A cold water shower can be refreshing or limb numbing, depending on multiple factors. One constant consideration is the fact that the first drop that rolls down your spine is undoubtedly the most difficult. As someone who has taken far too many cold water showers in her life (too much time in Honduras has given me the privilege to make this claim), I feel that I am now certified to give tips on how to take a cold water shower without fearing hypothermia. I believe that there are a few ways to approach a cold water shower:

The ‘Think Later’ Approach

1. Turn on cold water
2. Jump in
3. Think later about how icy cold your entire body feels

Using this method will certainly lead to an immediate and temporary state of paralysis followed by an overwhelming sense of ‘what in the world was I thinking’ type of thoughts. However, these feelings wear off after a few minutes, leaving you to enjoy the rest of your shower.

The ‘Wash One Body Part at a Time’ Approach

1. Get into the shower and face the wall opposite the faucet and shower head
2. Position yourself in a semi yoga-like pose so that you are tilting back your head and making an arch with your back
3. Turn on the cold water
4. Gaze up at the shower head to wet your hair first
5. Slowly turn around so that your back is still arched, don’t let your head up quickly…or that first drop is going to go right down your spine
6. Proceed to put one arm at a time under the water, and then one leg at a time under the water until you are finished

Using this method will take much longer than the average amount of time it should take to bathe normally. The biggest problem with this method is that you feel cold throughout the entire shower.  However, I will say, after the first drop goes down your spine, the rest of the shower is much more bearable.

The ‘Control It’ Approach

1. Fill two over-sized buckets with cold water
2. Dunk your hair in one bucket
3. Proceed to lather your hair over the bucket
4. Use water from the other bucket to rinse hair
5. Using the soapy water, proceed to wash other body parts
6. Use clean water to rinse

This procedure is best used when you are in an area where water is scarce (umm…yeah…I am really familiar with this technique). The good part is that you end up using less water. The bad part is that you don’t feel much cleaner at the end of the shower.

Now, I hope you are better prepared for your next cold water shower.  

http://www.erikawatters.com/

Recently, a colleague of mine was talking about her son’s first day at school. So, I started to remember my very first day in kindergarten. Somehow I was more bold and confident at the age of 4 than I am today at 31.

At age 4, I started elementary school. Since I had a December birthday, I had to take a special exam to be admitted early. I was the only kid to pass the exam. YAY!!!  Now I could get a lunch box!!  

I think some parents worry about their kid’s first day of school. Apparently, my parents understood my desire for exploration and independence early on. They knew that it was my dream to proudly carry my new lunch box out to the bus stop with the other ‘big kids’ and get on the yellow bus to go to school. So, rather than drive me to school on my first day, they let me get on the bus all by myself.

It was on this day that I met Heather and Jessica. They were in 1st grade…more experienced in the world of lunch boxes, bus etiquette and elementary school life. I sat by myself in a seat in front of them. The two little blondies (all three of us have blonde hair so it was hard to tell us apart at that age) quickly invited me to sit with them for our ride to school. And we three became fast friends. Even though they were a year ahead of me, we remained friends throughout high school (but that’s a different story).

When we arrived at the elementary school, I got off the bus and was led to an area near the kindergarten rooms. Apparently, I didn’t feel that the organizational process for new kindergarten students was really all that effective. So, I took matters into my own hands. I marched up to the front office (don’t even ask how I found my way there), and I demanded immediate action. I said something like this, “My name is Erika, and I need to know who my teacher is.” Well, I don’t remember much after that. I am sure my mom could fill in the blanks. Long story short though, I made it to my classroom…with my lunch box. And at the end of the day, I found my way back to the bus to make the long trip home.

Some days I just wish I could be 4 again!

http://www.erikawatters.com/

Recently, I took a trip to New York City to see my first broadway show ever, Gypsy. What an amazing show! Patti Lupone (of Evita fame in case you are not familiar with broadway) was brilliant, and the rest of the entire cast was spectacular. At the end of the show I even had a chance to go backstage and meet Patti Lupone in person.

Now, that sounds like a pretty fabulous day, doesn’t it? Enjoying a glamorous day in New York City and meeting a broadway legend… Well, that is not what my post is about. It is actually about what led me to New York City in the first place.

