¡Hola!
These words are typed at Managua Airport in Nicaragua where I and Michelle Obama are sat this Christmas Eve waiting to board a flight to El Salvador. Well, I and Michelle Obama’s voice in my headphones reading her newly released memoir ”becoming”, that is. It’s pretty good so far, an interesting peek behind the curtains. Final destination tonight is San Fransisco where my family will meet me tomorrow. I was supposed to fly via Miami but was rerouted due to delays and missed connections. I am pretty proud of myself for managing to get through check-in and immigrations (twice) with annulled stamps in my passport and new boarding passes, all without understanding any Spanish and not being understod when speaking English either. Some hand gestures, smiles and plenty of ”gracias” goes a long way.

I’m leaving Nicaragua a little bit more tanned than when I left, with camera full of pictures and a head full of impressions. Nicaragua is a small country, the people are very friendly and the nature is beautiful with rich fields nestled between volcanoes, white beaches and green jungle. Riding along the highway to the airport this morning (a single file road which was a nice change from the 7 lanes you often get in California), we passed sugar cane fields, banana plantages and small roadside stalls selling deep golden papayas and plantains stacked three metres high. Along the road you find small houses, that could aptly be called sheds, with corrugated roofs and painted in rich colors.

The roads are trafficked by plenty of motorcycles and ”chicken buses”, that is old, repurposed american school buses driven down here and turned into the local buses, some have been painted beautifully. Most vehicles are pickup trucks where the back of the cars are used for passengers, and that was also how we rode to the beach every day, on a dirt road with more holes than a Swiss cheese, with the surf boards stacked on the roof.

My surf technique has gotten a little better over the course of the week, but I have also managed to break not only one but two boards. If you’re a beginner you get to ride a ”soft top” or ”foamie”, that is, a board made of styrofoam covered in a layer of plastic. It floats well and it doesn’t hurt too bad if it hits you in the head, but they are not unbreakable. Photographic evidence provided below.

When I left for Nicaragua I thought I would have a chill getaway with plenty of time for myself, but that mission was a moderate success. The other guests at the camp were super friendly and there were so many fun activities happening besides of surfing. We went to see the Jesus statue, perched atop a hill overlooking the small village of San Juan del Sur, and saw the sun go down.

We went to a hipster brewery/bar that had an open mic night and I couldn’t help myself (I mean the guitar was a super nice Ibanez…).

We went on a jungle adventure and rode a 4×4 up a mountain to go zip-lining. Whizzing through the air seeing the green lushness of the rainforest, hearing howling monkeys scream from somewhere amongst the treetops, was a cool experience. The last ride we got to do upside down and no hands, that was definitely the best part…

Our guide told us about how if it hadn’t been for Panama becoming independent just at the right time, and being in need of money, we might have had a Nicaragua canal instead of a Panama canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Despite Nicaragua being broader that Panama the digging actually started not too far from San Juan del Sur before it was abandoned when Panama said go ahead and dig through our country. He also spoke about how the country could be pretty much self sufficient on renewables like wind and solar, but instead, for political reasons, is turning to Venezuela for oil. Tragic, and being very dependent on tourism, the recent political unrest in the country has hit many business hard, scaring away visitors. But as often is the case in these places in such times, when you go there as a tourist you are treated very well, and the locals want nothing more than for you to have a good time and to go back home and tell everyone about it, bringing more visitors.

Last night I found myself at the beach, barefoot and in a bikini, sand everywhere, with my hair tangled to a mess by the salty waves of the Pacific, with the warmth of the setting sun on my face and watched a tiny hermit crab trying to haul its shell house across my left big toe. It hit me in that moment that life can be bloody spectacular sometimes.

I hope you who read this will find some spectacular moments in your life in these holiday times. Give a hug to someone you love, and as always, thank you for scrolling all the way down here.