Saturday, September 26, 2009

Surf surf surf

OH man i am really getting the hang of this whole "SMURFING" thing. This morning I got up at 630am and had breakfast with Bianca and went for a long morning surf. The waves werent that great but I caught a couple of good ones! Yesterday was amazing- Marilyn and I went to this natural piscina on a rock shelf near Mal Pais. We rode bikes out to this natural pool that was filled with tiny yellow fish. The fish werent scared of us at and would just swim up to us and check us out. We had an amazing view of the ocean and we watched a whale breach! It was Marilyns first time to see a whale, and she was super excited. Then we rode bikes to where the fisherman return their boats and bought two HUGE red snapper for 5000 colones- which is just under ten dollars. The fisherman cut the fish for us and we took home a bag of filets- which was about 3.5 kilos and another bag with the bones, heads and fins. After an evening surf Bianca, Marilyn and I cooked up a storm. We made snapper in coconut milk with onions and garlic, a HUGE ensalada, mashed potatoes and rice with vegtables. We ran out of propane half way through cooking but the boys saved the day and went to fetch us more. We ate so much amazing food!!! Tonight Im going to attempt to make soup out of the fish heads and the remaining fish - bones and all. I hope it turns out but my buddy Palomillo said he would give me some pointers. After our feast last night Bianca and I rode bikes down the bumpy dusty road that we have grown to love... potholes and all.

The waves arent any good right now but im hoping that they will get better in an hour or so... then im off to surf till sunset, make fishead soup and tonight my roommate Marilyn (aka DJ Nightnurse!!) will play reggae music at our favorite local bar- La Lora Amarillo.

Not sure if ive mentioned it - but there is a family of howler monkeys that lives in the tree directly in front of our house. They are SO amazing- almost feline in the way that they crawl around on the branches. Furthermore, they have the most ferocious howl and its so cool to wake up to in the morning. They howl when anyone rides by on a motorcycle. Its so cool from the beach you can hear a motorcycle riding by on the road and then a ton of howler monkeys going crazy!!!

Other than that... all is well in Santa Teresa.

Monday, September 21, 2009

POST SCRIPT

My favorite FAVORITE thing about nicaragua is that everyone in the streets at any given time of day, say QUE LA VERGA!!! which literally means ¨what the dick???¨. i translated it to say ¨WTF????¨

ANYONE from little children in the street playing soccer at like 11pm to the amazing old short and round ladies in the mercados- abuelas, oh AND DONT FORGET the old men on the dirt roads with 2 machetes and no shirt- they all say it all day long.

A TIP- Whenever you are mad and want to swear but its just not appropriate (aka approp´s -for the keeg job) just yell QUE LA VERGA. All will be well.

HOME SWEET HOME

Oh man im so happy to be back in BEAUTIFUL santa teresa. Bianca and I are sharing a room for 100 bucks per month and I recently purchased an old rusty bicycle from my good friend Mariano. I spray painted it black and aquamarine and have already found some amazing stickers for my bicicleta. Her name is Wipeout- because sometimes the chain falls off and I have to bail off my bike and hope for the best. So far, my wipeouts have been minimal.

Marilyn is our other roommate and she is amazing. She is a reggae DJ and the sister of a good friend of mine- so it all works out. Theres a lot of crime in Santa Teresa, but no one is going to mess with Marilyn because her brother is one of the crazy rastas that im sure ive described before. For a lack of better words, there is like this gang of rastas that are always getting into trouble and pretty much run the town of Santa Teresa. My friend Pilar described them once and i think she put it perfectly, ¨they are wonderful- amazing guys, but you have to remember that they are thieves¨. Personally, I love those guys- when they are being well behaved. I was robbed my first week in Santa Teresa- but im pretty sure i know exactly who did it and these days- when I leave alone at night he always offers to walk me home or tells me to ¨pasar con cuidado muneca¨. Its funny what a little bit of time does for you in any small town. It also helps that the boys know that i have no personal belongings of any worth to them. For the record- never bring a laptop to a foriegn country- everyone i know who has had one has lost it to thieves.

I played video games for like 6 hours yesterday- thats something i havent done in forever. The town is so amazing when its empty- kind of like Boulder in the summertime- when all of the college kids leave and the town resumes its form. Im back in my routine of running and yoga- but theres a HUGE swell in these days and every day someone breaks a board or a leash or has some catastrophe- so I stick to swimming or just surfing in the whitewater.

