mi ola girls

One of the benefits of living in a tourist town is the diverse people that Tamarindo attracts. In the year and a half that I have lived here, I have met people from all over the world with different backgrounds. It is always an easy icebreaker asking someone where they are from and how they ended up in Tamarindo. The downside of living in a Latin beach town is the machismo. Yes, I know the beach is beautiful, but no, I do not want to take a “stroll” with you in the dark.

Thank goodness, enter the amazing women that reside here. In the past couple of months, I have been fortunate enough to surround myself with a beautiful group of women. We all do our own interesting things, and our common factor is our passion for surfing. It does not happen as much as I would like, but there is nothing like paddling out to find that the lineup has more females than males. Seriously, in a sport dominated by men, this is a rarity. It kind of is like a modern day version of a sewing bee, and yes, we really did just have a whole conversation about peeing on our friends face to help that jellyfish sting go away.

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Despite the fact of the undeniable beauty, inside and out, we still comment that we are not “x” or wish we had “y”, myself included. Luckily, we have each other to back each other up give the smack-in-the-face “are you crazy” response. But seriously, enough is enough. Last week my friend shared a video with me that showed women’s initial reactions to shy away from an unexpected camera. Interesting enough, the video showed little girls doing Broadway debuts in front of cameras, dancing, smiling, giggling, and making fools of themselves. When did we all get so critical of ourselves?

Katia

Chicas, each and every one of you, is beautiful and amazing in your own way. When you have even the slightest moment of self-doubt, channel your five year old self and just be you. And because Goldfish Kiss said it way better than me:

gk beautyGracias guapas. 

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Pura Vida,

Kristen