Free Surf Lesson

2/11/10

Have you ever been stung in the balls by a jellyfish? I wish I could say that I haven’t. It was not a bad sting. The jellyfish at Byron feel itchy and annoying more than anything else. We had a beach day today (which was amazing by the way, so much sun and fun in the water and I didn’t get burned, but got nice and tan [4 applications of sunscreen within a 4 hour period]), and while we were all playing in the surf the girls started complaining about getting stung. I got a few stings on my side and it felt kind of like an itchy mosquito bite. I told them to stop being such babies and to man up. I even mocked their fits of surprise when they got stung.

Then karma set it. I felt a warm tingling sensation on my upper left thigh. Like….really upper, as in, divot between the unspeakables and leg region. Then it spread. Most uncomfortable feeling I’ve had on this trip. And that includes the morning after we had unbearably spicy Thai food.

I got quiet and started to walk out of the ocean slowly. Anna asked me if I was ok. I told her the situation and she offered me her firstborn child in case I became infertile. She’s a sweet girl. I asked her if she wanted to kiss it and make it better. She told me she would prefer to give up her firstborn.

About an hour before we left, a group of girls from…..somewhere….Eastern Europe? decided that the breast quota for the beach wasn’t quite high enough, and that the beach needed to become a topless beach. We were all quite appreciative. They were right behind our group, so some of us made a few excuses to walk up the beach and take a drink of water, or throw a bottle out, or make a trip to the bathroom…..3 times.

The rest of the day was great. Kat, Laruen, and I had incredibly expensive and incredibly delicious sushi. We had a few margaritas at the cheeky monkey. I was selected for a competition even though I was minding my own business at the front table, and I was told to select a partner. I tried to decide whether Kat or Lauren would be more embarrassed if I chose them. I decided on Kat.

“I….HATE you” met me as she climbed on stage. The dj asked on member of the team to put their hands on their head. Kat did so. He then brought out the rubber hoses and balloons. I got a free surf lesson in about 20 seconds. I didn’t respond to the hostess’s comment that it “looks like you’d done that before.” Original, lady…original.

We headed back to camp and had a few beers at the pub across from our hostel. We met up with Katie and Annie and Keith and Robin, and Robin was lucky enough to FIND FIFTY DOLLARS IN THE GOD DAMN ASHTRAY. He bought us all drinks. It was a good night.

I packed up a bit and fell asleep in my clothes. I woke up at three and heard Kat and Jack and Catlin still chatting away on the hammock outside out tee-pee. I don’t know when they came to bed, but we had to get up @ 6:30 to catch our bus. None of us were pleased.