Im about to head off to Flor Blanca- another place that makes me feel so at home. The only person missing is my good friend Antonio- who i miss every day. Theres literally no one staying at Flor Blanca tonight so Im off to hit the gym with my buddy Will and then were thinking about having a pool party. ¿Porque No? Ive managed to master this balance between spending my time at the most exclusive hotel in Costa Rica and the rest with the scrappiest bunch i could possibly find- all located within a few kilometers of one another.

Oh and I found 7 sand dollars yesterday on the beach, but being the ECOFRIENDLY chica that I am, I obviously left them for nature. Today I ran for like 2 hours across at least 6 beaches and found even more. AMAZING. This time of year it should be monsoons all the time- but for some reason, its bright and sunny and beautiful every day.

Favorite music right now

This amazing reggae song ¨i dont wanna love you more¨- by some guy from San Jose, ill find out the specifics cuz its the best song ever.
Julieta Venegas
Los Perricos
Calle 13

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

NICARAGUA...

Tomorrow I am heading back to Costa Rica- and im really sad to be leaving Nicaragua. So ive decided to write about a few of the things that I love the most about San Juan Del Sur. This is in no particular order - just a few things that made me happy while i was here.

La Gente- Nicas are amazing people. I love how when I walk through the streets on every street corner someone knows who I am and asks me about my day. Everyone speaks SPANISH- in costa rica it isnt necessary to speak spanish, but here if you speak to someone in english they always respond in spanish. It has been incredible for me to learn new words and phrases just from having to speak spanish all the time.

El Mercado- theres a little mercado in town that has 3 sodas, 5 fruit stands and 4 other tiendas that sell clothes and flip flops and other random items. My favorite waitress who always sings while she works *- her singing kept me loyal to her soda where the average cost of the best meal of your life was inbetween 2 and 3 dollars. I loved eating the fresh fish and TONS of gallo pinto. Every soda in town has their own special hot sauce- and ill never forget the night that bianca cried for about 30 minutes because she devoured a ridiculous amount of the hottest picante in town. I love the aprons that the ladies in the mercado wear- I purchased one the other day and its an OBRA DE ARTE. The avocados were the best ive ever tasted and Ill miss getting DOWN on vegetable sandwiches with Bianca in our dirty kitchen at my former hostel- Rinconcita Mexicana.

Playa Maderas- I loved everything about playa maderas- the hostal tres hermanos and the guy who made tacos every day on the beach. I loved watching the sunsets every day with Koki, Enrique, Orlando, Manuel y Jose. The three hermanos- Jose, Manuel and Enrique- were pretty much my BFFs while i was there. Every day they watched my things for me and i never worried about them taking a dime off of me. The needlefish that would jump out of the water while chasing their next meal- stingrays that would swim below my board- and the perfectly clear water under my board- i would look down and see tons of fish all day long. I spent almost every day at playa maderas and i never had a bad day with the crazy locals. I loved my first few days with Jose - a different Jose- the number one longboarder in nicaragua- who helped me learn a ton about longboarding. Ill miss chilling at good times surf shop with Jose, Gilbert, Gerrardo, David and Manu (the dog named after manu chao)- playing local card games and eating pithayas and chickis cookies. Oh man im really going to miss pithayas *aka dragonfruit*. The road to maderas was long, bumpy, dusty and sometimes cars wouldnt make it up the last hill- but I loved riding in the back of a pickup truck with the locals who relied on the surf shop guys for a ride to work every day. Also the monkeys in the trees and the pigs in the streets. The cows and horses and old men on bicycles that I passed every day on my way to the beach. Ill miss drinking tonas in the afternoon with the guys and I cant wait to come back again. Ill also miss looking around and realizing that im the only girl in the waves with about 30 insanley hot surfer dudes.

Theres a huge statue of jesus on the hill to the right of the main beach in san juan del sur. Ill never forget drinking rum with max and some aussies and bianca next to the jesus statue and admiring the amazing view. Sunsets at Jesus were incredible. Ill miss my little running loop that went right below the jesus statue and back to the maderas road to town- it was about 3 kilometeres and some days i did the loop twice, other days i didnt run at all- but it was always there for me in case i needed it.

The town of San Juan has the most beautiful colors- all of the buildings are brightly painted and its generally a very clean town. Except for at night when the street dogs get into the garbage and go to town on the scraps of food. Bianca fed a street dog the scraps of her chicken- bones and all to a dog and it ate the whole things in one gulp. The dog is still alive so i guess eating chicken bones isnt the end of the world after all. Ill miss Casa Feliz- Ben and Codo were the best guys ever to live with and i always felt safe with them. Their friends were amazing, they taught me how to dance and Ill never forget the first night that I met all of them on Josue's birthday. Don Marelis and Karla- the wildest girls in nicaragua - it makes my heart hurt that im leaving them. They were always so much fun and we always seemed to get into trouble together.

