Where Can You Relax A Little More?

Where can you relax a little more?
  Let go of the hold. 
  The tension. 
  The pressure. 
    Settle, 
  come in 
  and just let your body be. 

This, 
was my reminder that very morning. 
I woke up to the sounds of waves crashing just beyond my doors. 
As always, my first moments with the rising sun were listening to a voice note from Dan. 
That morning, 
the messages seemed extra special 
as it was the day to celebrate his existence in an even brighter light. 
It was the day this universe was blessed by the physical presence of one with one of the most sincere, genuine souls I’ve had the honor of meeting and calling my partner.
The soul in which I get to experience each breath of life with. 


I grabbed the essentials. 
My kitenge, water, paper, pen. 
And who are we kidding, my phone. 
How could I wake up in a place such as this and not capture the light,
the moments? 

Onto the sand I went. 
Stretching, bending, expanding, breathing 
and breathing a little deeper. 

That time, 
those moments. 
It served as a reminder, 
my reminder
an immediate reminder to be, 
just be 
and flow with the moments.    

Not to wrestle. 
But, 
just glide in the blowing winds. 

More so, 
tap into the core. 
That inner truth. 
That inner you. 
That inner me. 

One of my students had inspired me just days before. 
When presenting his final oral presentation on "what holiday would you invent and why?" 
His answer, 
well, 
it was simple. 
Pencil Day. 
Yes, Pencil Day. 

This day, 
Pencil Day, 
is no ordinary day. 

This is a day to appreciate the small things in life. 
To look at the minute beauty that exists in our world. 
I couldn't have been more proud and thankful to be sitting in the seat of the teacher getting to witness this 17 year old give a presentation on how important it is to appreciate the small things in life. 
To appreciate what you have
and that which is in front of you.

Blessed. 
Thankful. 
Proud.   

I guess this is a good time to bring you back to the present moment. 
Where was I? 
And how did this come about? 

You see, 
teaching and living in Costa Rica has its perks. 
One of those is having to leave the country every 90 days. 
This is what you call doing border runs. 
Yes, I do border runs. 

It is quite common in this line of work. 
And sometimes, 
you just gotta keep that little blue book up-to-date. 
And so this is what I did.
I did so on a solo mission.  
I ventured from San Jose, Costa Rica to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua with no one other than myself.
I spent the week preparing. 
Booking my hostels. 
Getting my money ready. 
Ordering a taxi to arrive at my house at 3:30AM on Sunday morning to bring me to the bus station. 

For a Tico, 
my driver was early. 
Arriving at my house just a few minutes before the scheduled time. 
The taxi ride brought me smack in the middle of downtown San Jose. 
The excursion there was spent having a very simple conversation in Spanish 
with laughter filling the times of misunderstandings.

I went to the ticket window. 
Asked for a direct bus, not just a bus to the border. 
Got sent to the other side of the street. 
There I was. 
Ticket in hand. 
Seat right behind the driver. 
After boarding the bus, I quickly realized I bought a ticket all the way to the capital of Nicaragua. 
3 hours North of where I needed to be. 

This did not serve as a problem, 
because either way, 
I was exactly where I needed to be. 

Hour upon hour, 
I sat, 
pretty much in shot gun. 
With moments being spent watching the landscapes go by, 
witnessing the changing sun and its rays shine throughout the fields. 
The bus stopped and went. 
Stopped and went. 
As the bus did its thing, 
I did my thing. 
I  went in-between sleeping and music.
Reading and music. 
Coloring and music. 
Starring and music.
Oh yea,
Can’t forget eating and music    

Before I knew it, 
we were arriving at the border. 
Out of the bus and shuffled into one line. 
Back into the bus. 
Driven about 10 feet. 
Out of the bus 
and shuffled into another line. 
This time, 
waiting,
waiting,
waiting. 
Finally. 
On to the bus.
And off we went.

