Now I was really stoked. The whole day was waiting, and we were going back to my favorite wave so far, Playgrounds. I love going down to the shoreline and getting ready to go on that boat, "Tormenta." I hate watching our local boatguy carry the motor down to the beach, though. It weighs 165 lbs, someone says. I worry that he will get a hernia. And, I know he has no health insurance. But, I can't worry about this now, because we are on our way to Playgrounds. The waves were a bit smaller, so I knew the possibility existed that I could really cut loose and relax, those dark, step ladder sets not as apparent on the horizon. There was already one boat there when we arrived, but they left by 8:30am. They had to catch their flight home. "Darn," James smiled and said, looking over at me. I caught a great right straight away, which started my session out in the best possible way. I caught left after bowling left, unreal for turns and off the tops! But then I made a slight miscalculation when a local guy was taking off on a macking, glassy green right. I thought I could outrace him as he dropped in, thinking he was going to do a bottom turn, but instead he raced across the face and I knew then, as I duckdived, that it would be close. When I came up, he had fallen and our boards and us were all within two feet of each other. I was apologizing as he surfaced, but he was smiling, saying it was no problem. I thought I had messed him up, but he said no, not at all. But, in the process, I had felt fins across my back, and asked Greg to check for blood. He said it was only a little pink, so I dodged another bullet. After that crew left, it was just Greg, James, Inside Tony, Tony L., Andrew, and me. Tony L. said he saw me come way up high on a right and throw a big fan - awesome. They started a spray contest, and were laughing hysterically as they came as close as possible and sprayed each other in the face. After one wave, I was sitting inside as Tony L. raced along on a left. I sat there with my arms open wide, waiting. Then it came, a spray of water like a firehose, as I yelled, "Owwww!" Oh, the crowd loved that. We surfed for 3 1/2 hours before 2 boats showed up. It was okay, though. We were so surfed out and starving that I was almost glad to see them. When we got back to the car, we discovered that Andrew had left the keys locked in the ignition. He rested his head on the window glass, calling himself a dumbass. We all felt bad for him as we tried to figure a way to open the window, but it was useless. We made the best of it, making jokes about it, and then he called Kelly, who brought a spare key for us within an hour. It was good because Inside Tony told me all about his trip to Cuba, as we sat there waiting in the shade. Then we noticed some kids trying to kill a vulture, and my stomach did that little flip-flop again, as it does down here every now and then when I see something I have been so insulated from in living this American life. At first we all just watched them, and we did our little moans. But, I couldn't stand it, and walked over to the three boys, their hands full of sticks and stones, and looked down at them saying, "Porgue? Porque?" (Why? Why?) They moved back, and sat on a log, looking up at me, smiling guiltily, I felt a little bit imposing, and maybe out of line as a visitor to this place, but I wanted to bring a little compassion to the scene and it was the only thing I could think of. They just stared and stared at me. I finally just stared hard at them and walked away. As soon as I left, they started back at it. The bird looked so defeated, its feathers all disheveled, its body tottering slightly, its head down, resigned to its fate. That was when Inside Tony yelled out to them angrily, "Chicos!" and they stopped. Maybe I should have just let them finish the poor thing off, I thought. Maybe I had only prolonged its pain. Flip-flop, went my stomach. I could never live in Nicaragua. Inside Tony said, " Thanks, Nance, for doing that." A skinny dog wandered up then, looking like skin and fur on a skeleton. I coaxed it closer with some cookies (Andrew had bought us some snacks), and gave it that and some peanuts. The dogs here are so afraid, and will not come close. We, on the other hand, returned to camp to find Scotty had prepared lunch: Fresh snapper with a creamy shrimp sauce, peas and potatoes, and homemade tortilla chips. And there were smoothies, cold and icy, that tasted like heaven. Then it was time for a siesta... Andrew's knocking woke me up about two hours later. "Let's go to Santana!" he was saying. Wayne was just getting back, and said it was smaller, but lining up even better. When we got there, it was pretty crowded. I watched for awhile from the beach. I decided to go over to first peak, since it was less crowded. I should have gone over to the right, in retrospect, because the left was inconsistent where I was. But, James did see my best and biggest one, and complimented me on it, which was somehow rectifying. It had lurched up, a rogue bigger ledge, and I was so tired of waiting for one that I just went for it, got launched out airborne on the drop, and reconnected with the face, skipping down it like a stone only to reconnect and get some nice turns in. That wave had made my day. Then I got stuck in a muddy rip and couldn't get one to save my life. It was getting late by then, so I just walked back to camp with the guys, since Andrew was staying late to hang out with everyone on the beach with a cooler of beer. Tonight was the night we would be going to a local restaurant. Tony likes to give something back to the community, and not only does he help the local orphange financially, but he takes one night a week out to support a local restaurant and pays for the entire tab for his guests. The owner greeted us with smiles, hugging and kissing each of us in turn. We feasted on garlic fish, rice, beans, salsa, fried plaintains, and ice cream sandwiches. We laughed at Wayne's stories, especially his posing of the question, "What is the most powerful force in the universe?" Greg guessed it, blowing everyone's minds, especially Andrew's. Greg told me later that it was easy. He sized Wayne up pretty quickly and it just came out in a hilarious expletive that is ingrained in my memory banks forever. Good times. Then it was off to sleep, so we could catch the boat in the morning...
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