In February, the people of Chicabrava invited me on a press trip to their surf camp in Nicaragua. My best surfing friend in NYC had been to this camp previously and had the best things to say about it, so I gladly agreed.
My first experience surfing was three years ago in Costa Rica and while it was the trip that got me totally hooked on surfing, I look back and realize I learned practically nothing there compared to my week at Chicabrava.
It took me a while to digest my experience at Chicabrava and in the country of Nicaragua in general, so I want to break it down into two parts: surfing and the culture / community there.
Part One: Surfing at Chicabrava
The biggest difference between Chicabrava and other surf camps I have been to is Chicabrava’s approach to teaching. Their instructors are so well trained and they all use the same language and methods when teaching. They also break down the movements into a simple set of steps and have you do them over and over again on the beach to get your muscle memory in order before entering the water. While each instructor had a different attitude (all positive, of course) and style, they all wanted you to do the same thing. I really appreciated there incredible positive encouragement, and if I ever felt scared they never made me feel guilty or dumb for feeling that way. Safety was their number one concern and I felt great whenever I was in the water with them.
Oh! I should probably mention one of the most important things: it’s girls only at Chicabrava. It is so much less intimidating to get into the water with a huge gaggle of girls as opposed to learning from dudes. Sometimes I hesitate participating in women-only things because I don’t like gossip or cattiness, but let’s be real, anyone learning to surf is going to be pretty chill.
Now that I am home, I feel totally prepared to go surfing at The Rockaways this summer even after having some major panic attacks there the last few times I went.
Part Two: Culture & Community in San Juan Del Sur
We spent a lot of time chatting with Ashley, the founder of Chicabrava, and one of the things I appreciated most about her business is that she tries to work with the community, not against it. She moved to Nicaragua long before she chose to open a business there, so the was no longer an outsider in the community when she decided to open Chicabrava. One thing that is really important to her is that instead of taking business from other surf schools, her goal is to bring people into the town that otherwise would never have come. Attracting her own set of tourists helps the local economy by bringing five to ten people into town each week that spend money at the local restaurants and shops. Besides being both conscious of and contributing to the local economy, she also provides programming for young girls in the country to learn to surf a few times each year.
The general vibe in San Juan del Sur was incredibly warm and welcoming too. I loved that many of the people we came across were Nicaraguan. Sometimes, when I travel to similar places, everyone I meet is an expat and you never actually meet a local that is benefitting from your visit. I want to go back immediately for another trip and extend my stay to explore Nicaragua a little more!
// My accommodations were courtesy of Chicabrava, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
It happens at least four times a week, I am about to swipe my card at the subway turnstile and I hear the train coming. Now, I have a choice, run, or potentially wait for a long time. I always wait.
When I first moved to New York, Yoko told me, never run for the train, because you don’t want to almost make it and then have the door close in your face. So true, Yoko, it feels a lot worse to have the door close right in front of your nose than miss the train by 100 feet.
// photo from my iphone library, feels like waiting a little bit
This is the easiest paper marbling technique you will find on the internet!
Click the link below to read more!
All you need is a large tray (like a glass dish or baking dish from your kitchen), the cheapest shaving cream, ink, paper (card stock, tracing paper, watercolor paper all work) and a spatula (and some old rags help too).
Make sure your paper fits in your tray, if it’s too big, cut it down.
Make a layer of shaving cream along the bottom, it should rise to be one to two inches high.
Drop ink into the shaving cream and then drag it around, you can use your finger or a toothpick.
Put your paper into the tray and push it down so every square inch touches the shaving cream & ink mix.
Carefully pick up one corner and pull the paper out of the tray.
Now, use your spatula or any scraper to scrape the shaving cream off of the paper. I used a second tray to put the used shaving cream.
You’ll probably need to wipe off the edge of your spatula after each scrape, otherwise the ink will spread.
Let the paper sit for a minute then use an old rag to dab the last bits of shaving cream off the paper. Let it dry out.
