The Novice Soundtrack of Racing Waves

The Score
Waves - 74
Kit - 1
Rematch? Unlikely.

Damn a midwest upbringing with its complete lack of oceans. Mistaken is an understatement in my assumption that ample wake-boarding experiences on Missouri lakes would allow me to easily surf. It was just about one of the hardest thing I´ve ever tried.

Scott and I went to Maitencillo, a small coast town where literally almost every house is available for renting, about 3 hours north of Santiago. We met up with 6 other people from USAC and kicked off a weekend of debauchery. The goal of the weekend was to surf.

Renting surf equipment is simple. Walking out into the whitewater is relatively easy the first few times. Actually surfing is a near impossibility. I attempted the sport far more than anyone else in our group - probably between 3 and 4 hours in the water.

Here are some examples of actually getting up on the board, balancing on it, and then proceeding to stay on for at least several seconds.



These are from Sunday. The weather was much nicer when I tried on Saturday, but the waves were about the same size: meaning huge.



The waves pummelled me - unexplainably painful. Later I discovered that 1) it was a relatively short board (about 6.5 feet) which is difficult to learn on, 2) it is smart to take lessons and not just rely on the suggestions of your inexperienced friends, 3) you should start by attacking the whitewash, or already broken waves, rather than venturing out where real surfers play the game! Oh hindsight, how are you so wise?



If I even made it to this stage, here is the outcome. The next morning I could not move. I was expecting sore shoulders and arms, but not abs. Apparently the whole "lying on the board and looking out at the incoming waves" action drains every last sinew of muscle from the stomach region. I probably stood about 5 times on the day, with the last of those being a legitimate ride of about 5 seconds. I was thrilled and called it a day at about 7 o´clock.



Kayaking the waves was impressive, but not nearly as much so as the body boarder below who was in mid-flip during this photo. He proceeded to land the flippish, 360-turn-thingy and continue going.



I spent Sunday, Monday, and lots of today recuperating. It was a great weekend, though. The aforementioned debauchery involved embibing more liquids than I think anyone should be told about. And I did bring back at least one thing from the beach: a rash from being stung by something. Luckily, I was wearing a wetsuit, so only my hands, feet and face were inundated with welts. They itch horribly. The main guess is that I went through a patch of super-small jelly fish, of which there are apparently many in this region!



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$10 Guitar

In other news, I found an old guitar in the trash near my house and made it my new project. So after a good cleaning and lots of duct tape, it´s almost playable! I invested in some new parts and strings have yet to be installed, but otherwise it´s ready. I love how ugly it is. And it will be nice to have a guitar that I don´t have to worry about.

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The Face Race

With the presidential (and other offices) election only 2 weeks away, the campaign is surging and heaving just as any accusation-flying campaign should be. Santiago´s main thoroughfare (Alameda, General Bernardo O´Higgins, Providencia, and Apoquindo depending on the area) is the main spot for the showdown. I´m actually starting to believe that the winner is decided simply by who has the most political signs. It´s so different from what I´m expected to that I really like it!

I´m gonna put in more photos than this deserves, but it´s just so fun.





At first I thought that they weren´t being vandalized very much, but I think the vandals are simply outnumbered and it takes them a long time to get around to all of the signs.





I´m gonna try to figure out who makes them, puts them up and maintains them - stuff like that. It has to be its own industry.