The first week

Hello again! It's Saturday morning, around 11 o'clock, Aruba time. Bud's gone off with brother-in-law to buy some wood to make something in the garden. Sister's putting her hair in curlers before sweeping the balcony. I did offer to do the balcony but she suggested instead that I should use the computer.
So here I am, in the tropics, in a shady room, blinds closed and fan belting out a nice cooling wind behind me. I'm in shorts, barefooted, surveying my white legs every so often for any marauding mosquitoes (having discovered that the 'sanguras'ARE mosquitoes); the first twenty bites have faded now and I've sprayed myself all over with anti-mozzie stuff.
Hopefully we'll get a chance to swim later today. Swimming in the sea is really THE highlight here. Plus a few trips into the Aruban bush - acres and acres of orange earth and giant cactuses. Aruba is green at the moment, certainly much greener than last time, thanks to the rain. They've seen a lot of water recently - more than in the last 15 years. It started with the hurricane a couple of months back. We've been hearing quite some stories about how much damage that did, how the water got into people's houses and their furniture floated away. Nothing like what you had in the USA, but still pretty bad. And that was only the tail of the hurricane...

So, we've been visiting family, hearing about old times, and - in Bud's case - looking around hopefully for an old house to buy here.

And this is where the holiday is beginning to go downhill for me. It isn't a holiday when you're faced every day with the eternal question of 'where shall we live?' Bud seems to feel even more strongly that he wants to come back here. But there ain't no way that jj can transplant to this place. It just isn't me. Too bloody hot, too many damned flies, too far from 'home' and there isn't even ONE decent bookshop, for G's sake. And after a week on this tiny island, I'm already feeling like I'd like to get on the next plane out! (I've heard Bonaire is nice - wouldn't mind seeing that.)

Heh ho. Cheer up girl. You're LUCKY! Others pay a fortune to come and play on the tropical beaches here.

P.S. I'm having a great time with my new camera. Once we get home, there'll be plenty of pics to see.

P.S.(2) I'm also enjoying meeting Bud's family - some of them for the second time. They're great people.