So I really did come here to volunteer and teach English.  No really, I did.  It was a total coincidence that this happens to be a surfing mecca.  I found out after the fact from some friends who are surfers and who were completely digusted by my lack of knowledge of how lucky I was or how excited I should be.  And how was I supposed to know the school where I will be teaching would be on vacation the fist week I'm here?

That said, we took a trip to Chicama yesterday.  Chicama, I've come to find, is world famous for having the worlds longest left beaking wave.  Sometimes up to 2 kilometers.  Yesterday we packed 13 of us into the van you see above, stapped surf boards to the top and drove the hour or so to see for ourselves. 

It wasn't a 2 kilometer day at Chicama, which requires absolutely perfect conditions to get that long, but it was an easy 150 yards which is pretty amazing.  The waves looked like they were generated by a machine and peeled off all the way down the beach.  We walked up about half a kilometer where we got in the water and surfed back catching wave after wave.  All you had to do was start paddling as the wave slowly approached you.  I only wish I was a better surfer in order to truly appreciate it.  When you got too far down the beach you simply got out and walked back to where you started and we did laps in this fashion.

So, like I said, I really did come to volunteer, but you can't fault me for having a little fun on the side right?