As I sit here on my balcony pulling together pictures and my thoughts from the past few months for this check-in, I am overwhelmed with how special my time in Nicaragua has been. I decided to pull the trigger and move my rat-race Hollywood life to San Juan Del Sur last march. After a couple trips to Costa Rica and Nica over the years, I had originally planned to move to San Juan solo and throw myself into the mix with the help of a few mutual friends that live here from Cali. About a week before I boarded my flight from Los Angeles to Managua, I decided that I wanted to treat myself to something before I settled into a routine in San Juan. I wasn’t quite sure what that looked like at first…After spending some time journaling I came to some pretty basic intentions for my new move:
Surf. Simplify. Trust. Risk = Reward. New energy in my life.
I really wanted to get to know the beaches in San Juan and how they break, while having help with my surfing. Then I stumbled across Chica Brava. To be honest, at first I was not totally sold on the idea of a week with ALL GIRLS- c’mon now, I’ve never been the girly girl type, I thought to my self “Oh, I can just figure out all the breaks on my own, I just need to get out there and do it…” But I knew that I wanted a different introduction to San Juan, and my intentions reminded me to take a risk, and invite some new energy into my life. And so I booked a week with Chica Brava. Long story short- No. Regrets. The other girls in the camp, and the staff immediately became life long friends, and I do not say that casually. The most important relationship I delved deeper into was the ocean…
Fast forward 4 months and back to sitting on my balcony here in San Juan…it is hard to organize my thoughts as so much has happened! I have built a community of friends and family, deepened my yoga practice, lost friends, made new friends, fallen in and out of love, grown stronger physically and mentally, powered through homesickness, developed my Spanish… the list goes on and on because if you live in Nica, you know that each day holds new lessons and surprises (well, nothing really surprises me in San Juan anymore).
In the midst of all this lovely growth and chaos has been the constant of the ocean in my life. My initial goal while at Chica Brava, was to learn the breaks well enough so that I could paddle out to anyone of them on my own. I have long since surpassed that, and it has been the greatest gift in my life. The ocean here has demolished my ego, brought love into my life, strengthened friendships, quieted my mind, and opened my heart and supplied me with endless days of stoke!!!! At least in my own little universe here in San Juan, everything revolves around surf, it truly is a way of life from the food I fuel my body with (thank you Nacho Libre for the best burgers in town (fuerte drinks and friendliest faces), Cerveceria for the insane brunches and hands down best brew, and Buddha’s garden for the vegan eats to balance it all out), the yoga classes I get my zen on in, and most importantly the fitness family that keeps me surf strong through Get Fit Nica (shout out coach Rob!) . All in all, I have had the highest highs in my life here in Nicragua and I can’t wait to see what the future holds here. Dale Pues, Chicas!