(enjoying the life)
Upon realizing that there is no such thing as a "complete man" that doesn't know how to surf, my fine compadre Blackjack and I packed our bags, and headed for the world famous break in El Salvador. We heard there was a sick right-handed break at playa El Sunzal, so we figured we'd bust some curves on it. Or at least, we'd learn to get down with the lingo. And plus, I already have the hair and the guitar and a few days in Puerto Escondido. Taking my hard-earned Puerto experience with me (wear a rash-guard, save your nipples), I headed for the surf. I mean, seriously, how hard can this "surfing" thing be?
(typical situation)
Right, anyway, onward ho. We rented some boards and hired a teacher for a lesson. Seemed like a reasonable thing to do on the first day. We got our massive longboards and paddled out to the break, which is an unreasonable distance from the shore. God really overcompensated on that one, but I just looked at it as an opportunity to get even more buff (I know, you're probably thinking "no WAY, more buff? ya RIGHT.", but oh ya baby, it's true). In comes the first wave - my heart is pounding with excitement, I can't wait to show the babes what true man is made of. I'm a wee bit nervous, as I can see that there's another surfer coming on it, but my teacher insists and I paddle like my life depends on it. That is, until the other surfer was inches away from me, at which point I decided to flip the board and protect myself. Whack! I feel his board graze off my head and then smash into my board. Shit son! That was close! The teacher came and we made sure that all was well, and nobody was hurt. Then as we were swimming away, we noticed that part of my fin was stuck in his board. Ding dong! Shucks. Ah well, that's the life of the board.
And when you get knocked off a board, you just get right back on, right? Right. So up and at it, and I was standing on the second wave. Puuuurrrrrrrr.
(cutting the wave, baby!)
("is that Patrick Swayze?!")
After our first day in El Sunzal, the crew from the full moon hike in Guatemala came to join us for some surfing fun. Awesome! Re-united crew! We surfed every other day, for the first week we were there.
(re-union!)
When we weren't surfing, we were either drinking licuados (or beers) in a bar on the beach, or doing some serious body surfing.
("Jon, there's too much backlighting"... "no there's not, look, I'll just cover it up")
And body surfing, is the sport of champions. Just you and the wave, man vs. nature. This was all fun and good, until the waves decided to get all "Point Break" on our asses. I still remember watching that movie at the drive-in in Penitanguishine -- Patrick Swayze is so HOT. I think it was back to back with Sister Act. Whoopi Goldberg is so HOT. But she couldn't surf, at least, not in these widow-makers. Ten foot, twelve foot, whatEVER. Bring it!
Well, as usually happens when you through out a "bring it!" to mother nature I got rocked. I got caught up in a massive wave, probably 8000 feet tall (approximations, the waves look bigger when you're on top of them), that slammed me down into the sand full force, and then proceeded to tumble me and crush me with the wrath of Khan. Well, thankfully I could still swim and made it to shore, limp like a wet bowl of corn flakes. I made it home with the help of my friends, and then the guy that worked at the guesthouse we were staying at made me a makeshift cane out of an old broom and a piece of pipe.
(my crutches)
At night time, the entire community of El Sunzal shuts down at or just before 8pm. The "main drag" is the whole town, and it consists of a few eateries and hostels which have been built up along the highway. So we ate a lot of watermelon, and played a lot of cards, and some of the crew drank beer.
(deeeelicious)
I love this country. El Salvador is really beautiful, and the people are very helpful without any expectation. And best of all, as a traveller, is that there are so few tourists here, thanks to its reputation. The other day when I logged onto gmail, a friend messaged me, "Hey Jon, how's the murder capital of the world?" Great! That's the reputation. Far too dangerous for travellers. Stay away. The truth of the matter is that I haven't felt in danger yet in this country. Most of the crime, and there is a lot of it, happens in the capital, San Salvador. Generally, if you don't travel at night, and don't appear to be rich (you can't help the colour of your skin which inevitably attracts attention, but you can avoid wearing flashy clothes), you will not have many problems in any country.
