Don't worry I did not need stiches

I was considering making stuff up for today because my day was so uneventful. In fact everyone I have spoken to today (almost) I have told a different story to. For you my faithful readers I will tell the truth because it is so much more interesting the things that happen in the world without effort (if anyone asks I was surfing all day and I am exhausted). So let’s begin near the end (thanks Quinton). Using my first aid kit, I removed the piece of glass from my foot. I have patched myself up and I can walk fairly normally. I expect a full recovery in an hour.

I was planning on going surfing today all day. Matt will be so disappointed to hear I was maybe 50 meters from some of the most beautiful waves and never even touched the water (sorry dude try not to cry mate). To be honest I really enjoyed the time sitting and contemplating the meaning of life (Monty Python just did not do it for me). Even my bus ride there ended up eventful but really only at the end of the day did the eventfulness come to fruition.

As I exited the bus I heard two young girls (maybe 18-19) talking in English asking where the beach was. I was feeling energetic and had just jumped to the top of a rather tall planter behind them on my way to the very beach they were looking for. I offered to lead them there. As they looked up at my wild hair blowing in the wind, standing on a planter, they declined with haste. I pegged them as two girls in college in a big city who both grew up in a small town (I was right by the way). They were obviously skeptical of strangers willing to help, yet they still had that wide eyed innocence about them. Good for them I thought, I may not have trusted me either, after looking in a mirror, I was a bit scary. We will come back to them later, several times actually.

I went to the beach and sat on a retaining wall scoping the sets and the rip tide. An artist was setting up a sculpture on the beach. He started with a strange circle separate from the mound he was to carve. On this circle he tightly placed a green cloth. This formed a sort of loose trampoline in the center of a small sand mound. At first I had no idea what this was for. The meaning became all to obvious at his sculpture progressed. He spent a lot of time pouring water into his mound to prepare it. Maybe 2 full hours of preparation time before the actual carving began. This methodic work got me to thinking about the drive of artists.

I think perhaps artist do not create because they want to, but maybe they do it because they have to. It is the creation of art that completes their purpose in life. As I watched him work very hard it was a face of resignation mixed with delight he wore permanently on each trek to the water. He seemed to work with a methodical maniacalism that can be seen in someone who accepts their purpose in life and has learned to enjoy the process. He seemed to be creating his art because deep in his soul he was driven to create not because it was a choice he made early in life to become an artist.

As his art began to take shape, of course he drew an audience. It was at this point the purpose of the green cloth became apparent. As the audience watched and enjoyed his work they showed their appreciation by donating to his work. The money was thrown on the green cloth. That is a pretty cool idea. I will have to try that one when I get home. Now all I need is to be born with the drive to create some sort of beach art. Hmm I think I may have missed that boat.

After watching the artist work for about 45 minutes I saw the two girls walk up the beach with their rather large packs still attached to them and sweat dripping from them as if they had just gone for a long run. I felt badly for them but at least they made it. Luckily they did not see me. I think if they had they might have kept walking and not been able to relax. They did set up a little area there and hunker down for a day in the sand.

Later in the afternoon I decided to go to the internet café and chat with Heather. Unfortunately my math skills were not up to par as I called her at 5:30 in the morning. After realizing my mistake I sent a message saying I would return in an hour after she was awake. I was famished at this point and wanted to eat. Turns out Biarritz is closed on Sunday unless you are very close to the beach. I was still walking bare foot at this point, which turns out to have been a big mistake. As I crossed the street I stepped on a perfectly shaped piece of glass. I say perfectly shaped because it was just the shape to enter my foot and not come out no matter how hard I tried.

As I sat there on the side walk wishing a pharmacy was open trying to luck the glass from my foot I felt sort of silly. I must say I do not enjoy bleeding al over the street of a strange city. With a medium sized piece of glass in your foot the blood seems to flow rather well, in case you are wondering. I had limited supplies with me at this point so there was not much I could do. I had to just accept the fact that I was going to have a piece of glass in my foot for the rest of the day until I could return to my first aide kit. I used my black spandex shirt to apply pressure to the hole. This kind of does not tickle, applying pressure to a piece of glass embedded in your foot. Of course I put my sandals on now. I had to walk sort of clawed foot to hold the hole closed. All in all it was not to terrible bad. I gave up looking for food and just headed back to the internet café. I spent some time sitting there contemplating my stupidity.

The thing with going bare foot is you have to build up to it. You have to walk around at home in safe place for a bit to build up the toughness of your feet. At this point you are ready to tackle glass and other obstacles without much worry. I think I jumped the gun here going shoeless so quickly. The pain is worth the reward though. With no shoes I feel free and liberated.

I completed my internet time and hobbled back to the bus station that would return me to within a mile of my hostel. I scoped a place open still serving food. I thought I would be safe with pizza. My pizza had olives with pits still in them and a raw egg right in the middles. That was interesting but not too terribly bad. I also had my first taste of wine there. It tasted a lot like wine to me not super exciting. Now I headed back to the bus stop and I saw the most amusing thing as I got comfortable along the wall.

Guess who was sitting next to me on the wall? That’s right those two girls were right there. Oh man I was so afraid they were going to think I was stalking them. I swear I was not. I figured at this point a conversation had to be started. I opened with “so did you two ever find your beach” like any good lawyer will tell you never ask a question you do not already know the answer to. I decided if they were honest I would continue if they lied I would leave them be. We ended up having a wonderful conversation. They are both from Newport Beach, CA which is very close to where I live. One of the girls grew up in a small town outside of San Diego, literally a 10 minute bike ride from my house. We talked of the our neighborhoods and our new neighborhoods. They are on the same train I am taking but they are leaving tonight I leave tomorrow night. As I exited the bus we said good bye and they waved energetically at me through the window. I hope in their travels they will have many more wonderful experiences. Perhaps I will run into them on the beach back in SoCal. I never did ask their names and it really does not matter as they are just friends for a moment. C’est La Vive.