What a weekend! Last Friday was a holiday in Salamanca so we didn´t have classes and instead went to the northern coast of Spain to spend time at "la playa" (the beach). The weather last week had been quite chilly and overcast, leaving us wondering if it would even be warm enough to go to the beach. We turned out to have great timing as the weather cleared off on Thursday and stayed sunny through the day on Saturday.
We drove about 3.5 hours Friday morning to Santander, Spain, where we had a hotel literally right next to the beach. Friday afternoon was then spent soaking up the sun, building amazing sandcastles, and taking quick dips in the water to cool off. The water felt cold if you weren´t moving around in it, but when you actually got in to swim around it was perfect. Friday evening we had a low-key tour of the area around our hotel where there was a palace and a small zoo with penguins, sea lions, and seals. To me it finally felt like summer- sun burn and all!
Saturday was the day I had been looking forward to since the beginning of the trip because this was the day for surfing lessons! It turns out we didn´t have lessons until 5 pm, so I spent the morning running on the beach (my first time ever, reminding me somewhat of running in the snow in Decorah!), playing paddle ball in the sand, and swimming out to some big rocks not far from the beach. It was a ton of fun and it would´ve been a perfect day even without the surfing lessons.
At 4 pm we drove to a different place along the coast where our surfing instructors were waiting. It was hilarious watching everyone try to get their wetsuits on; some legs were going in arm holes and one persone even put their suit on inside out! Then we were each given a surf board and we excitedly marched out to the beach. After about 30 minutes of instruction and practicing on the sand, we were going in. The waves were not super big but the current was strong, making it difficult to even get out to the waves. The first couple of times I just rode out the waves with my stomach on the board, laughing as I ´whooshed´toward the beach. I´m proud to say that I did get up and surf 2 or 3 times, one time even riding out the whole wave. It was a really fun experience, but I definitely need more practice. Since I don´t think I´ll be moving to the coast anytime soon, that practice may be a long time in coming. After an hour and a half of surfing (read: being in the ocean holding onto my surfboard) I was exhausted. It´s amazing how strong those ´little´ waves are! No doubt I will sleep well for the next few nights.
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