Well folks, it is official, I booked the kids and I tickets to come home for the summer......I am really excited....Monty really needs to touch base with friends and family. So Joe and I sat down and talked about it and he is chin deep in biochem, genetics, epidimiology and physiology and is going to have to study study study, so we decided that the kids and I may as well go home and enjoy the summer with friends and family.....so I am excited and happy to go...but also sad to leave my Joey behind.....we will be arriving in Halifax at midnight on june 23 and staying probably until the end of August....haven't decided on return ticket yet!! I am going to go to movies, walmart (oh sweet walmart), the kids are going to play soccer, we are going to the beach, we are just going to enjoy every minute and make the most of our time.......yippee......
I saw this on another friends blog and although I modified it a bit, it really speaks to what I have learned in my time so far on Saba:
1. not to take Wal-mart, Superstore, Shopper's Drug Mart, Sears, Canadian Tire etc for granted. For anything besides the bare basics, we have to travel to the next island over for, or have it shipped from the U.S. (which equals expensive and takes forever!)
2. how inexpensively we eat in the U.S. and Canada. Food is at least 1.5 times the cost here.....and we have so little variety here.....
3. That most days I have 3 types of currency in my wallet (US, Canadian and now Dutch Guilders). The exchange on American equals 1.8 Guilders and the Canadian money on any given day is about 20 cents on the American dollar so I have no clue how much money I carry anymore.....(my friend Amanda has it all figured out!!)
4. to think twice before using any water. We rely on rain water for everything, so conservation is a must! (when it is yellow, let it mellow....)
5. what the meaning of humidity really is. Your clothes grow mold if you don't wear them often enough. Your laundry stinks if you don't get it in the dryer quick enough....and zippers corrode off of things constantly.....dont bother zipping up that sweater!
6.how much it means to have good friends and family close by! I have met some wonderful people here but we are all pretty transient and know our time together is limited......
7. what it is like to wake up to the sound of wild goats and roosters roaming your yard.
8. That I absolutely love sunshine and it makes me happy! I also love warm weather.....and winter is an unfortunate event that the rest of the world has to endure!
9. That cars really can climb steep steep hills when they are filled with people.
10. How privelaged we are in Canada to have a washer and dryer....many people here don't have them because they use so much water or have a saba washer which is more water efficient but very labor intensive....alot of my friends here wash by hand....I am sooooo thankful to have a washer and dryer!
11. How much I love the phone (and how cut off from the world I feel when I am unable to use it as much as I want due to cost.....) I am getting vonage very soon.....
12. That I rely on the internet ALOT to keep me connected to friends back home and I may need to enter internet anonymous upon my return!
13. And finally.....that I am a true Island girl.....I read the guardian every morning, especially the deaths (you do it too, I know you do!) and that no matter how far I roam, I long for my home.
Take care friends and talk to you all soon!
Love Dawn
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