At the Beach

I spent all of Tuesday laying at the beach drinking beer and reading, it was very relaxing and beautiful. You have to pay to park in the beach parking lot and it is $1.75 per hour at a machine. As I was going to put my only $4 into a machine, a guy drove up behind me and told me he would sell me time for the rest of the day for $5. I showed and told him that I only had $4 left and he said never mind, so I turned around to put my money in the machine and he stopped me again and said $4 would be enough. Apparently he is a resident of Fort Lauderdale and pays a yearly flat fee and then can purchase as much time as he wants and was looking to make some quick money. It worked out for both of us and I unknowingly bartered him down to $4.

I brought my sun shielding beach chair with me, that was met with the usual stairs and smirks because I'm seemingly the only one out there hiding in the shade, covering my legs with a towel for extra safety. I felt the water and it was warm, so I decided to go in. On my way to the water, I saw a couple taking pictures of each other and I offered to take a picture of them together. They allowed me to but suggested that I go back in the shade, because I'm so white. The water was nice and swimming didn't hurt me knees at all and it felt good to do a little exercise.

I am starting to feel fat, very fat. Before I left for my trip I gained a little weight because I was worried of losing too much and then during my hike I ate a lot and as often as possible to keep my weight up. Since I left after only 3 weeks I never had a chance to start losing weight and my inactivity since returning has only increased the problem. I'm starting to look like a white Buddha.

I spent the rest of the night at Yvonne's house watching her and her friend Nina dance to many German beerfest songs, all of which they said were nonsense and all of which had special dance moves everyone does.