Surfing
It's been over a year since I've updated this blog; the blogspot page listing my posts is full of half-written posts labeled "draft" because they haven't been published here yet. I have many excuses for how this happened--getting caught up in graduation and bar studying last spring and summer, technological difficulties (i.e., it's harder to insert photos into this blog than it appears), perfectionism, there always being other things to do, my apartment being burglarized in August and my subsequent lack of a laptop and photos (but thank goodness most of my photos were on my iPhone), and, of course, starting a job where I relish the small amount of free time I have and would rather not spend that time staring at a computer screen.
But I don't have any purely creative outlets at the moment other than this blog, so I'm going to slowly turn my half-written entries into published entries, interspersed with new ones. And maybe this will also help me feel like I'm on a much-needed vacation!
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This entry comes after my trip to Costa Rica in March 2014, with additional thoughts from summer 2014.
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I learned to surf in Spanish. I also swallowed more salt water in four days of surfing than fresh water that I drank during my whole vacation in Costa Rica.
I love surfing. Learning how to sail from a young age, I've always loved water sports, but I had basically only focused on sailing and a little bit of windsurfing, sports that you can do in Chicago and Boston. Surfing is quite different--other than knowing that I enjoyed being on/in the water, my sailing knowledge did not help me at all in learning how to surf--so I wasn't sure what to expect...but I love it! I got lucky with my introduction to surfing, which may be part of why my thoughts about future vacations now always include the question, is there surfing there? But also maybe I was destined to learn how to surf one day and love it…after all, my favorite band as a kid was The Beach Boys.
As I mentioned previously, my law school friend's childhood friend (and his siblings) own a few hostels/hotels in Costa Rica. I stayed at their hostel in Playa Grande, and I had two private surfing lessons from Fede! Not only was he an awesome teacher (and very easy on the eyes)--and taught me mostly in Spanish, which made the experience more exciting, claro--but I got private lessons, unlike what I would have found in nearby Tamarindo or pretty much anywhere. I think you learn a lot more in private lessons than group lessons.
The first lesson Fede taught me was: Diviértete! (Have fun!) If you're not having fun while surfing, stop. [More on this in the postcript.]
This vacation turned about to be the perfect place and perfect way to learn how to surf.
The location:
Individual instruction helped me really learned how to do things and get the feel for surfing. I also had planned my vacation around surfing, so I could spend plenty of time practicing and choose to practice when the waves were the best for learning.
After I told my mom about my inability to really ride a wave while I was in LA, she asked me, "Why do you like surfing? What is it about it that you like?" An experience like the one I had in Costa Rica--private surfing lessons in perfect beginner conditions, after a long, cold winter in Chicago--could have just been an aberration. But I really do love surfing!
Why?
There's something about surfing that is freeing. It's similar to sailing and windsurfing in that way. For me, being on the water and in the wind and sun is blissful and freeing.
Surfing is challenging--but so rewarding when you catch a wave. When you're up on the board riding a wave, you forget about how many attempts and scraped knees it took you to get there.
Surfing feels like the opposite of being a corporate lawyer. I'm excited about my legal career, but a lot of law school felt constricting. There was a certain way to do things. There was a set schedule--do well in 1L classes, interview for a job at a firm, get on a journal, take more classes, work as a summer associate, study for the bar. Everything was laid out systematically, which is something that did and does appeal to me about law school and the legal world generally, but it can also make you more than ready for something else by the end of law school. I also felt like I was a boring person--did someone at a party really want to hear me talk about civil procedure or contracts?--and no different from the thousands of other law students out there.
And did I already mention how much I love being out on the water?
But I don't have any purely creative outlets at the moment other than this blog, so I'm going to slowly turn my half-written entries into published entries, interspersed with new ones. And maybe this will also help me feel like I'm on a much-needed vacation!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This entry comes after my trip to Costa Rica in March 2014, with additional thoughts from summer 2014.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I learned to surf in Spanish. I also swallowed more salt water in four days of surfing than fresh water that I drank during my whole vacation in Costa Rica.
