The Surf Betty

Surfing day 1

Hit the beach by about ten in the morning after securing a filling breakfast and a surf board. About twenty minutes after paddling out, the rain set in and sent the waves spiraling out of control. Not in the larger than life sense, but in the "I cant read the ocean anymore" sense. I lasted about 45 minutes and sufficiently drained myself of potable energy. the next few hours were spent conversing with the hostel goers and napping away my fatigue. After waking up and shaking the sleep from my eyes, I hit the surf again. just as before, not more than five minutes into the ocean, the rains came. I dont think i lasted more than fifteen minutes this time as i could barely muster the energy to paddle out. battered and bruised, I returned to the confines of the hostel. After setting my board on one of the vertical racks by my room, i turned to talk to a friend i had made from panama. A few seconds later, we hear the clammaring of boards toppling on top of eachother. my friend picked his up and it was fine. mine on the other hand, suffered a worse fate. It had completely snapped off one of the fins. This bad surfing omen resinated with me for a bit and i then decided to take it back to the shop to see what the damage was. The fin and labor will cost me $35 but the guy didnt seem to be bothered by the incident. Actually, he then proceeded to ask me where i was staying and offer me a room at his place. For the same price, come monday, I will have my own room in a house right on the beach and be living with a pretty interesting israeli guy.

Surfing Day 2

This morning I awoke early and made myself some pancakes at the self serve pancake breakfast area of the kitchen. full of sugar and butter, I decided to go check the bakery down the road once more for employment options. Come tuesday, I will be manning the espresso machine again. I'm not sure what kind of hours the guy can offer me, but im pretty excited to be working in this place. Job secured, I hit the surf with the guy from panama and a girl from germany. Before i go into my battles witht he ocean, I should first speak a little bit about my new surf board. my old board of which i broke will be out of commission until monday. the next best thing they had for me was a 7 foot surf betty. what is a surf betty you ask? Well, its a 7 foot sail boat with pink flowers all over it and a bit sticker that says "surf betty" on it. betty and I hit the surf this morning and actually had a very productive time. the waves were tiny but very consistent so i caught quite a few and slowly am beginning to get back into the swing of things. my weak little arms still get tired easily but in time they will back to their old paddling selves. I have arranged a lesson later today with one of the hostel goers in exchange for a guitar lesson. at about 4pm we set sail. In the meantime, I just returned from a bar/resturant called day and night of which i enquired about employment. tonight, there is a meeting with all the bartenders and come monday, I will be tending bar in santa teresa. As of next week, it looks like all will be settled. A nice place to live with a lively roommate, two jobs, and an interim of endless surf. Itll only be a matter of time before i turn in my surf betty for the next step up. As funny as she is, i have grown fond of her.

Jumping back in time, I did something fantastic last night. This is really a cool hostel because in santa teresa, there is not much to do when you arent surfing. However, there is a pool table beneath a patio here, so hours and hours are dedicated to the game. Last night, I was playing with another guy from chico against an israeli and the guy from panama and it was looking grim for california. we were way behind and it seemed like we were getting hustled. Finally, it was my turn and i began a run that lasted a few balls until it looked like i was in a tough possition. the opposing team started talking trash to us as i scoped out possible options. it was a longshot, but it looked like there was a slight chance that i could bank one of our balls in the side pocket. i parted the conversation and interjected as i always do when the situation comes, "hey guys... hey guys." They sneered at me and waited for what i had to say. "you wanna know why i make all my bank shots?" they looked perplexed to say the least. I stepped up to the pool table and with one glorious push, banked the ball off the rail and directly into the side pocket. "because my dads a banker!" I proclaimed and recieved the reaction that i typically do. A few laughs, but mainly unimpressed grimaces with my bland wit. That being said, we won the game and all was right with the world.