This is a poor country, that has been ravaged by war. They had an incredibly bloody civil war that lasted until about 10 years ago, with many massacres and brutalization of their people. But now, even with the events so fresh in their minds, people carry on their lives smilingly. It's generally a simple and slow life, outside the capital, and people are usually content to watch the world go by at a liesurely pace.
(washing in the river)
(enjoying a little sunset soccer)
Right, anyway, onward ho. We rented some boards and hired a teacher for a lesson. Seemed like a reasonable thing to do on the first day. We got our massive longboards and paddled out to the break, which is an unreasonable distance from the shore. God really overcompensated on that one, but I just looked at it as an opportunity to get even more buff (I know, you're probably thinking "no WAY, more buff? ya RIGHT.", but oh ya baby, it's true). In comes the first wave - my heart is pounding with excitement, I can't wait to show the babes what true man is made of. I'm a wee bit nervous, as I can see that there's another surfer coming on it, but my teacher insists and I paddle like my life depends on it. That is, until the other surfer was inches away from me, at which point I decided to flip the board and protect myself. Whack! I feel his board graze off my head and then smash into my board. Shit son! That was close! The teacher came and we made sure that all was well, and nobody was hurt. Then as we were swimming away, we noticed that part of my fin was stuck in his board. Ding dong! Shucks. Ah well, that's the life of the board.
(more punishment or not, that is the question)
And when you get knocked off a board, you just get right back on, right? Right. So up and at it, and I was standing on the second wave. Puuuurrrrrrrr.
(cutting the wave, baby!)
("is that Patrick Swayze?!")
After our first day in El Sunzal, the crew from the full moon hike in Guatemala came to join us for some surfing fun. Awesome! Re-united crew! We surfed every other day, for the first week we were there.
(re-union!)
When we weren't surfing, we were either drinking licuados (or beers) in a bar on the beach, or doing some serious body surfing.
("Jon, there's too much backlighting"... "no there's not, look, I'll just cover it up")
And body surfing, is the sport of champions. Just you and the wave, man vs. nature. This was all fun and good, until the waves decided to get all "Point Break" on our asses. I still remember watching that movie at the drive-in in Penitanguishine -- Patrick Swayze is so HOT. I think it was back to back with Sister Act. Whoopi Goldberg is so HOT. But she couldn't surf, at least, not in these widow-makers. Ten foot, twelve foot, whatEVER. Bring it!
Well, as usually happens when you through out a "bring it!" to mother nature I got rocked. I got caught up in a massive wave, probably 8000 feet tall (approximations, the waves look bigger when you're on top of them), that slammed me down into the sand full force, and then proceeded to tumble me and crush me with the wrath of Khan. Well, thankfully I could still swim and made it to shore, limp like a wet bowl of corn flakes. I made it home with the help of my friends, and then the guy that worked at the guesthouse we were staying at made me a makeshift cane out of an old broom and a piece of pipe.
(my crutches)
At night time, the entire community of El Sunzal shuts down at or just before 8pm. The "main drag" is the whole town, and it consists of a few eateries and hostels which have been built up along the highway. So we ate a lot of watermelon, and played a lot of cards, and some of the crew drank beer.
(deeeelicious)
I love this country. El Salvador is really beautiful, and the people are very helpful without any expectation. And best of all, as a traveller, is that there are so few tourists here, thanks to its reputation. The other day when I logged onto gmail, a friend messaged me, "Hey Jon, how's the murder capital of the world?" Great! That's the reputation. Far too dangerous for travellers. Stay away. The truth of the matter is that I haven't felt in danger yet in this country. Most of the crime, and there is a lot of it, happens in the capital, San Salvador. Generally, if you don't travel at night, and don't appear to be rich (you can't help the colour of your skin which inevitably attracts attention, but you can avoid wearing flashy clothes), you will not have many problems in any country.
This is a poor country, that has been ravaged by war. They had an incredibly bloody civil war that lasted until about 10 years ago, with many massacres and brutalization of their people. But now, even with the events so fresh in their minds, people carry on their lives smilingly. It's generally a simple and slow life, outside the capital, and people are usually content to watch the world go by at a liesurely pace.
(washing in the river)
(enjoying a little sunset soccer)
(palm trees and a sunset)
No comments:
Post a Comment