My trips always have themes. I don’t plan it – it just happens that way. This one was about buying from the island kids. I am pretty sure that by the end of the trip, there were posters all over the island with my picture on it that said (in Spanish, of course) “If you see this woman and you are under the age of 12, she will buy whatever it is you have to sell! Oh, and just so you know, she will pay whatever you ask.”

You all know how much I love the people on Isla. And how much I love all the hugs and kisses I get. Well, I have found something just as good. Smiles from the island kids.

Xmas day – driving around in the golf cart with Mario and my brother. We pass these 3 young boys (maybe 8, 5 and 3) with Isla’s version of a lemonade stand – a shell stand. We wave and drive by until my brother says “I bet that if you buy a shell from them you will get a hug.”

Squealing brakes and we flip a u-turn in the street. I seriously examine their shells, asking prices (which, while I am a sucker, I know to be exorbitant). I pick three that I like and ask for the total price. I am not even sure what he told me. I hand the older one a 100 peso note, tell him no cambio and feliz navidad. The oldest one, holding it, is looking at it like he is not sure it is real. The middle one breaks into the biggest smile ever.

As it dawns on the older one the money is real and that I am really giving it to them, he must have had an attack of conscience and felt like I hadn’t gotten my money’s worth. He looks around for something else to give me and finding nothing else suitable, hands me his youngest brother.

I wish I had a video of that whole exchange. Every time I think about it, I get a huge smile on my face. And while I didn’t get an actual hug, the looks and smiles on their faces were definitely a virtual hug that I will remember for a very long time.

So, this is all my brother’s fault. And there are quite a few children on the island who are hoping that crazy hippie tattooed gringo lady comes back soon.