„If you can surf here, you can surf everywhere“ (Day 48 of the world trip)

22.10.2019

Unbelievable but true - today we had our first surf lesson! :)

The alarm clock would have rung at 6:30 a.m., but thanks to the mosquito(s) and the restless sleep that came with it, I was already awake :p :D

While Jonas wanted to have breakfast after surfing, I thought it would be better not to start on an empty stomach. So we had the usual toast with banana and chocolate cream or peanut butter. By the way, the peanut butter has no transfats and is super healthy and provides lots of protein (says the sticker on the jar^^)!

At 7:15 a.m. I heard a vehicle outside and told Jonas that we should go out, but he hesitated. The pickup time was 7:20 a.m., but he believed in "Indian 7:20 a.m." and took his time. When we left the bungalow and came across Alsin, our host, who asked if we were going surfing, I was glad that we had gone out early because, in fact, the vehicle was our pickup vehicle! Five minutes early! In India! :O ;-)

Classic was the pickup vehicle a Tuk-Tuk. Jonas and I sat there together quite comfortably, but then we picked up another couple and it got cozy^^

The drive to the beach took maybe 5 minutes and as expected, we were actually at Black Beach, right where we had watched the other surfers yesterday evening :)

After getting out of the Tuk-Tuk, everyone was assigned a surfboard to carry to the beach. It was a bit slippery with flip-flops on the rocks and the long board, but definitely doable ;-)

As a warm-up, we initially ran 50m down and back along the beach, and then stretched our arms, legs, and hips. Although we were only wearing swimwear, I was already quite warm... my fitness is generally not as good as I would like it to be, but I felt a bit weak, which I attribute to the time and the climate^^

Jonas was doing great! We were both looking forward to the course, but I think he was even more excited because he was also glad to finally do something active again after being sick in bed the last couple of days ;-)

After the warm-up, the other couple and a third participant Krishna were assigned to one surf instructor, and Jonas and I ended up with Akhil, the second surf instructor. There were already some other people in the water, obviously also taking a surf course. There are three main providers here, with Surf & Soul, who are also a hotel, being the biggest fish (and the most expensive :p)

Our two instructors from Moonwave are simply two surfers who also want to teach others how to surf. They don't have a company behind them and are a bit cheaper. Spoiler: you can't accuse them of lacking professionalism! We basically had a private lesson with a lot of feedback <3

First, Akhil explained some basics to us. The front part of the surfboard is called "Nose", the back part "Tail", and the middle part "Rail". The fins on the underside are called "Fins" and the strap that you tie around your ankle and that is connected to the board is called "Leash". He also explained that when we want to rent a surfboard, we should also pay attention to the length. Jonas has an 8.6 and I have an 8.0. As you get better, the length gets shorter, but we are still far from that :D :D

We then did some dry exercises on the beach, where we were supposed to practice paddling and getting up. Akhil took his time to evaluate and correct our standing up: feet parallel and sideways, legs bent, arms at chest height with one arm bent and one arm extended. And, the most important rule: Always look forward! Not down at the board or to the side at the wave or anything. Always forward. Okay!

We did the exercises a few times until he was satisfied, and then it was time to go into the water!!!

The current was similar to yesterday evening, a bit wild, and the waves were sometimes difficult to predict. Allegedly, it was good conditions this morning, which made me wonder what bad conditions look like :p :D

We stayed in waist-deep water and today we had a seemingly simple task. We lie on the board, Akhil chooses the wave for us, pushes us, and then he calls "Press up!". So, in theory, it doesn't sound too challenging.

In practice, it looked very different for Jonas and me. Right on his first push, he jumped up on the board and stayed up for a few seconds! :O And he had even said that he didn't believe that we would be able to stand up once in the first hour. Well! He received a lot of praise "Good try, bro'" and we felt that throughout the hour, Akhil intentionally gave Jonas more challenging waves to push him a bit. So, it can be said that he really responded well to us and didn't just stick to his program of pushing and pulling. Great!!! :) :)

For me, it was initially a tragedy :p I couldn't manage to stand up even once until the first break, and I had the feeling that I had problems for a different reason every time. Sometimes I was too fast, sometimes too slow, sometimes my foot was too close to the edge and tipped the board... Well. During the break, Akhil showed me a second way to get up, and with that, I managed to stand up twice in the second part! Yay! :D

Overall, the surf lesson was super cool but also super exhausting!!! The short part where you are pushed and stand up is actually quite chill, but stepping out to Akhil was really tough for me. Because the waves don't stop just because you're walking... That means that in the worst case, I took two steps forward, a wave came towards me, and if I couldn't stand up to it, I was three steps closer to the beach -.- :D

Jonas had no problems with that at all. He was fit and agile. As if he had never been sick! We both had fun, but initially, I had doubts about whether I really wanted to do 5 hours or if one or two would be enough for me^^

In the end, I decided to at least try :p I'm still sooo exhausted, my eyes are burning from the saltwater, and I have to find a solution so that I don't have to constantly pull up my bikini bottoms while lying on the board :D :D But I'll take another look at it tomorrow :) If it doesn't work out, I can still cancel or take more breaks.

Jonas is definitely totally enthusiastic and will do all 5 days! :)

In the late afternoon, we went back to Black Beach to watch the sunset and look out at the sea. Pure relaxation, really! :) There were a few ladies next to us who wanted to have the perfect photo for their Instagram account, and we could watch a few crabs that had to clear their "houses" every time a wave came^^

A perfect ending to the day.