O mar e eu somos amigos

I’m not the most active person in the world, and that’s for sure. I used to play a lot of sports during elementary school and high school. However, when I reached university, I was overwhelmed with assignments and readings. After graduating this year, I’ve contemplated running, but I’ve never been a good runner and having asthma definitely doesn't help. Where Amber and I live, Beira Mar, many Brazilians run back and forth on the touristic path along the beach. People here are very health conscious and take their body image seriously. I’ve seen people of all ages and all body types jogging back and forth in front of my building. But again, I’ve never been a great runner. I also “forgot” to buy running shoes before coming to Brazil and here sneakers are just way to expensive.

So where does this leave me in my quest to become more physically active......kite-surf. I’ve never tried anything remotely close to this type of sport in my life. I and large bodies of water have never been great friends. Unfortunately, I'm a weak swimmer. I can clearly remember two instances, when I was younger, where lifeguards had to come to my rescue during summer camp trips to pools. I rarely go swimming, probably 3 times max a year. I never even swam in the ocean until last year (Dec. 2010) when I went to the Dominican Republic. So swimming has never been a great part of my life until I came to Fortaleza. Here, I go to the beach at least once a week with friends, mainly every Sunday. Going to the beach is like going to the movies or the mall in Ottawa. It’s become part of my weekly routine that I know I will greatly miss when I go back to Canada.

Excited for my lesson, got my harness on and my kites behind me...on the ground  :(

My roommate, Kevin, is currently taking kite-surfing lessons and I jumped at the opportunity to go with him. Since this was my first lesson, I wasn't allowed to go in the water just yet. I spent two hours learning to control the kite with the wind. Depending if my instructor thinks I’m ready, I might get to touch the water next lesson...hopefully soon because these lessons are definitely not cheap. At least I can now cross surfing off my bucket list of things to do in Fortaleza.

Cumbuco, the best place to kite-surf

Kevin controlling his kite

The wind is very strong, need to be able to control the kite when the wind changes strength and direction