rain and flow

*** disclaimer: this post is full of bad, unedited photos. This is real life.

 

 

There is washing hanging from nearly every surface in each bedroom. Every time I think there is a break in the clouds, or a gap in the rain, the skies open and the rain comes down in swishy laughter, tormenting me with its wet grin. Yup, it has developed human qualities. I have developed a love-hate relationship with it/him/whatever. Nothing dries. NOTHING. And in other parts of the Island, like 8km away, the sun shines down in glorious, golden goodness. There, EVERYTHING dries.

I am learning to live with the quirks of my new island life. Tropical rain that makes this a green and beautiful place but an impossible ‘laundromat’.  Tiny bricks of butter and no fresh milk (my mom will tell you that box milk and I used to be enemies). All the fresh, delicious fruit that goes to the hotels and the leftovers that are sold to us at ridiculously high prices (Except on market days -la foire- where you can get beautifully fresh and reasonably priced fruit and veg AND shop plastic-free. Unfortunately, the markets are crazy busy and my kids are still not comfortable in large crowds and so I don’t get to the market often enough). Markets. Scooters everywhere, and not many helmets. A large selection of cheeses but not much gouda. Being called “Madame”.  Stray dogs everywhere. Stray cats everywhere – even playing in the sea. Sun that shines on turquoise waters and rain that doesn’t chill you. Rain on the beach doesn’t drive people to shelter because it invariably lasts a few minutes, so people just ignore it. Rain on the beach is different to rain 8km inland. Multiple weather systems or micro weather systems on just one small island.  If you live in the South, the North is far and so the Island is bigger that I thought.

Nine weeks in and life is starting to feel somewhat “normal”. We have not moved to our own space yet, which is equal parts frustrating and helpful. We are incredibly grateful to Marc’s dad for opening his home to us and making it such a comfortable space for us to live in for now. There is a longing in our hearts for us to have a home, though. It is a difficult decision to make, to not rush into moving. We are determined to make the right choice in terms of where we will live and don’t want to rush into an emotionally-charged move and land up in an area that isn’t going to work for us as a family. We have discovered, as I mentioned, that the Island is bigger than we initially thought and that the four major areas provide different pros and cons in terms of what we dreaming of for a home, community and environment. The North is currently winning the “competition” as it seems to be ticking most of our boxes – beautiful beaches and many opportunities to live within walking distance to (if not in view of) the beach, community, variety in terms of shopping choices, restaurants etc and very importantly, family.

The South, where we live now, is beautiful. I mean, EXQUISITE. The ocean is always clear and glassy. The sea life is prolific. There are mountains and green spaces all around us. BUT, it is dead quiet. There are no schools close-by and as a result, not many children. The children who do live here spend their days traveling to and from school. It is a gorgeous holiday destination but not a very vibing place to live. We are bored and lonely and starting to get tired of the same ol’, same ol’. The shops are not well stocked and so I tend to wait to do a decent shop when I know I will be in an area with a nice big supermarket. This means dinner is becoming a monotonous, carb-affair and the fruit situation looks very much like apples, apples and more apples. I long for a good nourish bowl and an avo.  That said, there is a new mall opening soon and so maybe my tune will change once we have more choice.

The kids will be finishing up their school work for the year really soon. I am so proud of how well they have done given the many changes they have faced this year. They are an adventurous and tenacious bunch. I, personally, have enjoyed the freedom of having less as it has given me a bit more space to enjoy homeschooling them and to experiment with and explore some new methods and content with them. I am constantly learning and growing as they learn and grow and it has been great to have the freedom of no “physical constraints”  ( a house to clean, mostly) to interfere with our learning processes this year. Moving around a lot provided so much educationally. I feel like we have learned so much about so much. In particular, I feel like outside of pure academics, we have learned a huge amount about ourselves and about life. We have really come to understand the “live simply, simply live” ethos and I can honestly say that it has become more of a way of life than ever before for us. We have learned how to make much out of so little, and in all aspects – from meals with very few ingredients to elaborate games with very few toys. We have more hours in our days and so much more to fill them with and yet, our possessions are few and our  commitments are minimal. We have learned to savour moments and to enjoy the small things, like sunsets and starfish and fresh breezes and story time at night and whispered conversations after lights out. We are content.

This longing for a home comes after a beautiful year spent collecting memories and learning through some tough times too. It is time to put down some roots and to begin making new memories in a space that will be a bit more “stable” . We feel ready to be a family in a home. We have spent this year becoming and its time to find a new flow in a new community with new dreams and new adventures. I am excited for the next steps, and excited to be on a journey towards a new dream. I hope you will continue to live these steps with me.