surf sun and europeans

no rain today! woohoo! first day in november it hasn't been pouring all day.
my dormmates took full advantage of the sun. Me, the French Canadian who doesn't speak English(how can you not speak the official language of your country?), the German girl plus her tico "friend", I'll touch more on that later, grabbed some boards and went to the beach.

The sun here is bright on a day with no clouds, but not Texas bright. It's weird. The brightest sun I've ever seen was probably in Belize or Mexico. Second would probably be in South Padre Island. When Sarah and I vacationed there, I'd turn red after only a couple of hours in full sun. I've been out here all day long several times in full sun and haven't burned...yet. That may change when Costa Rica has it's "summer", its dry months.
It's funny to hear the locals referring to the season as summer. It's like how is this winter? More like an endless summer. By the way, if you've ever seen the movie "Endless Summer", parts of it were filmed here where I am in Tamarindo.

I tried a big boy board today, one with no soft top padding, shorter, and a firm graphite fin instead of break-resistant wiggly one. The wax used for grip is quite rough on the skin, specifically the nipples. I had to stop before they started bleeding. I thought about using a rash guard but opted to work on my tan instead :-)
The German girl did the same but opting to lay out and watch rather than surf. She met a local surfer and sleeps over at his house every night instead of staying at the hostel. Why does she pay for the hostel then you ask? I dunno. But they both hang out here during the day. His marijuana smoking was getting annoying. He'd search the complex for the owner first and then light up a pipe, yet assured us everything was cool with the owner. "he's cool man he's cool he knows i smoke main he know i just dunt wanna do it in front of his face main". I dont know about all that.

The different longboard I chose was much more steady and I could steer better. Apparently the softtop board wasn't made to surf the waves I was trying to surf and that's why it kept wobbling, I was going to fast.
The swell lines were so crowded today people kept running into each other. I nearly ran over this younger surfer's head, I knew as soon as I got up on the board I was headed straight for him, there's nothing I can do I can't turn the thing yet, so he ducked underwater and I jumped off.

I've now met two German girls having flings with locals, one in Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean and one here in Tamarindo on the Pacific. Both had relationships back home but something happened. The local young men are tourist hunters so I guess it works for both parties. Makes for a story to tell their girlfriends once home I suppose. My friend from Switzerland told me German girls like Ticos more than American guys. Apparently we don't have the best reputation among Europeans. What a surprise! They all like me though, I've been told I'm not a "typical American", whatever they mean by that.

They find it very disturbing you can shoot someone if they break into your home at night. The French girls particularly had a problem with this."Why not say, 'OK! I give you my stuff! Take it and go', that is better than hurting someone it is only theft they dont deserve to be hurt or killed'". Sounds sweet, but I dont know how practical that is in the states. I replied by explaining anyone who's crazy enough to break into a house is crazy enough to kill you or your family, better them than you, got to protect yourself, your family, your possessions and take action. They rolled their eyes. Different cultures, different lands, different opinions. Still I love how the Europeans love discussing IDEAS, PLACES, and politics(sometimes). They aren't that interested in discussing people or celebrities. Continuing learning about the world is a big deal with them. They pick my brain about the English language. Rarely do they ask about the states or Texas, just about the proper word or context of something. The perception of Texas, from what they've told me, is everyone has a gun, you can shoot people legally(bizarre and horrific), and we are very conservative and very patriotic.
 As you can imagine I've had some pretty deep late night conversations with them.

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