I love surfing. Learning how to sail from a young age, I've always loved water sports, but I had basically only focused on sailing and a little bit of windsurfing, sports that you can do in Chicago and Boston. Surfing is quite different--other than knowing that I enjoyed being on/in the water, my sailing knowledge did not help me at all in learning how to surf--so I wasn't sure what to expect...but I love it! I got lucky with my introduction to surfing, which may be part of why my thoughts about future vacations now always include the question, is there surfing there? But also maybe I was destined to learn how to surf one day and love it…after all, my favorite band as a kid was The Beach Boys.
As I mentioned previously, my law school friend's childhood friend (and his siblings) own a few hostels/hotels in Costa Rica. I stayed at their hostel in Playa Grande, and I had two private surfing lessons from Fede! Not only was he an awesome teacher (and very easy on the eyes)--and taught me mostly in Spanish, which made the experience more exciting, claro--but I got private lessons, unlike what I would have found in nearby Tamarindo or pretty much anywhere. I think you learn a lot more in private lessons than group lessons.
The first lesson Fede taught me was: Diviértete! (Have fun!) If you're not having fun while surfing, stop. [More on this in the postcript.]
This vacation turned about to be the perfect place and perfect way to learn how to surf.
The location:
- the waves were not huge, but there was enough variety in height that I was able to try surfing on some bigger waves
- it was a sandy beach, without hidden rocks or coral, making it a very safe place to learn...and crash...and fall
- the medium water temperature and hot air temperature resulted in the water being refreshing but not too cold--and I didn't have to wear a wetsuit
- because it's in a nature preserve, the beach was mostly deserted, so very few surfers plus lots of space meant I didn't have to worry about crashing into other people (or being embarrassed by my beginner level)
Playa Grande, looking toward Tamarindo
Sunset on Playa Grande
Individual instruction helped me really learned how to do things and get the feel for surfing. I also had planned my vacation around surfing, so I could spend plenty of time practicing and choose to practice when the waves were the best for learning.
And, of course, I LEARNED TO SURF IN SPANISH. Obviously with some English mixed in there, but mostly in spanish. Salta "ahora!". Olas are izquierdas or derechas. The board is a tabla.
Postscript: When I was in LA in June, I took my first lesson to heart (to have fun while surfing). My mom and I took a long weekend trip to LA, and I was excited not only to see friends and family, but also to surf! My uncle, cousin, and I met at Huntington Beach. I couldn't convince either of them to join me on the water, so I rented a wetsuit and board and headed to the water while they watched. The waves were big--Huntington Beach is, after all, a huge surfing destination and there was a youth competition going on that day--and I couldn't get past any of the waves! Beginner longboards are not conducive to getting past big waves and my swimming skills are quite mediocre. After an hour of trying to paddle out past the waves, attempting to do the move to duck under waves (which doesn't work so well on the board I had), and hoping I wouldn't hit any children in the waves and that people couldn't tell I was the same girl getting pushed back by the waves again and again, I gave up and went in. I did have fun--just being out on the water and trying was fun for me--but I was reaching the point where I was more tired and frustrated than enjoying myself. So I went in...and tried surfing at Venice Beach the next day where the waves were more my size!
Huntington Beach
(bigger waves and much more crowded)
After I told my mom about my inability to really ride a wave while I was in LA, she asked me, "Why do you like surfing? What is it about it that you like?" An experience like the one I had in Costa Rica--private surfing lessons in perfect beginner conditions, after a long, cold winter in Chicago--could have just been an aberration. But I really do love surfing!
Why?
There's something about surfing that is freeing. It's similar to sailing and windsurfing in that way. For me, being on the water and in the wind and sun is blissful and freeing.
Surfing is challenging--but so rewarding when you catch a wave. When you're up on the board riding a wave, you forget about how many attempts and scraped knees it took you to get there.
Surfing feels like the opposite of being a corporate lawyer. I'm excited about my legal career, but a lot of law school felt constricting. There was a certain way to do things. There was a set schedule--do well in 1L classes, interview for a job at a firm, get on a journal, take more classes, work as a summer associate, study for the bar. Everything was laid out systematically, which is something that did and does appeal to me about law school and the legal world generally, but it can also make you more than ready for something else by the end of law school. I also felt like I was a boring person--did someone at a party really want to hear me talk about civil procedure or contracts?--and no different from the thousands of other law students out there.
And did I already mention how much I love being out on the water?
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