athlete's foot

on sunday, before finally heading for home, we madae a stop in Argao where we met up with the Bagay family. Joan Bagay had texted my sister earlier that day and tod her that we stop by at Mahayahay beach where she and her family are. Joan and my sister have been bestfriends since grade five and are going to the same highschool at present. both have trained for volleyball since elementary which my mother (and joan's mother) protested at first but accepted and even thanked the trainer for it because of the free full tuition privilege the get from their being varsity players in higschool. they became part of the Cebu Niño's team under the coaching of Mr. Sabejon (also the dreaded Math teacher in elementary) and competed for the palarong pambansa held in Naga City. that was the biggest event they have participated in. my mother went with my sister who was then only 12 years old as chaperone. auntie tessie, joan's mother, also went as chaperone. both mothers became the labanderas and personal assistants for their daughters. since then, both would now go wherever the two varsity palyers' team's ability take them. it was joan's and julia's closeness that brought our families together.
we arrived at the beach at about 2 in the afternoon. the sun wasnt as strong that day as i had expected it to be but still it was the kind of day that could burn one up if one stayed out too long with or without any kind of protection. we were ushered into the nipa cottage by uncle jojo and auntie tessie who immediately handed out paper plates to each one of us themoment we were in.(why is it always like this? everytime i come to visit other people's house, its the food that always greets me. another one of filipinos' traits that i dont fully understand but continue to live with and love) the food was great, sinugbang isda, lechon baboy, lechon manok, ginamay, paksiw and the walang kamatayang humba that's perfect for any occasion and the "puso with tapul" that goes with any dish. it was one of those times when i go "ahhh this is the life" after downing a bottle of cola drink..like in tv ads.
although i promised myself i'd never go swimming in the sea that day for fear of getting darker as i already am(after that island hoping last weekend and swimming just that morning) and for fear of the "bokya" ugly jellyfishes invisible to the eye that come to subtly attack you and leave red itchy spots on the skins, the water looks tempting enough that i decided that my spirit is weak. so i went to change my clothes which took me less than five minutes which is a real feat considering the slowpoke that i am. i jumped into the water not minding the heat and the tiny sting i can feel and the itch that comes with it.
a group of young men were gathering on the other side of the beach front. we figured they could be skimboarders and thought maybe if we could borrow their boards for a while. they didnt' let us borrow but they did let us rent one for 50 pesos. the board didnt come with free skim boarding lessons so we were left to figure out the sport ourselves. my sister knew a bit about skimboarding so we let her try it first. unfortunately, she wasnt an expert. joan's turn came, she held the board tight,waited for the right wave to come, made a run for it, dropped the board, got on top of it and flopped. my turn came, my imagination was racing. it was ahead of me already. i ws thinking that if id continue on with this sport, i could join the local team then win gold medals, compete in nationwide events then go continental, then conquer the world!(hehe..evil snicker) i waited for about 10 seconds for a good wave thinking that timing is everything, saw a good one, made a five meter dash, dropped the board, hopped on it with a squeal, arms spread out looking for balance and thought that id conquered that wave. toink! the board got buried in the sand, unmoving, gave up under my weight.
we tried a few more times and although we never got it right, the fun was all worth it. we learned that it's all about the balance, good footing and the right attitude. joan and julia knew a lot about about those three plus discipline from their being into their sport. ive never had any sport where i am really good at. i thought that maybe i just do not have the "athlete's foot" but maybe too i just dont try hard enough. explains why i'm the only one who didnt get bruised.