Oh Nose

I'm officially down for the count. This is what my trash can looks like right now:

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Heading home soon where my hammock awaits. And Sudafed.

A Brief Word on the Food Here

So, everything here is pretty big and heavy. This is usually good if you're pretty starving, or a lion. Do they think this is how all gringos eat? At catering, there is a pretty good mixture of options, but the main courses are usually pretty heavy as well. (Apparently this is an Australian thing). I blame them for the shepherd's pie on a 90 degree day, but I salute them for the lobster tails. MAN, SO GOOD.

My fave meals have been all seafood dishes. Maybe my most fave was the grilled fish and rice after the beach the other day. It was just a regular portion, and it was perfect. This was also a little family restaurant, not necessarily catering to tourists. Maybe? The worst is when they come pick up the plates and half the food is still sitting there. They think you hated the food and ask to make sure if everything is ok. Ya dude, but this is like, HUGE.

So, here is a picture of the "Obama Burger" at Bambu. This is also my co-worker friend, Brad.

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They brought this plate out and we both immediately died laughing and busted our cameras out. Then when he went to the bathroom, this guy swooped in. Gross and funny.

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On The Bright Side

The best part of my day yesterday is a tie between: laying on my hammock for 2 hours waiting for the sunset while snacking on a bag of fake doritos (of which I couldn't be bothered to get up and get my camera for a picture), AND... Skyping with PFF! (and mom)

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Those were probably the only 2 times in my day when sinus junk wasn't pouring out of my nose. It's definitely worse today. It can't possibly be worse tomorrow, RIGHT?! (Magic 8 Ball says very doubtful).

Sinus Update

I stole toilet paper from the bathroom because I'm almost out of my monogrammed tissues.

I'll Just Go For 1 Hour

So, the magic 8 ball convinced me to go to the birthday party at Iguanas. I really was planning on going for like 1 hour, since I was already feeling a little sick with a sore throat, and who knows what else. I mean, if I was already going to be feeling sick the next day, I might as well have some fun while I can. You know, for just an hour or so.

WELL THAT DIDNT HAPPEN.

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Why yes, that is us dancing up on the chairs. Man, that never gets old!

Then I got Iced :(

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That shit made me cry, but I got my revenge later:

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So one hour turned into a few more. A few icings later, maybe a Shania Twain song that I maybe rocked out to, maybe some chair top dancing, maybe some after hour dancing at the dang Crazy Crab, I did finally get home at 4am. The next day was a whole other story, but I'm pretty sure even if I had stayed home and watched Baby Mama, I would have felt the exact same. Score one for me!

Equalizer

I wasn't kidding about the equalizer waiting around the corner for me. Today I woke up with a hell of a sore throat. Booooo. I have so many questions. Will this turn into some kind of parasitic virus that attacks my liver? Or will it just be a common cold that I can knock out in a few days and some whiskey.

Anyways. There is a birthday party tonight that I've been wanting to go to. I miss Iguanas? I want to go there? What? It's late, I'm tired, not feeling well, it's raining, my hands smell like tacos, and so I asked the magic 8 ball if I should go to Iguana's.

It said "Yes, Definitely"

:(

So, Where's The Boardwalk?

Yesterday was my dia libre. And what A. DAY. All I wanted to do was visit one of the surfing beaches I keep hearing about. So, me and 4 other amigos piled into 2 trucks and drove out in the middle of somewhere. 20 minutes of unpaved, bumpy roads and across some rios, and some howler monkey sightings, we finally got to Playa Hermosa. Helllloooo Playa Hermosa. This is the beach where they film the challenges for the show, and it's closed off to the public... much to the "aw hell naw" of visiting surfers who try to surf here. But, WE CAN GO THERE!

There was absolutely no one on this beach. The sun was out. The water was warm. It was a little bit (a lot) ridiculous. I splashed around on the beach, up and down the shore, up and down, splish splash. 20 minutes later, my friend says I'm doing it wrong, and if I do that, sting rays will get me. GREEEAT. So, then after that, I ended doing the exact opposite of marching/splashing, and instead, just gently swishing my feet in the sand. (I really lose the water splash effect, but whatever).