In case you didn’t know, my mother is from New York. It was there that she grew up and cultivated lifelong friendships with some pretty fabulous ladies. In  her early 20s, my mother moved far far from home all the way to Florida…and a new life began. Although her friends were far away, they always stayed in touch.  And although life was very different for them all, they always remembered their common bond of friendship.

In today’s day in age, ‘friends’ come and go so easily. You meet at a party, you friend each other on ‘facebook‘ or ‘myspace‘, you don’t call each other, you don’t write, you just see each other in passing and could care less what is really going on in each others’ lives. I grew up with a different understanding of what it means to have friends.

Throughout my life, my mother would always repeat the following line from an old girl scout song, “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” She taught me that while you make new friends in your life, you continue to grow and change with your old ones. You may find moments when your lives take turns and you go down different paths. That does not mean, however, that you have to abandon each other as friends. You just find your common ground again and grow together.

I’ve always considered my best friends to be like another extension of my family. To me, my oldest and dearest friends are like sisters. Sure, we have differences of opinion; and sure, we get angry at each other. But what we’ve also figured out is that no matter how angry we may be at each other, we will always stick by one another.

Now…going back to New York City and the broadway play. That day I met up with all of my mother’s best friends from high school (some of them she has known even longer). I’ve known these women my entire life. So, it was not an awkward get together at all. It was about as much fun hanging out with them as it is hanging out with my own friends. There were laughs, giggles and silly stories flying around. We were all going to see Gypsy and Patti Lupone because my mother and her friends were in the same high school graduating class as Patti. So, for years, they had all been anxious to see her perform on the broadway stage. And in the end, we had a once in a lifetime chance to go backstage and take pictures with Patti. Unfortunately, my mother was unable to join us due unforeseen circumstances.

The best part about this day was not seeing my 1st broadway show or meeting Patti Lupone, it was spending time with some incredible women who were so close to my mother. It was amazing to see how friendships had grown over 30+ years. Conversations may change, but there is always common ground. And I began to see how lucky I am to have the friends that I do.

http://www.erikawatters.com/

One fabulous discovery my family made on Prince Edward Island, Canada was Cows Ice Cream. It may possibly be the most wonderful ice cream on earth.

Description from their website:

A re-cap of the 3 factors that make COWS ice cream taste so good!

HIGH BUTTERFAT CONTENT
16%

MINIMUM AIR
high density, slow to melt in your mouth ice cream!

FINEST INGREDIENTS
fresh cream, real eggs, sugar,
pure natural vanilla fresh PEI berries,
imported Holland cocoa.

Be sure to visit ‘Cows’ whenever you’re in Canada!

http://www.erikawatters.com/

As summer ends and fall creeps up on us, I thought this might be an appropriate time to reminisce on family road trips.

No one understands road trips better than my father. Early in his career, my dad was a surveyor for the State of Florida and spent hundreds of hours travelling from one beach to another surveying the coastline. Now, as an engineer, he doesn’t travel for work quite as often. However, that doesn’t mean his love for road travel has diminished even the slightest bit.

My dad truly found his soul-mate when he met my mother. She may be the one and only person who likes to travel by car as much as my father (actually, I just think she likes to hang out with my dad…whether it is in a car or not). It isn’t because they are afraid to fly, they just happen to really enjoy the scenery when traveling. So, getting from point A to point B by car makes the most sense.

When I was younger, my family would always try to take some sort of a summer trip. Sometimes, they were short trips and sometimes they were long trips. But, two things were constant. The trips were made by car, and I sat in the backseat with my younger brother.

I’d like to say that my brother and I were civil to each other during these excursions. But, I won’t lie. We weren’t. Come on!!! We were young kids! And these were the days before iPods and built in DVD players. So, you can imagine how much fun these trips were for my parents.

Needless to say, we spent a lot of ‘quality’ time together as a family. Maybe pieces of my road trips sound like some of the road trips you’ve taken in life:

Florida to New York – Purpose: Attend my mom’s high school reunion

I was 10. My mother wanted to attend her high school reunion in New York. So, my younger brother and I were going to New York for the 1st time in our lives. We started in Florida and made our way up the East Coast. Along the way, my brother started attacking me with the middle seat belt saying it was a snake, throwing it on me and screaming. Clever. My brilliant mother started a game that had the goal of spotting as many different state license plates as possible. That game helped us get through Georgia and the Carolinas.