La Iguana - the rowdiest bar in Nicaragua - with the most ridiculous bartenders in the world - not sure how much im going to MISS spending all of my money there- or CRAZY alberto who always hits on me, even in front of his wife... but Henry the owner is probably one of the funniest people ive ever met.

Ill miss my routine of surfing, drinking, eating, dancing and then sleeping- then waking up in the morning, grabbing my board and walking down the street looking for a ride to the beach. Also the taxi drivers that for 3 weeks, every time i walked by said "Taxi Taxi Chica?". Also the little kid that worked for the bus to rivas that would stand in the street all day and yell "Rivas Rivas Rivas!!!!".

Ill miss sneaking into the pool at Pelican Eyes and the amazing view of all of san juan del sur at sunset. Also the ridiculous australian boys that always said "BLIH"
- kind of like a throwup noise- whenever they didnt like something. Also the New Zealanders that drank copious amounts of rum every night in the hostel and only made it surfing once. Flor de Cana- the rum of nicaragua- is super cheap and amazingly tasty.

The hippies in the street- especially Juan who gave me one earring as a gift. I bought the most amazing necklace in the world from another hippy after telling him for a week that i had to have it. Hippies are very serious about their word- so one day he raised the price by ten dollars, just because it had taken me so long to purchase the necklace. We settled our little quarrell over a beer at Coquitos- the best place in san juan del sur for live music.

There are so many other things that i absolutely adore about Nicaragua - too many to think of right now, but i have a lot of time on the bus to tamarindo tomorrow and ill think of all of the other things that i love.

Needless to say, im sad to go but im ready to head back to santa teresa and hopefully i can find an apartment for at least a month. Ill keep yall posted!!!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Independencia!

Im thinking about heading out of San Juan del Sur tomorrow but MAYBE the day after. Im heading over to Tamarindo to meet up with Bianca and then we are heading back to our own little piece of paradise, SANTA TERESA.

San Juan is insanely crowded with people from all over Nicaragua- I think im heading out to go surfing today because i cant really handle the crowds. However, there are a ton of celebrations all over town and ive been hearing drums since i woke up this morning. I recently purchased an amazing white and pink apron that the women in the mercado wear when they sell fruit and Im thinking that tonight ill wear it out- im going to look ridiculous, but hey WHEN IN ROME.

Ive met some amazing people in Nicaragua - and some not so amazing people as well. Im thinking about purchasing a camera today- its secondhand -aka probably was stolen from someone- but thats just the way things go around here. I would love to be able to take some pictures of the amazing places that ive been and to be able to show them to everyone would make me super happy.

For now, im off to buy a sticker for bianca and then its probably time to go surfing again. Loving life!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Andys Amazing Tent Story

"I may have a Costa Rican love child, but im not sure" my good friend Andy told mne the firts night we ever hung out, eating pizza and drinking beers with our mutual friend max. "What, you have to tell me the story" I responded between bites of pizza and sips of tona.

"I cant, you are never going to see me in the same way again".

"not an issue andy, just tell the damn story".

SO IT BEGAN

"Okay so one night i was in Jaco at a bar, and I was hammered drunk and this guy came up to me and kept saying 'hey my friend really likes you and shes really cute do you want to go home with her?' and i was like umm not really dude and i kept drinking. he kept texting on his phone and saying 'come on man she really likes you' so finally i was like allright i guess ill meet this chick. so eventually i went with this guy and his girl and this other girl to the beach to drink some more beers. we ended up drinking next to their tent, which was a 2 person tent- and anyone knows that a 2 person tent is really a one person tent. so the girl, who didnt speak any english, and i didnt speak any spanish, leads me into the tent. we get inside and i look up to see the other guy and his girl in coming right behind us and following us into the tent. so i start hooking up with this girl and i look over and there are the other two, going at it- night next to us, in a tent on the beach in jaco."

"andy, did you know her name?"

