- John Le Carre
...is how my wife typically starts a conversation on a hike, a bike ride, or sitting in front of a fire. This question always started a day dream of ideas that took us off to far-away places, with plans for the ‘different’. William Cowper said that “Variety is the spice of life” and we were always looking for new flavors.
We moved to Central America with our two daughters, Stella (4.5) and Mackenzie (3) for 6 months. We lived in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and it was an experience full of moments that brought us closer as a family and challenged our world view.
A book I read while traveling that helped define this experience - ‘The Power of Moments’ - breaks down why certain experiences in our lives rise to the top and became defining moments; moments that shape our lives and last a lifetime. All defining moments, according to the authors, consist of one of these four elements: Elevation, Pride, Insight, and Connection, and living in Central America provided no shortage of defining moments. Here are just a few:
The simple beauty and wildlife of Costa Rica lifted the soul and cleared the mind. We lived in Samara, a small beach town, for a month and ate dinners on the beach and watched the sunset as often as the days.
With our two young daughters in tow we always had concern for their wellness, but also a desire to expose them to new cultures, languages, and ways of life. They experienced some of that by attending bi-lingual pre-schools in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Seeing them grow as confident young chicas made us proud of who they were becoming.
Nicaragua is the poorest and least stable country in Central America, but also the one we felt the strongest connection to. We lived in Granada where the community was warm, open, kind, and simple. The rocking chair is their "unofficial official" piece of furniture and acts as their primary technology for conversation. It was sad and profound to witness the start of the country's social unrest where citizens had no hesitation to march and fight for their freedoms against the paramilitary, and the dictatorship of their president. Roadblocks, protest, bribes, violence, internet, and news blackouts became the daily situations for many and forced us to leave with heavy hearts. #SOSNicaragua to learn more.
Traveling abroad enlightened our perspective through being a minority and the uncomfortableness of life outside our bubble. Neighbors, host families, fruit stall vendors, kids, librarians, caretakers, and random passers-by defined many of our moments as they became our social network, support, and strength to travel with kids through Central America.
