I believe that the perfect escape is not one that mirages as an exit from your every day to do’s, the best kind of escape triggers immense gratitude in the soul. I stood there feeling the warmth of the waves pounding against my tiny feet and feeling the sand digging my toes into the ground. We had driven 3 hours (almost 4) away from the city, and I found clear answers to questions I had been begging God for months before. I was hundreds of miles away from my home but felt peace and safety in Monterrico. A place I had never been to before.

My biggest struggle is to be 100% present in a moment. Part of being a photographer is to anticipate and always to have the certain alertness to once-in-a-lifetime moments. Yet, staring into the ocean forced me to be present. I was fully aware of my surroundings, sights, sounds and smells. It also helped that my feet were locked into the sand after 5 minutes. It’s funny, I find that I’m more connected to God and am the most spiritual in front of the ocean than church on Sunday.

Spending the weekend at a place that resembled my Salvadoran roots was the perfect start to the celebration of my 27th year on this planet. The best part? Getting to see my nephew giggle, walking hand and hand with Victor’s 94 year old grandma, looking after my suegritos on the beach, sleeping on a hammock to the sound of the ferocious waves and eating shrimp like there’s no manaña. I heart every second of it.

Victor then surprised me with a trip to La Antigua for a night, where we went to dine at a hardware store turned into a restaurant thanks to my sister-in-love. We visited our favorite Co-ops of artistry and craftsmanship. After which, Tia Eli and Victor’s mom took us on a quick getaway to Xela (Quetzaltenango). After visiting Victor’s grandma (his mother’s mother), we checked in with a woman-owned cooperative that we currently work with for new projects we have in store. [Victor owns an artisan and Guatemalan craftsmanship store. The website is coming soon}. We got lost looking for a juicery downtown but was well worth the wait. I didn’t realize how eventful our week was until we napping comfortably on our turbulent flight back home.

Those days were a blur. They were full of moments of laughter, prayer, tears, gratefulness, eating and eating and some more eating.

Comments

comments