Mojo Surf Trip

We just got back from the Mojo Surf Trip! It was a blast, and I am super sore. After our day of orientation stuff on Friday we left on the Mojo Surf bus for a seven hour bus ride. We stopped at McDonald's for a snack and one more time to get "goon." (boxed wine - classy people!!) We got to the camp site at 1 am and we didn't know what to expect. It was dark as we walked to the "bunks." 20 girls stayed in the room I was sleeping in. They showed us the bathrooms which had "bore water" or well water that was "unfit to drink." It also kind of smelled. yum! The leaders of Mojo Surf are the typical surfer bums and pretty funny. Friday night there was a small bonfire but I was exhausted and went straight to bed.

Saturday was an early morning - 7 am wakeup call. Had a small breakfast and a surfing brief before going down to the beach. There were two separate groups going at different times, and I was in the first group. We carried the surf boards down the road, down a hill, and to the beach. There the instructors taught us how to catch a wave and stand on the board. They would come out into the water and help us when we needed it. At first it was frustrating, getting on the board and falling off over and over. The waves were really rough to walk out to - but we only walked to about waist deep for surfing. After many tries the rain began pouring. But that's when it happened! I stood on my board and rode a wave!! It was exhilarating. Sadly, right after that I felt a stinging on my leg. I looked around and saw other people getting out of the ocean, and noticed the blue bottle jelly fish all around. With the rain and storm in the distance, the wind had brought in a huge wave of jellies. Almost everyone got stung in our group. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would though, and I have a pretty cool scar at the moment from it! We stayed out of the water for awhile then got back in once the majority of them had cleared. Once the other group came down to the beach, we went up and played cards, had lunch, then went back out at 2 for more surfing! I did really well in the afternoon session, standing on the board a good amount. I came into the trip not having high expectations for my surfing abilities and I definitely exceeded my thoughts! At night we drank a good amount of wine while having a "barbie" (BBQ) and partied hard. =)

Sunday morning was an early wake up call again for one more time down at the beach. Surfing this morning went pretty well, but I was tired and sore so I wasn't as successful as Saturday's afternoon session. I did stand a few more times though, so overall a very successful weekend! The bus ride back was kind of brutal - all I wanted was to lay down and sleep but I couldn't get comfortable. Now, I'm back at school getting caught up.

Fun Fact: While everyone is watching the Super Bowl, I will be at my first study abroad classes. Sadly, I won't be able to watch because here the Super Bowl is 9 am Monday morning. There is a pub in town that is playing it which is basically the only reason I remembered that the Super Bowl existed!! Go Bears! oh.. wait.. sigh. Go Colts?