The dudes went surfing, I did not. RIGHT as I was talked into trying the surf, we hear a scream in the water, and this guy is getting carried out. Some dudebro went and got stung by a gd stingray! Just as soon as I agreed to try surfing, I immediately chickened out. Next time, I swear. (I'm scared, so what).

THEN! We saw some whales out in the distance! GAH. This was exciting. We could see the water shooting up, there must of been about 5 or 6... SO amazing. Even neater was walkie talking the whale sightings to basecamp, so they could notify the helicopter crew. 10 minutes later, Ken & his helicopter were circling around the area. Go team!

After a few hours of surf (watching), Toñas, hammocking, we head back and grab some lunch at this little restaurant/house and of course I have the best tasting fish and rice ever. It's just one of those days, you guys. Once again, I got really lucky, and I was so thankful for every little moment. Ohhh equalizer, where are you?

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Is That Thund-- BOOM

Ok. I don't think I've ever heard rain like this ever in my life ever ever eva. Aaand I'm working the late shift tonight. Suuuhweet. Seriously.... the rain is pounding, the thunder be all loud and stuff, and the lightning is briiiight. Pretty cool/scary/really scary.

The pics won't ever do it justice, but at least you can see the pretty trailers we all work in!

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And some mo' sunset for ol time's sake.

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And The Toña Goes To...

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We had an Emmy party last night!! Jeff Probst won his 3rd in a row, and the Cinematography team also won. Really really exciting! Jeff made a sweet speech, then everyone got in line to take pics with the Emmy. I worked really hard for this award, you know? You better believe I took a photo.

The party was at Palermo, which is where I live. Always good news. Open bar, also good (?) news, and I got to chat with Jeff Probst for a little bit which was really fun. And yes dad, he remembers you :)

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Little Cosas

This is officially the beginning of Week 3! Dang, it's flying by.

Some fun factos:

Survivor won some Emmy's the other night, which is really exciting! Best Reality Host, and Cinematography. Booya.

LA Times featured an article on everything on Sunday. That took me by surprise. Pay close attention to the "strapping work crews" mention. Shout out!

(Click here for link)

Some things I never thought I'd ever do, but now I have:

#1. Wear shorts everyday.

#2. Surrender my watermelon slice to a fly. "JUST TAKE IT"

#3. Eat 4 lobster tails for lunch. When I also had had lobster for dinner.

Uncle Pablo has been spotted in Nicaragua! Just kidding. That's not his name, but 3 other people are already calling him that.

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Update: This is the real Uncle Pablo, but from like 20 years ago.

More importantly, I finally swam in the ocean!! It was a great morning.

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And this little stunner is growing right by our front door. Love it.

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Remember These?!

Cheese and Crackers?! With the little red sticks!?

I totally had one today, and am hoarding another one for tomorrow. Couldn't believe my eyes.

Granada!

BEST few days ever! My mom and Tita came to visit, woop woop! They arrived on Tuesday afternoon, just in time for some cocktails and sunset watching, when the bartender almost poisoned my dearest Tita with tequila. Then we had some yummy dinner with Annette, and apparently the rest of the crew, including one Mark Burnett.

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The next day, (my first dia libre), we headed to Granada. I've been dying to see Granada, so this was perfect. I loooved it! Gah, every building was a different bright color. I couldn't get enough. I loved the horse & carriage ride through town, even the scary part when we waltz through the mercado. It felt like I was on an elephant, in a parade, and no one cared.

From Granada

From Granada

From Granada

From Granada

From Granada

From Granada

We got back into town just in time for another beautiful sunset, and a little walk on the beach. We were so lucky with the weather, I'm so thankful for that. Most importantly, I'm so thankful for my time with my mom and grandma. Even today, I still can't get over how the 3 of us had this really special little adventure in Nicaragua. That may have been my favorite part so far. But, tonight is an open bar, so we'll see if that changes. Just kidddiiiing you guyyyzzz.

