This time back to Latin America was different for me. It had been almost 2 years since I had been out of the country - probably the longest stretch I've ever stayed in the USA since I started traveling 17 years ago.
Somehow I noticed things in Nicaragua this time that I had either forgotten about, or maybe didn't notice as much when traveling before.
Some of it was extremely familiar. The blast of humidity that greeted us as we walked outside the airport in Nicaragua - oh, how I had missed the extreme humidity! The smells that were foreign, and yet so oddly familiar from previous time spent in Latin America. The lack of personal space, especially when it came to my kids - countless number of people patted them on their heads or squeezed Henry's chubby cheeks. The taste of homemade tortillas. Fresh fruit juices and smoothies. Dogs that bark all night long. The list goes on…
But because I had my two kids with me, I was able to see certain things with a different perspective this time. The potholes and uneven ground, that make it so difficult for little feet to navigate. The stray dogs that somehow seem appealing for my kids to pet. The trash we had to avoid while walking around. The horses pulling carts that people use as their means of transportation - each one seemed just as exciting to Henry as the last.
As we were in Nicaragua, Adele knew we were in a different place. But she wasn't able to verbalize the differences she was seeing. Now that we're back, we are seeing her express things that she noticed were different about Nicaragua:
"Here we can throw the toilet paper in the toilet!"
"We can say 'thank you' and not 'gracias' here because we're not in Nicaragua."
"Let's play pretend - I see a gecko on the wall! Let's catch it!"
At 3 years old, it's fun to see her recognizing that where we live is different than the country in which we just visited.
Adele has already asked if we will be going back to Nicaragua someday. Naturally, we hope to always have Latin America be a part of our lives. It's fun to toss around ideas of living abroad again sometime, or in what capacity we can travel back down to Latin America.
Our friend Trevor, who has worked in Costa Rica with LASP forever, was up in Nicaragua with his students while we were there. We had a great time visiting with him and catching up. Trevor and his wife Laura are dear friends of ours that we got to know while we lived in Costa Rica. And after working with LASP for many years, they have made the decision to return to the USA to live.
I was talking to Trevor about their decision to move back, and asked how they were doing with the approaching move date. He explained how it wasn't about wanting to leave Costa Rica or being unhappy with their current situation, but it was more about life's natural processes and in their lives they had to continue to take steps forward (though naturally he put it more eloquently than that).
That's some true wisdom.
I have no idea if we'll ever live in Latin America again. I don't even know when we'll travel back to our favorite places again. But I do know that my travels have shaped me into being the person that I am, and I hope the same for my daughter. If she as a 3 year old can begin to recognize differences between countries, I hope that as we as a family continue to take the natural steps forward in life, we will continue to reflect on past experiences as our world views continue to evolve.
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