Random Ramblings - 10.29.2013

What is up ya'll!?

Todo es bueno aqui.

So instead of constructing a formal post, I thought I'd just ramble a bit today with some updates on what I've been up to. I suppose I should do more of this...

Saturday I met up with a few friends living in Montezuma (a couple towns over - the place with the cool waterfalls) for a beach cleanup. Unfortunately the beaches in this poor town have been getting pummeled lately with garbage washing up on shore. It's really sad actually because Montezuma is this beautiful little town with lots of eco-tourism and where lots of turtles come to nest, and the trash is washing in from other places. Totally unfair. So they've really ramped up their efforts in recent weeks to combat this injustice. So we all met in town, divided into groups, and set out to conquer. I've done a few beach cleanups before, and that was the idea I had in my head going into this. Lets just say I was completely appauled with what I saw. Man...it was as if someone was just dumping boatloats of trash right offshore - I've never seen anything like this:

Insane right? Well I'm proud to say that among the 7 or 8 in our group we filled up like 40 big potato sacks worth of garbage, and although it was only a small dent in the overall problem, we made a nice little impact. And Jen, the girl who organized it and who works at the animal refuge center on the beach, said that a turtle came up that very night and laid eggs in an area we cleaned up, whereas before she may have turned away, unloading the eggs at sea which would be really tragic. I was really happy when I heard that news!

I addition to the trash pickup, I learned that there was a big Halloween party going on in town that night. Good thing I packed a backpack just in case! I didn't have much in the way of a costume, but my buddy Johnny who came dressed as a disco dancer, let me borrow his afro and blinking sunglasses. Sweet. The moment I put it on I became full-on rasta man. There must have been 1,000 people who showed up to this thing and the one little street in town was mobbed. There were some good costumes too! Texas chainsaw massacre dude was jumping out at people reving a real chainsaw, lots of girls in skimpy outfits, and my personal favorite - a dog painted like a zebra. But here's the big news of the evening - As I was bobbing my head to the reggae band playing in the street, out of the corner of my eye I spotted them - MY BOARDSHORTS! See post http://ramblinmannino.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-tributeto-my-boardshorts.html if you have no idea what I'm talking about. You mofo - snatching my boardshorts right off the line as they dried overnight and now you have the audacity to wear them out. Those of you who know me know that it is really really hard to make me mad. I've got a really long fuse. But when I spotted my boardshorts through the flashing sunglasses and strands of afro wig hanging in front of my face, my blood began to boil. I muttered some curse words to myself and started walking towards the guy. Sensing something was up, the friends I was with stopped me and I told them the situation and that I would have my vengence. At that point, my friend Kristi who lives in Montezuma began pleading with me to let it go. Apparently some gringo got beat up the other night when a group of locals ganged up on him. I saw the true look of concern in her eyes, and at that point I knew she was right, and it would be stupid of me to confront the guy. I kept the tough guy act going for another few moments before acknowledging this. By that point the guy had vanished. As the night went on, I couldn't help but replay that moment again and again in my mind, because I feel like there are no more coincidences. Why did I have to see this? It's like the Universe was taunting me. Part of me still wishes I would have just confronted the guy, to see how that scene would have played out, but ultimately I'm glad I didn't. He'll get what's coming to him. I hope so at least. 

Eventually I got over it and began enjoying the night again. At around 2am my friends and I entered the club that was hosting the big fiesta. Up until that point it was too crowded to get in and we were having fun mulling about the streets. Soon the reggae music turned to salsa and I was ready to bust a move. The cute Argentinian girl I had met that day was game so were headed to the dance floor. I was a little rusty, and she reminded me in the beginning "you don't need to jump" - haha, newbies to salsa are always a bit too bouncy in their steps. But I quickly settled into my groove and started tearing it up (at least in my mind I was). I forgot all the fancy moves and spins that I had learned, but I had the basic steps down and I've taken lots of improv classes so... Haha, it was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I took those classes at the beginning of my trip!

