Thursday, August 12, 2010
Final thoughts of Nicaragua...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxiF0434A
There I said it...I'll miss it until the day I return:)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
I´ve got blisters on my fingers...aka I went surfing
I´m surfing, I´m a surfer, I´ve surfed. It´s true, thank you to my new Peruvian genius surf instructor friend Alfredo, I can surf...más o menos. That actually reminds me of this shop in Jinotega. There was a huge sign that said ´Todo para un dolár´ and then below it, ´más o menos´. Nothing in that store cost a dollar, it was hilarious.
Anyway, the first day of surfing was great, I spent the whole day in the water, and eventually could stand up and move on the wave a bit. The next day...gave me blisters and scrapes everywh
ere. That pictures is the condition my toes are in at the moment. Somehow, everytime I tried standing up I would rub my toe knuckles on the board. And my fingers, I´ve got blisters on the pads of my finger tips!I definitely had a false sense of competence in surfing after using a large table like board the first day. I took a board about 1 foot shorter for the next go around. It felt like climbing a jacob´s ladder paddling. That´s right, I couldn´t even find enough balance to paddle. Plus, Alfredo did not put dummy marks on the board so I knew where my nose was supposed to be. Why is this important you say. Well, if you start paddling for a wave, and you catch it, but you are too far forward on the board, the nose of the board goes directly into the water. My first wave out, it happened. And I know you´ve all had the moment in time where things happen frame by frame, and you are aware of each step of the disaster that happened. Like when I tore my ACL for the second time, it went like this: I saw Shannon Kane´s defender move over to help on another player. She got the ball on the block and I slid over, time my jump perfectly for her little turn around shot she does, jumped higher than I ever had, stuffed the ball back in her face, yelled to give my block more drama, fell down to the ground on my instep, laid down on the ground envisioning my leg no longer being straight, but instead a 90 degree angle outward. Anyway, the same thing happened to me on the beach that day. I paddled for the wave, I watched the tip of my board go under the water, I started to say ´Oh shi..´ a gallon of salt water went directly down my throat, i went under water, and to finish it off, the board came and hit me right in the face...my first run out!! and I remember being under the water thinking, dang, did i lose teeth, or, is my nose broken? i came up from the water and felt my face, and there was blood. luckily, the board hit right under my noses. higher or lower from that mark would have caused much more damage. I of course kept surfing, i knew that stopping at that point would only give me time and awareness to feel the pain. I was much more aware of my positioning on the board from that moment on. . But, after 4 hours of struggling, I found my rhythm. I found the bigger waves, and the feeling of being shot out of the wave and feeling that speed and power is an experience I´ll never forget.
Anyway, the first day of surfing was great, I spent the whole day in the water, and eventually could stand up and move on the wave a bit. The next day...gave me blisters and scrapes everywh
ere. That pictures is the condition my toes are in at the moment. Somehow, everytime I tried standing up I would rub my toe knuckles on the board. And my fingers, I´ve got blisters on the pads of my finger tips!I definitely had a false sense of competence in surfing after using a large table like board the first day. I took a board about 1 foot shorter for the next go around. It felt like climbing a jacob´s ladder paddling. That´s right, I couldn´t even find enough balance to paddle. Plus, Alfredo did not put dummy marks on the board so I knew where my nose was supposed to be. Why is this important you say. Well, if you start paddling for a wave, and you catch it, but you are too far forward on the board, the nose of the board goes directly into the water. My first wave out, it happened. And I know you´ve all had the moment in time where things happen frame by frame, and you are aware of each step of the disaster that happened. Like when I tore my ACL for the second time, it went like this: I saw Shannon Kane´s defender move over to help on another player. She got the ball on the block and I slid over, time my jump perfectly for her little turn around shot she does, jumped higher than I ever had, stuffed the ball back in her face, yelled to give my block more drama, fell down to the ground on my instep, laid down on the ground envisioning my leg no longer being straight, but instead a 90 degree angle outward. Anyway, the same thing happened to me on the beach that day. I paddled for the wave, I watched the tip of my board go under the water, I started to say ´Oh shi..´ a gallon of salt water went directly down my throat, i went under water, and to finish it off, the board came and hit me right in the face...my first run out!! and I remember being under the water thinking, dang, did i lose teeth, or, is my nose broken? i came up from the water and felt my face, and there was blood. luckily, the board hit right under my noses. higher or lower from that mark would have caused much more damage. I of course kept surfing, i knew that stopping at that point would only give me time and awareness to feel the pain. I was much more aware of my positioning on the board from that moment on. . But, after 4 hours of struggling, I found my rhythm. I found the bigger waves, and the feeling of being shot out of the wave and feeling that speed and power is an experience I´ll never forget.
San Juan del Sur and the hostal we have stayed has a crazy way of never letting you leave. I was going to travel on to see the Island Ometepe, a place where two volcanos fused together. Instead I have spent my whole time off here on the beach. After spending the first six weeks of this adventure mostly 
with Nicaraguans, it has been interesting hanging with travelers in the hostal. These people are crazy, traveling for months at a time, instead of weeks. I can´t even imagine being on the road that long, without a homebase. But after listening to their stories, I´m starting to feel the ganas de try it out. South America is starting to call my name. I definitely want to go to a Spanish speaking place. It feels really good to have the ability to communicate with the locals. I learned how to salsa dance from this wonderful Nicaraguan Marcos. I hope to find some salsa dancers in Logan.
with Nicaraguans, it has been interesting hanging with travelers in the hostal. These people are crazy, traveling for months at a time, instead of weeks. I can´t even imagine being on the road that long, without a homebase. But after listening to their stories, I´m starting to feel the ganas de try it out. South America is starting to call my name. I definitely want to go to a Spanish speaking place. It feels really good to have the ability to communicate with the locals. I learned how to salsa dance from this wonderful Nicaraguan Marcos. I hope to find some salsa dancers in Logan.It´s been a lovely thing, spending the morning drinking coffee on the third floor terrace, swinging in the hammock, taking in the ocean breeze. The whole day for surfing, and the night for salsa dancing. San Juan is the triple threat. It´s been a blast, and now it´s time to go back to home sweet home, Minnesota.
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