Thu 2137 going for before bed piss and thought there was a spider in the bathroom and it seems to be some sort of grasshopperish thing, quite a big one.
Fri 0635 just got up. Was lying awake in bed a fewmins ago and a small lizard thing (three or four inches? Incidentally scorpion prob about that too) scuttled up the wall.
Didng sleep great not terrible. Eyes bleary and felt a bit dry during night. Was awake at maybe midnight or something 4amish with a vague general pseudo depression homesickness, not that intense.
Bit edgy about leason. My arse hurts but this is the 95% certainly from the bike ride. I had a weird dry lump at back left of throat feeling yesterday evening but this seems to have eased.
I may take today easy post lesson, do nothing or perhapswalk to some finca with petroglyphs in balgue. Well see. Anyway, let's get ready etc.
0655 on main terrace, just ordered breakfast. Just the tiniest bit tighter on time than I'd like but really fine.
Feeling a little more alert etc. The morning air is genuinely pleasant to cool but not cold and while it is very cloudy and there is a certain subdued greyness to the light, it is striking compared to what I am used to (probably just because I am not normally up quite so early) and kind of nice.
Definitely a bit edgy about lesson, probably ly more about the vague stressful feeling of not being able to do stuff which is innate to the leaning experience than the specific instructor, but still.
Despite the whenever it was wobbles (general, doubtless tinged by class worries but not specific to them) in the night, nothing has changed. It makes sense to give this a solid try here, I am semi enjoying it even despite this kind of stuff and there being an element of type 2 fun to it, I had and have no other pressing big things I wanted to do or places I wanted to go, the island is in its way sort of pleasant and while extensive not intolerably so. I can and will make an effort to switch up the accommodation in a day or two but I had already decided before the 3h/2h confusion thing that I would stick on here to avoid unnecessary extra stress/attitutude wobbles at least for the first few lessons and I think that remains smart. I have, hard as it seems to believe this, only had 2 days and 5h of lessons.
If I didn't already say the rough window they gave to going solo (my term, but I think that was the gist), maybe call it basic competence, was 10h for someone with talent and /or prior exposure to related skills (sailing for wind knowledge, other balancey board type water sports like surfing or windsurfing for balance and maybe wind, that gist) to 20h for someone with no experience and little talent (my phrasing). Even if I am not negative I would expect to need at least 15h and 20h would hardly be shocking and I am depending on how progress etc feels and whether I am enjoying (at least in this stressful lean-ring but yes it feels sort of good at times way) it willing to go that high on training and accom and time budget.
I can use the downtime between lessons to do things like kayaking or cycling or hiking to the falls but yes I do also want and need to have some time off, even if it feels a bit wasteful and even if sitting on a semi uncomfortable chair on hostel terrace watching yt on a tiny phone (even putting aside any BNM feelings, which I do seem to have mostly under control) is not exactly my idea of the perfect days slacking compared to the enjoyably comfortable way I might slack at home.
But if the lessons go as planned, I an likely to be here a good few korebdays and I do not need to race to squash in the kayaking etc every single day. And none of this stuff is epic level regret if I do not get any of it done, and that is unlikely.
Not pushing the social experimentation would be more of a regret but that is as discussed for a day or two or three from now, not immediately (unless something happens with accom when I try to extend next or the lesson today is unexpectedly an absolute killer of desire or interest).
I suppose at least my arse hurting a bit shouldn't be too big a deal for the lesson as it is mostly standing with brief interludes of getting knocked or dragged over. And it isn't agony, I just feel it eg sitting on this hard wooden chair.
Touch wood my legs don't feel too bad, although i am damn well not cycling today.
Eating breakfast relatively close to lesson feels not ideal but I didn't notice it being a huge deal yesterday.
0746 back at room. Ileft my key outside in the door all night btw. Not really a big deal in practice but not ideal either.
1130 back at hostel getting hot water. Lesson not too bad, a bit annoying at times but I am getting used to the instructor (he told me not to keep saying sorry btw) and while the downwind body drag feels crappy apparently I did it ok and we just started upwind and that while I fucked up the kite control a bit actually feels like it is far more controllable.
Price has effectively sropped at least for today to 100 for 2h due to the bulk discount ladder.
I went into Ocean on way back to get cash but a mini social event occurred as some woman in front was struggling to get any and I spoke to her and various other people tried. I recommended (perhaps stupidly, but it is hardly a secret) the machine 30 mins walk up the beach. I need to count my cash after this coffee but gut feeling is I am able to hold out til tomorrow and are what happens.
French owner chap at school said there are some petroglyphs at el porvenir off merida road which may be walkable but may need bike. We will see how it goes.
Have extended at this hostel for another night, I need to keep an eye on this but I think it is fine for now given the lessons are going okish but not "easy" and don't want to rock the mental boat. I just may try going over to the raindance bar tonight. Lesson is likely to be a bit later tonorrow, french owner (Jamie?) Asked me and I said whenever would work but 9-10 would be ideal and he said there was likely to be good wind tonorrow all the way to midday ish.
Fwiw iirc first day we had a 6 or 7 kite, yesterday was maybe a 10 and I think today was a 12 or 13. Wind was a bit low today, instructor said it is good for practice as it makes things sort of harder.
Not seen Noam or the Antipodean girl for a day or two, I am not staying because of them anyway, but feels a bit odd, Noam especially I thought was a fixture.
1146 jus t lost three emails, was moving them, screen glitched as I tapped and they moved "somewhere". No undo or log of course can't find them. Yesterday the sudden attack of the random tap monkey came within one click of sending a file I was trying to delete to a signal contact. Brilliant stuff.
Instructor did say some prospect of something (perhaps some sort of drag) with a board tomorrow, I said (perhaps negatively) that seemed scary, he said no. I am not sure I believe him. He does seem moderately genuinely satisfied with progress but very hard to tell of course.
I kind of want to just sit here but I have finished this capuchino thing (which was nicer today, perhaps due to tiny cip and really overdoing the intensity) and I need to count cash and decide if j want or need to trog up to the other cash machine. Od if I am trying either petroglyph.