In New York, we lived it up… Visited my mom’s friends out on Long Island and got to stay in a swanky house in the Hamptons with a pool (that is all my brother and I cared about at that age)… Ate at a fancy restaurant where my brother decided he didn’t like the food and instead wanted a hot dog… Had a canolo for the very 1st time… And got to see the Statue of Liberty. All that fun packed into one road trip.

Florida to Prince Edward Island, Canada – Purpose: Walk in the footsteps of ‘Anne’ from ‘Anne of Green Gables‘

Like many young girls, I read the ‘Anne of Green Gables‘ books. I envisioned visiting Prince Edward Island and walking in Anne’s footsteps. For some reason, my mother understood my excitement and thought that Prince Edward Island was the perfect place for us to take a summer vacation. So, off we went, in the car, driving up the East Coast, all the way to Canada. Of course we stopped at great places along the way; and then finally, crossed the border into Canada.

All I remember is how clean and beautiful it was. Certainly my father was thinking, ‘Canada, Oh Canada’ in his head. 

We took a ferry over to Prince Edward Island and instantly discovered its beauty. I remember dark red sand, wild grass, green pastures and our lovely house that overlooked the beach. We rented part of a 100 year old house that overlooked the ocean for a week. We explored the island, witnessed the aurora borealis (well, my family did…I was asleep) and found Green Gables. My childhood dreams were fulfilled.

Seattle to Montana to Wyoming to California to Oregon to Seattle – Purpose: The ‘legendary’ 3 week camping trip that started off with us losing our luggage in Kansas City

Ahh…finally my favorite trip to complain about, yet the most fun to remember. Believe it or not, one year my parents decided to FLY.  You heard me right! We flew all the way out to Seattle for a 3 week camping trip that would start right after we left the Seattle airport. First, we had to make it to Seattle.

No trip is complete without some kinks, and this trip had plenty. Due to weather, our flight was cancelled; and we were stuck in Kansas City. Of course, our luggage was shipped off to another city as we were escorted to a hotel for the evening. We made it to Seattle the next day, our luggage didn’t. Luckily, we were able to stay with friends until our bags arrived about 3 days later. Then, we were off, gear in hand. Bound and determined to conquer the wild west.

We drove up into Canada and then over and down into Montana to see Glacier National Park. Yes, camping the whole way. I like camping and all, but a 3 week camping trip for a teenage girl is just too much. Then, my parents thought it would be great fun to relive memories from their honeymoon. So, we went to Wyoming and hiked various trails in the Tetons. Then, we zig zagged across the great west…singing ‘Lion King’ songs the whole way.  We finally stayed at a hotel to take a normal shower in San Francisco. YAY!!! I could write an entire entry about this camping adventure, but I’ll spare you the details today.

It has taken me years to get over the trauma of being a teenage girl who has to deal with semi-primitive camping conditions for 3 weeks. But now, looking back, I can see how very special that trip was. Our whole family was together. Enjoying the scenery. Not worrying about work or school or anything back home. We were just living.

Remember, life is a highway…

http://www.erikawatters.com/

In order to prepare for any future hurricanes, my father thought that he would take care of a tree that was dangerously close to the livingroom off the side of our house. Here is the result:

And here’s the pool post clean-up:

Well…at least my dad got a new chainsaw out of the whole ordeal! : )

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Streets lined with U-hauls. Cars, trucks and taxis double parked on busy, narrow streets. Rush hour traffic jams on a Sunday afternoon. Yes, that is what it is like when the students come back to Boston.

Labor Day weekend marks the return of the students. Much like a pilgrimage for a patron saint, the students make their way to the city to move into their new residences and start at one of the colleges of their choice. With well over 40 colleges and universities in the city and its environs, students have their pick of the litter.

Now, I don’t know why I never paid attention to how the city empties after May and then fills back up again after Labor Day. Perhaps I am immune to the chaos as I come from a college town myself. However, for some reason this year, I just couldn’t ignore it. The building that I live in posted signs a week beforehand to announce that Sunday and Monday would be busy moving days. U-Hauls were lined up down every single street that I drove down this weekend. Teenagers…wait…new college students…. were spotted walking around town with their mommies and daddies in tow. And parents were spotted carrying boxes from Ikea along with college dorm room art on pretty much every street.