"no, and my english wasnt so great at the time, so we didnt really talk at all. she just kept saying 'que rico' over and over again. it was really akward. we didnt have any protection, and i may have a costa rican love child/ some terrible disease"

"andy, thats an incredible story"

"yeah, i told you that you would see me differently from now on"

"yep, totally"

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

FOOTNOTES

There have been several occasions in which i realized that I love my friend Bianca Channell Buckley - who left today for Tamarindo, CR. But in order to fully understand- you have to know a little background information on Bianca. The person she reminds me most of is Jess -an old roommate from Jackson Hole. Bianca is a little blonde girl with wild curly blonde hair and big blue eyes- she has an awesome surfer body and can eat more than anyone i know. She talks really slowly like a surfer chick- and the first time i met her i thought she was perma-stoned but soon realized that this is just how she is. She rarely drinks- and has no problem going to the bar completely sober and dancing crazier than anyone else in the bar. She used to be a ballerina- but she dances like a wild child. She has her own bizarre style that scares away the boys. Her mentality is, if she dances like a freak- the boys will leave her alone and she can dance in peace.

She and i became friends on the beach in santa teresa- we usually went running together and had a lot of the same friends. On one of my first days paddling out past the whitewater and into the big waves i looked at her and said, "i really shouldnt be out here"... she looked back at me and said "umm yeah you should, keep surfing". Bianca is out in the water every morning and isnt happy unless she gets in at least 3 surf sessions every day. Okay back to why i love this girl.

The first time i realized that i adored bianca was at Santa Teresas only REAL bar, Day and Night,on electronic night. D and N is only open 3 nights per week- they have reggae night *which is obviously the best*, salsa night and electronic night. On electronic night all of the local crazy boys do a lot of cocaine and are generally out of control. One in particular, Macho Loco, was out of his mind on this particular night and decided that I was going to be the girl for him. He was all in my face, harassing me and just not leaving me alone. If his name doesnt give you a clue, he is kind of an insane person. Bianca saw Macho Loco harassing me and looked at him and in her amazing surfer tranquila voice said "dude... she doesnt want to sleep with you, shes never going to sleep with you, I dont want to sleep with you, why dont you just leave her alone because we dont even like you". So Macho Loco freaks out... and starts screaming "you come to MY PAIS and speak to me like this???? MY COUNTRY?" and Bianca doesnt even bat an eye and just looks at him in the eyes and goes "whatever dude, we dont care, just go away". Little miss Bianca, who probably weighs 90 pounds, got this coked out crazy local to leave me alone and wasnt even bothered by the way he freaked out. I knew this girl could handle her own, and I was impressed.

The SECOND time I realized that I found a true gem was at Playa Maderas about a week and a half ago. Okay so everyone in Costa Rica is crazy about Mayonaise and mustard is impossible to find. Well Bianca managed to find a bottle of mustard at Playa Maderas and put literally half the bottle on her hot dog. I was talking to some friends and I looked over and she had guantes de mostaza. She had mustard all over her face, from the tips of her fingers to about halfway to her elbow-It was on her legs, it was EVERYWHERE. She calmly walks up to the guys behind the counter and goes "ummm can i have a napkin". They looked at her, laughed and told her to go jump in the ocean because there was no way they would have napkins left in the restaurant after hurricane bianca. I cant wait to tell you guys about the maderas boys- Antonio, Manuel, Enrique and Orlando. Three of them are brothers and the other can be kind of a jerk- but we love them all and they watch our things for us every day- and i always try to buy them a round of beers when i can. Back to my story...

The truth is, Bianca doesnt care what anyone thinks ever, about anything- and I respect it. When i met her she couldnt speak any spanish at all, and now she can hold her own in pretty much any situation. At our friend Hannahs going away party - a few weeks ago- in costa rica- she looked at me - amongst all the crazy local boys and said "this party is stupid... everyone is speaking spanish". I was like, ummm Bianca you are in costa rica, with the locals... theres going to be a fair amount of spanish.

Its so funny because guys will meet her and are totally impressed by her dedication to surfing and shes a beautiful girl- but then she starts talking and the weirdness comes out. ITS AMAZING. I really wish you guys could have been in the car with us on the way back from the beach yesterday. EPIC. This guy went from gazing at her adoringly to cringing and saying "please stop talking! please change the subject"- she was explaining her bowel movements after eating pithayas. Hilarious.

Ahhh enough on Bianca- she was my travel buddy for the last two weeks and this morning she left for Tamarindo. I have NO desire to go to Tamagringo and so ive decided to stay in San Juan, at least for one more week. I moved to Casa Feliz, a really cool hostel with my friend Marlys and theres a good group of fun people and Im really excited to change things up for a bit.