Venturing into Nicaragua. 
Music in my ears. 
A massive lake to my right.
Fields of crops and cows to my left.
Excited families surrounding me. 

And again, 
before I knew it, 
the bus driver was signaling for my stop. 
Rivas.
Off the bus, 
a short walk down the street. 
A quick exchange with a local trying to find out when the bus arrives 
to take me to my final destination of San Juan Del Sur. 

Just so you know, 
the bus only comes twice on Sunday's. 
Once in the morning. 
Another at night. 
I arrived right in-between. 


Into a taxi I went.
What a beautiful taxi ride it was.
Beautiful indeed.  
A conversation of broken Spanish. 
Mixed with a little English. 
We were golden! 
All necessary information was exchanged.
I even understood stories of his reality in Nicaragua.

A short 20 minutes later,
I arrived at my hostel, 
just steps from the beach. 
Just steps. 
And the sand was right there. 

That first night, 
well, 
it was a little harsh. 

Exhaustion from the 12 hour bus trek that started at 3PM that morning.
Difficulties being able to access my money. 
Missing my incredible boyfriend on the other side of this world. 
Wanting to hug my family and friends.
These moments of harshness subsided. 
I did what I love to do most. 
Sent my loved ones my love. 
Communicated.
Connected.
Shared.
Prepared a little home cooked meal on a small table outside my hostel door
 lit by none other than a candle in an old beer bottle.
Listened to music. 
Read. 
Wrote. 
And took some deep breaths. 
Finally,
the eyes were closed. 


Back to where the moments of this communication began. 
The moments of the story at hand.

Sunrise on the beach. 
Yoga at the present. 
Oh the feeling. 
The incredible feeling of bliss. 
Of freedom. 
Of wholeness. 

The rest of the day in San Juan Del Sur was spent in between walking around town,
reading on the sand, 
trying to communicate with the bank, 
sitting with the receptionist at my new hostel, 
eating ice cream
and taking photos. 

And then there it was. 
Time for the setting sun my last night in Nicaragua. 
I gathered my things from the beach. 
Walked up to my hostel. 
To be greeted by a new friend I met earlier that day. 

This new friend, 
is a woman, 
Sayward Ayre
whom will remain close to my soul. 
She is a woman of much wisdom
venturing around Central America for a place to settle for sometime to finish her books. 

Her and I. 
Indulged in a coffee and then a cocktail. 
And spent the whole evening talking about love
and life 
and experience 
and reflections 
and dreams
and wonder 
and self discovery 
and awareness 
and the power of connection. 


It was truly such a beautiful exchange to sit at a table with a soul so connected to herself 
and so filled with the power of sharing her experiences. 

The night ended back at my hostel. 
Coloring on the front porch 
while listening to the sounds of the waves. 

I rose early the next morning for some yoga. 
This time not on the sand, but it the tree filled court yard of my hostel. 

Shortly after, 
another new friend Jairo (my taxi driver into San Juan Del Sur) was there to pick us up. 
I shared the taxi ride into town with another new friend, 
a soul adventuring around Central America, 
curious about life outside of Canada. 

We had breakfast in Rivas 
where we waited for our bus. 
As I usually do, 
my inquisitive self. 
I asked my new friends 
questions about life. 
About the self. 
About fulfilling this curiosity. 
and so on
and so on. 

The rest of the day was spent on a bus. 
Around 8 hours back into San Jose. 
I spent this time 
coloring,
talking,
listening to music, 
staring out the window 
and at one point actually hanging out the window.
Sharing stories of home, 
getting an anklet made by a woman who's been living in San Jose for 5 years 
and all around getting to know those from around the world 
on their quest, 
their own journeys 
and their realities. 

This was my experience,
these were the moments,
the realities,
making up my first border run. 

As always, 
thank you so much for sharing my journey with me. 
I am truly so blessed to have the support from each and every one of you. 

The photos throughout this post are of those three days spent in a beautiful little beach town just over the border
 in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua.