There was a sunshower on the beach today. I wasn't able to take a photo because I forgot to charge my camera last night, but just picture it. The sky and water were so blue, and the sand was so white in the sun. When the drops started falling, everything sparkled. Most people returned to their umbrellas, but I put my book down, wrapped it safely in my towel to stay dry, and walk out to put my feet in the water. It felt like beating sun, hot sand, warm rain, and cool seawater.
There was a blind man wandering around the beach today with a hand-carved walking stick seeking out people to talk to. He must have recognized my voice from the day before, because he walked straight towards me as he neared our chairs and asked to talk to me. He was dark, too thin, and wrinkled from spending his life wandering the beach under the sweltering sun. He told me that I had a pretty voice, very familiar, and that he could tell I was a good woman. He had about a dozen hand-carved wooden kitchen utensils hanging from a leather strap around his waist and he explained each one to me. What type of wood it was made of, and exactly what to use it for. They were nice, but rather than buying a hand-crafted butter and marmelade spreader, I gave him the change I had in my wallet - enough to buy him an empanada for lunch. He seemed ever more greatful than I'd hoped he would...everyone in Venezuela likes empanadas.
We also met another man today. He was fifty years old, he told us that, and he had a kind smile. You know how sometimes you get a feeling from someone, just by seeing them, that they are a really good person? Through and through down to the core? I think it's universal, a feeling that occurs when you meet exceptional people everywhere. You could be any place on earth and when you met one of those people, you'd get the same exact feeling. That's the feeling that overwhelmed me when he approached our small group of three girls walking down to the beach today. We were carrying our cooler and towels like usual when he must have seen us from the window of his tiny restaraunt on the side of the road. He walked outside and down the road toward us and asked if we were on our way to the beach. We said yes and he said that he was too. He asked if he could carry our cooler for us (it was heavy) since we were headed the same place as he was. When he insisted, we said sure. He carried it the whole way for us, about a 15 minute walk in the burning sun with bare feet and carefully set it down in our favorite sandy spot under a big blue umbrella. I thanked him and when I asked him what brought him to the beach today, he smiled and said "Nothing. I just thought you looked like you could use a hand." He told us to be safe and to enjoy our time in Choroní before he waved goodbye and started the hot and sandy treck back to his restaraunt.
I'm pretty sure that these kinds of people do exist all over the globe, and even though I don't know his name, I think he was one of them.
Tonight my friend Alex and I decided to spend a relaxing girls night together after our long day at the beach, so we went out to dinner at a little restaurant next to the river. We shared a delicious caprese salad - fresh tomatoes, mozzerella, and pesto. Nothing like eating a fresh dinner at a rooftop table that overlooks the river, filled with boats like the canals. It almost looked like Venice.
After dinner, I went back to my posada, opened the window next to my bed, turned on the fan, and finally finished reading Julie and Julia.
The moral of the story is that good books, good people and good food all make for a very successful vacation =)
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