Fwiw set chase card up so I can wd 500 on that too if I want, and they don't impose a limit. The machine did say ibsudficient funds in my Barclaycard but I suspect it was referring to itself not my account, which should be more than capable of this but just possibly I am at risk of exceeding my credit limit. Hmm. Anyway, the machine didn't work for anyone else either. But maybe I should go try it with chase for dollars.
Fuck it, let me see if I can log into barclays now, bit worried I will have a fee.
1158 ok, Barclaycard website shows I have plenty of credit limit left and no transaction today and I should not be hitting any daily limita given I last used card here on 23rd. Probably just the machine.
Fwiw it felt odd yesterday that I has had only two days of lessons and today that it has only been three. In a strange and probably not bad way it feels like I have been doing the lessons much longer.
1204 ok without going into too much details I do have a fair amount of cash including USD at hand but I would really rather avoid digging too deeply into it, if only on practical grounds (some if it is folded up and wrapped in clingfilm etc and it would be nice to avoid disturbing that until a real emergency or end of trip deliberate run down if I decide to do that).
If sucks a bit but tbh I am not gagging to see the petroglyphs nor is going to the cash machine up the west end of the beach automatically going to kill that as an option. I do half fear a run on that machine if the ocean mart one is down.
I think I will check out the petroglyphs situation, go walk to ocean on the offchance it is fixed and then trog over to the not a million miles away after all other one, then if I still feel like it I can go over to the petroglyphs after, it is a moderate but not insane amount of walking in the sun but rightly or wrongly I didn't shower after lesson. I could do but the lake water doesn't seem that disgusting really and I am outdoors and going to be sweating on the walk and I will have a shower around sundown.
The lake is fresh water btw, I have photos from comedor la malinche (?) On first day showing cows and horses being driven into it and drinking it. Maybe this is dead obvious but fwiw.
If I didn't have the relatively high burn rate of the lessons and the need to pay tomorrow to avoid any awkwardness I would not be in a rush for a cash machine, my reserves are more than ample for a few days of accom and beer and food and cheapish activities, Sven without digging into awkward parts of it.
1502 okay so the machine at Ocean still wasn't working I trod 30-40 minutes up to that cash machine at the north end and I did get $400 out there I couldn't get $500 because the Barclaycard continues to decline as insufficient funds even though I see no reason for that I have just been on the Barclaycard website where they induced me to write a chat and then told me oh sorry the chat doesn't work we're rebuilding it call us because it's trivial to call the UK from abroad I'm happy to spend about 700 pounds in roaming charges to query this so anyway the Barclaycard I have to assume is basically dead now it may start working at some point but I can't rely on it I had the other cards with me I wasn't so stupid as to walk 40 minutes without taking other cards so I managed to get $400 out on the chase card of course that doesn't dilute the fee so much because the fee was still $6 but you know Barclaycard decided to fuck me over so anyway I did at least get some money I walked back I walked up along the road and some dogs had a little bit of a go and I walked back along the beach and some dogs had a little bit of a go neither case was critical I shouted vaya there were locals around possibly they were even their dogs but it was still not great I toyed with going to the petroglyphs after but it's like it was hot I'd walked about 80 minutes 90 minutes and I'd had a few dog encounters and I wasn't really up for anything else so I got a michelada and a bottle of coke and had those on the main terrace and now I've come back to my room to do a bit of chore type stuff
I did try withdrawing $500 on the chase card, but it was declined. I don't know what the limits actually are. It may be there's a £300 limit on there, which is another reason it's so annoying that the Barclay card is rejecting. But there you go. As far as I know, where the Barclay card has no limit in that sense, or it's much higher, and it's just the machines imposing the $500 limit. But anyway, it is what it is.
What I actually started writing for was just to make the note that, at least at one point during the lesson today, I'm not sure at other points, it's like I'm managing to hold, like when we're doing the upwind body drag, it's like I'm kind of managing to hold the kite in the right place. And on the one hand, I'm very much not confident that I can really keep it there indefinitely, although it seems to stay for a while. And on the other hand, I'm like, well, am I actually controlling this? I suppose I must be, but I'm not quite sure how I'm doing it. But it presumably isn't completely stable, that position, so I must be controlling it. It's like, and yet I don't really feel I know exactly what I'm doing. It's kind of weird. Not exactly bad, but not exactly good. Anyway, just to sort of know while it's still what I'm feeling and not doing it in hindsight.
1609 Barclays sent me a text about half an hour ago saying my txn was declined because I was over my cash limit. With some faffing I have just paid my full balance off with them from my chase debit card so I guess that card might work now.
1941 on hostile terrace, very surreptitiously voice typing this, I hope it works. There's no one else around, I think there was one guy earlier, but he's gone.
So I sat on the terrace outside my room until about half five, the Antifodean woman and her gay friend were there, but I didn't feel very natural to speak to them, it was fine, I just sat in a hammock, I don't think that was weird. Anyway, so then I went over to Raindance and I went in, it was fairly quiet, it was probably about half five. I'd already looked at the menu, I ordered a pizza which was quite nice but nothing amazing and a bit pricey at 350, but hey, it's sort of cool enough here at night that I did kind of enjoy it and it was nice. I had two beers at 80, just like 330 ish mil bottles of Tonya, nothing fancy, bit overpriced but not utterly insane. I think I left about 640, 645.
Erm, in theory there was a casino night there, but I did go and have a look between beers and stuff, I joined their WhatsApp group, which is admin posting only. And I took a photo of the weekly event board, and there is some stuff on there in theory, although a lot of it has minimum and maximum numbers, and it feels a bit will this happen. But, er, to be fair, they do a free casino night on Tuesday, and no one seemed interested in its night, but it was 100 to join in. And I suspect most people were slightly late back from a free bus over to the sunset at Playa Mango or something, maybe I got the days mixed up, but I think that sounds about right. It had started to get a bit busier when I left, but it was erm, very clicky, I mean I didn't intend to chat to anyone tonight, that would just have been a mad bonus, it was just about going and eating somewhere and checking the place out. It wasn't all that big to be honest, the pool not that big either, erm, sort of a nice enough environment, I didn't see the treehouse kind of bit, but er, I don't know if that's guess only, but I certainly didn't see it.
