27/12 - Sore shoulders and burnt calves.

Had my first surf lesson yesterday. Yes, I am very sore today. Yes, I loved it. Nice small beginner’s waves, no crowds and sunshine of course. So not only muscles being sore, my legs should probably stay out of the sun for a couple of days to get back to a healthier colour again. But most of all, I made a very important conclusion already before getting in the water: I need to learn this surfing thing really quickly. I’m already tired of trying to carry those massive yellow, banana looking, foam boards around which the beginners (=me) are stuck with. I want one of those cool, small, handy and easy to carry things - now! Spite having a monkey ratio of 1.03 and being fairly tall, my arms weren’t even close to long enough to get around that stupid board. Paddle out through the breaking waves was nothing effort wise compared to moving that piece of foam the 300 m from the base to the beach. And I thought foam was supposed to be light, that’s the whole point isn’t it? Well, I rather drag my kayak around on metros and airport busses and you name it, instead of wrestling with a beginner’s board for a few hundred metres. Hopefully, I’ll be back out there next weekend again to make sure to work my way away from the tanker size surf boards as quickly as possible.

Had my first Rio bus service experience today. Got to where I wanted to go in a shorter time than if I’d been walking, so I guess the main objectives were fulfilled. I’m still a bit confused regarding a couple of things though, but I’m sure I can sort that out once my language skills have evolved a bit further. Along most of the streets where the buses run, you have this bus stop looking sheds. It’s just that that I haven’t really been able to see any correlation between those constructions and where the buses actually stop. Same thing for getting off the bus, not really sure how it’s supposed to work, but I guess the system of just keeping the back doors open when stopping at traffic lights is as good as any. Also, to use the inner lane when letting people on or off seems to be overrated here, just like using the clutch when driving. Just make sure you look out for taxis and motorbikes when crossing the lane to get on/off the bus and to hold on tight to whatever solid things you can find once you’re in it.