For just a couple of weeks, we second termers have Wednesday and Friday afternoons free from labs. Not sure why there's a delay in getting started, but I'll certainly take it! Four morning classes was killer. It is such a struggle to stay awake sometimes! I am going to have to figure out some sort of method to keep me awake, that's for sure!
A few of my friends and I decided to go cliff jumping this afternoon as a nice little break from school. The ocean has been much rougher lately than it was before break. The water is not nearly as crystal clear (although it is still a gorgeous turquoise). The best time to go swimming at this spot is when the tide is high and the seas aren't too rough. When it's low tide, the water is rough, or both, it is much harder to get back out.
Today we decided to make a go at swimming with rough seas and low tide. Rougher water just meant constant swimming, which we did for the better part of an hour and a half or two. That's a lot of swimming for me! Two of my friends have basically grown up in the water, have been lifeguards for year, and just can't ever seem to get enough of the water. The other four of us are just mediocre. If you are mediocre, I don't recommend swimming in rough seas for nearly two hours and then having to use remaining strength to hoist yourself out of the water onto a rock ledge. It just isn't likely to end well.
I already happen to be pretty terrible at getting out of the water at this spot. It's mostly because I have no upper body strength-it's all in my legs. Add a little (or a lot) of movement to the water and I become pretty darn useless. The guys in our group are excellent at helping us (mainly me haha) out as needed, but today ended up being a "fun" exception. By the time we were getting out, I was spent. I had spent everything I had fighting the currents to the point where all I could do was swim in place (this was no small effort, as the tide was constantly trying to suck me out a bit). Combine this with my fear of everything, and we get crummy results. The guys tried relentless and very patiently to try and rescue me out of the water, but it was just too much. I think they would have been successful if panic on my part hadn't set in. That was great. Nothing quite like panicking in the middle of the ocean. It's not that I thought something bad was going to happen to me, I was simply just too exhausted and anxious to keep it together. I really just wanted out but couldn't see how that was going to happen. Eventually my one friend called it quits and we made our way around the peninsula to the beach (not a short distance unfortunately).
As amazing as my friends were, I think I'm going to avoid swimming off the cliff for a while haha. I'm not eager to be in that position again any time soon. I think I will instead stick to the beach where all I have to do is walk to get out. No climbing or hoisting or panicking for me for awhile please!
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