Groundhog Day #5 or 6...

Greetings friends and family,

And a very Merry Christmas to all!

Audrey and I had another great day here at Playa Hermosa.  We woke up when we felt like it. We went to the beach. We wrote about our thoughts, careers, and ideas. We swam, we surfed, we laughed. 

The End.

Ok just kidding. We spend our first night in our new room, which is upstairs in our little abode.  Room number 8, the highest room number we have slept in in Nicaragua.  So far, it has been, 6, 7, 4, and now 8.  It is the coolest room, as it is up in the breeze, and has ventilation on all sides.  Very comforting for sleep. The water pressure upstairs isnt as good, but it isnt really good anywhere in this country, I dont think. No complaints though, we are having a good time.

Audrey got up first, did her usual 100 Jane Fondas at the shoreline, while I laid in bed thinking about coffee while reading. We had breakfast, and kept reading and relaxing until around noon, then headed to the beach.  The beach was very windy today, and the most busy of all the days we have seen it.  There were more than the normal amount of touristas, and far more than the previously observed amount of Nicas.  Lots of surfers, perros, and foreigners made for excellent people watching. 

Audrey and I met a couple from Twain Harte, CA a few days ago, and spent some time chatting with them.  They are both teachers, so Aurdrey got to bounce her new ideas off of some co-professionals.  Audreys inspired thinking led to long lasting conversations with great depth concerning her career, goals, and plans for the future.  My favorite part of the day was that Audrey acknowledged how little time she had to think critically about her profession, and how valuable time to reflect on ones self and profession actually is.  She highlighted what I have been longing for, and taking andvantage of this entire trip. To break away from the norm, think critcally about the things we spend a great deal of time doing, then make a plan to turn thoughts into theory, and theory into action. After much discussion, we decided we should either get into the hot sauce or hula-hoop manufacturing and distribution business. Needless to say, a day well spent at the beach for both of us.

The couple from twain harte left today, but rented a surfboard for the day and left it to us for the last few hours. Audrey showed off some of the skills she learned while at UCSB, needless to say, I was impresed. I on the other hand, couldnt manage to stand up on the thing after barely being able to catch a wave.  At the end of the day, we both agreed that surfing is much harder than it looks.

For Christmas appetizers, we had beer and hot wings. For dinner, we had rum and cokes, grilled chicken, beef, fish, shrimp, and lobster, with some mashed plantain cakes (very similar to latkes) and some cooked vegetables. As non-traditional as it gets, but, it did the job just fine.  We shared a table with a couple from Finland whom spend a great deal of time travelling.  They have been all over, from the Pacific Islands, tropical Asia, and most of Central America, they insist that Nicaragua is a place worth coming to more than any other.  They were very intelligent, and answered my questions about their election processes and government structure quite fluently in english.  They both spoke Spanish comfortably as well. It was a nice change of pace, even if the woman chain smoked Pall Mall menthol cigareetes the entire time someone wasnt eating. Thats not to say they were rude or impolite, they recieved their food about 5 minutes before we did, and insisted on waiting until our food was served until they ate.  Pleasant conversation and polite company. 

To wrap things up, I smoked a cigar I bought at one of the mercantiles in San Juan del Sur the other day.  I didnt pay much attention to what it was or the brand or anything like that, I just bought it.  When  I opened it to read the brand name, (I assumed it was Nicaraguan) It had some strange crest on one label, underneath it reading "HENRY PATEL" in fancy calligraphy.  The second label below in bold font simply stating "ITS A BOY." The cigar was fine, but I'm fairly certain I bought some Indian guys surpluss Nicaraguan cigars when he found out either that his friends werent for cigars, or the boy wasnt his.

With that, I'll sign off.  Not a lot of culture or observation to report about Nicaragua.  Our days on this beach were purposfully chosen to reflect on ourselves, come out of it refreshed, and hopefully find a little peace.  Lots of the first has taken place, we wont know until much later whether this experiment had as much value as we had hoped, but know, that in our hearts we have found a little peace within ourselves, which is something I have looked forward to for some time.

Much love to all of you, and Merry Christmas!