As we wait for the bus at a picnic table in the sleepy town of Altagracia (Ometepe Island), a tour guide that we saw on the streets early in the morning, decides to sit next to us. It seems like he hasn't shaved in 3 days, his eyes are a bit bloodshot, his clothes dirtied, and has a look of insolence in his eyes.
He asks for some of our breakfast, so I give him half of my doughnut.
He then asks for money, and I refuse.
He starts talking and is negative; complaining about how the tourists don't pay for his worth, how his company treats him like crap, and how he hasn't eaten in days. He speaks English fairly well, but every 1/3 of his sentences are swear-words and it's quite hard for me to accept the tone of his speech.
Hearing him out, reminded me of the kids that were roaming the streets in Granada...
While laughter and squeals could be heard from behind elementary school walls, of kids dressed in spotless uniform, the less fortunate were on the streets trying to make a living in soiled, over sized rags.
There was a kid that asked for money while we were eating at the park. I regretfully refused. Asking turned into begging, and the begging eventually turned into demands. Finally he gave up, shot a look of immense scorn, and parted me with racist slang.
There was another kid who came into the park riding on the back of a carriage. When the horse parked, the kid got off and started helping the business owner set up shop. I got caught staring in awe at his speedy work-style, and our eyes met. I smiled (to hide my embarrassment), he smiled back and shyly went back to his work.
Coming back to our picnic table in Ometepe...
The guide sitting in front of us, with his anger gleaming at the world, I imagine to have been like the prior of the two kids.
Unfortunate circumstances and upbringings probably have a huge impact on how people come to be (more so and in varied ways that I can ever imagine), but still, I am partial to the hard-working. A bit unfair, since we all have been given life and are responsible to survive. But, free money is free money, and no matter how well or badly used, it´s not going to be the same as something well deserved.
I can feel sympathetic towards this guide in front of me, but I can not come to like him...nor the kid that swore at me two days earlier.
I already look up to the kid who jumped off the carriage to quickly assist his boss. At still a young age, he already knows what work is about...and can do so with a smile.
Bus, ferry, taxi, bus, bus;
takes us out of the island, all the way across the border into Costa Rica. We decide to stay in a city called Liberia. There's really nothing for us to see here, and realize that everything in Costa Rica is expensive; people are driving shiny Japanese cars, markets are stocked with wine that I could never afford, and gyms are packed with people exercising themselves while being entranced by the shared TV screen above.
What a difference one line (border) can make.
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