water sports for all

So I took a one month hiatus. I mean, who wouldn’t deserve an extended blogging break after studying (gallivanting) in Europe and working hard (hanging out) back in St. Louis? Blogging is so taxing, let me tell you.

Before I get to the point, here are the highlights of what I’ve been doing for this month:

  1. Sweating. It’s very hot here. Sometimes the air is so humid it’s almost like drowning while you breath.

  2. Working. I’m an intern. “Cool,” you think to yourself, “you and every other college student on summer break.”

  3. Eating. I eat frozen yogurt on the regular (no thanks to my roommates Rita and Danielle for trying to curb this addiction). Just tonight I received my ninth punch in my frequent purchaser punch card. You’ll be pleased to know that not only is my next froyo is free, but it also means I have been averaging about 2 froyos a week since my arrival. Thank you universe, I really did need a gelato substitute. WRONG.

  4. Eating not a lot of things that aren’t froyo. Like I mentioned, it’s hot here. I break a sweat chopping vegetables. If it requires the oven or more than ten minutes on the stove, it’s not going to be made. I eat a lot of black beans and fake meat. I’ve regressed since Italy.

  5. Watching tv. I LOVE TV. I FORGOT HOW GREAT TV IS AND I AM NOT ASHAMED TO SAY IT. Shout out to the best sister in the world who hooked me up with online HBO. Sometimes it feels like nothing better has ever happened to me.

  6. Hanging out. This generally is me doing things with my friends that allow us to stay as cool as possible. Sometimes it’s going to Target, sometimes it’s going to the botanical gardens to hear free music, sometimes we go to the pool, which is the perfect segue for the point of this story. Me and bodies of water.

We went to Wisconsin this weekend to visit our sweet friend Katie and her awesome parents at their beautiful house on Lake Kegonsa. Despite what could be taken as a sarcastic overuse of positive adjectives, I had such a good time! We road tripped and ate cheese and shopped at the Saturday market and had meals cooked by a mom, all things I really really love!

But we also did some water sports. Because we were on a lake. And everyone excels at water sports because they are so fun and carefree! NOT FOR THIS GIRL. To say I am unnatural in the water is an understatement. When I jumped into the lake with the water skis on, they came off immediately. I WASN’T EVEN GOING, I WAS JUST GETTING INTO THE WATER. I should have taken this as a sign. I then spent a lot of time rolling a round in the water buoyed on both ends by the life jacket and the skis. It was awkward. It was really awkward. Everyone else of course had a fine time. There was no tangling up in the tow rope, no floundering around losing skis for no reason.

Whatever. I’m not even embarrassed because I found my true calling as a leisurely sun bather. These are the only things you need to do as a leisurely sun bather and literally everyone can be good at it: you sit at the front of the boat (the prow if you are as knowledgeable in boat vocab as I am) and bask in the sun, with an amount of sunscreen on that suggests you are skin cancer savvy, but interested in not being pasty white. Whenever you get too hot/need to pee you hop out of the boat and swim around for a couple of minutes and get right back on to be driven around the lake some more. Take in the views, nap a little, it’s all possible when you are a leisurely sun bather. When I am filthy rich, I will consider buying a boat and a driver just so I can ride around, its delightful. My friends can bring their water skis whenever they want, but you will find me basking upon the prow in a sunhat. Doesn’t that sound refined? I’ll tell you, a semester in Florence and this girl is one classy broad.

Check you guys later. And not in one month, I swear.