Hola amigos đ
Near the end of April last year, we came to El Salvador for two months, not knowing what to expect. We had connected online with some of the ex-pats here whoâd come from around the globe, seeking a freer life. Because of our online connections, we were invited to a couple of âBitcoin barbecuesâ near where we were staying by the beach. During those gatherings, we met some amazing peopleâthat was a big part of our decision-making for El Salvador to become a more permanent home. We left for a few months, but with the intention to come back here long-term. Since landing in September, weâve been meeting even more people who are pursuing a life of freedom and hope.
Our first five months back in the country, we lived inland, near the capital. In hindsight, that may have saved us a bit of rent money, but we felt pretty isolated from our friends. We moved closer to the beach and closer to many of our friends about six weeks ago. Itâs been a great change in so many ways for our family, despite the fact that itâs hotter, and WAY too humid here some days. My survival secret: take cold showers multiple times a day!
Since moving, weâve started a sort of tradition. We have people overâa lot. Tom loves to barbecue meatâlike the tomahawk steaks below. And often itâs not just a couple or a family, but we mix things up, introducing people to other people they may not have met, and helping to connect our community. Itâs really neat to see how this networking is helping people feel like they have more support, connect them with more like-minded people going through similar things, and the conversations always seem to flow. Weâve had some âCanadian refugeeâ dinners and recently started having brunches for young families, so we can have the kids play together at a sane time of day while we visit.
There are so many aspects to our new âbeach lifeâ that we love. Living here allows us to meet up with friends for a walk or a run down on the sandy shore in the mornings. Or stop by someoneâs house to pick something up. Or have a play date for the kids while us adults visit. We purchased some boogie boards for our girls a few weeks ago, inspired by some friends who have them, and they love catching the waves with them. You can hear some delighted screams each time they do! Iâve managed to catch a few waves myselfâitâs actually quite a rush, a lot like surfing, but easier.
We feel so blessed to be in this season of connecting with people and bringing people together. One thing we all love about spending time with people whoâve come for similar reasons is how we donât have to âself-censor.â What I mean is that back home, we worried a lot more about what we said, and to whom, so as not to offend people. Here, it feels like weâve all decided, âIâm here to live as my true self, and Iâm not afraidâpeople can take me as I am.â Iâm not saying we tell everyone all of our stories and opinions. But we talk about the things that have been happening in our world for the past few years and how theyâve impacted us, and often we share similar experiences.
Leaving family and friends behind in our home countries is a common struggle we share with our friends here. It was an incredibly hard decision to leave all of the âfamiliarsâ in that sense, as many of those close relationships are hard to nourish from afar. Iâve personally struggled with those losses, and felt that pain deeply. And it is still a grieving process. In talking with friends here, itâs a shared pain. But in order to start to build something newâin this case building a freer life for ourselves and our kidsâwe have to make sacrifices.
As we pave the way here, along with many others, a lot of people have begun to reach out to us. They want to know moreâhow weâre doing what weâre doing, and whatâs involved in starting a new life here. Believe me, there are many complexities to it. Weâve had a lot of people help us along the way.
We recently took a day and went to all the necessary places to get our Salvadoran driverâs licenses. It was a full day out with friends, but so worth it!
Iâm sure each one of you can relate to some of what we went through back in Canada during Covid. Some of the people weâd been friends with suddenly stopped greeting us at our girlsâ school or around town, because of our online postsâmany of which were questioning what was happening. Othersâmore than those who rejected usâwere drawn to us because of our stand. One thing Iâve learned in this incredibly hard journey is that if you try to appeal to everyone, you wonât be true to yourself. Essentially, you will end up not having true friends. Friends who share our values are what each one of us wants. Not friends who are being fake or changing for the sake of ânot offendingâ or just to âget alongâ with the people around them all the time.
The word chameleon comes to mind. I googled it, and found this:
chameleon â noun, often attributive: a person who often changes his or her beliefs or behaviour to please others or to succeed; one that is subject to quick or frequent change, especially in appearance.
Iâm not telling you to start pushing your beliefs onto everyone around you. But choose your friends wisely. And if youâre not being your true self around them, maybe theyâre not meant to be your long-term friends. Thatâs something Iâm finding in life. There is a huge risk that we could (we will!) offend others with our stand, but we each need to take a stand, based on our own experiences and beliefs. If that pushes some people away, it will simultaneously draw in others. Writing this blog has also been teaching me that truth.
Spending time with people who build you up will likely connect you to more people you enjoy being around. That is part of our missionâto connect with those people and to introduce them to each other here, so that we can all continue to build the community. And to give each other the support we need as we navigate our new life together đ
Thank you so much for reading this blog! I appreciate each one of you and wish you joy, peace, and a belated Happy Easter aka Resurrection Dayâ¨
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I donât know about you but when we declined the vaccine, we simply stated that we didnât have enough evidence to support taking it. We werenât bashing it or being cruel to those who got it. But on the flip side, people were so nasty to us & weâve been exiled by some family members or even treated like we were crazy monsters.
Itâs funny to me now, after all the side effects of the vaccine are coming out, those people refuse to even admit they *may* have been wrong. Such a shame.
Anywho, glad youâre finding your niche! âď¸
Wow...thank you so much for all the info. We are currently in Andorra and Spain but feel like the world is closing in on us. Only a handful of friends have the same opinion as us, and unfortunately my sister is sucked in to the Canadian way with her 2 kids. We are looking for freedom and a more simple way of life. Looking forward to visiting ES in September. Thanks for the contacts...