beaches ≠ bitches

all you ladies in the house say "ho!" [cue cricket chirping]

how fun to be so mellow. we got up each day at 7, explored the island, and came back to bodyboard on brennecke's beach [above] in the afternoon. we'd be in the water for around four hours each day, surfing the waves, then we'd hop in the pool for about ten minutes, get showered to eat dinner, then go to bed between nine and ten each night. never a rush or panic or pressure. neither of us have gotten our landlegs back -- we still literally feel the ocean pulling us back and forth, which, when added to jetlag, can be a bit of a nuisance, but hey, it's a small price to pay.

in the ocean with us each day were three or four plasticine ten-year old boys. completely unsupervised, they'd be out for hours on end flinging themselves into the drink from their boards over and over and laughing like maniacs. they were never sunburned, never waterlogged, and never needing a rest. casey and i decided they were made of rubber.

there were usually two or three local guys carving up the waves before going to work at the pizza joint up in koloa town, and then three more thirty-something guys like casey, exchanging opinions with us on hotspots to visit before paddling out for the backwaves.

i'd float along and wonder the same thing everyday: where are all the chicks? i would see them with their significant others out on tours, at puka dog, and out to dinner, but the ratio of guys to girls in the ocean was usually 4:1. there were a few teenage local girls that enjoyed the shorebreak a few times, and each day, one woman or another would venture into the surf to snorkel or just stand on the sand and splash water on her thighs for a second before reclining on her straw mat in the unbearable sun. occasionally, i'd see two young women standing on the big black lava rocks, pointing and shrieking at the sea turtles that swam harmlessly alongside us each day, but all the young female tourists i saw everywhere else were not equally represented at the beach.

where does everyone go? what did i miss? what do you do on a tropical vacation? bueller?!