Sister Time

Can you believe that my sister and I have only ever had 2 sister trips? T.W.O. They both have been wonderful adventures. I think we should have more wonderful adventures sister! Life gets busy and she has children, so their schedule and needs come first. It’s totally understandable. It would be nice to have a bi-annual sister’s weekend or annual sister’s weekend, right? Let’s make it happen.

Anyway, our first trip together was to the FL Keys one weekend while visiting our parents in West Palm Beach. This time, Brandie came to ME!!!! This made me so excited because I got to share what my life was like in person. I do think it’s important to share with family your life overseas. I mean, you tell them stories, they see pictures and read blog posts…but to actually experience it? Well, it kind of makes the time and distance a little more worth-while. Understandable. Relatable even?

This post literally begins where the last ended. I flew back to the island at 12:30 PM, went home, made up Brandie’s room, and picked her up from the airport at 3:45. I should have gotten a picture of her walking out of the gate…and a hello welcome to the island photo…I suck. I was just happy and huggy and forgot photos. We tried to make up for them with other photos though and Brandie took some really nice ones with her camera. Hopefully I will see those edited and lovely one day…. 😉 I mean, it’s not like she’s trying to open a conservation park or anything, or lead a Sunday school group, or be a Scout’s mom, or taxi her kid to work, or soccer, or football, or whatever else under the sun she does! Superwoman! It’s for those reasons above I am glad she came to visit! One of the many.

Thursday evening we took her to dinner ‘downtown’ to de Gouverneur. It’s one of our favorite places to sit and eat, and watch the ships go by. Following dinner we introduced her to Punda Vibes, a Thursday night affair where shops stay open a bit later, live music can be found, Dushi waffles consumed, and fireworks to can be seen. It’s a great way to window shop out of the sun and point out stores you want to check out the next day!

Friday we went diving! Of course after our long day of travels, getting up at 8 am was a bit of a bad idea. But, the ocean was calling! As a birthday present to my sis, I paid for her renewal scuba class! My friend joined her for a discover course. My other friend and I buddied up for a fun dive while they did their course and we all met up about 30 feet under. The coral reef and my local beach, Boka Sami was beautiful! We saw little cleaner shrimp and spiny lobsters. Tube corals and colorful fish. Brandie was so happy to be back below sea level after about 15+ years! We took photos together and played around. It was a lovely day! After our dive, we all went to the beach for a picnic and swim. Friday night was a pretty low-key night as we stayed in for dinner…until Paul dragged me, and I dragged Brandie, to Kokomo beach for a Full Moon Party. We were all so tired that by 12:30 Brandie was nearly snoozing, Brooke and Jen were bored, and I was sleepy and tired of the smoke. Paul was unhappy that the DJ he wanted to see was taking so long to go on stage, so we left. Luckily we did….because said DJ didn’t make an appearance until nearly 2:30 AM! No way, Jose. I am glad I was snoozing in ma bed by then.

Saturday we had an early lunch at Karakter in Coral Estates. Brandie got to try my favorite nachos and take photos of the iguanas and birds. The sea was beautiful (As usual) and provided wonderful photos for her. After that, we went to Porto Mari so Brandie could snorkel. She used my gear and enjoyed the planted reef balls that are so near the surface. There were many kinds of fish she hadn’t seen before so I think it was a great experience! I stayed out of the water and rested under the umbrella. Brandie was in the mood for pizza-so instead of going home, we went straight to the BEST pizza spot on the island. It’s only open on Fri, Sat and Sunday and the food is cooked right at their home with gorgeous views. It’s called Sol pizza…and Brandie was impressed! You can’t fool a pizza girl like her, so you know if she was happy, it was good! We brought home dinner for Paul and called it a night.