So while I was there I had a look on booking.com and hostelworld and long and short of it is the dorms look quite nice, at least on paper, but they are basically sold out this Wednesday for actual accommodation. I think you can basically pay $400 for a ticket to wet Wednesday and I think that might be common-ish, but I'm not sure. Unlike in theory it's 5 minutes walk from this hostel and I could be in another hostel 5 minutes walk away and I could go, you know, I'd probably want to take Thursday off from the lessons, which is a bit awkward and feels a bit unserious, but we'll see how I feel. I might be able to get an actual ticket last minute and if not maybe write it off or maybe do it next Wednesday if I happen to be around, but don't let it warp the whole trip. It wouldn't be nicer to be on site, but I do get this kind of impression from their own website that it's a little bit sell you beers cocktails, but also a bit of a piss-up kind of thing and a bit of a deliberate getting drunk thing, which is sort of nice and sort of not, and obviously at my age I might not fit in and if I'm there on my own, which I might or might not be depending on if I've met someone at whichever hostel I'm staying at, blah blah blah. But it might be worth, subject to the concerns around having to take a day off surfing, it might be worth trying to buy a ticket last minute, just walk in 5 minutes down the road, you know, wear swimming trunks, flip flops and a t-shirt, keep some money in a plastic pouch or Nicaraguan notes so they're plastic anyway. Don't take my phone and just see what happens and if I leave at 8pm so be it, I might feel shit but at least technically I've had a go and you know if I leave at midnight and I wish I'd got a dorm bed then that's also a success isn't it right?
Long and the short of it is, I'd assumed it would be pretty straightforward to just book into a dorm there, but it's obviously popular enough, I guess it does make sense, because if it's 400 to get in, that's not a huge amount, even for a backpacker, but that's probably about 70% of what a dorm bed costs, I'm guessing. So it makes sense, apart from the convenience of being able to roll into your dorm, pissed, or nip back and grab your phone, or leave it there, or get more money or whatever. It makes sense to want to stay there, but it's also a net, since you get 300 to the party, it's not a bad option, but that's not as easy as I'd hoped. So, although it's obviously a bigger deal than I thought, given the lack of availability, I think my attitude to it probably ought to be, try and keep a good one, maybe take the day off, maybe do it as a whim, not take it too seriously, the whole point being, I am 5 minutes down the road, very likely, because I'll almost certainly be doing lessons this Wednesday, or next Wednesday, next Wednesday, I could be staying there if I wanted to, and I still want to be on the island, but if it's this Wednesday, if I can't get a ticket, I can't get a ticket, but I probably could, even last minute, walk up. And if I, I'm going to be in a hostel 5 minutes away, because I'll be in a hostel that's convenient for the surf lessons, so, it's like, just take it as a low effort, possible good turnout, because I'm right on the spot. It's like, you know, with regard to that treehouse party I was agonising about in bloody Granada, it's like, oh, I'm just 2 minutes down the road, why don't I just go and see, you don't cost anything really, and just give it a go. And I can, I should and probably could, probably should, given that I cannot stay there anyway, so that's kind of out of the agenda, at least for this first week, just treat it as a low stakes, apparently. If I can get in, just go along, see how it goes, and I either leave early and it's a try not to beat myself up, because I do at least do it, or if it goes well, then it's like, oh, it's a shame, I couldn't get a dorm bed there and stay there and feel really relaxed, but I still had fun, and that's a massive win. If I can manage that attitude, that's probably the way to go, and hopefully I'm not going to book it in advance, we'll just wait and see what happens, and if I can't get in on Wednesday at the last minute, or the night before, not the end of the world, and there's possibly a chance to try the following Wednesday, and by Monday, Tuesday next week, I'll maybe have a bit more of an idea where I'm standing with the surfing, whether taking a day off would work, how it would feel, blah blah blah.
I suspect a future version of me is gonna feel like Ezra Jennings listening to Mr Candy's ramblings, but what the hell, I'm just trying to bash this out.
Completely putting all that aside, this is genuinely independent, although it does have some bearing but it is genuinely independent, I probably do need to force myself to switch hostel, whether it's to a dorm or a private, just for sort of social experimentation, in the next day or two. I will may, I'm booked in for Saturday night, will may be considered doing it Sunday. I have no idea if there will be any lessons on Sunday, whether they have a day off or if it's just seasonal and they go mad for it during the dry season and the tourist season. Of course at some point there's going to be a day with bad weather, but I imagine that will be known at the last minute and I won't be able to use that to guide my move. But you know, hypothetically, I go somewhere, I had been thinking Raindance, but given the vibe tonight wasn't amazing and it doesn't help me with the Wednesday, maybe not. But I could go somewhere else, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe I'll get chatting to people, maybe they'll want to go to the thing at Raindance Wednesday anyway, or maybe they won't, or go on my own. But you know, at least I'll be spending some time in a more social environment than here. It is quite nice here, I don't even quite like it. If I had 20 weeks for the trip, I probably would just camp here while I was doing surf lessons, or maybe I wouldn't, I don't know. But yeah, it would be good to try somewhere else where there's a little bit more passing population, a bit more chance of a chat and try and find somewhere that suits me. And while the surf lessons aren't exactly in the bag, I'm starting to feel a bit better about them. If it goes kind of okay tomorrow, I might feel better about taking a chance going somewhere else. The surf lessons would be very distinct, because it's one on one anyway, right? So it's not like I'm going to have some knob from the hostel that I don't like, or who thinks I'm a twat there in the class, and it's that sort of stuff, right? And my attitude's probably going to be okay, and I might feel better if I'm, and at least I'm experimenting and making a bit more use of the time and stuff. It is nice here, but I can't stay forever plus. Nothing stops me walking five minutes down the road and coming into reception saying, Oh, can I stay here tomorrow night? Have you got a private room? And there's no reason at all to think they wouldn't give me the price I'm paying now. It's not exactly a massive deal, it's just booking.com price, not going through booking.com, except I'm getting the base booking.com price, even on days when booking is listing it a bit higher. I hope this transcribes, because I've been going on for ages, and if it doesn't, I'm going to be pissed.
