Breathe, Smile, Laugh. Repeat.

This is where i arrived last week (fb post):

"Last night, I spent some time just thinking about my attitude and my feelings while I have been here in Pearl Lagoon. I've felt so, so much anger at times and bitterness that I have almost made myself sick. I've let myself get stressed to the point where i actually to get sick and feel even more miserable. Last night, i sat outside of my house and looked at the stars, the stars I can actually see because I am not in overpopulated South Florida with its tons of light pollution. I sat there and thought about how lucky I am to be working in what I love, despite all the hardships, the loneliness, the setbacks, and my fears. I reminded myself that I wanted to escape and I thought about how happy I was when I was offered this job. I thought about the promises I'd made myself and to sea turtle conservation when I took this position. Therefore, this is my promise to myself, this is what I will strive to become for the rest of my time here. I will appreciate every experience that comes my way...I will stop griping over the little things that will not change here in Pearl Lagoon. I will appreciate every boat ride, every storm, every gorgeous day that I get to spend here in Nicaragua. I will stop stressing and learn to breathe. I will smile more, I will laugh more, I will enjoy every moment. Because who knows where I will be next year, what other adventure I will embark on. Contentment is within my reach, I just have to reach out and grab it..."



And I've made a concerted effort to stick to this post. To stick to the decision. And while it might not work 100% of the time (lets face it, I have a nasty temper at times), for most of the time, I've gotten a better hold of "my happy". 
And it's damn beautiful.
Last week I headed out for 5 days straight of field work in the beautiful island chain known as the Pearl Cays. 
The mornings were tough. Typical turtle work. Get up at dawn (in my case drop down out of my hammock, look up hennesy hammocks), change, and jump onto the boat( here is where it differs we don't just walk down a beach, we have to go island to island) to hit up plus or minus 10 cays in one day. Plus....excavation....SO MANY EXCAVATIONS. They can be pretty cool but after about 6 or so nasty smelling nests, I'm about done haha. 
But once that was all done around 12 or 1, we would head back to camp and scarf down some fresh fish, maybe some rice and beans (coconut rice and beans ROCK) and chill for a bit.
My team is short one member but these three are a blast. Hard workers, good natured, and so much fun!
We did headstands in the water, see who could go under the boat the quickest, and snorkeled. My favorite days were they days we got creative and played baseball and volleyball.
Styrofoam and whatever else we could find was recycled to form our equipment and we got so competitive and ridiculous. 
At the moment I'm a bit sad because I have a long Skype meeting in the morning and the 75 motor is acting out so I wont get to go back out to check the cays tomorrow but...thats life. 
So after this post, I'll sign off, workout shower and have an early night. 


I needed that time. I relaxed, i got silly, i laughed 'til i cried, I threw myself after our "baseball" I ate yummy food, and i slept early. 



And smile. Thats always important. 

Sunrise smiles

YUM!

Soupa!

Hammock! (better Richard?)

                                       

Taking body depth on a female hawksbill with Claudia and Byron.

Why wont you let me take a picture with you??

Cc. Loggerhead. 

Pipo.

Where is Claudia??? ( I am SO tall next to her)

Gorgeous sunrise

Cool swamp in the middle of Wild Cane

My first albino hatchling

BYE wild cane!

Home :D

Nexler with his "baseball bat"

The team :D

Pretty shells Columbilla

H tags from our project

Pose little guy

:D

GO GO GO!

Claudia and I saved this Cc from some fishermen.

IS there something on my head?

Boyd and Passy from Team 1.

Goodies from Alexis and Rob

MY DERM TEAM IS AMAZING!!! Thank you guys for all the goodies, i was so giddy about the food and teary about the card. Can't wait for a reunion in December. Joo know it!

Karen's bday party on Saturday!

                           

Shennanigans

My partner in crime, Laura :D

I think the pinata went well with my shirt.

Boa on the street. People were so freaked out with it.

Last night was Raphaelles last night in Pearl Lagoon. Safe return to Belgium!

What a pro!

The cancha gets take over by the dogs at night!

Cross-country

Hello!

It's funny how i usually start composing these blogs in my head when i don't have anything to write with...or have a computer anywhere near me.

I have been a busy turtle girl for the last two weeks or so. I had a crazy week in the office and then I left for a week to Managua.

My main two...no three reasons for going were:
1) Allergy vials: For those who know me...I am apparently allergic to life and am being treated with immunology shots. The vials i picked up back in June to take with me turn out to not be mine, but of some other poor soul, and I was told this after I had already been injected once....Lovely stuff. Either way, they had to fedex me my vials. Mind you i walked through customs with these things without a problem, but when they were shipped customs demanded a permit from MINSA (ministry of health) and for me to be present there to pick them up.
Never mind the fact I live and work clear across the country....
Good news: I finally got them on Friday.
Bad news: I had to lose my temper to make them help me out more quickly.

2). ANA BANANA- My lovely friend and site leader from aB Galapagos 2011 and I had a reunion in Nicaragua! Her family has been absolutely amazing with me, taking me around to do errands and letting me sleep in their house and even better, feeding me! It was lovely to see someone from home again and not just because she brought me gummy bears! Thank you to the whole family for making me feel at home and loved!

3). Escape- Frankly, i was reaching the end of my patience here in Pearl Lagoon...
I think it was mainly a feeling of being cooped up. While i do get to travel out to the pearl cays every week, its not the same as leaving and (somewhat) separating myself from the people I deal with every day.
When you live three steps from your place of work, it is sometimes difficult to completely extricate yourself from it. And while it is convenient that I live four steps away from my office (I totally sleep til the last minute) sometimes I have to intentionally not check my email and log off of skype, even if its for a few hours, for my sake of mind.


The last week was therefore taken as a sort of vacation. I still answered some emails and such, but since the house i was staying at didn't have internet, i made an effort to stay away from work. (As the family can attest to my mini stress sessions it wasnt entirely possible as I had some fun emails and phone calls to field). But I tried. I read, I just hung out, and I danced!

Bad news: Unfortunately, my canon point and shoot died last Saturday night...and with my olympus dying two weeks ago, that takes my camera count down to....my cellphone.

Bad news: My knee decided to act out again on Friday making for an annoying and painful 13+ hr trip cross country yesterday.

Good news: Its sunny and hot out, so after i log off, I can handwash and hang dry my clothes outside and they might actually DRY! (i have no clothes left!)

Good news: I have acquired a Flor de Cana tank top and I thrift shopped and found a lovely american flag shirt....which i proceeded to wear when i went out last night with all my Canadian friends.

Good news: I figured out how to connect my cellphone to my computer as a camera!!!

Here are some pictures from my trip:

My new Flor de cana shirt! RUM!!!

Bus that I rode from Rama to Managua. 

I totally craved that rock. No idea what mountain that is. Seen on my bus ride to Managua. I WANT TO CLIMB IT!

A little gecko posing for me in Jinotepe. Quite a good shot using my phone!

Ana banana! <3

Loving the gear!

Mombacho canopy tour! Loving the height!!!

A walk in the forest...across high wire! Gave me an arm workout!!

Loving it!

A crazy night with my Nica family! BRODER....solo quiero reirme!!

Making lunch for the ladies 'murica style!

scrambled eggs, strawberries( OMG my first in over two months), turkey bacon, and biscuits!!!

I'm so talented

Had to take the long route home through Kukra Hill. At least it was a gorgeous day!!!

I'm having some difficulties figuring out how to get all my pictures off my phone. I'll have more next time.

Until then:

"I must lose myself in action, lest i wither in despair" -Lord Tennyson

Peace!

Melissa