I tried both water color paper and tracing paper. I love how the tracing paper turned out!
Continue as long as there is shaving cream in your tray. You can reuse it for several pieces and add ink as you go.
It’s so fast and easy, right?
Total time: 30 minutes
Cost: $5 - $10 depending on your paper choice
In an effort to save a little money, I’ve started downloading classic books on my Kindle. The classics are in the public domain and therefore free to download from Amazon! My first pick is Moby Dick, any other favorite classics I should read?
Paper pulp is one of my new favorite mediums. For one thing, it’s nearly free to make, and secondly, it doesn’t take any fancy equipment or any previous knowledge to use. The only real downfall is that it does take patience. The other thing that can go terribly wrong is mold. I live in a humid climate and I’ve had pieces get totally moldy and had to throw them away. I’ll give you some tips for preventing mold throughout. Paper pulp projects are not the kind you can complete in one sitting.
Click the link below to read on:
I made these initials for the entryway to my studio, since I’m in a shared space, it’s nice to have something by the door so everyone knows it’s you!
Start by shredding (or cutting, which I found easier) newspaper into about half inch strips.
For just two letters, I used maybe four big sheets of the newspaper until my bowl was full (without squishing the paper down).
Then, fill the bowl with water until the water level covers all of the paper. You might want to squish down the paper now just to make sure it’s all fully submerged. Leave this overnight.
Next, you’ll need some flour and salt, and you might as well fill a cup with water now, because you might need a bit in a few steps. Flour is what holds the fibers together, it acts as your glue. Some paper pulp recipes don’t call for salt, but let me tell you, if you live somewhere humid, you are going to want the salt. It’s going to help prevent mold.
Go ahead and drain the water out of your mixing bowl. Don’t squeeze the paper though, you’ll want to keep the water that the paper has absorbed.
Start adding flour, I used about a third cup of flour to start.
Don’t forget the salt! I just eyeball it, probably about two tablespoons for this much paper.
Start kneading the paper, flour and salt mixture. Spend a lot of time now ripping up the paper so there are no big chunks left. It will begin to look like this. At this point, it needs more flour, as it’s not all sticking together.
Add another scoop of flour and continue to knead the mixture. It should start sticking together almost like cookie dough. If it keeps falling apart, add a little water (be conservative) and mix it in.
This is nearly ready, but needs a tiny bit of water (think 1/8 of a cup) and more flour.
Once the whole thing is able to hold together in a ball, it’s ready. Keep adding flour and water until you can get it like this. Altogether, it should take at least 30 minutes of kneading to get the right texture.
Now take half of it (for two letters) and form the outside of the letter.
Then, punch out the holes.
Once you have your letters ready, let them sit out on a cooling rack. You’ll need the extra airflow for them to dry completely. This part takes time. If you are going to let them air dry, leave them for 3-5 days. Otherwise, put them in the oven (on the rack) on 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about 2 hours or until dried out. Check them constantly! You could start a fire by putting paper in your oven. The oven method will also help prevent molding.
Now, you have these kind of ugly dried paper pulp letters! I like them lumpy, it’s a cool funky look, but if you don’t like them like this, use a piece of sandpaper to smooth your edges. If you chose to let your letters air dry, check them for mold. If you see signs of mold, I would get rid of them. That smell will never go away.
This step is optional, but I painted a coat of gesso before going to colors. This is a better base for acrylic paints.
Now, you can paint them however you want! I wanted a half yellow, half pink mix, so I taped them off and did the colors separately.
Here they are almost done!
While the paint dries, you can make a few pom poms to decorate. There are so many pom pom tutorials out there, that I’m not gonna walk you through this one.
I added a coat of acrylic gloss medium, because I can’t stand the texture of acrylic paint, but this is totally optional.
Add a bright string. If your letters don’t have counters (aka holes) then you can use an awl or a drill to make them.
Braid together your pom poms and attach them to the string, I used a tiny bit of hot glue to get my pom poms to lie where I wanted them.
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