surfs up - and so is alida (on the board)

well, took the first lesson today. i have rashes and bruises and a sunburn despite sunscreen, but it was fun! surfing is definately more difficult than i had hoped:-) it takes alot of effort to swim out, and stand up, and try to stay standing up (if i even get that far...) i was totally exhausted after an hour, but darn it, the lesson was two hours, so i just kept going and going (being the good dutch person i am, i have to get the full money's worth)

i managed to stand several times, once even going all the way to the beach, where i had to jump onto the sand to stop. that was exciting. i fell more than i stood though, often leaning too far over the right of the board and going head first into the water. i am not so nimble as to jump right up like the instructor either. it takes actual effort to push my body up. i provided some entertainment for people walking by on the beach. good thing i am okay with laughing at myself!

i hung out on the beach the rest of the afternoon and read. the beaches are pretty quiet because it is low season. this is good and bad. it is nice because you don't have to fight for a spot. it is bad because you don't want to leave your stuff on the beach lest someone leaps out of a bush to steal your stuff. that and, strange costa rican men sit and watch you and do other stuff...
i was getting a little uncomfortable with a guy sitting about 50 feet away. he was looking over too much and there was no one else around (to hear me scream) so i decided to head back to the hostel and then find food. that guy didn't bug me, but as i was walking back, i saw a guy ahead of me stop on his mountain bike. i thought he was going to try to sell me necklaces or something. i would have preferred he do that, after what transpired. as i walked closer, i noticed he was fiddling with his pants, and then doing motions with his hands that can only mean one thing. apparently, he gets off pleasuring himself in front of gringo girls on the beach. as i walked by he starts saying "hola, hola, hola, hola"
well buddy, "hola this"... of course i don't say anything as i don't want to give him even an inch to go with (sorry, a bit pun like).
my hostel manager wrote down for me " leave me alone or i will call the police" in spanish, so i will practice this tonight. she assures me this is an unsual activity and that i should have gone to the police (doesn't help if i don't know where the police station is)

i plan to rent a board tomorrow and spend the day on the beach, taking rest breaks inbetween my efforts to stand on a surf board.