I happened to see a review, I don't know how recent it was, saying that room one here was just awful and full of big fat juicy spiders and there were rats in the rafters and everything. I mean that's right next to my room. I do suspect it's pretty much the same as my room and that, yeah, I mean, I've sought, not rats, but I suspect it's from someone who either just got unlucky or really doesn't get this rustic vibe and, you know, to be fair, I get it myself. I remember leaving that hostel in a bit of panic because I was down by Lake Acidland in Guatemala in some town in 2018 and I couldn't have a shower because there were spiders buzzing around the walls, they weren't that big, but they were big but they weren't fat. But, you know, I remember doing it so I'm not entirely judging but, you know, I suspect the review is a little bit from the wrong perspective rather than room one here is an absolute nightmare or this hostel is an absolute nightmare. But to be fair, you know, that first night I was here, I had that spider in the shower and then hanging around the bathroom door and it's like, at one point that would have totally freaked me out. Yeah, absolutely. And then to have the subsequent events, even though they weren't spiders, would probably freak me out as well. Maybe it wouldn't, to be fair, if it wasn't spiders. But anyway, so I get it, but I just thought it was kind of interesting to see that review. that review.
Classes at 8.30 tomorrow, which isn't ideal. I think I already said I'm having this beer on the terrace out here that I got from the mini market. So I had that Mitchellada this afternoon and two beers, the 30mlish or whatever, but still at Raindanson, I've just had this 4.73ml, 4.9% beer here. It's hardly a fucking piss up, but I think I might get some water and maybe gorge on some snacks despite all the other things I've eaten back in the room. And then go to bed and try and get up early, you know, for breakfast at 6.50 or 7 or whatever I can get like I did today. And then we'll play it by ear. I think tomorrow I need to not just automatically extend for Sunday night. If I'm having a class on Sunday, I need to come back here and start looking at other alternatives. Maybe I'll have a bit of a poke at other alternatives tonight before I go to bed. I'm not super tired. But I'm obviously not booking anything because I don't even know what was happening with the classes for sure. So yeah, there we go. I've had a bit of water. I'll get some more. I'm not pissed. It's fine. Maybe it's not great for sleeping, but I did enjoy that Mitchellada. Maybe it was just first beer in a couple of days or I'd not have a Mitchellada in ages. Yes, a very strong flavour, but that's a Mitchellada for you. It was nice.
2016 back in room. I could snack but I really sot fancy it. Had some water. Not feeling really pissed. Will do teeth and maybe have an exploratory poke at other accom options and the go to bed. I am a bit tired, not mega so bit with the early start today and tomorrow not surprising or ridiculous to have an early night.
2046 okay, talking about all this on the blog is poor security, but really no one cares, right? There's not that many options, super close to here, both with a view to get into the kites, surf school and the possibility of going to rain down the Sun Wednesday night. Maria's does have dorm beds, and in fact private's very cheaply. The only common area according to views is the restaurant, and that clocks with what I've seen. Presumably I'd be allowed to sit there, were there I'd get chatting to anyone I don't know. No doesn't appear to have a curfew, I could maybe ask. Raindance does have availability Monday and Tuesday, sorry, Sunday and Monday, I'm getting confused now actually, but it's really tight, it's like you can't, as I kind of saw earlier. So let me just check the dates, oh sorry, let me stop talking.
Okay, so I could stop at Rainedown Sunday and Monday nights, but I would not be able to extend to Tuesday, as far as I can tell, I mean maybe, just because I'm looking on booking, I've not really tried hard, but I was looking on their own website earlier, so never mind anything else, I could stay there Sunday and Monday, but I'd have to leave Tuesday, no matter how well it was going, the fact that there's no party Tuesday night, I'd have to leave Tuesday anyway, which kind of puts me off. So there's that, which is kind of, I could do, but the two-night absolute max is a bit crappy, because if things are going well, and I maybe wouldn't have time to get to know people, even if that's gonna happen, Maria's is maybe a weird possibility, and it does have privates, I suppose maybe the dorm would be more chatty, but I do, anyway, Wayitas, where I went the other day for a quick little look on the off-chance looking at the restaurant, does look kind of nice when I went, but they've got so many dorm beds free, it's like, and it didn't look very busy there when I was there, I'd rather suspect it's virtually empty, but it is cheap enough, and there's basically the only other one really local for the reasons that I mentioned, is Elsopilote, now the whole vegan, hippie, eco vibe is really not me, but you know, although I doubt he's there anymore, that French, I think, chap was staying there, and he said it's nice, and it's like, all the reviews are, oh you have to walk 200 meters, and there's a lot of insects, because they don't use any, any insecticides or anything, I mean this kind of might work, it doesn't feel great in terms of getting back from rain dams, on the other hand, it is practically opposite, not quite, but it's so, you save on the walk, but then you may be stumbling down some path, but that's probably okay, I could give it a go to be honest, off the top of my head, Wayitas just feels like it would probably be quite cool, because it's a bit rustic, but you know, not, not got the explicit hippie vibe, I just don't believe there'd be anyone there, Maria's is maybe a bit of a wildcard, could be dull, I don't really fancy the rain dams for just two nights, you know, if I really want to stay there, I can maybe stay there after Wednesday, when I would be able to extend, so anyway, I mean I'm sleeping on this, I don't have to worry until tomorrow, but that's where we stand, I think off the top of, well as I say, it's kind of a toss-up between Wayitas, Elzopilote and Maria's, to be fair, I guess Elzopilote does have the party thing on Tuesday night, and it might be kind of cool, and it's not like even with an 830 class, I'm leaving to go surfing so early, that I'm gonna be staggering down these 200 meters of rural paths from my rustic dorm in the dark, some of these places are not super cheap, like say Maria's the private is cheap, but a lot of these places, the dorms are, anyway, it is cheaper than here, so I probably, I suppose, I'm leaning towards Elzopilote, but it would be an experience, the Tuesday party might be cool, it's not necessarily incompatible with the surf school, you know, it's a few minutes extra walk, not a huge deal, go for it, bit of an experience, people might be chatty and maybe they're not all as eco-hippie as you might expect, anyway, that's my thoughts for now, so I'm heading towards bed. Ans I don't have to eat in el zopilote routinely either so the limited meat shit isn't a big deal. If there's no curfew (and thus wet Wednesday is not ruled out) I might possibly book sun-wed nights inclusive, or play the free cancellation game and book sin-Mon and tue-wed as separate bookings to hedge my bets.
