Leaving Cayman

We leave on Tuesday for Montreal, Quebec, where we will stay overnight and take a train to Quebec City on Wednesday. We will spend 5 days at a Tim Horton's Convention, eating great food, staying in a super nice hotel, and exploring the city.

We will then fly, on July 30, to Calgary, which will become our new home. I have such mixed feelings - so excited for the changes about to happen, yet sad to be leaving everything my life has been these last two years. However, all the wonderful friends, memories, and pictures I have will stay with me forever. Some of the memorable things about this strange little island are:

Island Motto: "If it can be done tomorrow, it can wait 'till next week." - Things take FOREVER to happen in the Cayman Islands. Our internet and phone got hooked up a month after applying for it. Driving down the road and seeing 10 men sitting around watching one man do all the work makes me laugh, as well as seeing the guy who is cutting the grass in the ditches leaning back over his riding lawnmower sleeping away at any time of the day. Getting any kind of government form means standing in line for 2 hours, only to find out that you need to stand in yet another line after that for another hour, then you need to go get another form and fill it out and return the next day . . . and on it goes. You just simply have to learn to relax and become laid back if you want to survive here and not become eternally frustrated.

Cultural Division- there are so many different cultures on this island, and it's so strange to see the majority of people sticking with their own groups. There are the few exceptions of course, but the majority of Jamaicans stick with Jamaicans, the Philipinos with Philipinos, and so on. What an amazing opportunity to learn about other cultures and people, yet we often stay in our own comfort zone, with people from our own culture.

Weather - I've never seen so many green an lush things live in a place that goes 6 months with no rain. Our dry season lasts about 6 months with maybe the occasional spitting of rain. The weather is slightly cooler at this time (4 to 5 degrees F). Then comes the rainy season of summer. Never have I seen so much rain fall, witness the rapid growth of plants (so fast that you can see it day to day), or felt such unbelievable heat that you sweat uncontrollably whenever you are outside, even for 10 seconds. I'm looking forward to the seasons - even winter!

Scenery - It is impossible to describe the beauty that you can find on this island. 7 mile beach - really only 5, so someone must have measured wrong :o) - just seems to go on forever with the softest sand ever and the most brilliant shades of ocean blue I've ever imagined. Everywhere you look there are green plants with budding flowers all year long. Giant palm trees stick up everywhere, and you can pretty much find an iquana just by looking up a tree.

Odds and Ends - driving on the left side of the road in a car that has the steering wheel on the right side was a super fun challenge (your signal switch and windshield wipers are also switched around) , trying to walk somewhere when there are no sidewalks and you're almost getting hit by traffic, driving slow because there are 2 guys trying to ride one bike and they are swerving all over the road, taking twice as long to get to work simply because it's raining out (equate it with ice in Canada), having A/C in your house but no heater, hearing 10 different accents as you go shopping, eating outside at restaurants 365 days a year, wearing your bathing suit more than your clothes, and the packs of wild dogs and groups of chickens that aimlessly wander around everywhere (try sleeping in when there is a rooster cock-a-doodle-doing outside your window!)

I'll miss this place - but I know God has great plans for us in Calgary!

Enjoying the summer. That's what I've been trying to do. While it's been sad to say goodbye to everyone these past few weeks, I've been having fun with my last weeks here in Cayman. My sister Kori has been down for a couple weeks, and we've been living the no-work summer life of teachers. We wake up every morning and work out for an hour or two, then swim and sit by the pool for another few hours. Last week in the evenings we did an Upward Basketball Camp with kids from church. This week we're doing more touristy things, like going to Stingray City, horseback riding on the beach, and SCUBA diving.

Thanks to God's goodness, we have found a wonderful place to live in Calgary only 10 minutes away from my school!! That was my biggest concern moving to Calgary - having an hour long commute to work. Who wants to waste two hours a day driving to and from work? Not I. Also, it's only a year old, and the rent is much cheaper than a lot of other places we've been looking at (plus it includes a washer, dryer, and dishwasher, which are in short supply). We are very blessed!

Before we move home - in 19 days :( - we are going to a Tim Horton's convention in Quebec City for 5 days. That will hopefully take the sting off of moving home a little bit - kind of like a little vacation before reality sets in. We get to go on tours of the city, stay at a fabulous hotel, eat all the free food we want (which isn't necessarily a good thing), go on a boat ride down the river, and lots of other fun stuff. I've never even been out east before, least of all to the French speaking part of Canada. Should be a fun experience, although I hardly remember anything of my 12 years of French education (well worth it, obviously!).

Not much else is up down here, but I'll post when we get settled in Calgary and hopefully get internet quickly (which ended up taking a month to get hooked up down here - no kidding!). Also, I've made a Facebook page, so if you're into that kind of thing (and even know what that means!!) check me out. Au revoir!!