I believe that the road to success is not straight. There is a curve called failure. A loop called confusion. Speed bumps called friends. Red lights called enemies. Caution lights called family. you will always have flat tires called jobs. But if you have a spare called determination, an engine called perseverance and a driver called God you will make it to a place called Success.
– Judith Morales-Kim

The room is still pitch black, as I am being shaken awake by Lindsay and Michelle. It is 3am, and the last two members of the traveling family that arrived with me in San Juan del Sur twenty-three days ago are about to depart for the airport in Managua. Groggy and confused in my current state, the hugs and goodbyes are brief before falling back into my comatose position. When I finally come to life several hours later, the morning sun is shining through the only window in the bedroom and I am already missing the two charismatic girls from Victoria. From our first meeting in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala I would have never imagined the friendship that has developed over the past few months, nor traveling through four countries together and sharing countless memories full of laughter–navigating the horrendous cascading poo streams that became rivers, walking to Spanish school together, Sunday Fundays around the pool, the gluttonous brunch that causes that wonderful pain from eating too much, riding out an epic lightening storm on the beach in El Salvador, creating numerous nicknames for the characters we experienced together, surviving torrential tropical rainstorms that appear without warning while sitting comfortably on the beach, impersonating Leo on the bow of our boat on our fishing expedition, and the list goes on.

1) Don’t ever wear jeans to go swimming.
2) No locals and no Aussies.
3) If you watch Grandma’s Boy without me you’re a dead man.
Unsure if I should accept these three simple rules from someone that has contracted a very horrific case of herpaids on her hands, I have decided that the jury is still out.


