Mashi Danki ami Ajo, Anos Stimabo, Curacao

As we wrap up this piece of our journey, let me say, if this is how the rest of the year is going to be, WOW, pinch me, I have to be dreaming. I never thought I would have enough to write about on a tiny island like this. There’s still more to explore that we’ve not experienced to share – Maybe next year.

What we do want to share are some of our highlights with a few stats for the trip. I would love to add some videos, however I haven’t figured out after uploading the video how to enable the opening of it.

Cruise ships sailing by 37. Number of dive sites: 70. Number of dives: Jay: 69. Kelly 38. Number of Lionfish speared by Jay: 169, Kelly: 3, Guests: 26. For a grand total of Lionfish not reproducing 198 for this trip. Number of guests: 8. Number of walks by the ocean: 52. Number of sunsets: 63. Number of full moons: 3. Number of beautiful Curacao beaches: 20+. Number of pictures taken: 732 Number of horrible people: 1. Number of wonder people met: too many to count.

Let’s get to Jay’s piece first. Remember all the new Lionfish spearers first-time-out stories? Well, I finally did it. One morning I was tired of swimming by all the little tiny ones, so I asked Jay (Yes, I can talk underwater. All those who have dived with us have experienced how I get Jay’s attention underwater) for the extra spear. Jay said the little ones are the most difficult to spear. Boom!!

Had to put the gloves on. I don’t like to touch fish. The next picture I used a pair of tongs.

This is Jay writing this paragraph for Kelly’s future dive buddies, sharing air with Kelly has an additional benefit. Kelly is a very strong swimmer so all you have to do is clench your teeth onto her octopus and she will drag you along. That’s what I had to do.

Jay’s routine – dive, eat breakfast, then clean fish. We met Gina, the owner of a restaurant named Purinchi’s. If Jay doesn’t feel like cleaning them, Gina buys them from us to serve as one of their fresh catches of the day.

We love Willemstad, day and evening.

Dinner at Fort Nassau looking toward Punda on one side and Otrabanda on the other side of the bay.

And, we love this church. Through so many hugs on Sunday, I was told, “Remember, we are your Curacao family. You always have a place with us.” I’m tearing up just writing this. They will have a special place in my heart always. From Becky, leading worship and translating the sermons, to young Gerald always helping the ladies on and off the stage, all special memories. Sister Marlene, the pastor’s wife, can preach the word! She had a word from the Lord this past week for all of us Mothers. Thank you, Sister Marlene, for the love you show to the ladies in this congregation. This is a place where I would have loved to add a special video.

A great picture of Pastor John, his wife, Sister Marlene, preaching that day, and Becky interpreting.

You can’t travel without experiencing the food, right? Dessert first – a freshly made stroopwafel. You won’t eat another packaged one after you experience fresh and still warm.

Salad for breakfast and wine in the evening on the deck.

I will miss our walks in the evenings to see the sunset and to feed the eels leftover pieces of Lionfish. It’s a wonderful walking trail along the shoreline. So many people out in the evenings – walking, running, swimming, yoga, and crossfit groups – all along this trail every evening.

So many things to see – forts, museums, and landhuis’.

This is where the original Blue Curacao (pronounced cure-a-sow. Sow as in a female pig)

This is my new little special needs friend, Eva -15 years old, and her mother, Monica. They have come from Germany for a few weeks in order for Eva to receive therapy. Her therapy time is swimming with the dolphins. The Sea Aquarium has an amazing center to help with young people such as Eva. She and I were attached almost immediately. We met at the Curacao distillery tour. Jay and I ended up driving the two of them to their place, then Monica and Eva gave us a tour.

Although Officer Grant was very nice to us the visits to Curacao Polis won’t be missed. I wanted to get a picture with Officer Grant but didn’t get the courage to ask him. He and so many other kind people on this island we will have to store them in our own memory.

Jakob, Royal Palm’s Manager.

There is an extreme rare medical condition called congenital insensitivity to pain, CIP. Those who suffer with this are unable to feel pain. As I think of our previous condo owner, that might not have been such a terrible condition to have. However, the absence of pain can spiral into even more trouble. Such as, if Jay can’t feel if he gets poked with a Lionfish’s venomous spine, he wouldn’t know to get heat on it immediately. Then, the next thing you know, whatever has been poked is swelling and who knows what would be next. We may not like the pain whether it is physical or emotional, but we need it. It helps us to assess the wisdom of our choices. It sometimes forces us to seek out wisdom from God and/or from those He places in our paths who are better qualified in a particular field, like officer Grant, or Jakob, the resort manager; instead of being left to our nice comfy routines. When people or things such as psycho condo owner come into our lives, God has these funny ways of bringing us back and giving us the opportunity to see His grace and mercy in the midst of the chaos. There are so many stories in the bible where discomfort helped them seek God’s refuge. So, we are thankful to have the gift of pain. We are thankful for those who have helped us through this one uncomfortable and stressful moment in this trip. And we are thankful for God’s refuge of so many wonderful memories and blessings each day. I suppose I’m saying is if we didn’t have some pain, how would we know the blessings that are all around? The blessing in all this? When we were able to donate all the items to the men’s facility that were purchased to make the big house liveable, well, the face of Richard says it all.

“Beyond all these put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”. Colossians 3:14

Let’s move on……..

Awh, the ships that went by….cruise ships, barges, pilot boats, US and Dutch coast guards, sailboats and fishing boats

Our wonderful U.S. Coast Guard taking care of this island.

The Scientology sick ship that was quarantined due to the measles finally was able to leave on the 17th. The above picture was taken on the 16th docked at the back of the bay. Twenty-eight people were still on board quarantined.

We had the privilege to celebrate quite a few holidays during our stay. This was a parade on Easter Monday. The King’s Birthday was a big celebration. Willemstad was hopping that day!

So many different animals. Here are just a few highlights. This is the other place I wished I could have added videos.

A wonderful highlight to this trip is this motley crew – The Dive Shop guys. These are the cute Dutch guys making sure we had air tanks each day. They helped with neice Beka’s discovery dive. And gave us all the helpful hints around the island. From left to right : Ruby, Jeroen (sounds like “ye-rohn”), Lionfish spearer Jay, his trusted spotter Kelly, Boeke, and Freso. A handsome group, I think.

We arrived with a full moon and we leave with a full moon. We even had one in the middle of our trip. This is 3:00 a.m. looking out the kitchen window of the big house.

And so the sun sets on this fabulous time in Curacao, however sad we might be to leave the wonderful people we have met along the way; we are excited to see what is in store as we begin adventures in another place. So, I think of the Proverbs that says, “Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.”

Oh, the title of this blog in English? “Thanks so much and good-bye, Curacao, we love you.