Making Friends

Although my flight is not yet booked I have almost exactly two weeks left in Nicaragua, before a brief stop in the UK and then off to Asia, the great unknown for me. I'm less of an emotional mess than I was just 7 days ago, but it still seems very odd to be leaving I thought I would have been here till January. Living abroad seems to involve a great deal more goodbyes than life in your homeland, partly because our stay is never really permanent and partly because many of your friends end up being other foreigners.

Over this last year it has felt like more of my foreign friends have left than usual either for good or for long periods away. Of course new people arrive too. Over the last few months I've got to know a recently arrived South African/US couple Jacques and Amanda who have joined our church. As I explained to them I approached them due to the South Africa link, if they'd been a 100% north American couple I'd probably have assumed it was the responsibility of the north American majority of the congregation to embrace them. It seems as the only British member I've assigned myself greeting the other "minorities". With so much change in the congregation this year lately I'd found myself of thinking of ways we can try to get to know one another better. Last Sunday was the biggest new attempt yet with our normal Sunday communion service being head down on Pochomil beach on the Pacific coast about an hour from Managua, followed by food, swimming and fun. It went well but felt a little odd that it also turned out to be the occasion for me advising friends I was leaving.

Communion on the Beach, Pochomil, Nicaragua

Lunch and fun after communion service at the beach

Saying goodbye to friends and then knowing the effort required to make new friends is the hardest thing about moving countries. I know the fact I will probably only be in Asia about 6 months and will be between two countries makes this task even harder, since I already know how seemingly unreasonable it is for someone to decide to invest in being friends with me when they'll barely get to know me before it will be time to say "Goodbye." I am trying to remind myself to heed the advice I've given to Jacques and Amanda as they try to get to know people at church, that unfortunately they have to take the first step.

Couldn't help smiling at Jacques observations on how difficult it can be making friends in a new country in their newsletter this month, something he's always thought was easy. Making friends by Jacques