Volunteer Diary: Elise Mace

28 May 2012by

Week 1 in Lobitos.  What a hectic week!  After arriving safe and sound Saturday, first thing to do was check out the waves that Lobitos has on offer, and remember just how terrible at surfing I really was.  It was an amazing start to the trip, and most of Saturday and Sunday too was spent in the water, surfing/trying to surf until we were blessed with an amazing Lobitos sunset; definitely no complaints from me!

Monday was our first day of classes, the kids are so welcoming and were just hugging me and pulling on my hand and constantly calling Elisa.  They absolutely love English too so are really keen to practice with us.  Trying to practice my Spanish as much as possible too, but all the locals are so keen to help us with both the language and surfing.  I’ve only been here a week and have already had 3 different locals taking me out and pushing me onto waves, without me even having to ask!

Less than a week in Lobitos!

Highlight of the week by far was catching and standing on my first proper wave!  The swell was huge and one of the locals was determined to drag me out the back.  Pushed me onto the sweetest wave ever, I’ve never been so pumped!

We’ve also been into Talara a few times (our nearest town) and also checked out Piura properly, which was good too go back to as between jet lag and culture shock, I wasn’t too productive on my first day in the country.  Lobitos is a cool little town too; you definitely can’t help but love it.  We have literally the coldest beers in the world and wi-fi, yet sometimes no running water.  I think ‘oh it’s Lobitos’ is a universal reason for describing the character of this town.

Sunset joy

So after 6 weeks in Lobitos, I’m determined to have surfing and Spanish down pat.  Challenge accepted.


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About the author: WAVES Volunteer

WAVES is only possible because of volunteers who come from all walks of life. Here, they share experiences and perspective from their time as volunteers.

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