Another surf update and some of our day

Yesterday I surfed for my second time at La Punta Zicatela (I usually surf straight out from our house at Playa Zicatela). There were some really good lefts off the rocks, and it was about two feet overhead on the sets. When I paddled out, there were only three guys and I kept thinking of my brother Brad who would have been going crazy on these lefts. It is a more forgiving wave compared to the waves right out at Playa Zicatela. I got some really fun waves, but toward the end of the session it got more crowded. The whole family came down and Krista played with the kids on the beach and while I surfed with a guy named Alejandro from our language school. He is Swiss, and Spanish is his 5th language (makes us feel a little stupid as we struggle with our 2nd!). The first time I surfed the point, it was smaller and I saw a shark fin after about an hour and a half so I decided to call it a night. I jogged back on the beach to our place and picked up two big bags of our laundry from the lavandaria on the way home.

Last Wednesday I had a frustrating day - just one of those "oh my gosh what have I done by taking the family here" times, and Krista encouraged me to go out and get some surf right after our language school (at 5 pm). So, I really had a good session and it was just what the doctor ordered. I surfed for almost two hours and I got a bunch of waves. Every single time I surf the spot out front, it is at least 3 feet overhead on the sets. These waves are heavy and remind of Pipeline or Sunset (in terms of the power of the waves and the water temperature). I've seen three broken boards so far. It is a fast beach break. Some of the waves close out, and the ones that don't are very fast but there are some good opportunities for big tubes or a couple quick turns. I have surfed my 6'10" pintail McCoy board out there every session, and I am glad I brought a bigger board. Anyway, I was much more confident this session and I got some great waves. A few of the lefts that I got were solid 3-4 feet overhead (encontre mis huevos).

By the way, our internet connection is somewhat sporadic and it is hard to post pictures, but we'll try to do some more soon. Some of you mentioned surf pics, but if I'm out surfing that means Krista is on the beach playing with the kids or back at our house. So, we'll try to get some surf pics, but they will not be of me.

We had a great day today as a family, but Krista and I did not speak as much Spanish as we have been lately. We were able to connect with a really nice woman who is here with her husband as missionaries. They are from California, but they have been here for 14 years. They have eight children! Krista and I were in awe. Her husband is one an outreach trip right now with their oldest child, but she is going to pick us up in the morning (along with 7 of her children in her 15 person van) to bring us to the church that they attend. We are really looking forward to it. We had somewhat of a bizarre experience at the church we visited last Sunday. One of the big things that the husband does here is organize youth soccer (which they did not use to have). David is going to play with some other kids on Mondays and Thursdays. They do not have any grass fields in Puerto, but Ronne (the husband) is working on that.

Oh, we brought a soccer ball down to this dirt field that is two blocks from our house and David joined in a pick up game with about 15 local boys. David had a blast playing with these kids. It was funny because he was the youngest (they ranged in age from 9 to 15), and he was one of the tallest. We left him there playing while I retrieved cold water and a snack for all of the kids. I had fun talking to them in Spanish. They were still thirsty when they finished playing so about 10 of them came to our house for another helping of agua. It was really cool the way the kids welcomed David into their soccer game. I'm guessing that David might become a regular at their pick up games. By the way, half of them were barefoot (the goalie had only one shoe on)!

Enough for tonight. There is so much else I want to share as every day of this trip is such an adventure for us, but these were some of my musings tonight. Peace and love from the Fros (Krista says "hi" - she is studying her Spanish vocabulary right now).

Chris