I work with many mice that roar. There is a particular type of person, loud and fighty and very macho (regardless of gender) and with intense favourites and hatreds, who seem to be particularly common in this line of work. I’m quite good at handling them usually, and most of them really like and even, sometimes, respect me, but it is draining.
Anyhow. Another round of surfing today, though I just went out once as the waves were even bigger and I felt quite battered trying to swim out to catch them. Instead I sat on the beach (Cocles again), occasionally taking a dip in the waves and trying to identify the points at which the beach’s currents flow (I think I’m getting a sense for them now), and watching the surfers. Most of these were learners so there were plenty of tumbles, but there were a few experts as well, including one bald, lightly bearded man who was clearly a proper surfer. He waited for 10-15 minutes or more till the right wave came along, and then caught it and twirled around like a little earwig on a string. There were also the usual assortment of scrawny boys surfing and tumbling with joyous abandon.
Other than the surfing the day was spent in the shack as there was a good bit of work and no Spanish lessons today. It was a bit tricky in the late morning as the air was very, very close indeed – it made me think that I never want a house in the jungle unless there is a clear space around it — and I felt quite feeble.
I forgot to mention my breakfast, or rather my breakfast was leftovers from lunch yesterday — rabbit cooked in the style of turtle from a really superb French-Caribbean fish restaurant. Tortoise was a great staple food in this part of the world in the past and the rabbit was possibly the best thing I’ve eaten in Costa Rica.
Such are the delights of being a beach bum. The biggest crisis today, other than the mouse that roared, was that we ran out of chocolate and tomorrow will have to go to the chocolate shop to stock up. I can certainly get used to life as a beach bum and/or surfer dude (so to speak).