Raca...ooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

I knew there was a reason I remembered not liking skiing. I had started to convince myself that it wasn't all that bad but the instant I put those rigid boots on it all came flooding back. I remember now. I don't like skiing because it causes me a lot of bloody pain! Fortunately for me (but at this point Im not all that convinced it's fortunate)my brain seems to block out those painful memories so I find myself doing it again and again. Can you tell me why we do things like that to our bodies? Squish our feet into these rigid, leaning, calf squeezing hunks of plastic and then strap them to long pieces of titanium which only severely limit our mobility. Why? Why? WHY? Now don't get me wrong it really is an awesome feeling to go whizzing down the hill at high speeds, the sun at your back, and the snow sparkling all around you. And admittedly you get a really good work out. I think every muscle in my body hurts today and if you saw me hobbling up the stairs you might mistake me for 100 year old lady. But I'm still not entirely convinced that whole 'whizzing' thing is for me. It's a little too scary for a control freak like myself; to let your body go flying, with no way of stopping, your heart beating in your ears and your stomach in your throat, and what really gets me is the inability to move my feet to save myself because they are trapped in those contraptions.

Well, I went skiing this weekend for the first time in Slovakia and the (fifth time in my life) with my outdoorsy, ski loving, extraordinarily athletic host family. We went and stayed in the apartment they own which is literally on the ski hill. Once again I was star struck with the beauty of it all. And I do genuinely like staying there with them. It's kind of like camping if you know what that is like. You get to eat what you want, be really dirty (there isn't really a proper shower), sleep when you want, and where long underwear all the time. Plus they have a lot of family friends there so I got to get to know some of them. It feels like it's own little ski community. And it's nice to be a part of that. The only problem is I have to work on the whole 'loving skiing with every essence of my being part' if I ever really want to fit in. But I'm coming around. Day two was significantly better than day one so logically it can only get better from here. I believe I'll be able to enjoy it alot more once my legs stop screaming at me for putting them through such torture and I think I'll reach that point rather quickly. It's going to be an awful steep learning curve you see, as I think this is what I will be doing virtually every weekend. So I look forward to the days when I can relax a little and begin to give in to the whole experience. Until then I'll just grin and bear it. Wish me luck!