Blogs :: Giving and Receiving

Giving and Receiving

As I'm about to embark on yet another wild and crazy night here in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, I figure I ought to get a few of the ideas from the past few weeks out of my head before they disappear in the celebration of a New Year.

But, it's not quite a new one for me. Many people around these holidays spend time with family and friends, contemplating about the past 12 months of their lives while predicting the next twelve. I cannot. My nuevo ano, my new life started 3 months ago and so while I attempt this reflection, my mind only goes back that far. And my future only goes a few days (sometimes weeks) ahead...

We've been living in San Juan del Sur now for almost 3 weeks and I'll admit I have my up and down days about this small, growing tourist yet still Nica town, but all in all, spending days on end at the beach is quite enjoyable. We've made many new friends and spent time with old ones we now consider family (it's uncle Jason and Brendon, according to Freja). We've surfed, we've swam, we've eatin and we've drankin, we've shared and we've experienced many aspects of life here with everyone from the local bartenders to the new mayor, the expats and the tourists, sailboat owners, real estate agents, drug dealing ladrons, and more.

But the most important people I've had the pleasure to receive friendship from are those of the local children in a village 45 minutes south via bumpy dirt roads the VW could barely make it up while we chanted "I think I can, I think I can". It was Christmas Day and Bill the Canadian had loaded up a truck full of toys he purchased in Managua. The new mayor of the town showed up with pinatas, we ate ham and cheese sandwiches in the back of the van, our sobrinas played with the kids on the playground, we chatted up Keith from Minnesota about his expatriation and beautiful Nica girlfriend, and together we all took part in the festivities of handing out toys.

Although I'm not a big Christmas fan, but I've always been a big fan of giving. Sometimes it's just a beer to a stranger, other times an extra tip to the waitress, randomly it's an unexpected gift to a friend or family member, but less often than it should be, it's my time. I'm also not a big fan of New Year resolutions either, but next year in South America, I want to spend more moments like this past Christmas sharing myself with those who are, cliche to follow, less fortunate than I.

And that's it for 2008. Hope everyone had a Happy Christmas and have a Merry New Year!