So, yes, it’s official. Students are back in Boston!

http://www.erikawatters.com/

Today I was remembering a very brief encounter that I had with a complete stranger at an airport. Why oh why do I have so many of these types of encounters? Very very good question.

In late December of last year, I was flying to Italy to meet my boyfriend and his family. For the first leg of my flight, I only made it to JFK in NYC (which may possibly be worse than the Atlanta airport on my list). In New York, I learned that the Iberia flight that would be taking me to Milan…with a connection in Madrid…had been canceled. I didn’t realize this until after the 3 zillion other passengers had already made their way over to the ticket counter to get reassigned to a new flight. So, I was stuck at the back of the line.

It was complete chaos. There were literally two women helping a sea of over 200 passengers. Some were speaking English, some Spanish, others Italian. Everyone was anxious to get home for Christmas…and here we were on the 22nd trying to get reassigned to new flights…flights that were already completely full. A girl in front of me was trying to translate what was going on for the people around us who didn’t speak Spanish (since Iberia is a Spanish airlines). She started to ask me questions when they would speak too quickly in English. So…we became ‘line buddies.’

After a while, we stopped paying too much attention to all of the craziness around us. We gave into the fact that we were not getting to Europe that evening. Ahhh…we’d get there…eventually. Not much we could really do about it. We could scream…we could yell…but that wouldn’t really get us there that much faster. So, we chatted. I learned that she had been in Boston for 4 months studying English. She hoped that learning English would help her excel in her career. Her husband was back at home waiting for her. They had not seen each other in 4 months. Her name was Paz (which means ‘peace’ in Spanish). I thought that the name suited her.

We made our way to the ticket counter. As suspected…neither of us were getting a flight that evening. So, we were shipped off to a nearby hotel where dinner would be served free of charge for all of those trapped for the evening. I have to say, the Holiday Inn staff was more than accommodating and tried to make our stay as pleasant as possible. All that I really wanted to do was eat and go to bed. In the cafe, however, I found my Spanish ‘line buddy.’ She already had a table and was sitting down to eat. She invited me to join her where we both dined over the free, buffet-style food. That is when she told me that the first thing she wanted when she got home was a ‘tortilla’.

For those of you not familiar with a Spanish ‘tortilla’, it is something like an omlette on steriods with potatoes. YUM! This was the first meal that I had when I went to Spain many years ago (primarily because I can’t deal with paella). So, my Spanish friend taught me the secrets of making a good tortilla. Then she proceeded to tell me what she did and didn’t like in her tortilla. It was a completely random conversation that lasted for a good 45 minutes.

Exhausted after a long day, we both realized that we needed sleep; and we parted ways. I was tired, I was frustrated, I was anxious all at once. Yet, a total stranger had made me forget about all of that for 45 minutes while we shared a meal.

http://www.erikawatters.com/

Recently, one of my friends wrote a blog entry entitled ‘Letter to Me at 16.’ I thought this was a clever idea. But, I didn’t want to totally copy her. Then I remembered something my little exchange student sister from Finland used to do (maybe she still does this)… She would write a letter to herself for 5 to 10 years into the future. Then on her birthday, she would open the letter and see all of the things she had written to herself at that point in her life…sometimes for laughs and sometimes to see how far she had come.

So, I thought I might try this. I thought that I would write to myself 5 years into the future. Since I am 31….that would put my letter to me at 36. Completely random number (can’t call it odd because it is actually even)…but I digress.

**********************

Dear Erika,

Me

Here is a photo of yourself in your early 30s. You are now 36. Just 4 short years away from turning 40. Isn’t it crazy how quickly time flies?? You probably have more wrinkles now. Who the hell gives a flying fig?

Hopefully by now you have taken a few yoga classes and have calmed yourself down. You seriously need to take a chill pill and relax. Right now you are so wound up that you could probably be a toy monkey.

So that you don’t distract yourself, let’s focus on the things that really matter:

Life

• You have a beautiful niece. Make sure you are calling and writing and paying attention to every second. Love her and be the ‘crazy’ Aunt who does silly things for her birthday and calls her to tell her ridiculous stories.
• Forget about killing yourself for work. Work is just what you do, it’s not who you are (as my dad likes to say). Just do your job to the best of your ability and then get back to what really matters family and friends.

