Freshman Jitters in Bulabog

Bulabog Beach, Boracay Island, Philippines

Bulabog Beach during amihan (northeast monsoon from November to March) is like a high school campus for kiteboarders and windsurfers. The seniors are riding at top speed, strutting their stuff. The freshmen, students in their mandatory helmets, are nervously launching their kites and clumsily getting on their boards for the first time. The jocks are somersaulting, twisting and turning up to 10 meters in the air- shirtless men showing off their rippling muscles and bikini-clad women flaunting their sexy toned bodies. The nerds avoid the crowds and go out early in the morning while the world is still asleep and dealing with hangovers or late in the afternoon during happy hour. Rowdy parties, loud music and alcoholic revelries from sunset till dawn complete the campus scene.

Windy days are happy days!

Bullies abound- kiters and windsurfers who zip past inches away from you spraying salt water on your face. Beginners like me can’t do anything except swallow your pride, close your eyes and cover your nose as the salt water engulfs you. Bullies act as if they own the water, shooing you away and shouting at you to get out of their way when clearly you have no control of your kite and board.

Windless days bring out the laziness or creativity in you.

I lived in Boracay for a month in January 2012 with a single objective in mind- to learn how to kiteboard. Learning how to kite is like being a freshman in school with Bulabog Beach being the big wide scary world. You are equally inspired and intimidated by the older kids and are certain that everyone’s watching and laughing at you fall repetitively on your face. You are scared to venture past the beginners’ area and take comfort in being with fellow anxious neophytes. You spend most of your time in the water- not with actual riding- but falling and relaunching your kite or recovering your board. And just when you’ve- oh at last launched your kite and gotten on your board yey!- you fall on your face again. Your kite has a mind of its own. You are aware of horror stories of kiters getting blown high up in the air and crashing onto trees and buildings, and at the worst, dying. You panic when your kite dives into the water with a sickening thud and realize you almost spliced off the ears of the kiter nearby who quickly pumps his fist at you shouting god knows what and I am glad I can’t hear you because you’re too far away. Why are they such assholes? They were beginners once, too, and went through the same awkward stage I was experiencing then.

For lessons, I recommend Green Yard Funboard Center with very competent and friendly instructors.

On a good day during the amihan season, Bulabog Beach has at least a thousand kiters in the water. Ok, I exaggerate but that’s how it feels like when you're a newbie. It’s like being in EDSA at rush hour with everyone going at 100 km/hour. Bulabog Beach, often called the other side of paradise because it is on the other side of the world famous White Beach, is one of the world’s top kiteboarding and windsurfing destinations owing to its ideal conditions- steady onshore amihan, flat shallow water, sandy bottom, affordable food and alcohol, beautiful people from around the world and fantastic nightlife. But it can be overwhelming for a novice who doesn't have full command of your kite and are a potential danger to yourself and others around you. It reminded me of my first week in the giant intimidating world of the University of the Philippines, the country’s leading state university, center of student rebellion and activism. I am a middle aged woman with a not so bad career behind me and and yet I felt like a wimp in Bulabog. I never felt that insecure in ages.

My beach front home and "car" for my month in Boracay.

But I despair not. For I realized that for every bully in the water, there’s an angel. On a particularly frustrating day of high wind and repetitive catapults, a stranger went out of his way to pick up my board which I got separated from and handcarried it to me. Thank you, dear stranger, whoever you are. My smile and thank you wave came from the bottom of my heart. That definitely made my day. Campus life as a freshman isn't so bad after all. One good deed erases away the horrors of the day.