Wonderful Wipeouts

So, in case anyone is wondering, (This is presupposing people even read my blog which I am not really sure if they do) it turns out that I did have strep throat so I feel even more justified in spending the $200 to get checked out and get antibiotics.

This weekend I was feeling pretty much fully recovered. My friend, Kristy left for the Philippines today so I wanted to spend some time with her on Saturday. This, of course, was after I woke up at 6am to watch the UT/OU college football game. It was kind of a strange game but at least my team won.

Kristy wanted to go to Makena beach, which is one of Maui's premier beaches. It's really beautiful with a huge rock wall that's a deep reddish brown that contrasts stunningly with the blue water and tan sand. Little do many people know, but on the other side of the rock wall is an unofficial nude beach. That is a story for another time.

This is only the second time I have really gone to the beach since I have been here. I often go to the beach by my house to read my Bible and journal. I don't really count this as going to the beach since I don't wear my bathing suit or actually go in the water at all. Kristy is a real surfer not an occasional surfer like me. As we were putting our stuff down on the sand, I asked Kristy if we were far enough from the water's edge. She assured me we were given the water mark on the sand and I took her surfer, water knowledgeable opinion seriously. We were still setting up our stuff on the beach, when a rogue wave came and attacked our belongings. Apparently Kristy's surfer sense was not as reliable as we both had thought. Luckily I had placed my valuables farther from the ocean and was able to snatch them up quickly. Our only real casualties were a couple of wet/sandy towels.

Now Makena beach is beautiful but it is also a little dangerous for those not experienced with the ocean. It has a shore break, which is where big waves break right onto the shore. Saturday it was very big and I estimate some of the waves reached at least six feet tall. The lifeguards even used their megaphones to warn inexperienced people to not go out into the water. This was the perfect set-up for one of my favorite pastimes here: watching tourists get pounded by waves. Kristy and I kept our eyes on the people who looked the most inexperienced and just waited for them to do something stupid. It didn't take long.

A couple was in the water who definitely didn't look too savvy. The woman of the couple looked like your average frumpy 60 year old but her male counterpart was a bit more interesting. Kristy initially thought he was covered in sand but it turned out to be hair. Ewww! And he was covered with it. He wasn't fat but his body was very strange. He seemed to have loose skin hanging in weird places, an unfortunate byproduct of being old. He also accentuated his weird body by wearing a little black speedo bathing suit. Double ewww!

So, Kristy and I watched as this couple attempted to get out of the ocean. The most dangerous times for tourists are entering and leaving the ocean. This is when we pay attention. The couple decided to be bold and attempt to body surf. Body surfing is often harder than it looks, especially when a six foot wave is threatening to slam you into the sand. We saw the couple at the top of the wave. Then, we saw white foam and misc. body parts tumbling about like a washing machine. After a few seconds, the couple emerged stumbling and sputtering. They lurched toward the sand and stood looking at the waves and breathing deeply as they recovered. Kristy and started laughing hysterically until the man started to rid himself of the sand. He reached his hands deep into his black speedo and fished out handful after handful of sand. What a disgusting conclusion to a wonderful wipeout! Yuck!

Being Taken Care Of

So, I may or may not have strep throat. I woke up on Monday morning with a killer sore throat and tonsils that looked like they were covered in snow. I slept through our morning worship but made it to the day's lectures. I took a bunch of Tylenol but my throat, ears and body hurt. Later that day I was supposed to wash the lunch and dinner dishes but my partner, Max graciously told me I didn't have to. I spent most of the afternoon sleeping, calling my nurse mom and looking up my condition on web MD. I pretty much laid around for the rest of the day.

The next morning my throat still hurt. I started to get worried it was strep throat, which is contagious. I live with a bunch of people in a small space and some of my fellow students have small kids. I didn't want to get anyone sick so I made a doctor appointment. I was supposed to make dinner that night but my partner, Michelle offered to do it by herself. Luckily there wasn't too much to do. After taking yet another nap, I went to the doctor. She was nice and said I might have strep. She did a throat culture, gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. Unfortunately the whole experience cost me $200. I do feel better that I did see a doctor and got medicine, though. I would have felt really bad if I got anyone else sick. When I got back home, they didn't make me go to our nightly activity. I got to rest more.

One thing I have noticed from my brief illness is that people are a lot nicer here than at my old job. I guess this is to be expected from a bunch of Christians but it's still touching. There were times at my old job when I would be really sick and ask to go home and get denied. Also people didn't really cut you any slack if you were sick. My friends cared but not many other people. Here, people went out of their way to help me, asking if there was anything they could do, getting me orange juice, taking over my responsibilities, etc. I wish everyone was like these people. I think the world would be a much nicer place.

I have recently acquired a new hobby: watching humorous documentaries. I've watched some good ones in the past like "American Mullet" and "Hands on a Hardbody." But now it has become more of a regular thing. I have netflix and it has a feature where you can watch some things instantly on your computer. This is where I have been finding most of these entertaining documentaries.

The first one we watched was about "little people" otherwise known as dwarfs. One of the little people in the video did a bit of little person stand-up comedy which was pretty funny.

Then I found one called, "Monster Camp." It was about those people who play Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft all day. Apparently someone in Seattle created a live action fantasy game called Nero. The documentary was all about the people who play it. The players looked like the dorkiest people from drama and ROTC. They were the kind of people who dress up for Renaissance fairs and like to have fake sword fights. The game itself was super complicated and involved throwing "spells" at each other and hitting each other with swords made out of funnoodle material. The people were clearly very into it and had their own lingo. They had also created personas with fanciful names and costumes. It was basically an extreme nerd fest and really funny to watch. You can check out their website here.

After this delightful documentary, we watched one about the people trying to break the world record score on Donkey Kong. It was called "The King of Kong." This one featured the underground classic video game subculture. They had their own hero, the reigning Donkey Kong champion who was treated like a cross between a god and a celebrity. He clearly reveled in the attention his fans gave him. The documentary story line centers around a newcomer trying to break the Donkey Kong record. You definitely find yourself rooting against the vampire-haired, egotistical champion and rooting for the meek family man who is challenging his record.

I also watched "Word Wars." This is about people who are Scrabble champions. Although predominantly male, the Scrabble champions they profiled were far more different from each other than I would expect. They profiled the reigning champion, a hippieish family man who does lots of tai chi and eastern meditation practices. They also show a Rastafarian looking guy who lives with his mom in the projects. That guy spouted out profanity nonstop, smokes weed on camera and also goes to Tijuana to do some shady things in the middle of a competition. He also goes to the local elementary school to run a Scrabble club and act as a motivational speaker. Then there's an awkward weaselish man who divulges intimate details of his gross intestinal medical problems on camera. He calls himself G.I. Joe because of his problems in his G.I. tract and even has shirts made with this nickname on them.

Overall, I enjoy watching these documentaries. I don't think I'd want to watch them by myself because much of the fun is remarking to a friend how crazy these people are. It's a lot of fun.