Sunday morning was a HUGE surprise for Brandie! One of the parent’s I tutor is a dolphin trainer at the aquarium and as a Thank you to me, she offered a dolphin swim package. She knew Brandie was coming so she made sure we had spots together while she was visiting! I do believe she was surprised, shocked, and ecstatic! We arrived to the aquarium around 830, geared up, and placed our items in the locker. We started out in the theater with a presentation about dolphins, the island, and the aquarium. Then, we went into another room for a more in depth briefing because our dolphin swim was more than a typical encounter. We were in the water for about 45 minutes and aside from participating in tricks, we could swim along side the dolphins and dive underwater with them. It was amazing! We were in a group with another family and waited our turns patiently while the beautiful mother and daughter dolphins did their work. The baby dolphin, Djoli (Jolly), is still young and learning. Her momma, GeeGee, the oldest dolphin at the aquarium, was strong headed and sometimes did things her way…and not how the trainers suggested. It made it fun though because the trainers wanted them to practice more…which meant more time in the water with them. We did indidividual tricks with them, family photos and swims, and then put on our mask to swim alongside them and dive with them. I wish I had my camera (not allowed) to take photos underwater while we were swimming together. But, in a way, it’s nice I didn’t have the camera. I was able to swim along with the dolphin and not be distracted. I could look her in the eye and feel closer. That was the best part for me. Feeling that connection between us. Very special. When it was time to say goodbye, we cleaned up and bought all the pictures from the session! We just couldn’t pass them up! The joy on Brandie’s face says it all. Enjoy ya’ll!

After the swim, we toured the aquarium, which is really quite small. I had been several times before but there was an exhibit closed to me before. There is a real glass bottom boat in the water (all ‘tanks/exhibits’ are natural ocean water/barriers) where the tarpon, grouper, tuna, jacks, nurse and lemon sharks swim. The many times I have been before, this exhibit was closed due to construction. But this time, it was finally open! We spent a lot of time in the boat because it was beautiful watching the sting rays and other large fish swim by!

After the aquarium I took her to Kokos, one of my favorite beach restaurants! She was super happy with the meal (I don’t think she was ever disappointed by food!) and of course, the view. We didn’t stay for a swim because we had plans to go to the tug boat! When we got there, someone’s car window had just been smashed (not unusual for the swimming spot) but it gave me a bad feeling. So we left. We went home and rested before heading back out to Playa Piskado to swim with the sea turtles! At Piskado, I introduced Brandie to some of our STCC workers. We had just missed a turtle rescue! However, the water was calm and clear and the fishing boats in for the day. So that means lots of fish scraps, lots of turtles! We swam with so many beauties and Brandie was again, squealing with excitement. I showed her the neptune statue just out at the drop off and we saw a few other fishies. This area isn’t great for coral viewing or fish…just turtles. I think we had pasta for dinner–a cozy little place called Osterio Rossa. Good stuff!

Monday was Brandie’s last day 😦 We had packed in so much already, but we weren’t done yet! I had Paul take us to The Tug Boat and leave with the car so I could enjoy the swim. Yes it’s safe! Some locals just smash windows to go shopping…we had lockers for our stuff! The tugboat is a small sunken boat, but very near the surface. It’s a great spot for dives and snorkeling! I told Brandie it feels like you are in an aquarium…and she said I was right! The fish are aplenty and diverse–it makes for a fabulous snorkel. We swam to Director’s Bay–just around the corner. The coral reef is also shallow, but plummets deep down. It’s a beautiful swim and makes my heart sing every time. Brandie really enjoyed it as well, and commented that she had never been in the ocean, really a part of it, so much, in so little time, in a long time. Did you understand that? This is what I couldn’t wait to share with her. She and I have a deep love of ocean (she knew it waaay before I did). SO much of this trip was special for me, but I think the most special was sharing the ocean with her. She gets it. After the swim we went home and cleaned up. We were going to cook dinner, but decided to go out for the last meal together. We ended up at St. Tropez, a swanky place on the ocean. We shared a snack platter (and Paul and I shared Sushi) and Brandie tried some Dutch snacks. I think it’s safe to say she doesn’t approve of frikandel or bitterballen. Look them up! It was an early night because we had to be up at 4:30 to go to their airport. It’s not a long drive, maybe 15 minutes. But she had an early flight!

It was an eventful four days–and I was very tired! School started for us a few days later so I spent the rest of the days resting up. I really loved having Brandie here…I think I made that pretty clear. It was special to share with her the ocean and the projects that are near and dear to me. Maybe there will be a next time, and maybe we can dive some more. If the next time isn’t on Curacao, maybe it can be somewhere else where we can share our love of the ocean, the beach, and each other, together 🙂

Kelli