Surfs up! We started today with a surf lesson from Bodhi Surf and Yoga. It may sound like a stretch to connect yoga and surfing, but I was surprised to learn how related they are. Bodhi means awareness and enlightenment. Awareness of your body is crucial to yoga and surfing, and we even incorporated yoga poses like chataranga and child’s pose into our surf instruction.
We started off our lesson learning how to ride the wave on our stomachs, and shifting our weight to turn our surf boards. I think we all felt like professionals when we successfully rode the waves all the way to the shore, even if it didn’t involve standing yet.
We started off our lesson learning how to ride the wave on our stomachs, and shifting our weight to turn our surf boards. I think we all felt like professionals when we successfully rode the waves all the way to the shore, even if it didn’t involve standing yet.
We took a break to rehydrate, and then learned the basic skills of standing up. Personally, I never thought I would ever be able to stand up on a surf board because I am far too clumsy for things like skateboarding or snowboarding. We guided our boards over the waves, fought the current, and spun our boards around to prepare for the waves. (Tasty waves). Our instructors told us to paddle and as the waves hit, we jumped on to our boards. There were plenty of falls, plenty of boards flying, and plenty of failed attempts to actually surf. But after one or many tries, all of us managed to surf standing up! We were determined to try again and again to master this newfound sport. It was exhausting to control our boards against the growing waves, and it took master balance to stand up on the moving water. But in the end, when we were all called to shore, we felt accomplished in our morning surf lesson.
You may be wondering how we are getting school credit for a morning spent catching waves. While it may not seem obvious at first, our instructors were quick to tell us how surfing and our ocean’s health can be interconnected. Between learning how to turn and attempting (and succeeding!) to stand up on our boards, we all had a new, exciting experience with the ocean. A relationship with the ocean is like a relationship with any person: we feel more connected to something or someone with which we have had a positive experience. Feeling close to our ocean can compel us to change our behaviors to protect it. Our surf instructors asked us to sign the Guardians of the Oceans pledge, committing to things like refusing single use plastic items or resisting the urge to take home shells and stones from the beach. Many of us our involved in the sciences, so we are familiar with the problems that plastics and litter pose to our aquatic ecosystems. Having a great day at the beach like today invests us even further in thinking about problems (and hopefully solutions!) related to our ocean. I think we will all have a lot to think about tonight…
After that exhausting morning, we spent some time collecting and logging plastic debris on the beach near the main entrance, hoping to characterize and quantify some of the problems we are facing. Dr. Black specifically found a lot of blue colored, small, and broken down pieces of plastic. Some hypothesize that blue is not a natural color, and therefore not a natural food source, so fish often ignore this plastic in the ocean, and consume red or yellow plastic instead. Some posed the solution to make all our plastic products blue, but perhaps we should tackle the problem at its source: from the initial use of the plastic itself. (Refuse!)
We then enjoyed delicious lunches on the main street in town, and had some free time to buy souvenirs, relax by the pool, and walk around. We met back up at the hotel to listen to presentations on Pesticide Impact by Donna, Mosquito Borne Diseases by Natalie, Jasmyn, and myself, and Sustainable Development by Rebekah, Destiny, and Jackie.
We ended our evening at a nice, open aired restaurant while watching the Costa Rica vs. El Salvador soccer game. It has been an amazing two days immersed in our ocean, learning to appreciate its ecosystems and develop a desire to protect it in the future. We will be sad to depart Uvita tomorrow, but I’m sure we will treasure these new experiences.
Pura Vida!
Lori
We then enjoyed delicious lunches on the main street in town, and had some free time to buy souvenirs, relax by the pool, and walk around. We met back up at the hotel to listen to presentations on Pesticide Impact by Donna, Mosquito Borne Diseases by Natalie, Jasmyn, and myself, and Sustainable Development by Rebekah, Destiny, and Jackie.
We ended our evening at a nice, open aired restaurant while watching the Costa Rica vs. El Salvador soccer game. It has been an amazing two days immersed in our ocean, learning to appreciate its ecosystems and develop a desire to protect it in the future. We will be sad to depart Uvita tomorrow, but I’m sure we will treasure these new experiences.
Pura Vida!
Lori