The start of a new tradition...

I never thought that I would actually consider starting a blog. I never really saw the point since I keep a journal anyway and have all kinds of pictures on my computer. However, for some reason as we were driving down the winding, bumpy roads of the hills of Costa Rica, something in me snapped and I realized how much I really wanted to share some of my thoughts with the world, or at least those few people who will read this.

I've never been a very good writer (or at least I never thought that I was) but I don't feel like I need to be in this case. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, nor do I really care. I guess I just wanted to have some place where I could feel a little more vocal about some of the thoughts that I have had.

I have always considered myself to be a very lucky person. I've never had to think much about food or anything like that, not even as a college student. But somehow, being here in a country where even such things as finding a place to stay for the night can be difficult, has made me think more about it. If you had asked me a two days ago if I felt safe where I live, I would have said yeah for the most part. But now I would say most definitely. That's not to say that i would ever go walking down a dark street alone for ANY reason, but just in general.

Why the change? It comes from seeing places like this...
When we first drove by I wondered if this little shack still had people living in it, then I saw the clothes and a little boy come out of the shack.

I don't know if you have ever been to a place where you drive down the road and literally every building you pass has a fence around it and/or bars on the windows, but its a little unnerving to know that such a thing is necessary.

As we were driving around with my uncle last night he made a statement that I will probably never forget. "This neighborhood is safe, there are security guards everywhere." Security guards? At what point did that become necessary to classify something as safe?

I've noticed that there are two kinds of people here. As my dad said "those who have, and those who have not." Those who have, have big tall walls topped with barbed wire around their rather large houses. Those who have not live in little shacks like the one above built out of the scrap metal they find.

I'm not sure what made me so anxious about all this today, I guess just seeing it all again and coming to grips with how real it all actually is. There isn't much I can do about it, but it does give me a greater appreciation for things that I have in my life and the wonderful people that I am surrounded by each and every day. My hope is that someday I can do something to make a difference, especially for the children that are living in such places, and that maybe we can all have a greater appreciation for what we do "have" rather than complain about the things that we "have not".