So on Day 3 Leslie, Stella and I went back out to the beach in the afternoon to surf the white water. Our friends, Jennifer, Henry and Emily, came by to watch and I noticed this black dog with them. There are a ton of strays all over Costa Rica and Dominical is no different, other than the strays here at least look well fed. The dog stuck with the kids the whole time we were on the beach and even escorted us back to the hotel, 2 blocks away.
The next afternoon, the girls and I headed back to the beach to practice but because there was a lightening storm rolling in, we sat on the beach and just watched the surf for a while. With a huff and a plop, who joins us on the sand but the same black stray. He was all black with some white freckles on his front paws and face and he was disgusting. Dirty, smelly, infested with fleas. When he wasn´t walking around, he couldn´t sit still. He was either scratching, chomping a flea on his back, or licking himself. But there was something about him...he was really endearing. I named him Dupree.
From then on, everytime we would walk through town Dupree would find us and walk with us. No matter how random, Dupree was there. We never encouraged him with food or by petting him, he just loved us. Finally, the day Stella left, Leslie and I went out to catch the sunset and there was Dupree again. He was being almost overprotective as he ushered us home. Once we were back to our room, Dupree made sure we got inside before he plopped down with his now familiar huff on our front step and stayed there for hours. Leslie and I finally caved and fed him.
The next morning Leslie left Dominical, and from then on it was just me and Dupree. He kept me company that morning as I walked around solo for the first time in a week, seriously missing my girls. I went so far as to buy Dupree real pet food, but of course I now haven´t seen him in a day. I walked around last night with dog biscuits in my pocket waiting for him to show, but nada. Tonight is my last night in Dominical and I´m hoping to run into him for one last scratch.
Today I had my last ride-along with the surf camp and it was a great one. The surf was pretty hard at first, and I did something I hadn´t done in the entire week of taking lessons - I panicked. I´ve been yanked underwater more times than I can count, thrown around, hit with my board, spun out of control but I never panicked until today. It wasn´t even a big deal, but I was trying to get around a wave and it was a lot stronger than I anticipated. My board yanked my left shoulder out of socket (it felt like it anyway) and I was shoved underwater in a dead spin. I swam and swam and still couldn´t see the surface light under my eyelids and thats when I started to panic. A second later I was out and fine, but the panicking spooked me so much I walked out to the sand to catch my breath.
I went back out to join the boys and I was pleased that they were pleased to see me back out. And then? I caught a wave. And then? I caught another. And then? I caught one without even trying. (Sometimes they just need to be surfed, I guess.) When I say I caught a wave, I don´t mean to imply that I surfed a wave all the way in - I´m not Stella for God´s sake. I mean, I caught a wave from the outside, stood up, and rode it for 3 or 4 seconds - and I´M VERY HAPPY WITH THAT!! All I wanted was to get better from the outside, and since my time to beat was probably somewhere in the 1 second region, I am over the moon with what I did today!! There was a girl out surfing too, not with our group but close enough to watch, and she said as I stood on my board I was blowing my nose into my hand. Pretty cool, huh?
Mike, the guy who runs the hotel we were in is trying to talk to me. We have an interesting past. When I arrived a week ago, I have never hated anyone more. Ask Leslie and Stella - it was their job to keep us separated. But when Leslie had her accident, he actually came through without being a pain in the ass, condescending, or completely useless. Since then, I´ve tried to treat him with a bit more respect, along with a little flirting (as much as I can stomach without retching), and it is actually sort of civil. He lets me keep using the internet for cheap, so thats cool.
Here´s a few more pictures...
Dupree in all his testical licking glory.
He´s such a heart breaker, it makes me forget I´m a cat person.
A 2 second pause in stratching, he´s actually a pretty handsome dog.
The next afternoon, the girls and I headed back to the beach to practice but because there was a lightening storm rolling in, we sat on the beach and just watched the surf for a while. With a huff and a plop, who joins us on the sand but the same black stray. He was all black with some white freckles on his front paws and face and he was disgusting. Dirty, smelly, infested with fleas. When he wasn´t walking around, he couldn´t sit still. He was either scratching, chomping a flea on his back, or licking himself. But there was something about him...he was really endearing. I named him Dupree.
From then on, everytime we would walk through town Dupree would find us and walk with us. No matter how random, Dupree was there. We never encouraged him with food or by petting him, he just loved us. Finally, the day Stella left, Leslie and I went out to catch the sunset and there was Dupree again. He was being almost overprotective as he ushered us home. Once we were back to our room, Dupree made sure we got inside before he plopped down with his now familiar huff on our front step and stayed there for hours. Leslie and I finally caved and fed him.
The next morning Leslie left Dominical, and from then on it was just me and Dupree. He kept me company that morning as I walked around solo for the first time in a week, seriously missing my girls. I went so far as to buy Dupree real pet food, but of course I now haven´t seen him in a day. I walked around last night with dog biscuits in my pocket waiting for him to show, but nada. Tonight is my last night in Dominical and I´m hoping to run into him for one last scratch.
Today I had my last ride-along with the surf camp and it was a great one. The surf was pretty hard at first, and I did something I hadn´t done in the entire week of taking lessons - I panicked. I´ve been yanked underwater more times than I can count, thrown around, hit with my board, spun out of control but I never panicked until today. It wasn´t even a big deal, but I was trying to get around a wave and it was a lot stronger than I anticipated. My board yanked my left shoulder out of socket (it felt like it anyway) and I was shoved underwater in a dead spin. I swam and swam and still couldn´t see the surface light under my eyelids and thats when I started to panic. A second later I was out and fine, but the panicking spooked me so much I walked out to the sand to catch my breath.
I went back out to join the boys and I was pleased that they were pleased to see me back out. And then? I caught a wave. And then? I caught another. And then? I caught one without even trying. (Sometimes they just need to be surfed, I guess.) When I say I caught a wave, I don´t mean to imply that I surfed a wave all the way in - I´m not Stella for God´s sake. I mean, I caught a wave from the outside, stood up, and rode it for 3 or 4 seconds - and I´M VERY HAPPY WITH THAT!! All I wanted was to get better from the outside, and since my time to beat was probably somewhere in the 1 second region, I am over the moon with what I did today!! There was a girl out surfing too, not with our group but close enough to watch, and she said as I stood on my board I was blowing my nose into my hand. Pretty cool, huh?
Mike, the guy who runs the hotel we were in is trying to talk to me. We have an interesting past. When I arrived a week ago, I have never hated anyone more. Ask Leslie and Stella - it was their job to keep us separated. But when Leslie had her accident, he actually came through without being a pain in the ass, condescending, or completely useless. Since then, I´ve tried to treat him with a bit more respect, along with a little flirting (as much as I can stomach without retching), and it is actually sort of civil. He lets me keep using the internet for cheap, so thats cool.
Here´s a few more pictures...
Dupree in all his testical licking glory.
He´s such a heart breaker, it makes me forget I´m a cat person.
A 2 second pause in stratching, he´s actually a pretty handsome dog.
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