But I don't need to decide until after the class tomorrow.
Fri 0635 just got up. Was lying awake in bed a fewmins ago and a small lizard thing (three or four inches? Incidentally scorpion prob about that too) scuttled up the wall.
Didng sleep great not terrible. Eyes bleary and felt a bit dry during night. Was awake at maybe midnight or something 4amish with a vague general pseudo depression homesickness, not that intense.
Bit edgy about leason. My arse hurts but this is the 95% certainly from the bike ride. I had a weird dry lump at back left of throat feeling yesterday evening but this seems to have eased.
I may take today easy post lesson, do nothing or perhapswalk to some finca with petroglyphs in balgue. Well see. Anyway, let's get ready etc.
0655 on main terrace, just ordered breakfast. Just the tiniest bit tighter on time than I'd like but really fine.
Feeling a little more alert etc. The morning air is genuinely pleasant to cool but not cold and while it is very cloudy and there is a certain subdued greyness to the light, it is striking compared to what I am used to (probably just because I am not normally up quite so early) and kind of nice.
Definitely a bit edgy about lesson, probably ly more about the vague stressful feeling of not being able to do stuff which is innate to the leaning experience than the specific instructor, but still.
Despite the whenever it was wobbles (general, doubtless tinged by class worries but not specific to them) in the night, nothing has changed. It makes sense to give this a solid try here, I am semi enjoying it even despite this kind of stuff and there being an element of type 2 fun to it, I had and have no other pressing big things I wanted to do or places I wanted to go, the island is in its way sort of pleasant and while extensive not intolerably so. I can and will make an effort to switch up the accommodation in a day or two but I had already decided before the 3h/2h confusion thing that I would stick on here to avoid unnecessary extra stress/attitutude wobbles at least for the first few lessons and I think that remains smart. I have, hard as it seems to believe this, only had 2 days and 5h of lessons.
If I didn't already say the rough window they gave to going solo (my term, but I think that was the gist), maybe call it basic competence, was 10h for someone with talent and /or prior exposure to related skills (sailing for wind knowledge, other balancey board type water sports like surfing or windsurfing for balance and maybe wind, that gist) to 20h for someone with no experience and little talent (my phrasing). Even if I am not negative I would expect to need at least 15h and 20h would hardly be shocking and I am depending on how progress etc feels and whether I am enjoying (at least in this stressful lean-ring but yes it feels sort of good at times way) it willing to go that high on training and accom and time budget.
I can use the downtime between lessons to do things like kayaking or cycling or hiking to the falls but yes I do also want and need to have some time off, even if it feels a bit wasteful and even if sitting on a semi uncomfortable chair on hostel terrace watching yt on a tiny phone (even putting aside any BNM feelings, which I do seem to have mostly under control) is not exactly my idea of the perfect days slacking compared to the enjoyably comfortable way I might slack at home.
But if the lessons go as planned, I an likely to be here a good few korebdays and I do not need to race to squash in the kayaking etc every single day. And none of this stuff is epic level regret if I do not get any of it done, and that is unlikely.
Not pushing the social experimentation would be more of a regret but that is as discussed for a day or two or three from now, not immediately (unless something happens with accom when I try to extend next or the lesson today is unexpectedly an absolute killer of desire or interest).
I suppose at least my arse hurting a bit shouldn't be too big a deal for the lesson as it is mostly standing with brief interludes of getting knocked or dragged over. And it isn't agony, I just feel it eg sitting on this hard wooden chair.
Touch wood my legs don't feel too bad, although i am damn well not cycling today.
Eating breakfast relatively close to lesson feels not ideal but I didn't notice it being a huge deal yesterday.
0746 back at room. Ileft my key outside in the door all night btw. Not really a big deal in practice but not ideal either.
1130 back at hostel getting hot water. Lesson not too bad, a bit annoying at times but I am getting used to the instructor (he told me not to keep saying sorry btw) and while the downwind body drag feels crappy apparently I did it ok and we just started upwind and that while I fucked up the kite control a bit actually feels like it is far more controllable.
Price has effectively sropped at least for today to 100 for 2h due to the bulk discount ladder.
I went into Ocean on way back to get cash but a mini social event occurred as some woman in front was struggling to get any and I spoke to her and various other people tried. I recommended (perhaps stupidly, but it is hardly a secret) the machine 30 mins walk up the beach. I need to count my cash after this coffee but gut feeling is I am able to hold out til tomorrow and are what happens.
French owner chap at school said there are some petroglyphs at el porvenir off merida road which may be walkable but may need bike. We will see how it goes.
Have extended at this hostel for another night, I need to keep an eye on this but I think it is fine for now given the lessons are going okish but not "easy" and don't want to rock the mental boat. I just may try going over to the raindance bar tonight. Lesson is likely to be a bit later tonorrow, french owner (Jamie?) Asked me and I said whenever would work but 9-10 would be ideal and he said there was likely to be good wind tonorrow all the way to midday ish.
Fwiw iirc first day we had a 6 or 7 kite, yesterday was maybe a 10 and I think today was a 12 or 13. Wind was a bit low today, instructor said it is good for practice as it makes things sort of harder.
Not seen Noam or the Antipodean girl for a day or two, I am not staying because of them anyway, but feels a bit odd, Noam especially I thought was a fixture.
1146 jus t lost three emails, was moving them, screen glitched as I tapped and they moved "somewhere". No undo or log of course can't find them. Yesterday the sudden attack of the random tap monkey came within one click of sending a file I was trying to delete to a signal contact. Brilliant stuff.
Instructor did say some prospect of something (perhaps some sort of drag) with a board tomorrow, I said (perhaps negatively) that seemed scary, he said no. I am not sure I believe him. He does seem moderately genuinely satisfied with progress but very hard to tell of course.
I kind of want to just sit here but I have finished this capuchino thing (which was nicer today, perhaps due to tiny cip and really overdoing the intensity) and I need to count cash and decide if j want or need to trog up to the other cash machine. Od if I am trying either petroglyph.
Fwiw set chase card up so I can wd 500 on that too if I want, and they don't impose a limit. The machine did say ibsudficient funds in my Barclaycard but I suspect it was referring to itself not my account, which should be more than capable of this but just possibly I am at risk of exceeding my credit limit. Hmm. Anyway, the machine didn't work for anyone else either. But maybe I should go try it with chase for dollars.
