As usual, this story starts with the wind whistling through my hair as I bomb down a hill on my loyal orange steed towards Red Sands beach. Red Sands is a mere 3 miles away and I was itching to get in the water. My steed and I like to move along at a fairly good rate, but it is mango season and fallen mangoes are just enough to make us pull over and let the tourists pass. After placing the mangoes into the steeds new basket, I continued for the ocean. Arriving at the entrance to the small walk which leads to Red Sands, I ate a mango and chained up the steed to an illumination post. After only a few minutes of mild jeopardy, I arrived at the beach. What I am about to tell you is how to maximize your fun at red sands beach. Keep in mind that this is something you will probably not see anyone else doing as they are not as enlightened as I… A variation of this trick was passed down to me by my host, I improved on it, and now I covertly pass it on to you through the wonderful inter-web. But first, a quick and exciting grammatical* note. *I will be using you for dramatic purposes! Even though this would be nightmarish for any English teacher, I have decided to do away with normal grammatical norms as I did away with conventional swimming at Red Sands… Prepare to be enlightened. But wait… You must first analyze this picture. You will notice that to the right of the large rock of doom (the pointy rock on the left…) there is a spot where the water is retreating. At that spot you are able to crouch on top of the rock and wait for a large wave to come. Small waves come and go as they wash adrenaline over you, but every few minutes a mammoth will show up. When it reaches the spot where you are crouching it will literally throw you backwards through the air as it strikes with the force of mother nature. When you land you will be engulfed by foaming water that takes its time to massage you with its unlimited supply of bubbles. I realize that this all sounds very dangerous, however I can assure you that it is not. This is because there is no surge traveling in the direction to sea, only to shore. And the water you land in is plenty deep. The only thing necessary to successfully complete this maneuver is to hold your breath… There you go, Zach’s guide to a simple, safe and fun adrenaline rocket!

Enough excitement for one day. Here are a few miscellaneous items that I have come across on the inter-web that I would be very pleased to share.

Miscellaneous item #1: Micro Credit. You might not all know what micro credit is so I will briefly attempt to explain it. It is where an entrepreneur in a developing country is loaned a small amount of money to help them start or expand a business. Most loans are less than $1,000 and are utilized by people with few assets, making them unprofitable for banks. The loans charge no interest, and can be “recycled” from entrepreneur to entrepreneur as the loans are repaid. Here is the cool thing. The internet now makes it possible to loan money to individual entrepreneurs in need. A good website at facilitating this interaction is kiva.org. Kiva allows you to find an entrepreneur based on your own search parameters (gender, region, industry etc), read about what the entrepreneur plans on doing with the money, and then make a donation as low as $25. To find out more about micro credit click here. In my opinion, this is a truly phenomenal way to empower others. Hand outs have an expiry date, but a business with cash flow can last for eternity.

Miscellaneous item #2: Pangea Day. To find out what it is watch this!

I actually feel very strongly about the idea that Pangea Day represents. I believe that if we could blatantly see the overwhelming commonalities that we as individuals have with humanity we would conduct ourselves in a much more conscientious manner. The foundation for violence is the idea that someone is so different from us that they should be punished. Think of the Tootsies and Hutus in Rwanda, the South and North in the American civil war and the Chinese and Japanese during WW2. The list can go on for millennia. Of course there are numerous other factors, but when we search for differences we are not looking at the world, but blinding ourselves from it.

Miscellaneous item #3: Ben Dunlap. Here is another video. This man is a great story teller, and boy does he tell a good one. Enjoy!

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