My body is a mess though. My ribs are so badly bruised that it makes me not want to breathe ever. There was a nice swell the last few days and some of the set waves were easily above 7 feet. I had some killer wipe outs, thats for sure. So today i will get a massage, take it easy, read a book, and go sneak into the pool at Pelican Eyes- the only nice hotel in San Juan del Sur. The electricity is out in all of San Juan for the next 4 hours, but my favorite internet cafe over at hotel joxie has a generator, and the air conditioner works- so ill probably be back with more stories later today. There are way too many stories to tell.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

YO HEART NICARAGUA

I have to figure out a way to stay in Central America forever.

Big weekend plans- off to see Calle 13 in Managua on Saturday Night with some friends. Really excited and nervous to be back in a big city.

I met a girl yesterday named Marlys- I had seen her around town and knew she looked familiar. We started talking on the water yesterday and we realized that we knew eachother from Jackson Hole, WY. She also lived in Boulder, CO. Needless to say, Im really excited to have a new girlfriend down in Nicaragua. She and i both jumped out of the hole *which is really difficult to do* and shes spending her winters in Oahu and her summers down in Nicaragua. What a life!!!

Tonight im going to go camp on the beach with Bianca and some friends. Tomorrow we will surf, and then Saturday we will leave for Managua. By the time we return there SHOULD be some waves. Weve heard from our Costa Rican amigos that there isnt any surf in Santa Teresa either. WHO TOOK ALL THE DAMN WAVES? Oh well, yesterday i played volleyball on the beach, surfed and ran... and then drank beer. So the day wasnt a total bust.

People down here fish in the water with spears and snorkels. Just thought yall might like to know. Im off to go walk my friends puppy, Manu- and then im off to surf at 2!

Today, I miss my whole earth crew. Hope yall are doing well! XOXOXOXOXO

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

A day off

Today I decided to not go surfing... and im kind of going crazy. Im getting better every day- but the swell is really low in San Juan Del Sur these days and everyone is waiting for the waves to get better. Bianca decided to get her SCUBA certification over the next few days so I guess we will be here for a while. Its insane how cheap the food is in Nicaragua. There is this little mercado with 4 or 5 fruit and vegetable stands, 4 sodas and 4 tiendas that sell flip flops, dresses and other random clothes. For 40 cordobas (which is 2 dollars) I got a WHOLE fish, rice, beans, salad and tortilla. Its weird eating a whole fish- but it tastes so amazing that I dont REALLY feel too bad. THey also have this amazing fruit- Pithaya - and its kind of like a strawberry/kiwi mix- its FUSCHIA and tastes amazing. Bianca and I eat them all the time- and theres an added bonus because they make your lips bright fuschia.

San Juan Del Sur is an interesting place- there are a ton of places to surf- but no where that you can walk to. YOu always have to catch a ride- but there are a ton of ways to get there- every hostel and surf shop runs a shuttle to the beach at least once per day for a bout five bucks. Bianca and I are staying at rinconcita mexicana for $5 per night- which is nice.

Max took off on his boat today for a "guys" surf trip with 2 other guys, and of course his trusty Mexican perrito - Maestra. Maestra went missing for a few days and I was super nervous that we werent going to see her again- but Max saw here when he was sailing a few kilometers down the beach. I bet ill see max again in costa rica- but who knows where any of us will be at any given time.

Ive been getting free surf tips from a lot of really nice guys on the water- including a guy named Jose who is the number one longboarder in Nicaragua. He literally catches 90 percent of the waves in the water and ive had so much fun chilling with him this week. Bianca and I have spent almost every day at Playa Madera- which is a really great surf spot. It has a restaurant with a hostel on top-and theres one tent where this couple makes AMAZING fish tacos. Its probably the best taco ive ever had in my entire life.

The guys that run the hostel and restaurant are constantly harassing Bianca and myself- but not in a malicious way. We make them watch our stuff for us while we are surfing- and they always demand besos in exchange, but they never get any!!!

Im trying to figure out what my next move is - I need to find an apartment in order to save some money- and I really want to get back to Santa Teresa- eventually. In a few days Bianca and i are hoping to head towards Tamarindo, but theres supposed to be a big party in Managua this weekend- so we might stay a little longer than expected.

I cant wait for tomorrow to get back on my board for another day in the water! Its so amazing here and I dont know how i managed to live without surfing for this long!

On a side note- I watched the news today for the first time in 6 weeks. Our five dollar per night room has cable- but i just turned on the tv for the first time today, and we have been in our room for 9 days. Mom- thank you so much for never letting me watch tv as a child!