Its easy to see why people love the beach
The water and the sand act as perfect metaphors for depth of human uncertainty
So it is clear why people feel at home amongst salty waves and sunburns
However it is not easy to understand why people love each other
There is no certainty in freckles that come and go like the clouds
And there is no promise in tear-stained cheeks like there is in water stained beaches
So I may never understand why people continue to fall for others the way the tide continues to fall against the sand
But I have watched children love each other with more restless abandon than a storm stricken sea
I have watched them lend each other their secrets and share the weights of their burdens as if 19 days were actually infinity
And I have seen them laugh in the face of troubles that hang higher in the sky than rainforest full moons
Kids exchange heartbeats the way the rest of the world trades currency
And I am finally beginning to grasp the strength of human connection
I feel it in rapids that twist like braids down tan bucks
And in full tents on concrete floors that share zero resemblance to rolling ocean currents
I’ve seen these kids triumph in spite of sunburns and spider bites time and time again
And while I have always been too afraid to lease out my heart to anything other than mountains that never yield under my hands
I have now met kids that place their lives not only in the haunting fingers of the ocean, but in the relentless grasps of human nature
So they give away their guns and every ounce of reason to pull the trigger
And I do the same and just wait for them to hate me
But they don’t
Because they don’t know how
And in these 19 days that has taught me almost too much about the way humanity dips and spins
I have been caught in a three-step rhythm beating senselessly against my ribcage
And I can now waltz with life the way lovers dance on their wedding night
It is the beat of paint brushes on wood, paddles in water, and rain on metal roofs
It is the number of times you open and close your eyes before finally falling asleep in a hotel room shared with 2 other kids
And it is the count of the last wave you fall sown on before being able to stand up on your board
I watch these people learn to dance not just with each other but with themselves and everything that scares them
I have seen plenty of love in my life:
I have seen mothers love their children, brothers love their sisters, and friends tell each other to put their seatbelts on
I have seen kids worship the snowcapped mountains and sun crested waves that raised them
And I have seen married couples love each other only because they’re supposed to
But I myself never learned to grasp the concept, because everyone you love will leave you
But in this tiny Latin American country I have witnessed more love than I ever believed possible
In teenagers from all over country that came together to share band aids and toothpaste and sunscreen
And I have realized that while it is easy to love the ocean, even the sea slides way sometimes
But it never fails to return to kiss its sandy counterpart to human consciousness
So the most important lesson I’ve learned is that kids love with reckless ferocity more intense than a storming sea
They share their freckles and uncertainty that come and go like the clouds
Together they are a million broken promises and even more broken rules
Their presence waivers like the seasons or the phases of the moon and sometimes they get lost in their own heads
But the promise they keep is to never stop loving each other
The way the tide never stops washing across the shore
So while it is hard to understand why people continue to love each other, falling in love with you guys has made it almost a bit easier
--Emily M