From Granada

From Granada

From Granada

If I Had A Nica for Every Pink Sunset

Not too much new to report... If walking to work on the beach isn't the best part of my day, watching the sunset is. Everything else in between consists of eating and sweating and working. I haven't had much of free day to explore any other parts of the town or surrounding beaches, but I will eventually!

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So, the bugs... The GD bugs. Eventually, I should get used to it, but for now, I assume the kung-fu position for every noise and flutter I here. The other night a grasshopper flew into my hair, can you imagine. Then there's this guy:

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I almost stepped on it :(

The Circle of Rum

The sunset last night was so beautiful! Everytime I looked outside, the sky was a different color. Check out Jesus in the pink sky!

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Then, it was piña colada time! Before we knew it, the lightning storm espectacular started-- wow, it was blinding at times. Can't tell you the last time I ever saw anything like that. The rain poured down, but that didn't stop anyone from cruisin the bars. After dinner, Netty & I took not 10 steps and came across some more crew amigos. Beer stop! Then we headed to Iguana's of course. I resisted, then caved. It was actually really chill and fun. Yay! It redemmed itself. Then I was convinced again to go another bar. You know how you start off saying you don't want a bender? Then you have one? Is that just me? Anyways, the last stop was one of those bars on the beach, that spills out onto the beach and is awesome. I couldn't possibly have more beer, so rum it was. I love me some full circle moments, and this was one of them. Once Single Ladies was over, it was time to hit the cama. Gooood tiiiiimes. GT's.

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It's Jen!

So, there's been this little lizard guy running around. I finally got a picture of him. I don't like to name random things, but I know that Jen does. So, I'm naming him Jen.

Finally got to see a beautiful sunset!

Nica What?

You might have noticed the blog title changed already. This is because Kevin keeps coming up with newer and better blog names. So, I keep changing it. More Nica puns on the way, I'm sure.

Thanks Kev!

My Commute

This morning was the first morning when I was on my own. So, I got a ride into town and headed towards our Starbucks, called El Gato Negro. It's the cutest little place, and it's also a book store-- the first English bookstore in the whole country actually. I had me a cup of coffee, The Californian bagel sandwich, and something call Pitaya juice. It's like an artichoke on the outside and pomegranate on the inside.

Then I was gonna walk over to basecamp, and I'm all, OH, RIGHT. I can walk on the beach! So I did. These are the little moments where I get really excited. Another one was when the helicopter flew over yesterday. I waved at it. Here are some pics of the highway

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This was so exciting for me, I couldn't bring myself to wipe the sand off my feet!

Yep, Really Working Now

First day of doing work, woot! I’m logging in all the tapes that come in, from the shoots, printing the labels, and putting the labels on the tapes! It’s cool when the camera dudes come in to review their footage— the shots are really incredible. I definitely spent a good 10 minutes watching a frog on a leaf, waiting for it to jump off camera. It finally did.

In other non work news... I really love the colors in town.

Another long work day

So, actual filming for the show hasn't started yet. Therefore, there isn't a whole lot to do for us this week. Perfect. You know what this means, right? Poolside! Where were you at 3pm on Tuesday?

(Yes, I'm aware at how ridiculous this is)

Later that night, I went to another fab dinner with Annette, and about 20 other people—from various departments-- accounting, catering, unit, etc. It was a big ol’ gathering, and the food was awesome. Highlight was definitely the giant flying grasshopper guy attacking Marissa in the face. Gooood stuff. Man that was good. Glad it wasn’t me!

Then, a last minute decision sent me to Iguana’s to meet up with my Post Peeps. So, Iguana’s is like Hermosa Beach Sharkeez HELL on a Friday night. Complete with OC girls from hell that kept screaming, wooing and hi-fiving. It was awful/entertaining. I really need not go back there any time soon (this week).

You guys, beer is so cheap. It’s like $1. We just kept buying rounds because it was fun to buy 8 beers for $8.