Day 2

"Surf Brain"

We have a saying in Bikram yoga: "yoga brain." It's what happens to you after getting your butt kicked in a Bikram yoga class--you leave and forget your keys, someone asks you a simple question and you stare at them blankly and say, "huh?", etc.

Today I surfed so much that after my sunset session, I had SURF brain. I got my butt kicked, in a very good way, by surfing a ton. By the time I got out of the water tonight, I could not have basic conversation with people on the beach because I was so dazed! The waves are so good right now, I have to get the gettin' while the gettin' is good, or something like that. I saw on the surf forecast that the swell fades a little for a day or two before we get another, so maybe I'll get some work done then! (I am currently setting up my own web design and digital marketing business)

In the morning I surfed at Surfer's Beach. I'd say it was about 5-6 feet and a little choppy here. It started off a little bit packed but as the wind picked up, it thinned out. I had some good rides here and was just really loving being out in the water in beautiful PR... Surfer's Beach has a beautiful backdrop of tropical cliffs... and like everywhere in PR, amazing clear blue-green water with the reef visible below.

SURFER'S BEACH

After, grabbed some lunch—rice and beans, turkey, and plantains—at an open-air bar/restaurant close to my apartment, $5. Being the only gringa in there, I was reminded that one of the things I may look into is going to Spanish school while I’m here so I can get more competent in my conversational Spanish. Put that on the To-Do list…

After lunch, I actually did do a little work and napped, then headed out for a sunset session at Wilderness. It was really hard to do work when all I could think about was surfing! I had an amazing session at Wilderness, with lots of good rides, and one incredible left which lasted forever and ever... you know, the kind of wave that takes you so far down the beach that when you paddle back out, you find you are now part of an entirely different line-up on a different peak. Haha. Puerto Rico is "the land of rights," but there are still some great lefts to be had.

I was having a blast and it's so true that when you are happy, the people around you respond to it. I had so many nice people in the line-up tonight just smiling back at me and saying "nice one!" etc, and on the beach when I was done. This plays right into a way of thinking I developed on my last trip to Puerto Rico:

See, most of the spots in PR are crowded. On my last trip, I was at Maria's in Rincon in a crowd, and found myself in competition with the other surfers to catch waves. I wasn't surfing well that day and I stopped myself to think about my mindset. Instead of thinking as the other surfers as my competition, I pretended I was in a line-up full of my best friends. I imagined we were cheering each other on for good rides and were happy for each other when we caught waves instead of competing. It really changed my attitude and instantly, I was surfing better. I used the same mindset tonight in the crowd and everyone was really super friendly!

Not to mention the sun was setting and the angle of the light made the water appear that much more beautiful, if that is even possible. Almost made the water luminescent against the backdrop of pink/light blue/light purple sky... it was pretty incredible.

I got out of the water fully satisfied and, yes, a bit dazed, and just thinking "thank you."

Tomorrow, more surf and more business stuff, if I can resist staying out of the water long enough! Buenas Noches :)