At the Beach
On Saturday, I went surfing! Max, Sly, Andrew, Erin, John, and I all headed down to Bolsa Chica beach in the morning (I’m told that it means “Bag Lady” in Spanish, but it’s a really nice surfing beach, especially for beginners). We assumed it would be warm, so none of us brought wetsuits. There were a few tense moments when we first got there, as the sun was behind a cloud and it was freezing cold (Erin had to huddle under some towels), but it warmed up soon.
I was very careful to apply lots of sunscreen. The sun here is harsher than on the east coast. Last year, I tried to make do with spray-on sunscreen but, having never used it before, I didn’t realize that you are supposed to rub it in. I ended up with streaks all over my skin, alternating red and white. I looked ridiculous!John has a very fair complexion, so in addition to sunscreen, he had to hide under an umbrella.
Andrew had been up very late the night before and had only gotten one hour of sleep. In addition to his SURF, he’s working hard to edit the Little T (an annually released guidebook to Caltech). He took a nap on the beach.
Erin had never surfed before, but it’s really easy to pick up. She had some trouble at first because the waves would dump her off her board, but she quickly got the hang of it. I managed to ride a wave all the way in to shore, so I was very pleased. Sly, who is better than the rest of us, managed to catch many waves. I even caught a picture of her standing up!
