Of Surf and Sunburn

I am back from Florida, slightly sunburned, slightly sick (caught a cold while there or while in the airport; yay), and already longing to go back to the ocean. OH MY GOD WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME IT'S JUST AS ROMANTICALLY SPECTACULAR AS I'D ALWAYS DREAMED?! If you can't tell, I am very happy to have finally been IN the ocean. Not seeing it in the lagoon in Venice; not touching the North Sea in St. Andrews, Scotland. But being TOTALLY SUBMERGED in salty, powerful waves in the Atlantic. If you live in Florida, and don't go to the beach, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Oh, wait, that's [uber gay]. Sorry about that, mate. (Really, when he went with us to the beach while he was there, it was only the third time he'd done for something that didn't involve gathering meteorological data).

Other than frolicking on the beach, collecting shells and having the most relaxing vacation of my life, I learned four very interesting things about the Sunshine State:

1) There are lizards everywhere. Seriously. They are more abundant than pigeons in Venice. These little geckos skitter across the concrete aimlessly and reside in every palm grove (and every time they rustle in the foliage, I was certain that a velociraptor was going to tear through the trees - because I've never seen forests like what Florida has except in Jurassic Park. Thus the fear of dinosaurs).

2) Sand gets fucking everywhere. Enough said.

3) One cannot buy alcohol while in the presence of under-aged people in a Walmart in Melbourne, FL (because they immediately assume that you are buying it for them, even when they say they are not going to drink it and that the ARE under-aged and are not trying to buy it illegally). I found this the hard way and then went on a diatribe about the stupidity of liquor laws in the United States and vowed to move to Britain in the parking lot of said Walmart (but you know, it's not really a trip to Walmart if I don't have a bitchfest in the parking lot afterwards). This is like the third time I've had trouble buying alcohol legally in my own country; what's with this?

4) Florida is fucking weird. Seriously, if the strange animals and plants and jellyfish suicides (we saw tiny dead jellies on the beach. It was unsettling) weren't enough, Florida people are... different. They are insane drivers. They have an accent that sounds like a blend of surfer and Southern. And they're... well, they're kind of racist. When students openly complain about the "stupid Saudis" that are terrible drivers that knock down light poles... well, I can tell I'm not in Minnesota anymore. Guess I take for granted that racism isn't as blatant up north. Florida is a totally different world.

[Львица] and me at the beach

But I finally saw the sea! I swam in it! I drank mead at an Irish restaurant! Great success and finally a college spring break trip. Brilliant. Life tiles made :D