On the move again

With a heavy heart (or, rather, a heavy gut) i decided to leave Surfing Turtle Lodge. After over a week of feeling shitty I decided I needed to take some action. Something about that place (or some combination of things) was making me ill. I took a night off a couple of days ago and came to Leon to sleep in an air-conditioned room. Wow. I was overwhelmed by the luxury of it. A double bed, a room and bathroom to myself, and AC!!! Wow!!! I arrived around 4 and fell asleep almost immediately. I woke up hungry around 730 and wandered down the street for a light dinner of yogurt and fruit. I forgot how much I love dairy. The next day I felt so much better that I decided not to go to the doctor after all. I went back to the lodge in the afternoon, prepared to leave for good. I talked to the manager and he was disappointed of course, but I told hi about how I had been sick for so long and I just needed to get away to get better. And since I only had another week left I was just going to leave for good. He understood. I worked my last shift, once again in pain, and it felt like an eternity. I was so ready to get out of there. The next day I woke up normally and started packing. Then as I prepared to leave I noticed the manager and a few other people were not around. Apparently they had gone fishing. So i sat around the whole day doing waiting for them to come back so I could say goodbye. Finally they came back and we had a tearful parting (not) and i got in my charriot and disappeared into the jungle. Hasta la vista baby!! If you can't tell, I am quite happy to be out of there. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice place, and the people were great, but something was off. I would have liked it as a visitor for a few days, but working there wasn't great for me. The nothingness, the food, the drinking... well at least it has shown me that I can't live that kind of life, as appealing as it is from the outside. Cheers to the people who thrive like that. They have had some long-term voluteers. I don't know how they do it.

Tomorrow I continue my journey! Onward to Granada! 

Island hangs

I've been here at Surfing Turtle for 10 days now. Hard to believe. On one hand I feel like the time has flown by, but on the other hand the days here feel long. I am working one 8 hour bar shift every day and other than that I am just hanging out. I have neither surfed nor seen any turtles, two things I was realy looking forward to. The waves have not been great for surfing, and turtle season is in the fall and early winter. But besides that disappointment, I am really enjoying it here. Its not a lifestsyle I could maintain forever, but for a month it is really quite pleasant.

I am loving getting to know new people every day, and I am practicing being an extrovert. I think traveling alone and working in hostels has made me a lot better at meeting people. I was a little nervous about that aspect of traveling, and in the first couple hostels I was a bit shy, but now its really easy. Working behind the bar is an advantage too because people are approaching me to order drinks, and I have to learn names because everything is on a tab system. And in this place there is really not much to do besides getting to know people. A couple more familiar faces have been coming through, and thats been a lot of fun.

I have been a little homesick here though. I have just over one month left in my trip and then I will be home! I am homesick because there are so many Canadians coming through the hostel. Probably more than any other country. Canadians, then Aussies and Brits. I have met people from all over Canada, from Victoria to Newfoundland. Not too many from the GTA, but I did meet one guy from London, Ont! Unfortunately he had his wallet and passport stolen on his way here, so he had to leave for the capital right away to sort that out.

One of the daily fixtures is a serious volleyball tournament. The losers get 'iced'. That means that later in the evening they have to get on top of the bar and chug a smirnoff ice. I was on the losing team three days in a row, but luckily my streak of bad luck ended yesterday. I am very bad at volleyball. I don't remember being this bad in high school. But that was the last time I played. I guess with 2 more weeks here I will get better.

In the afternoons there really is not much going on because it is the hotest time of the day. People just sit around the lodge or lounge in the hammocks. I try to go swimming but the sand, which is nearly black, gets so hot that you have to sprint from the path to the ocean. The waves are really strong but the water is quite shallow so its not scary. In the evenings, in addition to the ice-ing of the losers, we always have some activity. We have had a dance contest, a talent show, various drinking games, and a movie night.

I am a lot happier here than i was when I first arrived. This is a special place and I am so fortunate to be here.