Anyway, just been surfing a lot this past week. Pretty much what I came back to Santa Teresa to do. Rippin it up on my new board (well sort of). Haha. Trying at least. What I love about surfing though is even on a day where you don't catch very many waves, or none at all, you're still out there in the water, soaking in the picturesque scenary and beautiful waves. This morning they were especially stunning. I paddled out at around 7:30 and the best way I could describe the ocean would be like smooth glassy rolling hills. Almost surreal. Really great session. The place I'm staying at also has really great yoga classes every morning which I've been really enjoying. It's the first time I've really committed to yoga for several weeks at a time and can really feel the difference. The instructor Jenny even complemented me at the end of class saying she could really see a difference since I started a few weeks ago. Good stuff! And a perfect complement to surfing. Namaste!

I'll be leaving Santa Teresa on Saturday, heading back up to Nicaragua to meet up with none other than this strapping young lad, Mr Chris McCullough.

Nothing is more exciting than having friends come to visit, and I am really pumped to see this guy. Ladies, you've been warned. Should have some good stories to tell after that week haha. 

Oh yeah, in other news, I recently stepped up my Skype game, purchasing credits so that I can dial out to actual phone numbers. I was able to connect with some friends over the last few days which has been awesome. So if you see a weird number calling you, pick up, it could be your's truly ;)

Thats all for now, thanks for reading! Talk soon!

Ross

  

Tortugas Pt.2 - Big Mama

Hola amigos!

Estan haciendo bien?


Last week I wrote about the awesomeness of experiencing baby turtles hatch, which if you haven't checked out you can do so here:

http://ramblinmannino.blogspot.com/2013/10/tortugas-pt1-wants-to-see-baby-turtles_19.html

Today I get to write about something equally as cool and inspiring - mother turtles nesting. I'll never forget that first time. It was the first night that I was staying at Castaway, which became my home for 6 weeks, when I returned home in the late afternoon from a surf session. We had a fun little group there and before long the bonfire was cooking and food and beer was being passed around. Not a bad first night. But it got better. A lot better. I could type it all out, but I'm just gonna let myself, from a previous video tell the story:

Ya, I was pretty pumped about the whole experience. And I invite you to check out this brand new video I put together which brings you front and center for the entire process! 

WARNING: We got the GoPro into some tight spots during these shots, a bit of an infringement on the turtle's privacy, and a little gross at times.

Hopefuly she doesn't hold it against us ;)

It was seriously the coolest thing, witnessing that for the first time. We were on such a high for the rest of the night. And as you can see from the video, I got to see this a couple more times. And every time it was amazing - to be that up close and personal with this massive prehistoric creature. Especially while it was performing this monumental act. And let me tell you, it did NOT look easy. After crawling up out of it's natural habitat and onto the sand, the turtle would spend the first 15 minutes digging digging digging. Straining as she reached those back flippers waaaaaay down, only to flip up a small pinch of sand each time. It was a long and arduous process. I got tired just watching. Then she sat there for another 15 minutes pumping out approx ONE HUNDRED eggs. Oyyy. Once done, she used those big flippers to reach out side to side and push sand back into the hole, covering everything up. She then began rocking back and forth, thumping her huge body against the sand in a goofy little dance, I assume to pack it all down. Finally, exhausted, it was time to head back into the water. It was the most unnatural looking thing haha, using those big ole flippers to drag herself across the sand, pausing several times to rest while probably cursing all of us. Understandable. We did our best to help motivate...

You really felt for the poor thing, and as she finally disappeared into the water, everyone relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. It's like we were all in it together.

Interesting was the turtle's complete indifference toward us. Now granted we took care not to shine the lights in her eyes or anything but clearly it had to know. But it didn't care. It was there for one thing and one thing only - unload those eggs - come hell or high water. I mean picture that, carrying around 100 little golf ball sized eggs...no wonder we were the least of their concern!

Once the turtle had gone, the only thing left to do was collect all the eggs and relocate them to a safe spot so that locals would not poach them. 



