We had the most relaxing weekend we’ve had since ages. It was so good.
We spent most of our Saturday on the beach with some friends and on Sunday we just stayed at the apartment, hanging out, doing nothing. I ‘ve been reading and watched a bit of youtube (well, actually quite a lot) while I was knitting. And then we went to beach bar to watch the sunset.

I wish I could say I feel up to the coming week, but to be honest, I don’t. Still a bit tired, still struggling with anxiety and stress. But I’m going to take it one day at a time. Today will still be nice and easy. Just a lot of grocery shopping to do and a bit of cleaning. I’m also experimenting with Instagram stories, so maybe I’ll take you along with me while I do that (if I feel up to it, I have to keep telling myself it’s supposed to be fun).

Wishing you all a great start to your week!

Oh, those birds… I’ll have to learn not to leave my food out in the kitchen unattended. Not that I usually do (I’m very aware that it will also attract cockroaches and ants). There wasn’t any food to be found when I took this picture but they’re constantly coming in to check.

Right now I am…

:: listening to the birds singing
:: a bit sleepy because we had to rise early to be in the new house in time for the loader that will straighten out the holes that had to be made to build the cess pit
:: trying to focus on the house and finishing it far enough to be able to move in (still waiting for Aqualectra though – we have water, but we need electricity too)
:: looking forward to our stove arriving this afternoon and a kitchen cupboard tomorrow
:: feeling weird because the first days since I arrived back here my mother was doing very well, but I had a hard time being happy about it. I kept thinking that could not last, since she was so very ill before. I hate to be right. She now has an other infection and we were told that could cause another crisis. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next
:: still trying to focus on the house and my normal life
:: smiling a bit cynical, because I haven’t had a normal life since we first came back to the island in January 2018.
:: but determined to keep going on the few things I have. Like blogging. And taking pictures of sunsets.
:: hoping to finish cleaning the kitchen today and maybe do some knitting
:: wishing you all a great week

Thank you for the reactions on my last post. It’s heartwarming when people connect like this through a basically very silly thing like blogging. It makes me feel even more then before like I’m talking to some really dear friends here. So I thought it was only fair to give you an update.

I’m back on Curaçao after one hell of a week. I spent most of my time in the hospital.
The good news is that my mother survived this crisis. Barely, but she did.
The bad news is that treatments are not an option anymore. She has only a few months to go, maybe more if her body restores really well (but I doubt it will). So I will be flying back again soon, I guess. She says she will make it to Christmas, when we were supposed to visit, but that’s five months…

Meanwhile my father, who was already chronically ill (but his prognosis was still a few years) is trying to cope with it all, but his health is also deteriorating fast now.

Right now I’m trying to rest and to let things sink in, but I’m on edge and I’m constantly expecting an alarming message. I also  feel a bit torn between wanting to be there for my parents and being here for T., who also needs me (as most of you know, his health isn’t that great too).
I want to start regular blogging (and maybe instagram too) again, because putting my life on hold for months is not a good idea, but I guess it will be a bit on and off for a while.We’ll see how it goes…

I will be offline a little bit longer. This afternoon I’m flying to the Netherlands. My mother is not doing well and I’m going to see her before… well, let’s hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid we’re losing her.

Dropping in to tell you that we’ve decided to take a little, much needed, break this week. Aside from a few little things that we really need to do, we’re going to rest, rest, rest. No work on the house, no more computer work than is really necessary. We’re both exhausted and stressed out, so we thought we might as well take it easy while we’re waiting for Aqualectra to hook us up. 

See you all next week!
Oh, and happy Dia di Bandera (Flag day – July 2nd) to all on the island and a happy 4th of July to my American readers!

Though our visit to Aqualectra to apply to be connected to water and electricity went smoothly, we expect that it will take a few weeks to actually get connected. But in the meanwhile, we needed water. There was a big container on the porch when we bought the place, but it was slowly getting drained when I was cleaning, but the guy who is building the new cess pit needs water for the concrete and the cement, and now we were nearing the end of our supply.
So, this morning we drove up to the house with a barrel containing about 100 gallons of water. And then we moved all that water to the big container by hauling buckets twenty meters up the hill and then eight steps up to the porch. Times eight.
And then once again when we filled up another barrel at the apartment. So I guess I had plenty of exercise today…

We were catching our breath after the last bucket when our neighbors came over. Two ladies who just speak Spanish and Papiamentu, while we only speak Dutch and English. But with google translate we managed to find out that they were coming over because T. asked the builders next door to ask her to contact us when she came (she’s the sister of the owner and the one that cleans the apartments they rent out) and then we were also able to communicate that we wanted to ask if we could fill up our water supply by buying some water from them (and using the tap and a hose instead of buckets). She had to ask the owner, but it seems we will get water a little easier now.
And we also heard Aqualectra tends to be very quick with water connections, so maybe we’ll have our own tap shortly.

This makes me realize more than ever how blessed we are to have running water available. In Africa, there are still lots of villages without water pumps. Women have to walk for hours to haul buckets and jerrycans of water to their homes and they have to do that every day. And we just turn a knob and there it is…