Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Day in the Life















It was hot. Sweltering even. Hot in the way that that thin layer of sand kicked up by your flip flops as you walk over the dunes sears the sales of you feet as it sifts between the rubbery plastic and your skin. Hot in the way that as you gaze down the coast, you notice the heat rising off the ground before noticing the dark green barrels with light offshores spilling empty along the coastline. Every time, it makes me ponder the strange extremes of my occupation.

If you asked we who I was, I probably wouldn’t say “real estate agent”, but I do specialize in structuring investment opportunities and finding properties for foreigners relocating to Nicaragua or at least establishing some sort of a presence here. Because I am the only foreigner myself (that I know of) performing these actions in the Chinandega area and one of the few in the developing coastal areas of Northern Nica, my job is loosely structured. Responsibilities can span an array of activities. There is no exact formula for efficiency and success, but years of experience, fluency in Spanish + respect for local culture can help support making successful connections between buyers and sellers.






Most everyone asks me if I moved here specifically to surf, but that’s not quite accurate. I regularly go consecutive days and sometime even weeks without getting in the water. Occasionally, work and pleasure can mix and I’ll surf with clients or discover a new wave while searching for property. A perfect example is the other day when I happened to be able to enjoy the best of both these parallel worlds: surfing perfect barrels with my friend and Nica co-patriot Holly Beck and her boyfriend Ryan, the same day as discovering really fun looking beach break with no one out at Salinas Grandes. One of those better days on the job that I wish happened more often!

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