A beautiful walk on the beach

Today I decided not to run and to walk to the grocery store instead to pick up a few odds and ends for dinner.  Our group has envied some other international students who live down the street in SummerSeas, a beautiful complex on the ocean side of the street with terraces surrounding a common swimming pool.  Last night at Suvi’s flat at Summer Seas, she told us that each morning they muster the strength to get out of bed in early hours (7am) to watch pods of dolphins swim by as the eat their breakfasts.  But I proved that Langerry is just as good as SummerSeas when I saw my first pod of dolphins while walking on the boardwalk!    There were hundreds of them a ways off the coast traveling in the same direction as I in order for me to watch them longer. 

Then I saw one of the lovliest things I’ve seen since arriving in Africa.  There was a little girl with braids and a terrorizing grin tearing down the boardwalk towards me, so a tapped into my speed-walker super pace and got out of her way.  When I took a better look I saw that she was wearing a hot pink bath robe over play clothes and a mini-me followed right behind with the obvious markings of a second child.  But the second one was laughing so hard she could barely peddle her bike.  She was racing Dad who was on a razor scooter trying to beat her to the next check point.  Not only were the girls’ bathrobes unmistakably reminiscent of princesses hustling their chariots, but the family dynamic and playfulness was one for the books, or blog in my case.

PE is a beach city which is claimed by most members to be “sport crazy.”  That is not the only distinctive mark on the city.  Thus far, I will remember people bare foot everywhere, the grocery store, sidewalks, beach, I didn’t pay attention in church but I wouldn’t be surprised, haha.  I’ll remember the guys on the beach who, when walking with their girlfriends, will stop and ask passers by, “We in love right.  You can see, we in love.”  And, I’ll remember watching people swim in anything you can imagine, with no notion of looking odd or not having "proper" swimsuits.  It's beautiful to have less social requirements on what one has and more focus on who one is.

Peace