Welcome to My Neighborhood

I don't take the chance very often, to browse about my neighborhood. I am always wishing I lived somewhere else, like Escazu, the 'gringo-land' of Costa Rica or Curridabat...places more booming and where people like me have settled. But I think it's time that I started appreciating where I live.

I occasionally take a walk around the neighborhood, weaving my way around the hilly, winding streets. Most houses, so neat and well kept, I find hard not to admire and the quiet is really a nice change of pace. But it gets boring after a while. I haven't been everywhere there is to go in the neighborhood and the times I do choose to explore my surroundings, it looks so desolate. My sporadic morning walks seem to take place when most everyone is either at work or in school, so the neighborhood often looks empty.

Plus too, I tend to prefer the tranquil privacy of my piece of earth, my back yard.... tucked away down my private way and hidden behind a tall electric gate. But sometimes, I feel isolated from the rest of my neighbors, as we don't live so close to really get to know them. And we miss out on the bustle of the neighborhood.

Well, Tuesday night, Boobie had a birthday party to attend for one of his classmates. The boy lives in the neighborhood, not too far from the school (one of the good things about going to a neighborhood school is you have the chance to make friends with the kids in the neighborhood). The party was at 5pm, a time I rarely venture from my home for a walk.

What I saw while walking Boobie to the party was so deliciously fantastic, I couldn't believe I had been missing out on all that.

There were people, kids and pets milling about, having a gay old time. Boys on bikes, hanging out. Girls on roller skates. Men walking their dogs. Kids sitting on the side walk, listening to music and fraternizing with each other. Little children running around, squealing with laughter. The air was so filled with life and fun, I only wished to be a apart of it. And here is the best part... there were no hovering parents. The kids were free. My kind of neighborhood.

It's the kind of neighborhood I envision for my kids and the kind of neighborhood I thought was of a time long passed. Kids being able to just be kids, hanging out with friends while parents watched from the safe distance of their front porch or living room window. Letting the kids have a childhood and allowing them the freedom to be outside, having fun with friends. It reminded me of my neighborhood growing up. And I can only hope, it will be a place Boobie can spend time with his new friends and get the chance to have that life of a carefree childhood, free from worries of kidnappings and murders.

Now, my neighborhood is not perfect... and knowing me, I will probably still long to live somewhere else (you know the grass always seems greener...) But seeing my neighborhood in a new light just made me appreciate it even more. I feel the urge now, to go walking in the afternoons where I can be amid that wonderful shuffle of youth and fun filled chaos.