Ruben

My last day and night in Cahuita touched my heart in many different ways. I think that is why I'm struggling to adjust, I miss the people that taught me so much in a very short amount of time. Each one of these people deserves their own poem, their own blog, their own story to be told honestly and beautifully. I dare to tread those waters.

One man in particular touched my heart. It was not so much his words, his actions, or his image. It was his spirit. There were no barriers, no extraneous words, his silence was communicative and his smile was one that remains imprinted upon my heart.

Randomly and purposefully the universe connected us. Aloca unexpectedly showed up when Sabine and Magnus and I were eating dinner Sunday night and a man about my height wearing his hair up in a bun like Aloca (which I will write more about later) walked in with two bags of fruit. His smile was infectious, or maybe it was my smile. Whatever it was, there was an instantaneous amount of joy. It was as I so often say "instantaneous friendship."

I was caught off guard and forgot his name as soon as I met him. 20 minutes into conversation, I apologetically requested his name. "Ruben."

As the time flew by and the taxi driver interrupted our conversation--Sabine, Magnus, and I had asked him to pick us up 2 hours since we arrived. "Excuse me, did you still want a lift?" he asked.

I was shocked back into the environment of time and the 5 of us quickly paid the bill and crowded into the cab and spent the next 2 hours listening to a local Reggae band. All the time Ruben's energy and stories were teaching me inarticulable things.

Growing up in Moravia San Jose, Ruben gave me a better grasp on the country that so eagerly engulfed me with beauty and energetic love. He came to Cahuita to write a documentary about the history of politics and international economic relations of Costa Rica with the United States and the United Kingdom. And as I write he has begun writing his story.

Sentences do not describe Ruben, I really think music is the only way to capture his spirit.

The night drifted into jungle and as Aloca and Ruben walked us back to La Diosa. I was very sad that I had to leave in less then a few hours. But was grateful to have been given a few hours inspired to once again be reminded of me and the wisdom of connections made in journeying down a path that sometimes seems full of potholes, detours, and dead ends.

So today as I felt silent and homesick for a place that taught me love, forgiveness, and strength in it's beauty and in it's people, I received a message. A message that reminded me to "pay attention."

I could not have written a better message, nor do I think the message was merely from Ruben, but from something bigger. Because I needed to hear them.


"It was proven that the Universe is to be trusted with clarity, wisdom and joy in the wider sense of love that holds the balance of our planet Earth. Also, the proof that Karma laws work in every decision that we make and its manifestations are given to us in ways sometimes we cannot even imagine, but once you've known where the dots are connected there is nothing left but a great joy and reverence towards life and others."

There's nothing more to say other than Ruben was a very unexpected messenger, and an unexpected friend. And my gratitude for what he taught me about me cannot be expressed. At least, I am at a loss for words.

Pay attention, you don't want to miss anything.