After Bubba Gump, my cousin, Gabrielo (Yes, we do have very similar names), and his friend, Braeden, and I decided to hit the hotel swimming pool around 10 p.m.. When we saw it overcrowded with a bunch of older men, we thought the best course of action was to hit the gym (Now, keep in mind, I was wearing a bikini under a black throw-over dress, so you can imagine the difficulties in working out with my attire). With the workout out of the way we headed back outside...but they were still there! So, I suggested walking along the beach (which turned out to be the best idea yet).
We saw numerous turtle nests, and luckily no night crabs snuck out of their homes. All three of us sat on the beach and hypnotically watched the moon pull in the waves. I closed my eyes, breathed in the ocean air, and felt the wind brush through my hair. I read somewhere online that your memory improves by focusing on the moment you are in (but I can't remember what the article was called. Ha. See what I did there?). Anyways, one thing I love to do is capture the moment. Be in the moment--if that makes sense. Life is always such a blur that sometimes we forget to just stop and feel the earth beneath our feet and gaze at the stars above. So I took time to do that, because I think it's important to make sure we don't just go through our lives, but to live our lives. I'll never forget the way the ocean made me feel (Oh! So maybe the article does work).
Coming back to (what we thought) was an empty hot tub, we walked up to it to be startled by two girls. Quickly we made friends and all five of us talked in deep conversation throughout the night till the two girls headed back to sleep. By that time, the hot tub was, well, too hot, so, we also dipped into the swimming pool they had. I recall checking the time and noticed it was well past midnight. But, before our final moments before sleep, I floated on my back as the boys did cannonballs into the pool and I stared up at the few stars scattered across the night sky. I slept like a baby that night. If I had to describe that night in two words, they would be: calm and hot. (tip: do not go in a hot tub with the maximum temperature at 104 in the middle of summer because surely you'll sweat even more than when you worked out earlier that night).
"Dance with the waves,
move with the sea.
Let the rhythm of the water
set your soul free."
- Christy Ann Martine