sure I don't drown. He moved people into other groups to make sure I was in his, and we headed out to the beach.

I've never really been a strong swimmer because I've always found swimming really boring. There was a period when I swam laps regularly because I got a little underwater radio that kept me entertained, but that thing stopped working after about 2 months so that was it with me and swimming. With surfing though, paddling out is a lot like swimming freestyle, and I realized that as long as there was a goal-oriented activity to keep me distracted (catching a wave), I didn't mind it. It's kind of like basketball or ultimate frisbee can get me to run for long periods of time without minding, even though I can't jog 3 blocks without stopping and wanting to go home. You can call me either very goal-motivated or an ADD posterchild.

The way it worked was we all had to paddle out, then the instructors would wait for a wave, then tell us when to paddle and when to stand up. My first wave, I was just shocked at the feeling of being pushed by the wave. I managed to stand up and ride for a bit, but then the moment my brain thought, "Holy shit, you're on a surf board...now how do you get down when it's time?", I fell off. I fell off the next one, but after that, I was able to ride the waves all the way down and get back down, which was really cool. I've always been so intimidated by the surfing community in LA that I've never been willing to take lessons, but I can see why people dedicate their lives to surfing. It's a great feeling to be in the ocean, and when you're riding a wave, it's absolute zen. We were on longboards which makes it easier, but I realized that if you do yoga, and if you've played baseball/softball before, the combined familiarity of balance and stance come in handy.

So my instructor kept saying I was doing really well, and at one point he said, "I really like the way you surf. It turns me on." In my head I thought, "Hmmm" but outloud I said, "So you like your women off-balanced, huh?" After a while, he wasn't really helping anyone else but me. He was towing me and this other girl, and another instructor came by and asked him why he had all the cute girls, so he pushes the other girl's board at him and goes, "Here, take this one," and then he spent the rest of the time with me. At one point, my neck got sore so I was stretching it out. He asked me if my neck hurt, then started massaging my neck and shoulders. So here's me, laying on my board while this guy was giving me a massage in the middle of the ocean. He asked me how long I was in town, and said he'd like to take me surfing...for free. I thought about it (I could really dig surfing again with someone who makes it easier for me by telling me when and what to do), but then I had to ask myself how much it was worth it for the strings that would definitely be attached, perhaps being told when and what to do in other respects. I told him that I had planned activities the rest of the week, but definitely if I came back again. On the last wave, we rode it together and he grabbed my hand and tried to hop on my board, but I didn't get far enough back so it didn't work. That would have been awesome.

When we got back he waited until everyone else was gone and he came up and gave me a hug. I gave him the guy hug where you shake the guy's hand, then hug him with your arms between you, but I fucked it up and ended up pressing his hand against my boob. Botched. So much for trying to keep it casual and not awkward. He told me to come find him if I changed my mind and I said I would for sure.

On the walk home, there was a GNC so I stopped by to see if I could get something for muscle recovery. I'm kayaking with my mom tomorrow, and I convinced her to sign up for a two-person kayak, because it's a 4 hour guided tour and I know she's going to get tired by herself. I realized that surfing is probably going to make me sore tomorrow and I wanna make sure that my arms can function because I know I'm gonna be doing all the work. I was asking the guy who worked there about what the best product to get would be, and he was this really shy Japanese guy who didn't really know that much but he tried really hard to be helpful. He just stood there and read me all the labels and lists of ingredients. I ended up talking to him for a while because he asked me what LA was like, and that he heard people were really shallow and converations were very empty. I said that it was funny that he said that, because I had just had a conversation with someone about how vapid interactions can be out here. I told him that it's not across the board--there are friendly, interesting, intelligent, community-oriented people out here, but on a whole, conversations tended to be more shallow and you could have a 10 minute conversation with someone, and realize that you know just as much about them after the conversation as when you started. It's the weirdest and most disappointing thing.

I settled for some fruit punch flavored recovery drink that tasted like someone had dissolved Flintstones vitamins in it. It sucked. But while I was at the counter, I was talking about how I love Perfect Food, this green powder made from blue-green algae and different vegetables among other things, and this women making a purchase overheard. I went into a whole thing about how much I love this stuff and how ever since I started putting it in my protein shake, I've felt more balanced and less irritable in the mornings. I pulled it off the shelf for her and went through the nutritional panel, and she ended up buying it. A $50 impulse buy. I don't know why I don't work in nutrition and/or fitness in some capacity. I love that stuff. I thanked the GNC guy and told him not to hate LA people too much...there are good people out here.

I headed back to the hotel, did some yoga stretches, then showered and got ready to go to a luau.

If you ever go to Hawaii, try to go to a luau. It's this big show where they do native ceremonies and dance performances, and at some point, they pull a pig that they've been roasting all day out of a pit dug into the sand. The women wear coconut bras, and the men all look like The Rock. And then you feast. That about sums it up.

I didn't realize it at the time, but as the night wore on, I started feeling like I got sunburned because it became progressively harder to sit comfortably. When I got home, I looked in the mirror to find the back of my legs and ass were the color of an animated depiction of a watermelon. My mom started her simultaneous nagging/freaking out and it just made me mad, so unfortunately, she's upset right now because I used a cuss word not directed at her, but one in which I used forcefully to modify a noun. I guess she didn't like that. I rarely get sunburned but this one looks bad, probably because I was out in the water for a couple of hours around noon and SPF 50 and waterproof is not as dependable as you'd hope. I got some aloe gel so hopefully this helps enough for me to sit in a kayak tomorrow.

I was looking through the pictures from the trip and there is finally photographic evidence that I am capable of managing a 2-pack. I am psyched beyond words.