mullet beach with erin

it was a beautiful day today so we stopped packing and went to the beach with erin.

there was a lot of activity on and above the water today.

we played by the water the whole time with ezra. (it was too hot to not keep a part of your body in the water)  erin taught ezra at the very beginning of our time here how to make sand balls and throw them into the ocean.  they did that some more today.

ezra also enjoyed sitting on the shore and being flooded by the rushing water.

 erin and i talked and shared our thoughts on what we are expecting next - the unexpected.  we are both off to stay with family until we are all placed somewhere for clinical rotations.  we could meet again or not, but we will stay in touch and forever share many memories of our time living on st. maarten together.  i wasn't always a prolific blogger on the island and the etiquette of what to share has been a learning experience for me.  but, erin and i explored every beach of this island our first semester here together with our friend alexi.  we were there when erin married jacob on dawn beach and met her at the finish line of her first marathon.  we made every trip to the grocery store together for the first semester and have shared many long conversations that never end on the beach.  we have been a support to each other during this island medical school experience and i am ever grateful for our friendship.  thank you erin!  good luck to you and jacob!

sharing

  i'm glad i captured this sweet moment of sharing between these two.  they did spend most of the time sharing the raft, noodles, and my goggles.  once the sharing stopped it was time to go.  but, this is what i'll remember from this day at the pool.

monkey

this little guy will go to a sweet baby being born this august to rose and eero who live on st. maarten.  i thought he was the perfect little island monkey.  they thought he was a lamb.  oh well.  where's his tail?  there was no tail written up in the pattern - i forgot to tell rose he's a knit sock monkey.   they loved their little lamb anyway.  

two weeks until we leave our island paradise.  michael took a moment to come down to the pool this afternoon but has mostly been increasing his study hours once more as the last exams are coming up as well as the big united states medical licensing exam step 1 he will take in less than a month.  i packed two duffles full of toys and have 4 left for the rest of our things.  can you imagine fitting a family of three's things in 6 duffle bags?  we are letting go of a lot of things as well as our normal routine and have entered a new and interesting transitional mode of existence.  the first to go was our regular sleeping rhythm and now everything else seems to be a little off.  everyday is a practice of letting go and going with the flow.  i should be good at this and it seems i'm getting better, but still it is not easy.

times like these...

yesterday afternoon we walked to mullet beach where we saw our friends amanda, jamie, and their dog layla.  we had a fun visit while we threw the ball, played with layla, dug holes and all talked about this and that.  then along came melissa, thaddeus, and emma who were returning home from a walk.  they stayed and we all chatted some more.  we decided we should all go out for dinner together at an indian restaurant we were told was the best on the island.  it was great even though we were served by a drunken (but friendly) waiter who was probably over joyous and serving his indian guests before us because of their world cup victory.  nevertheless, the conversation was good and we all enjoyed each others' company and the food was worth the two hour wait.  it's times like these when we're all together as a family and have encounters with friends that turn into dinner with more friends that i will miss when we no longer live on the island.  i am grateful for the close community we are a part of and for the camaraderie that exists among us.  

marigot

we had a busy day in marigot on friday with a visit to the marketplace, a few stores, and of course the bakery.  i will always treasure my memories of walking through the colorful streets or marigot and sitting on the big red couches and eating the finest baguettes and pastries at sarafina's.  

this moment

a friday ritual.  a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  a simple, special, extraordinary moment.  a moment i want to pause savor and remember.  inspired by soulemama