And then wait 45 days for this magic to happen:

:)

Posted with Blogsy

The Blueprint; My Blueprint

When I started this trip, I had no idea where it would lead me. Just planned to go with the flow and let it all unfold organically, which it has - and it's a beautiful thing. But what about upon return? I've known all along that I'll be returning home to the states for the holidays in December but what then? Would I simply return to my previous job, plug back into the Matrix and pick up where I left off? Would I have some sort of epiphany in my travels that would take me in a completely different direction? Or would I hop on the next flight and continue to travel, exhausting my funds and joining the subculture of travelers I refer to as drifters. What next? That was the million dollar question. And for the first half of my trip I conveniently chose to ignore it. Completely. But as I rounded into months 4 and 5, those thoughts started creeping in. And I didn't have much of an answer. Here's what I did know:

- I LOVED this. I loved traveling. And I needed to do more of it. 

- I could not see myself going back to my previous job / life full time. 

Thats it. 

So...more on point numero uno. Ya, I love this. And maybe more importantly I NEEDED this. As kids growing up we were always the adventurous type - grabbing our skateboards and just going. Always active - finding new places, getting into trouble, there was a sense of freedom to it. And I loved that. I got enough fun and excitement in college, but things were different upon entering the working world. At first everything was new and exciting, a whole new set of challenges. It was cool. But as time went on - 5...6...7 years, I started to feel trapped. That adventurous side of my personality had been relegated to the background for so long and he was starting to get restless. Sure he got his chance to shine for a week or two at a time when I took trips overseas to places like Oktoberfest but it wasn't enough. I needed more of that. So I did what I had to do - quit my job and started traveling. One of, if not the best decision of my life. Actually yeah, it was. Hands down. 

Point number 2. I couldn't go back. Not full time. Which is kind of unfortunate because I actually really liked my job and LOVED the people I worked with. Not to mention it was with the most prestigious accounting firm in the world (sorry EY, Deloitte, and KPMG, but it's true). I was challenged everyday and I grew so much as a professional during my time there. I was literally in an ideal setup - working at a place that so many others would kill to have an opportunity at, surrounded by close friends and people who supported me. And I worked my ass off to get there, furthering my investment down that path. It was an ideal setup no doubt, just not an ideal setup for me, at this point in my life. And it took a lot of guts to accept that and make a change. I remember that conversation with our HR Director and telling her I WISH I was happy right now, because I understood how truly blessed I was to be where I was at. But I wasn't happy, I was restless. I felt trapped, and I felt that that adventurous part of my personality was clinging to life by a few threads. I was at a critical juncture, and I chose to do something drastic. I had to. Because the other option, of sucking it up and continuing on down that path, or even changing jobs to something a little more mellow, seemed so bleak, like I was selling myself out. A death knell in a sense. Screw that. 

So I had those two bits of criteria that I was sure about but not much else. I wasn't too worried about it though, I'd figure something out. Something would come my way...and it did. About two weeks ago, Henry, my close friend from the firm shot me an email letting me know about a new program at PwC called the "Flexible Talent Network". Basically this was a new program for people who wanted to stay connected to the firm by working for a fixed period of time between 3 - 6 months, and then were free to pursue other interests. TELL ME MORE! I quickly read through all the information on the program and really started to get excited. I just couldn't help but think that this would be a perfect fit. On the website, theres a series of quotes from various people taking part in the program, including this particular guy - I swear this is me...

"I joined PwC in Houston in 2009, and I really enjoyed my time at the firm -- making great friends and learning a great deal. But I left in March 2012 to take time to travel and enjoy different experiences.... choosing this path provided me with additional funds to continue my travels without committing myself to a full year."

Yup. I had seen enough. I wanted in. I cleaned up my resume and got everything submitted. That was last Thursday. By Tuesday, after crunching the numbers and realizing that I could make enough in 3 - 4 months to propel me into another 6 months of travel, I accepted the offer. And I couldn't be more excited - because it will allow me to enjoy and embrace all the things I loved about working for the firm for half the year, while getting to spread my wings and travel for the other half. A perfect balance. 

My new Blueprint. 

Only question now is, where to in 2014?

:)