My Day at the Beach

So, ever since I arrived we've talked about going to the beach. I was very excited about the thought of swimming in the Caribbean and all that. So, we planned to go this past Wednesday. However, when we woke up, it was cloudy. We decided to go anyway, and took the metro downtown to catch a bus. We'd lathered up with sunscreen and de-haired ourselves (shaving your legs is pointless when you only ever wear pants), except I was going to have them help me with putting sunscreen on my back once we got to the beach. Anyway, when we arrived downtown it was about 9:30, and it was starting to rain. We were totally bummed, but decided to use the bathroom in the mall. Adrienne was suffering from a little of the Big D (diarrhea), and the first bathroom was closed, so we had to find a second one. Then we decided to get some chicha, a local rice milk drink that's kind of like Mexican horchata but sweeter and thicker. The KT and Adrienne were all excited for me to get to try some good chicha that was made with purified water, since most of it on the streets is not, but it turned out to be some of the nastiest they've had! Then we sat in the mall and talked for awhile, before the sun finally started to come out at around 11:30. We decided we'd still try to make it to the beach, even if we could only be there for about three hours, so we got on the bus.

About twenty minutes into the ride, the money collector got made at KT for having her feet on the seat. He proceeded to glare at us for the next half hour. Then we got into conversation with some people around us. Everyone had different advice on what beach we should stop at, and with the money collector finally smiling at us, we chose one. However, when we got to the beach we realized we should have listened to one of the warnings of the Venezuelans on the bus because it was totally rocky. There was a small roped off area where people were swimming, kind of like the kids' section on a lake. I was thinking, I didn't come to the beach for this! We decided to walk a little farther to the next beach over, which looked a little better. The clouds were ominous, but at least we kind of had the place to ourselves.

We went in for our first swim, and then laid down for awhile. It started to rain, but we endured. KT and I went in the water and were floating around when we both kept feeling like we were being stung. Then we noticed a huge brown blog in the water, and we quickly swam to shore! She was still stinging from what we think was a jellyfish, so we applied some anti-sting stuff. We got hungry and decided to get some lunch at a little hut nearby. We ate some really expensive fish, which of course arrived as a whole fish, tail and eye included. Adrienne had a seafood soup, which was basically broth with claws. At that point the sun was finally coming out, so we thought we'd enjoy another 45 minutes of sun and surf before heading home. Just as we were ready to leave, and I was finally dry, I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, and as the ocean was going to be my only option for the next hour or so, I figured I'd go back in. The waves were really rough, and kind of got knocked over, so that when I got out I realized my suit was full of rocks and sand, and I needed to go back in to get it out. I was trying to get back to a deeper part, but the current had gotten really strong, so I was stuck in the shallow rocky area. A big wave kind of pushed me over, and then I saw another huge one coming! It was starting to crest, so I knew I had no chance of riding it. I plugged my nose and closed my eyes, and the wave totally pushed me into the rocks. My sunglasses were gone, as was my hair tie. I stumbled to my feet, tugging on the bottom of my tankini. My eyes were full of salt water, soI couldn't see very well. I was starting to stagger toward the beach when I discovered that I was topless! My tankini top had been pushed down, and I was standing there bare-chested! I'm sure the other man in the ocean fully appreciated the free show. I pulled up my suit and gotup onto the beach where I discovered that my legs and arms were bleeding from being scraped on the rocks, and I now had more rocks and sand than ever in my suit!

So, wewent back to the kiddie beach where I went back in to rinse off. We then ran to catch a bus back to the city. Wemet up with a friend for ice cream, and got home around 8:30. I really wanted to shower, but needed to do a little laundry first (it's done by hand here), so as I was doing that, the phone rang and it was one of the team members wanting to hear about what happened. As I was describing that, I was attacked by a huge cockroach! It flew into my leg, then into the bathroom. Then I discovered I had a sunburn on my back because we had forgotten to put on the sunscreen. Then I bumped my head on the concrete doorjamb.

All in all, it was quite a day! I really couldn't stop laughing, and I was very thankful to God so be with such nice people to help me survive!