Love

• Things will work out. Even if they don’t…hopefully…you can learn to love yourself. At least your parents, brother and friends think you are special. Nobody else really matters.
• Love everyone unconditionally. Don’t give your family, your friends or other loved ones just half of your attention. Be sincere and genuine.

Dreams

• You’ve let many people/circumstances kill your dreams over time, and it is time to take a stand and refocus (if you haven’t already). Remember when you used to wanted to be a fashion designer? It doesn’t matter if you’re good…it just matters that you are happy.
• You’ve let people get you down…but the only person who can change how you feel is you. Would you just take yoga already? I seriously hope you are taking a yoga class by the time you read this later in life.

Peace

• Reduce negative influences in your life…and just live.

Love…yourself : )

As always…Take Care and Smile!

http://www.erikawatters.com/

Finding incredible natural treasures in unexpected locations is always a thrill. I mentioned before that I worked in the Dominican Republic for a few months 8 years ago. One weekend, one of the girls that I was working with and I made a trip up to the northern part of the country. As both of us enjoyed a bit of adventure, we decided to set off in search of a waterfall called 27 charcos that my co-worker had read about in a guide book.

We found a local mini-van/bus to transport us to 27 charcos. As we didn’t know where we were going, we asked the van driver to let us know when we had reached our destination. After a ride that seemed to go on forever in the hot sticky weather, we reached a barren stretch of road and the van stopped. The driver told us that this was our stop. To one side of the highway was a narrow road just wide enough for a vehicle. He told us to follow the path, and we’d reach the 27 charcos. It seemed ‘oh so safe’ for us to be walking down this path that led into the woods in the middle of nowhere. (I am sure that this entrance has changed since we went there about 8 years ago).

For those of you who have never heard of 27 charcos (literally 27 puddles), it is a set of 27 waterfalls created as the Rio Damajagua descends towards the ocean. If you’ve never been there, I highly recommend a visit.

Now, I don’t know what possessed us to think that we could take on these waterfalls ourselves. I do not consider myself to be an extremely athletic person. Nor have I ever had any experience climbing rocks. In fact, I am a bit afraid of heights. Perhaps that day we were feeling a little cheap and getting extremely irritated by the anxious guides who pounced on tourists at the base of the falls. The guides were there for a very good reason. They were the ones who would help push you up the falls if you were ascending and would help you slide down the falls if you were descending. I wish we had taken that piece of information into consideration. Instead, we told the guides we’d be fine, we didn’t need them to help us climb the falls. Oh no, we would be just fine. (There are probably rules against touring the falls without a guide…who knows if those were in place when we visited the falls 8 years ago).

So, here is where you start your climb…

27 Charcos, Dominican Republic

So, you can see the nice little ladder off to the right. Well, there is nothing to help you get to that level except your climbing skill. First, you have to swim through the little pond and then climb the rocks to the 2nd tier. Then you proceed to do this for 7 more levels. However, each level has its own unique challenges. At some points, you have to climb through an area of rock as water is pouring down on you.

We quickly learned that we desperately needed a guide. I think all of the guides on the rocks understood that we desperately needed a guide. I am proud to say that we managed to climb up the 1st level only with a little help and then made it up to the 2nd and 3rd levels successfully on our own. However, at various other points, we had to have a guide help pull and push us to make our way up the following levels.

Looking Down from the Third Level

Looking Down from the Third Level

Once in the climb, we couldn’t turn back. We knew that we had to keep going. Even more alluring was the fact that everything around us was incredibly beautiful. My camera by this point was soaked and decided that it no longer wanted to take nice pictures. So, this was the only shot that I had from the upper levels of the falls.

27 Charcos, Dominican Republic

 With a little pushing and a little shoving and a little kindness from the extremely patient guides, we made our way up the levels that you could climb from the base. Then, we proceeded to slide back down the falls. When we found our way back to the 2nd level, we proceeded to jump into the large pond and swim back to the shore.

My adventures are always random, but they always end with a story. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to make it to 27 charcos. It is one of those places on the globe that shouldn’t be missed.

http://www.erikawatters.com/