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I saw this guy having dinner in the surf camp last night and I had to ask him for a picture.There is something about the headband and mustache combo that is, well, just perfect. I was having dinner with James, his wife Meilyn and their son Lucas. James was so impressed he showed up to work today wearing a headband too. I would have worn one if I had one. Maybe I'll shave a mustache...but without a proper headband I look too much like that cop from Reno 911 (the one with the short shorts). I've seen a lot of headbands this Spring Break, some gangsta headbands on white frat boys, some I-just-finished-playing-racketball headbands like this guy. I think its great and I hope they make a full comeback along with ghetto blasters that you rock on your shoulder and high-tens (so much better than the high-five). For anyone who read the comments from my last blog, I literally put it out there to the world that I was needing to talk with the President from Pro Mejores regarding the black water treatment plan for Tamarindo. Literally the next morning I received a message from him, and an hour later he (Federico Amador) was sitting in the restaurant at the surf camp. He had come to talk to me about the black water treatment plan for the town. Irony? maybe. Glad that it happened? definitely. An update for the general public- there is a permanent treatment plant planned for the community, but of course different management groups are now fighting over who will get to run the service. I'd imagine that in a perfect world the plant could be operational in two years... I am more concerned about the short-term solution, and I was very stoked to know that Pro Mejores had presented my proposal to the mayor. Instead of having to build a wetlands outside of town, the Melia Conchal development in Brasalito is offering to treat all of Tamarindo's black water. Now, only the physical service and oversight of said service needs to occur. My start-up Zephyr Eco Project has offered to oversee this service, organizing everything through the new ZEP office located on-site at the surf camp.
Check out the picture I just took from the WRSC webcam. These guys are busting their asses putting all of the new blocks down for the extension of the boardwalk. Each block is actually cut rock, we sent Catalina to Nicaragua and she found the stone quarry. I guess there were 400 workers a mile deep in a mine cutting rock...pretty crazy. She found a truck and dealt with import taxes, and bam just like that we're finishing the walkway to the Sand Bar. Its pretty cool... definitely been nice to wear the work boots!
Here's Eduardo after a full day of work yesterday. He has been going up to the Zephyr finca in Alemania every other day or so as we're getting ready to start construction of the Eco Lodge and have some road repairs to do before the rains start. We have finished the Sand Bar, you can see the corner of it in the picture. The bar top comes this weekend, and we should have the boardwalk connected to the bar by then...
I can imagine some sweet BBQs happening while chilling in a hammock under the trees, just watching the waves...

The surf has been really fun every day for the last five days. Actually its been fun every day since I've been here, I have no complaints. Since last year's rains moved the rivermouth more to the south, we have the longest left I remember ever having that breaks across the beach. It starts in front of the public parking lot and ends literally in the estuary. I hadn't surfed much before this trip as my back had been giving me problems, but its feeling great now and this trip I've been surfing every day except for one. The cross training has definitely helped while I've been in San Diego and suffering from cold water. Perhaps today I won't surf, I'll just watch it while I make it my goal to finish this bottle of rum in the Skybox that keeps calling my name. Pirate juice and ye sunset argh. The power was out from 8am this morning until an hour ago, so about six hours... besides sweating and watching low tide barrels I've been doing my best to chill and not stress out about all of the things I want to do with the camp while I'm gone. My plane flies out of Liberia at 645am and by 345pm I'll be cruising out of Lindberg Field in San Diego. Another week at the office. Stress is a bad habit that I've been slowly breaking. I have to keep reminding myself that the only pressure that exists is the pressure I put on myself. And from my bills and sometimes from my wife, but I can only image how tough it is to live with a lunatic like myself. Like many household appliances and whatevers, I have a innate fear of the mailbox. I never open my mail, I'm afraid of what it might say. I'd rather not open it at all and have stacks of unopened mail on my desk in San Diego (whoops). Email is too much mail as it is. To this day my mother sends me these forwarded emails about how you should never microwave water by itself because it can explode in your face (http://www.hoax-slayer.com/microwave-water.html) or how you should never eat lemon slices that come with drinks in restaurants or bars because of huge amounts of bacteria, and so on. I grew up being told never to get near the garbage disposal because a lost fork could be down there and, if the garbage disposal somehow got switched on, it could shoot out forks and stab me in the face. You wonder why I'm neurotic. She would always tell me that if I stood in front of the microwave it would be transmitting microwaves into my brain. huh? That basically means that I can never feel comfortable around a micorwave or a mailbox or the garbage disposal or the fridge (long story) or the water heater. What is the scientific term for being afraid of appliances? I'm really not sure if my mom reads this blog, but she would have to agree that she said all these things, right mom? I love you even more because you did, it keeps life more interesting (except when I'm wanting to re-heat my coffee and can't because I don't own a microwave). Whats rockin in my crappy headphones? Jose Gonzalez. I suggest you buy two albums from him on Itunes, Veneer and In Our Nature, both totally awesome. This track is called Down_the_Line.m4a