We See the Undertow

And we say LET'S GO!

Actually, no, that's terrible advice but it does come from what is, in my opinion, the cutest part of the latest Pixar animated love-fest, Finding Dory. Dory's parents teach the forgetful fish a song to protect her from the ocean's nastiest current and Whitney and I think it's cute and sing it a lot. BUT not in front of our surf instructors today because I think they wouldn't have let us in the water if they knew we were gunning for the riptide.

The fact that I'm writing this blog post means that only my fear of swallowing a lot of salt water came true today and nothing worse. Am I a surprisingly gifted surfer? *Pause while I laugh at the thought of ever being perceived as a talented athlete* NO. Definitely not. I do theatre for a reason! Did I live? Well, we already covered that topic.

It was actually a lot of fun. Our instructors were named Negro (like the color) and Roberto (like someone named Roberto) and they were very thoughtful. Especially because I was very bad. Whitney likes to say we have had surf lessons but I like to remind her that it was a singular informal lesson EIGHT years ago. It doesn't count. Facts aside, Whitney is distinctly better at all of these things than me and didn't get to enjoy all of the quality time that I spent falling on my face and spitting out mouthful of sand.

All in all, surfing is something I would try again and would definitely rank higher than trips to the dentist and looking at my middle school yearbooks on a list of things I enjoy. Whitney is already planning a triumphant return to the waves in Costa Rica and by that, I mean she's watching videos of me falling that she took on her GoPro while we were out there (for the record, I'm recommending taking another class in Costa Rica but I might get out-voted). Oh and if people laughing at my surfing wasn't bad enough, Negro and Roberto lost their minds when they found out I'm 24, apparently I barely pass for 20. Add that with "astronomically uncoordinated" to the list of things that are no longer new.

Teasing aside, as they returned us to our hostel, they mentioned that Roberto leads afternoon trips to a nearby waterfall and they asked if we'd be interested. Since we had literally zero plans for the rest of the day, we said we were game and we went out separate ways to prepare for the activities. During this downtime, I continued reading Amy Poehler's Yes Please and she once again proved to be the perfect author for me when less than a full page into this literary endeavor, she compared improvisation and living in Chicago to surfing. DID I MENTION THAT I JUST CAME FROM A SURFING LESSON? Freaky... (No, I never mentioned this to Amy Poehler because I've never spoken to her, that's what makes it such a happy coincidence!)

So I needed out, worked on my tan lines and got a smoothie. It was a "Hawaiian Rainbow" smoothie if you're curious but it was more of an orange-pink color than a ROYGBIV situation.

Now, 1pm rolled around and Roberto came to meet us. We would be going out to this unnamed waterfall (I still don't know what it's called to be honest) with two other guys and it was going to be a twenty minute drive and a twenty minute hike. The ride, apart from lack of legroom, was easy. The hike... was not. It is what I imagine the walk down to hell must be like. Yes, I said DOWN. (And this is why I'm pleased that I've already booked a first class seat to hell, I deserve to travel in style and this hike was anything but). We had to do down the side of a mountain to get to this waterfall! And not just that, everything was muddy and slippery. It was all particularly strange because Roberto had instructed us to wear proper shoes and was barefoot the entire time. It might have been the first hike I've ever been to where I was actually looking forward to the incline!!!

When we arrived at the first waterfall, you could actually jump off of it; Whitney did, I did not. I elected not to participate because I have both a tendency to fall over and a tendency to fall into things and these just aren't the thoughts you want when you're jumping off of a rock and into a body of water that is also made of rocks.

The next waterfall was not jumpable but actually swimable so I went into this one and spent a lot of time getting ice water in my mouth (A+ for hydration!).

Remember when I said that I might actually be looking forward to the hike back up the mountain? Yeah... We went back a different route than we'd come and this route is at what I would estimate to be an 89 degree angle. I couldn't tell if I was dripping because I'd been swimming or because I was sweating like it was going out of style but it was unpleasant. I asked to be left behind roughly every 12 steps (Whitney said it would take more effort for her to explain to people where I was than it would be for me to finish the  hike so I had to keep going but I don't think that's really true, either way, I clearly made it back because I wouldn't be blogging from the forest).

When we got back, we really wanted to collapse in bed for a bit and we did until we got hungry. Whitney really wanted pasta so we went to a restaurant that advertised it's "Feltucine" and she got that while I went with the more traditional quesadilla.
Moving on, last night, I posted an SOS about getting food in the rain and .we eventually did but we also went out and captured a few of the coolest lightning pics I have ever seen (one of which is now collecting likes on my instagram page) but then the rain started tonight. We'd already eaten, thankfully, and had even watched the sunset on the beach when this storm swooped in. The lightning might as well have been a fireworks display from the rapidity of strikes and the thunder was just booming over everything like a never-ending roll on a timpani drum. So Whitney and I did the only logical thing that two girls who have spread out their entire suitcases across a dorm room, over the course of two days and have a 7am shuttle in the morning, we set up camp in the hammocks outside of our room and enjoyed the show. (And wrote this post in my case).

We are headed to Leon, Nicaragua. This journey will require not one but two border crossings as we must pass through Honduras to reach our final destination. I wouldn't mind an extra day or two to relax in El Tunco but Leon means volcano boarding and that has been Whitney's dream since she knew it existed. Stay tuned as always, faithful readers; I'll be back.

P.S. after writing this whole post and watching the storm from afar, Whitney wanted to go watch it from the beach and try to get more pictures. I agreed because I am the world's best big sister so we put on rain jackets and went out. Her pictures put mine to shame. Technically she took the other picture that I already posted on instagram but now she has about 10 million other pics and videos to upload. It was insane. Either way, what she will get in instagram likes, I get in her undying gratitude and love so I'm winning here.