As I prepare for departure, I have a mental checklist (of sorts) of things/experiences to be accomplished and one of them was to go surfing! As of yesterday, CHECK.
The day was gorgeous with blue skies, slight winds, and blue blue ocean water :) I was really psyched but of course tentative, having been prepped of the difficulty/frustration/exhaustion aspect of the whole endeavor. Well, we arrived and our gracious instructor Mark was super fun. Here's a shout out to him and his company!
The basic premise of surfing, as I understand it, now as a complete pro, of course ;) is that you lay on your belly, swim and swim and swim until the wave comes and you feel it tugging at the back of the board, then you push up into a standing position and WHA-LA, surfing. Riding the wave. Easy enough, right?
So actually, I'm proud to say that I made it up onto the board about six times but as soon as I was upright, I would sorta 'hop' right back into the water, toppling and rolling into the wave with the surfboard flipping and somersaulting with me. I'm not sure why but even the instructor chuckled at me "Gail, the surfboard is NOT a springboard. Why do you keep diving into the water as soon as you're up?" or "Gail, THIS time, JUST stay on, okay? stand up and don't be tempted to dive right back into the water." or "THIS time, just stay on. Just STAY on. stay ON. don't jump off." But yet... inevitably, time over time again, I would prop myself up standing on the board... see the world and then... I'd be back into the water. WHAAA!!!
Fun times all around - but let's talk Gail's injuries, shall we?
.jpg)
One time, as I careened under water, the board slammed into my jaw, knocking my teeth together. I knew it wasn't gonna be pretty. As I came out of the water and stood up, all I could think about was LeFou and his toothy smile (Gaston's sidekick from Beauty and the Beast). I almost didn't want to open my mouth for fear all my teeth would just crumble out. Slowly opening up, I put my finger inside to survey the damage and came out with a bit of chipped-off teeth. Fortunately, from immediate appearances, my teeth are 'okay' and the pearly smile is still intact. Unfortunately, when probing further, I have definitely chipped about four of my teeth. One in the back in which a large chunk is quite noticeably not there anymore and giving me a bit of a sensitive sting in the mouth right now. The three others in the front are jagged but I have been assured, not noticeable at first glance. My bottom teeth are sore from the whole trauma and Advil is a good friend until I go to the dentist sometime this week... which, I'm sure, "dentist in Morocco" story will be a whole other "story" to be told soon :) In the meantime, I went on a run today and even the wind gave my current 'sensitive teeth' a little nerve chill... not good :P
Another time, again as I was flailing through the waves with my new friend surfboard, it decided to knock me on the forehead... just a bit of a bump as a souvenir of our friendship :)
BUT... it WAS a wonderful experience. honest honest. The sense of standing on water... pretty fabulous. I will go at those waves again, after I get my new teeth and perhaps a mouthguard :P
The day was gorgeous with blue skies, slight winds, and blue blue ocean water :) I was really psyched but of course tentative, having been prepped of the difficulty/frustration/exhaustion aspect of the whole endeavor. Well, we arrived and our gracious instructor Mark was super fun. Here's a shout out to him and his company!
The basic premise of surfing, as I understand it, now as a complete pro, of course ;) is that you lay on your belly, swim and swim and swim until the wave comes and you feel it tugging at the back of the board, then you push up into a standing position and WHA-LA, surfing. Riding the wave. Easy enough, right?
 |
| READY to SURF!!! |
Fun times all around - but let's talk Gail's injuries, shall we?
One time, as I careened under water, the board slammed into my jaw, knocking my teeth together. I knew it wasn't gonna be pretty. As I came out of the water and stood up, all I could think about was LeFou and his toothy smile (Gaston's sidekick from Beauty and the Beast). I almost didn't want to open my mouth for fear all my teeth would just crumble out. Slowly opening up, I put my finger inside to survey the damage and came out with a bit of chipped-off teeth. Fortunately, from immediate appearances, my teeth are 'okay' and the pearly smile is still intact. Unfortunately, when probing further, I have definitely chipped about four of my teeth. One in the back in which a large chunk is quite noticeably not there anymore and giving me a bit of a sensitive sting in the mouth right now. The three others in the front are jagged but I have been assured, not noticeable at first glance. My bottom teeth are sore from the whole trauma and Advil is a good friend until I go to the dentist sometime this week... which, I'm sure, "dentist in Morocco" story will be a whole other "story" to be told soon :) In the meantime, I went on a run today and even the wind gave my current 'sensitive teeth' a little nerve chill... not good :PAnother time, again as I was flailing through the waves with my new friend surfboard, it decided to knock me on the forehead... just a bit of a bump as a souvenir of our friendship :)
BUT... it WAS a wonderful experience. honest honest. The sense of standing on water... pretty fabulous. I will go at those waves again, after I get my new teeth and perhaps a mouthguard :P
1 comment:
EEK!! i'm glad you're ok, and that the experience still managed to be "fun"!
hope the dentist visit goes well!
Post a Comment