Fuck it, let me see if I can log into barclays now, bit worried I will have a fee.
1158 ok, Barclaycard website shows I have plenty of credit limit left and no transaction today and I should not be hitting any daily limita given I last used card here on 23rd. Probably just the machine.
Fwiw it felt odd yesterday that I has had only two days of lessons and today that it has only been three. In a strange and probably not bad way it feels like I have been doing the lessons much longer.
1204 ok without going into too much details I do have a fair amount of cash including USD at hand but I would really rather avoid digging too deeply into it, if only on practical grounds (some if it is folded up and wrapped in clingfilm etc and it would be nice to avoid disturbing that until a real emergency or end of trip deliberate run down if I decide to do that).
If sucks a bit but tbh I am not gagging to see the petroglyphs nor is going to the cash machine up the west end of the beach automatically going to kill that as an option. I do half fear a run on that machine if the ocean mart one is down.
I think I will check out the petroglyphs situation, go walk to ocean on the offchance it is fixed and then trog over to the not a million miles away after all other one, then if I still feel like it I can go over to the petroglyphs after, it is a moderate but not insane amount of walking in the sun but rightly or wrongly I didn't shower after lesson. I could do but the lake water doesn't seem that disgusting really and I am outdoors and going to be sweating on the walk and I will have a shower around sundown.
The lake is fresh water btw, I have photos from comedor la malinche (?) On first day showing cows and horses being driven into it and drinking it. Maybe this is dead obvious but fwiw.
If I didn't have the relatively high burn rate of the lessons and the need to pay tomorrow to avoid any awkwardness I would not be in a rush for a cash machine, my reserves are more than ample for a few days of accom and beer and food and cheapish activities, Sven without digging into awkward parts of it.
1502 okay so the machine at Ocean still wasn't working I trod 30-40 minutes up to that cash machine at the north end and I did get $400 out there I couldn't get $500 because the Barclaycard continues to decline as insufficient funds even though I see no reason for that I have just been on the Barclaycard website where they induced me to write a chat and then told me oh sorry the chat doesn't work we're rebuilding it call us because it's trivial to call the UK from abroad I'm happy to spend about 700 pounds in roaming charges to query this so anyway the Barclaycard I have to assume is basically dead now it may start working at some point but I can't rely on it I had the other cards with me I wasn't so stupid as to walk 40 minutes without taking other cards so I managed to get $400 out on the chase card of course that doesn't dilute the fee so much because the fee was still $6 but you know Barclaycard decided to fuck me over so anyway I did at least get some money I walked back I walked up along the road and some dogs had a little bit of a go and I walked back along the beach and some dogs had a little bit of a go neither case was critical I shouted vaya there were locals around possibly they were even their dogs but it was still not great I toyed with going to the petroglyphs after but it's like it was hot I'd walked about 80 minutes 90 minutes and I'd had a few dog encounters and I wasn't really up for anything else so I got a michelada and a bottle of coke and had those on the main terrace and now I've come back to my room to do a bit of chore type stuff
I did try withdrawing $500 on the chase card, but it was declined. I don't know what the limits actually are. It may be there's a £300 limit on there, which is another reason it's so annoying that the Barclay card is rejecting. But there you go. As far as I know, where the Barclay card has no limit in that sense, or it's much higher, and it's just the machines imposing the $500 limit. But anyway, it is what it is.
What I actually started writing for was just to make the note that, at least at one point during the lesson today, I'm not sure at other points, it's like I'm managing to hold, like when we're doing the upwind body drag, it's like I'm kind of managing to hold the kite in the right place. And on the one hand, I'm very much not confident that I can really keep it there indefinitely, although it seems to stay for a while. And on the other hand, I'm like, well, am I actually controlling this? I suppose I must be, but I'm not quite sure how I'm doing it. But it presumably isn't completely stable, that position, so I must be controlling it. It's like, and yet I don't really feel I know exactly what I'm doing. It's kind of weird. Not exactly bad, but not exactly good. Anyway, just to sort of know while it's still what I'm feeling and not doing it in hindsight.
1609 Barclays sent me a text about half an hour ago saying my txn was declined because I was over my cash limit. With some faffing I have just paid my full balance off with them from my chase debit card so I guess that card might work now.
1941 on hostile terrace, very surreptitiously voice typing this, I hope it works. There's no one else around, I think there was one guy earlier, but he's gone.
So I sat on the terrace outside my room until about half five, the Antifodean woman and her gay friend were there, but I didn't feel very natural to speak to them, it was fine, I just sat in a hammock, I don't think that was weird. Anyway, so then I went over to Raindance and I went in, it was fairly quiet, it was probably about half five. I'd already looked at the menu, I ordered a pizza which was quite nice but nothing amazing and a bit pricey at 350, but hey, it's sort of cool enough here at night that I did kind of enjoy it and it was nice. I had two beers at 80, just like 330 ish mil bottles of Tonya, nothing fancy, bit overpriced but not utterly insane. I think I left about 640, 645.
Erm, in theory there was a casino night there, but I did go and have a look between beers and stuff, I joined their WhatsApp group, which is admin posting only. And I took a photo of the weekly event board, and there is some stuff on there in theory, although a lot of it has minimum and maximum numbers, and it feels a bit will this happen. But, er, to be fair, they do a free casino night on Tuesday, and no one seemed interested in its night, but it was 100 to join in. And I suspect most people were slightly late back from a free bus over to the sunset at Playa Mango or something, maybe I got the days mixed up, but I think that sounds about right. It had started to get a bit busier when I left, but it was erm, very clicky, I mean I didn't intend to chat to anyone tonight, that would just have been a mad bonus, it was just about going and eating somewhere and checking the place out. It wasn't all that big to be honest, the pool not that big either, erm, sort of a nice enough environment, I didn't see the treehouse kind of bit, but er, I don't know if that's guess only, but I certainly didn't see it.
