Today was a very big day for me. But to really understand it, to truly comprehend the magnitude of this Wednesday, we must first go back to Monday. On Monday my Princeton friend Laura and I decided to go to Muizenburg and buy our first surf boards from the local Lifestyles Surf Shop. Now for those of you who know me, you know I am possibly the most indecisive shopper ever. I tend to have panic attacks when picking out toothpaste. So before I went I consulted every friend possible for what to look for in a board. Gretchen, kind soul that she is, sent me the used board bible, Jenn and Matt backed me up when I said I thought I wanted a 6'6 rather than a long board and Seth and Jared essentially told me they were proud of me for trying. And thank god you people told me what to do because we got to the shop and Laura informs me she's choosing based on how pretty the board is. But that's what you get from someone who only has the option of surfing the Jersey shore I guess. So I toiled, I pondered, I searched, I asked the shop guy WAY to many questions, I stopped Laura from accidentally buying a gun because it was pretty and then I found her. And she was perfect; a used 6'6, bright green:
She was covered in about a 1/4 inch of old wax which was extremely satisfying to scrape off. I bought a pink leash to make her extra girly and remind me of watermelons. Laura ended up going with a new 6'10; pink and blue and very pretty. We were talking to the shop guys for a while about where to surf in Madagascar and Mozambique and Namibia because we're planning our Easter vacation and I felt we had FINALLY built up a little respect from the local surfers...until Laura turned sideways to walk out the door and got her board stuck in the security gate. Oh well.
So we planned to get up early this morning to get on the train to go back to Muizenburg to try out our boards for the first time. We both have class at 11 and wanted enough time to get back and get ready for school so we decided to get a 6:30 am train to the beach. Now I don't know if you know this but one of my three favorite past times is sleeping (the other two are eating and dancing, and I've yet to figure out a way to combine all three without choking or falling off the bed, if you have any advice let me know) and as it turns out 6am is pretty early. So I went to bed around 10 so I could get enough sleep. At about 12:30 in the morning I get a knock on my door, which i decided to ignore because, seriously, if someone needs to wake me up in the middle of the night it had sure as hell be an emergency and they can just KNOCK AGAIN DAMMIT! And then there was another knock and I heard my room mate Carolyn say "Uh, Laurel, the mountain is on fire and I really think you should see it." And what do you know? The mountain WAS on fire:
Like lots of fire. Like Dante's inferno. Which is ironic because the mountain that was on fire was not table mountain, but rather devil's peak. So we stayed up for a little while on the back porch watching and taking lots of pictures. Then I had to go to bed because I am DETERMINED to become a bad ass shredderette by the time I get back to California.
So we went to the beach bright and early with our friend Tris who lives above me and...it was poop. Seriously. The surf forecast said 3-4 feet and clean and it was maybe 1-2 feet and mushy poop surf, in poop brown water, probably with a lot of poopy sharks too (don't worry mom the shark spotters were there today). But, as I've mentioned before, I am DETERMINED to get better so Laura and I figured we might as well try because we came all this way, this early and we needed to test our new boards (did i mention that Laura first put her fins on backwards and hadn't waxed her board because she didn't want to "mess it up"? Yes we have a ways to go with that one, but I sure do love her). So we got in, attempted to surf on waves that literally die under you for about 45 minutes and then got out. Oh, and Tris stayed on the beach, he didn't feel it was worth it to even get wet.
So I went to school with a lack of sleep and a lack of surf time but it was all good because today is the day I go to St. George's home for girls and hang out with Maureen:
Today we talked about what to do if someone attacks or abuses you. I asked what she would do if a man was grabbing her and hurting her and she said "scream my head off and kick. HARD." She might be the smartest girl ever. I've also taught her the meaning of the word "sassy" which she likes to say all the time now.
The girls at St. George's are all exceptionally sassy. And entirely unruly. Today I brought my camera so I can document what goes on, and, not surprisingly, it turned into St. George's Next Top Model photo shoot. Today's theme was "shoes." See the girls like to play a game where they convince volunteers to jump on the trampoline with them, but shoes are not allowed on. So while the volunteers are jumping in their socks, the other girls steal their shoes and wear them around for the rest of the day and refuse to give them back. Fun, no? Then they make you take a 6,000 pictures of them in various poses wearing shoes that are far too big. Case in point:
I have yet to fall victim to this game. I think it has something to do with the respect I gained last week from totally dominating all their little asses at the front flip competition (thank you mama for buying that death trap trampoline so many years ago. Rest in peace, you served us well).
So it was a big day today as demonstrated by this rather big post. I hope it's easy to read because it has pictures! Speaking of which, I would like to leave you all with photographic evidence that Maureen and I understand each other on a deeper level:
Have a nice day!
