I flew to Aruba from Sweden together with my family, planning to spend
two weeks there before heading back home to Costa Rica. I had never
been to Aruba before and was mesmerized by the beauty of this small
Caribbean island.
On my very first day there I went to meditate on the beach at sunset,
and walking along the shore I decided it would be nice if I could rent a
surfboard and maybe see if there was a good spot to surf in the waters
around the island. I asked some random guy on the beach, and he told me
there was a surf shop downtown.
e next day I made my way there. I got a cab, found the shop, opened
the door, and bumped straight into a very tall, blond, handsome guy in
board shorts. “Hi,” he said. I wanted to say “Hi” back, but for some reason
the words got stuck in the back of my throat—I couldn’t talk! I felt my face
turn red. What was happening? Could I be nervous about talking to some guy
I’d never met before? is was very unusual for me. I normally never get
nervous, and especially not around surfer dudes. Who was this man? I
found out his name was Dennis and that he was Aruban and also the
manager of the shop. I spent almost an hour in there wanting to talk to
him but feeling very awkward about it. ere was something special, even
nerve-racking about this guy that I couldn’t pinpoint. In the end I left the
shop, went back to the hotel, and decided that it would have been a stupid
idea anyway; what would be the point of getting to know someone living
in Aruba? I never planned to come back here.
For one full week following that day, I woke up every single morning
thinking about this guy Dennis. I couldn’t understand it. I barely knew his
name! After a week I finally summoned all of my courage and headed
back to the shop. It was closed. e next day I tried again. I had never
fought to get any man’s attention before; all of the relationships I’d been
in so far had just kind of happened on their own. Pursuing a guy, on a tiny
island in the Caribbean that I’d never visited before, was very out of my
comfort zone. is time the shop was open, but he wasn’t there. Again I
was nervous and I didn’t want to ask his friends about him, so I lingered as