Got trash?

After a couple days of surfing and hanging out on the beach in Tamarindo, we decided yesterday that we should hop on a bus and go to Nicaragua. Why not, right? There's never been anything in the news that would discourage Nicaragua tourism that I can remember...or am I thinking of the Netherlands...?

We really are in Nicaragua right now, Granada to be exact. This place is really cool...in some ways, a step back in time, but then modern at the same time. We were nearly hit by a horse-drawn cart in the street earlier today, only to survive long enough to dodge a Mack truck that was following close behind. Quite a few young tourists here and we feel completely safe. Not the Nicaragua that we all know and love from the news in the 80's...drugs carry a mandatory 10 day jail sentence and you're given three handfuls of rice and beans three times a day. Definitely enough to sustain yourself, but doesn't sound like a ton of fun.

Let's talk a bit about pollution and garbage. There's a story in which Jamie, on a family trip as a kid, saw someone throw a piece of trash (cigarette butt I believe) out their window and she picked it up and let them know how irresponsible that was. She could turn that into a full-time job here in Nicaragua. During the trip up here yesterday, street vendors would come on the bus at stops and sell juice and pastries and things (by the way, juice came in a plastic baggie with the top tied...you bite off a corner and suck out the juice). They sold quite a bit to travelers which in turn created quite a bit of garbage. Without hesitating, people opened the windows and threw all their waste paper out on the side of the road. In towns, on "highways," no matter where...this is just common practice here. It's not implausible for someone to believe that yellow plastic bags are a major crop here...they're everywhere along roadsides. I carried an empty pop can through multiple bus trips so I could throw it away properly. When I found a garbage can, it was overflowing with trash so, in the end, mine ended up on the ground too.

If you see a seagull flying around with an empty can of Peach Nectar stuck on its wing, you can blame me. Before you know it, I'll take up smoking just so I can throw the butts out the window. It's a slippery slope...

Why do they put the chairs so high up on the beach?

We're in Tamarindo doing some surfing and enjoying the sun. It's 90 degrees every day, the water is warm, and the food is cheap. Today's little adventure had to do with the tide...Joe and I were remarking that the beach chairs were WAY up on the beach and I thought maybe it was due to the gradual slope of the beach - when the tide comes in, we figured it came in FAST.

Well, we ended up renting a couple surf boards and forgot about our little epiphany. We all took off our sandals and sunglasses and Joe and I went out to surf. Will and Martie were close behind and we caught some fantastic waves. Well, Joe and I were absolutely worn out, so we swam back in and realized there was far less beach than when we had started. We found the approximate area where our stuff would have been...it was under about six inches of water. No sandals. No sunglasses. No shirts.

Two valuable lessons from today:
1. Don't be stupid. This doesn't come naturally for me most of the time.
2. If you are stupid. Be sure to take friends along like Martie and Will. Before coming out to join Joe and I, they moved all our stuff up to the top of the beach so it wouldn't wash away. Whew...


As a sidenote...I ask that you keep some friends of the Mathern family in your thoughts. One of my parents' friends is having serious health challenges and was life-flighted to Harborview in Seattle (from Great Falls). They have been running diagnostic tests since this weekend to find the source of a lesion in her brain. We all experienced that torture when Jamie was being diagnosed...send some positive vibes towards Seattle for both Jan and the rest of the family.

Ninja police and the truth about toilet paper

Well, we´ve all made it to San Jose and we´ll be off to the beach tomorrow. As the crow flies, it´s only two hours, but as the bus drives, we´re looking at five and a half to get to Tamarindo. I´ve heard the roads leave something to be desired...exactly what that something is and the degree to which it´s desired, I don´t yet know. Will showed up today, sans luggage. After only fifty hours of traveling including a seven hour layover in Guatemala, he´s not exactly excited that he has no clean clothes. However, it´s surprising how quickly you can make a friend forget his troubles with a cold beer and hearty meal. Plus, I told him he could use my slightly used undies in a pinch.

Forewarning...Mom, its not as bad as its about to sound.

Went out last night and walked around the wrong corner. The ninja police (so titled because of the ski masks they were wearing) stopped us with submachine guns drawn and demanded our passports. Luckily, one of the three of us spoke Spanish, so it was never really a worry that we were in trouble, but when a guy with a machine gun is yelling at you in a foreign language, you tend to take notice. Turns out they were patting down locals for drugs and the only reason we had trouble was because the stamp on my passport wasnt quite legible. To the ninja police, that implied that I was in the country illegally. Immigration eventually cleared us and the whole experience was kind of fun. I wanted to take pictures, but something told me that wasnt such a hot idea. I think it was the guns. Actually, Im sure it was.

While learning that you should have copies of your passport stamped with your date of entry is very valuable, it´s not something you´ll use every day. However, this little nugget of wisdom IS something you´ll use daily...some of you may use it SEVERAL times a day! South of Texas, absolutely NO toilet paper is to be flushed down the toilet. There´s a garbage can next to the toilet that you throw every rotten little square into. I´m still coming to terms with this...but it sure explains the horrid smelling lavatories that I´ve run into. The wisdom fountain is flowing fully open right now.

cardboard and foodstamps

So here I am: homeless and unemployed.

I haven't had time to really enjoy my newfound freedom yet, but I think I'll get used to it pretty quickly. I went in to work on Monday and cleaned out my desk. Erasing the board, I couldn't help but feel like I was somehow erasing my existence from the company. I spent countless nights awake, thinking about what I needed to get done at work, emails I needed to respond to, slide decks I needed to build (one of my friends thought I should be a carpenter, given all the decks I'd built in my day...) My laptop was filled with "important" documents...and with a flick of the wrist, it was all gone.

Why did I spend all those nights awake, stressing about work? Why did I work 15 hour days, take international conference calls at 1 in the morning, and continuously go over the "woulda- coulda- shoulda-" lists in my head? Because that's what it took to get the job done. And I don't regret it a bit. I'm just glad I don't have to do it anymore. Now, all I need to do is figure out a way to make money without working. No problem!

Flight leaves in three hours from LA (where I'm sitting now). Can't help but wonder what I'll be saying in three months...

1. Remember when I used to stay up all night putting my blood, sweat, and tears into presentations that ended up never being shown because someone ended up having a scheduling conflict!? Man, life was good back then. (Maybe not)

2. Paychecks were nice. (Very possible)

3. These mosquito nets are great! Why haven't they caught on in the States!? (Hope not)

4. Another Mai Tai, please. (Best option)