The first week of my self-imposed sabbatical is in Nosara, Costa Rica at the Richard Schmidt Surf Camp. This trip had been planned several months prior to my decision to take time off and was originally intended to be a girls' getaway with my friend Michele. It ended up being the launch point for my 5 months down in this part of the world. As it turns out, it was a perfect way to get the ball rolling in my attempt to figure out where I'm headed and what I want to do next. In order to do that, I need to figure out my priorities and passions and learn how to set my life up in a way that will balance those. What better way to think about figuratively balancing my life than to learn about literally balancing on a surfboard?

I got to Nosara via a teeny tiny 15-person plane from San Jose, Costa Rica that included an intermediate stop at the teeny tiny airport in Tambor. The runway approach started at the beach, so as we were flying in, it looked like we were going to touch down on sand. A few minutes on the ground to let off a few folks and pick up a few folks, and then it was on to Nosara. We followed the Pacific coastline along the way, and so I was treated to a freebie aerial tour, which was amazing.

Richard met me at the airport and we headed back to Casa Caballitos de Mar, an awesome house steps from the beach that would be our playground for the week. The rest of the group, which included Michele, her sister Toni, and seven other women from all over the US was either already there or soon to arrive. Richard gave us some primers and guidance, and off we all went to the beach for our first surf session that afternoon. Then, for the next 5 days, we were surfing twice a day - a couple hours bright and early in the morning (we were in the water by 6:30) and then again late afternoon to sunset. In between, we were treated to amazing homemade meals, yoga, and lots of siestas. Morning sessions were videotaped, and we all watched them after breakfast each day to get feedback and instruction on how to improve, which, despite MANY wipeouts, I guess I did since I got a "most improved" award on the last night of camp. (That just means that instead of falling down every time, I improved to just 90% of the time.) I'm also pretty sure my arms and shoulders have never worked so hard in my life. They were burning by day 2 and stayed that way the rest of the week. Four hours of pushups each day will do that. But I loved all of it. I felt great getting out of the water after each session - tired, but in a good "I worked hard and deserve a beer and a nap" way.

We had a day off yesterday, and I walked around "town" a bit. The streets are all unpaved - and unnamed - so there are signs on every corner with names of hotels and bars and stores with arrows pointing the direction in which they are located. Seems like street names and addresses would be easier, but hey, no one is in a rush here. That is fine by me. It's too hot to move too quickly here anyway - about 100 in the heat of the day. Lots of folks get around on bike, moped, motorcycle, or golf cart, all of which are covered with about ¼ inch of dust from the roads. Beyond the roads though, everything is very lush - palms, hibiscus, what you think of when you think of a tropical beach.

Today was the last day. One gal left yesterday, four more left this morning, and the rest left this afternoon. I'm the lone survivor. Tonight I'm staying at a little hotel just about a mile from the house we all stayed in. I wrote part of this blog sitting in the little outdoor hotel restaurant with a glass of coconut water, listening to a band at the bar next door set up for live music tonight, and hearing howler monkeys talk to each other in the trees. (FYI, while I occasionally heard the monkeys this week, I did not actually see any until this afternoon. After listening to them while I was writing, I went to investigate and saw about 6 of them up in a tree across the street from the hotel. They sound more like annoying dogs than blood-curdling howls, but I guess "annoying dog monkeys" wouldn't have been a very good name for them.) I also walked on the beach, which stretches for a few miles and is gorgeous. In the daytime, the beach is almost a ghost town. There were times I didn't see another person on the sand. Sunset is another story. It's like everyone in the town comes out to watch. They had set up an inflatable movie screen on the main beach and were showing surf movies after the sun went down. This is definitely a surf town.

So, lessons learned and adjustments made on this leg include:

1. Women are TOUGH. Toni got stung by a stingray on the first morning. EB crashed into rocks and ended up with urchin spines in her foot another morning. They were both back in the water by the afternoon. This probably isn't so much a lesson learned as it is a lesson reinforced. To see all of us out there every session, all week, was a huge boost of confidence to know that I can do whatever I put my mind to.

2. There are places in the world where the Pacific Ocean is not freezing cold. The water felt like a bath. Amazing!

3. Do what you love, and love what you do. Richard is a great guy. Low key. Very patient. Amazing surfer. (Google him.) He found a way to balance life so that he can do what he loves for a living. I am inspired to balance my life so that I can do that too.

I posted several pictures from this leg, although there will be more actual pictures of surfing coming later. (Hard to take photos of surfing while surfing.) Tomorrow I leave for Quepos for 2 weeks of Spanish classes and visits to Manuel Antonio state park. Adios!