Friendships

I've been thinking a lot about friendships lately.  I guess I've had friendships on my mind because I'm relearning how to make them, in a new culture none the less.  I've found out that making friends here is very similar to making friends in the states.  It takes time.  Fortunately I've been down here for a little over three months and I'm starting to make some good friends.  Yesterday I went to a beach called Champerico with a couple of my new friends; Laura, who graduated from Union High School in Tulsa, and Kristin, who also goes by the name Scarface because she has a nice Harry Potter scar on her forehead.  

While I was at the beach the crashing of the waves started me thinking about how people change when they make friends.  Each time a wave crashes in on the beach sand is dragged back out to sea and the beach is changed.  Maybe its only a slight change, but a change none the less.  The sand that was loosed from the shore is now out to sea.   There is no stopping this beautiful natural process.  Until the end of time waves will break on the shore and pull little parts of the world apart.   

Like ocean waves friendships pull little parts of your world apart.  A good friend will crash in on you and pull you out into the water.  They will not leave you the same.  I feel like I am making a few friends that are really challenging me.  Kristin is the art teacher at my school meaning she's payed to be creative all day long.  When I talk to her I feel challenged to be more creative with my writing and my English class.  I can tell that she expects greatness out of her friends.  A good friend wont let you slide by or underachieve.  They'll crash in on you and pull you out to sea where life is a bit more dangerous but probably a lot more rewarding.  

I could have stayed at the beach all day long, just sat in the sun, and had a great time.  But the real fun didn't start until Laura and Kristin got me to jump into the water and let the waves pull at me.  We played in the surf for a long time.  The waves were huge and the black sand on the beach was hot so staying in the water was a little more appealing.  Friends will take you to that place.  Little bits of you will be taken away as you go, but in the end the I think you'll be a better person than when you started.