So while I was there I had a look on booking.com and hostelworld and long and short of it is the dorms look quite nice, at least on paper, but they are basically sold out this Wednesday for actual accommodation. I think you can basically pay $400 for a ticket to wet Wednesday and I think that might be common-ish, but I'm not sure. Unlike in theory it's 5 minutes walk from this hostel and I could be in another hostel 5 minutes walk away and I could go, you know, I'd probably want to take Thursday off from the lessons, which is a bit awkward and feels a bit unserious, but we'll see how I feel. I might be able to get an actual ticket last minute and if not maybe write it off or maybe do it next Wednesday if I happen to be around, but don't let it warp the whole trip. It wouldn't be nicer to be on site, but I do get this kind of impression from their own website that it's a little bit sell you beers cocktails, but also a bit of a piss-up kind of thing and a bit of a deliberate getting drunk thing, which is sort of nice and sort of not, and obviously at my age I might not fit in and if I'm there on my own, which I might or might not be depending on if I've met someone at whichever hostel I'm staying at, blah blah blah. But it might be worth, subject to the concerns around having to take a day off surfing, it might be worth trying to buy a ticket last minute, just walk in 5 minutes down the road, you know, wear swimming trunks, flip flops and a t-shirt, keep some money in a plastic pouch or Nicaraguan notes so they're plastic anyway. Don't take my phone and just see what happens and if I leave at 8pm so be it, I might feel shit but at least technically I've had a go and you know if I leave at midnight and I wish I'd got a dorm bed then that's also a success isn't it right?
Long and the short of it is, I'd assumed it would be pretty straightforward to just book into a dorm there, but it's obviously popular enough, I guess it does make sense, because if it's 400 to get in, that's not a huge amount, even for a backpacker, but that's probably about 70% of what a dorm bed costs, I'm guessing. So it makes sense, apart from the convenience of being able to roll into your dorm, pissed, or nip back and grab your phone, or leave it there, or get more money or whatever. It makes sense to want to stay there, but it's also a net, since you get 300 to the party, it's not a bad option, but that's not as easy as I'd hoped. So, although it's obviously a bigger deal than I thought, given the lack of availability, I think my attitude to it probably ought to be, try and keep a good one, maybe take the day off, maybe do it as a whim, not take it too seriously, the whole point being, I am 5 minutes down the road, very likely, because I'll almost certainly be doing lessons this Wednesday, or next Wednesday, next Wednesday, I could be staying there if I wanted to, and I still want to be on the island, but if it's this Wednesday, if I can't get a ticket, I can't get a ticket, but I probably could, even last minute, walk up. And if I, I'm going to be in a hostel 5 minutes away, because I'll be in a hostel that's convenient for the surf lessons, so, it's like, just take it as a low effort, possible good turnout, because I'm right on the spot. It's like, you know, with regard to that treehouse party I was agonising about in bloody Granada, it's like, oh, I'm just 2 minutes down the road, why don't I just go and see, you don't cost anything really, and just give it a go. And I can, I should and probably could, probably should, given that I cannot stay there anyway, so that's kind of out of the agenda, at least for this first week, just treat it as a low stakes, apparently. If I can get in, just go along, see how it goes, and I either leave early and it's a try not to beat myself up, because I do at least do it, or if it goes well, then it's like, oh, it's a shame, I couldn't get a dorm bed there and stay there and feel really relaxed, but I still had fun, and that's a massive win. If I can manage that attitude, that's probably the way to go, and hopefully I'm not going to book it in advance, we'll just wait and see what happens, and if I can't get in on Wednesday at the last minute, or the night before, not the end of the world, and there's possibly a chance to try the following Wednesday, and by Monday, Tuesday next week, I'll maybe have a bit more of an idea where I'm standing with the surfing, whether taking a day off would work, how it would feel, blah blah blah.
I suspect a future version of me is gonna feel like Ezra Jennings listening to Mr Candy's ramblings, but what the hell, I'm just trying to bash this out.
Completely putting all that aside, this is genuinely independent, although it does have some bearing but it is genuinely independent, I probably do need to force myself to switch hostel, whether it's to a dorm or a private, just for sort of social experimentation, in the next day or two. I will may, I'm booked in for Saturday night, will may be considered doing it Sunday. I have no idea if there will be any lessons on Sunday, whether they have a day off or if it's just seasonal and they go mad for it during the dry season and the tourist season. Of course at some point there's going to be a day with bad weather, but I imagine that will be known at the last minute and I won't be able to use that to guide my move. But you know, hypothetically, I go somewhere, I had been thinking Raindance, but given the vibe tonight wasn't amazing and it doesn't help me with the Wednesday, maybe not. But I could go somewhere else, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe I'll get chatting to people, maybe they'll want to go to the thing at Raindance Wednesday anyway, or maybe they won't, or go on my own. But you know, at least I'll be spending some time in a more social environment than here. It is quite nice here, I don't even quite like it. If I had 20 weeks for the trip, I probably would just camp here while I was doing surf lessons, or maybe I wouldn't, I don't know. But yeah, it would be good to try somewhere else where there's a little bit more passing population, a bit more chance of a chat and try and find somewhere that suits me. And while the surf lessons aren't exactly in the bag, I'm starting to feel a bit better about them. If it goes kind of okay tomorrow, I might feel better about taking a chance going somewhere else. The surf lessons would be very distinct, because it's one on one anyway, right? So it's not like I'm going to have some knob from the hostel that I don't like, or who thinks I'm a twat there in the class, and it's that sort of stuff, right? And my attitude's probably going to be okay, and I might feel better if I'm, and at least I'm experimenting and making a bit more use of the time and stuff. It is nice here, but I can't stay forever plus. Nothing stops me walking five minutes down the road and coming into reception saying, Oh, can I stay here tomorrow night? Have you got a private room? And there's no reason at all to think they wouldn't give me the price I'm paying now. It's not exactly a massive deal, it's just booking.com price, not going through booking.com, except I'm getting the base booking.com price, even on days when booking is listing it a bit higher. I hope this transcribes, because I've been going on for ages, and if it doesn't, I'm going to be pissed.
