where the sunset was spectacular....a spray of rainbow on water

A trip to Nicaragua…

A country that was only seen through the news media, became a place; three days back I took a trip to Nicaragua…entering the country  i walk across the border, and find myself surrounded by people selling cordoba, the local currency of Nicaragua, with wads of money being flashed across my eyes, i am dazzled.  Wow this place must be pretty safe if people just walk around with all this cash.

The bus ride, and shared taxi and a final drop off in San Juan del Sur.  The internet café was our first stop to check facebook for any message from a friend we were planning to meet…and across the street we see signs of a spa…sometimes the only way to indulge is to surrender, so we did.  After finding a half decent hotel across from the playa, we went back to the spa for some pampering…spa personnel are trained to indulge the customers and make them feel special…even the waxing of all the hard to reach spots, can become enticing in a spa…so when I moved to the next room for a pedicure and a manicure and sat back into the cushions, my body was ready for the delicious foot massage.  Was it the relaxation of the foot massage or the glass of white wine that I was offered, probably a combination, to make me a puppet, and when the girl asked for a color I forgot all my resolutions of not putting color on my nails, and opted for a bright green color for the toes, she insisted on putting a natural color on my finger nails…it did not surprise me when I later  checked the name of the colors….the green was called “who the shrek am I” and the natural was called “passion”…very befitting, as feet represent our grounding, and the hands are considered an extension of our hearts... 

and i think to myself, yes I reach out with passion and walk this world asking myself “who am i”…

the contemplation went in a little deeper, in the past two years i chose to stay  away from using any color on my body or skin,  and why?   could it be that I wanted to be different,  free myself from the attachment of external definers of who I am, or somewhere in between, with the idea of being “natural” and simple...this did  appeal to my idea of being closer to earth; can one person help to minimize the human footprint on this earth?

…I walked out into the warm night air of the beach town, a little lighter, scrubbed, waxed and massaged…yet I was still the same me, as ordinary as any other person, and as special as the other…a queen and  a subject in one, the ruler and the ruled, living with no rules