I happened to see a review, I don't know how recent it was, saying that room one here was just awful and full of big fat juicy spiders and there were rats in the rafters and everything. I mean that's right next to my room. I do suspect it's pretty much the same as my room and that, yeah, I mean, I've sought, not rats, but I suspect it's from someone who either just got unlucky or really doesn't get this rustic vibe and, you know, to be fair, I get it myself. I remember leaving that hostel in a bit of panic because I was down by Lake Acidland in Guatemala in some town in 2018 and I couldn't have a shower because there were spiders buzzing around the walls, they weren't that big, but they were big but they weren't fat. But, you know, I remember doing it so I'm not entirely judging but, you know, I suspect the review is a little bit from the wrong perspective rather than room one here is an absolute nightmare or this hostel is an absolute nightmare. But to be fair, you know, that first night I was here, I had that spider in the shower and then hanging around the bathroom door and it's like, at one point that would have totally freaked me out. Yeah, absolutely. And then to have the subsequent events, even though they weren't spiders, would probably freak me out as well. Maybe it wouldn't, to be fair, if it wasn't spiders. But anyway, so I get it, but I just thought it was kind of interesting to see that review. that review.
Classes at 8.30 tomorrow, which isn't ideal. I think I already said I'm having this beer on the terrace out here that I got from the mini market. So I had that Mitchellada this afternoon and two beers, the 30mlish or whatever, but still at Raindanson, I've just had this 4.73ml, 4.9% beer here. It's hardly a fucking piss up, but I think I might get some water and maybe gorge on some snacks despite all the other things I've eaten back in the room. And then go to bed and try and get up early, you know, for breakfast at 6.50 or 7 or whatever I can get like I did today. And then we'll play it by ear. I think tomorrow I need to not just automatically extend for Sunday night. If I'm having a class on Sunday, I need to come back here and start looking at other alternatives. Maybe I'll have a bit of a poke at other alternatives tonight before I go to bed. I'm not super tired. But I'm obviously not booking anything because I don't even know what was happening with the classes for sure. So yeah, there we go. I've had a bit of water. I'll get some more. I'm not pissed. It's fine. Maybe it's not great for sleeping, but I did enjoy that Mitchellada. Maybe it was just first beer in a couple of days or I'd not have a Mitchellada in ages. Yes, a very strong flavour, but that's a Mitchellada for you. It was nice.
2016 back in room. I could snack but I really sot fancy it. Had some water. Not feeling really pissed. Will do teeth and maybe have an exploratory poke at other accom options and the go to bed. I am a bit tired, not mega so bit with the early start today and tomorrow not surprising or ridiculous to have an early night.
2046 okay, talking about all this on the blog is poor security, but really no one cares, right? There's not that many options, super close to here, both with a view to get into the kites, surf school and the possibility of going to rain down the Sun Wednesday night. Maria's does have dorm beds, and in fact private's very cheaply. The only common area according to views is the restaurant, and that clocks with what I've seen. Presumably I'd be allowed to sit there, were there I'd get chatting to anyone I don't know. No doesn't appear to have a curfew, I could maybe ask. Raindance does have availability Monday and Tuesday, sorry, Sunday and Monday, I'm getting confused now actually, but it's really tight, it's like you can't, as I kind of saw earlier. So let me just check the dates, oh sorry, let me stop talking.
Okay, so I could stop at Rainedown Sunday and Monday nights, but I would not be able to extend to Tuesday, as far as I can tell, I mean maybe, just because I'm looking on booking, I've not really tried hard, but I was looking on their own website earlier, so never mind anything else, I could stay there Sunday and Monday, but I'd have to leave Tuesday, no matter how well it was going, the fact that there's no party Tuesday night, I'd have to leave Tuesday anyway, which kind of puts me off. So there's that, which is kind of, I could do, but the two-night absolute max is a bit crappy, because if things are going well, and I maybe wouldn't have time to get to know people, even if that's gonna happen, Maria's is maybe a weird possibility, and it does have privates, I suppose maybe the dorm would be more chatty, but I do, anyway, Wayitas, where I went the other day for a quick little look on the off-chance looking at the restaurant, does look kind of nice when I went, but they've got so many dorm beds free, it's like, and it didn't look very busy there when I was there, I'd rather suspect it's virtually empty, but it is cheap enough, and there's basically the only other one really local for the reasons that I mentioned, is Elsopilote, now the whole vegan, hippie, eco vibe is really not me, but you know, although I doubt he's there anymore, that French, I think, chap was staying there, and he said it's nice, and it's like, all the reviews are, oh you have to walk 200 meters, and there's a lot of insects, because they don't use any, any insecticides or anything, I mean this kind of might work, it doesn't feel great in terms of getting back from rain dams, on the other hand, it is practically opposite, not quite, but it's so, you save on the walk, but then you may be stumbling down some path, but that's probably okay, I could give it a go to be honest, off the top of my head, Wayitas just feels like it would probably be quite cool, because it's a bit rustic, but you know, not, not got the explicit hippie vibe, I just don't believe there'd be anyone there, Maria's is maybe a bit of a wildcard, could be dull, I don't really fancy the rain dams for just two nights, you know, if I really want to stay there, I can maybe stay there after Wednesday, when I would be able to extend, so anyway, I mean I'm sleeping on this, I don't have to worry until tomorrow, but that's where we stand, I think off the top of, well as I say, it's kind of a toss-up between Wayitas, Elzopilote and Maria's, to be fair, I guess Elzopilote does have the party thing on Tuesday night, and it might be kind of cool, and it's not like even with an 830 class, I'm leaving to go surfing so early, that I'm gonna be staggering down these 200 meters of rural paths from my rustic dorm in the dark, some of these places are not super cheap, like say Maria's the private is cheap, but a lot of these places, the dorms are, anyway, it is cheaper than here, so I probably, I suppose, I'm leaning towards Elzopilote, but it would be an experience, the Tuesday party might be cool, it's not necessarily incompatible with the surf school, you know, it's a few minutes extra walk, not a huge deal, go for it, bit of an experience, people might be chatty and maybe they're not all as eco-hippie as you might expect, anyway, that's my thoughts for now, so I'm heading towards bed. Ans I don't have to eat in el zopilote routinely either so the limited meat shit isn't a big deal. If there's no curfew (and thus wet Wednesday is not ruled out) I might possibly book sun-wed nights inclusive, or play the free cancellation game and book sin-Mon and tue-wed as separate bookings to hedge my bets.
But I don't need to decide until after the class tomorrow.
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