FlipFlops and Fins

My Journey To Get My Toes In The Sand and Navigating Streets With Unknown Names

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Living in a rainforest...

When I decided to move to my island, I did a lot of research, so some things I already knew and understood. I would be surrounded by water on every side, hence it’s called an island. There would be beaches with sand and some with rock, again, it’s an island. I expected boats, and a more casual attire, even though I am still learning what exactly that means and what is appropriate in different situations; formal can be formal, and then again, flip flops work there too. Well, in my vast knowledge based on research I knew the Northside of the island is cooler, gets more rain, and has a more prevalent breeze, especially during the winter winds. That sounded lovely, so that is where I wanted to be, and where I ended up landing.

Toward the top of the highest mountain (almost 1500’ above sea level), who knew that I would live in the same elevation as my home in Kansas City?  I also didn’t realize I would be living in the jungle, rainforest to be exact. How much of a rainforest you ask? 100% rainforest! It has rained at some point every day for the last two months.  Granted most of the time it is before most folks wake up and lasts but only a few minutes. Other times, it has been typhoon like winds and blowing gusts of rain so hard that my Jeep gets covered in banana tree leaves and coconut palms. What I find joyful is that yes it has rained a lot, but at the same time the sun is out just as much. It’s a bright rain every day. I have always known that I could never live in the Northwest of the US or Europe due to the potential for prolonged gloomy weather. Yes, I have been known to suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) during winter, spring, and when I can’t see the sun for 4 plus days at a time. Don’t worry, I am not one that would take myself out due to the never ending gloomy, dark, sad days; no, I’m a giver, I would take others out because of it. So, here with all the rain I was really thinking it would end badly for all those around me. But actually it hasn’t at all!  Yes, it’s wet for a minute, then it is dry because the sun is up at the same time. Nutty!

The rainforest also adds great value to Marcy’s Deep Thoughts. All the rain helps the trees, flowers, and vines grow like wildfire. I have never experienced anything like it before, duh I lived in Kansas. The forest is so alive and green right now that vines grow. When I say vines, I mean VINES! These are thick hearty appendages that dangle from the sky. Honestly, I have never looked up long enough to see exactly which trees they originate from, so thinking the sky makes them works for me. Because they hang down so low, in some cases all the way to the ground, and they are so hearty (approx. 1/4” – ½” thick), they cause me to consistently have three thoughts on a rotating basis, EVERY time I come or go from my apartment.  1) Tarzan should be swinging by me any moment know….wait, do I hear his call? 2) I feel like I’m driving through a car wash, but my car is not getting cleaner and they might actually be removing paint from my roof (thank goodness I haven’t taken the roof panels off, I might lose an eye), and 3) there should be monkeys here! Why don’t we have any monkeys? We have vines for them to play on, there should be monkeys! Now I’m off for another island adventure, and yes the anticipation of one of Marcy’s Deep Thoughts. Which one will it be, Tarzan, Car Wash, or Monkeys? Oh the excitement of anticipation!      

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Viewpoint: The Pool is Half Empty or F……..Oh, Crap! The Pool IS Half Empty!

When I was back home I would run the dive shop that I loved when the owner needed a day off, I needed extra cash, when I was unemployed, and even when the owner was dealing with a longer term medical problem. The shop meant so much to me that I would joke with him and tell him to not screw up “My shop”. As the owner, John always took that pretty well, usually.

One day when I was covering the store I was cleaning the pool filters by back flushing them. That is not a difficult task, especially if you follow the instructions that are written on the wall. Shut off pump, turn handle to backwash, turn on pump, wait a minute (not sure of exact time-can’t read the instructions now), turn off pump, move handle to rinse, turn on pump, wait 30 secs, turn off pump, move handle back to run, turn on pump. Go about your day. See not hard at all.  Well, this particular day John was out of town and as I said, I backwashed the pool.  After going about my day answering the phone, selling dive equipment, working with customers and divemasters, which took a few hours, I went into the pool area.  HOLY CRAP!!!! The pool really was HALF EMPTY!!!  I checked the filters and the handle was in the run position as it should have been. (If you rinse too long it will drain the water). We had classes that weekend IN THE POOL!!! Double CRAP! I called John to give him the good news. HA. Called the pool company due to the gasket thingy (technical term) in the handle on the filter system had gone bad and I didn’t know it; which is why the handle moved but inside it was still in the rinse position. Called all the students that weekend and rearranged the class schedule until the pool was up and running. Not my best day by far. Little stressful, little crazy, not fun, but handled as it needed to be and life went on. No, John didn’t kill me, thank goodness.

Why am I telling you about this? Well, I like to use the pool story as an analogy for life events that I have to deal with. When I think it’s all under control or going to go easy, I sometimes find a half empty pool by surprise and have to handle it; always striving to make it work out for the best.

Yesterday I started my first day of my new big girl job and it ended up being a half empty pool. Now, a big girl job is what I call an M-F 8-5 job that doesn’t require other jobs on the side to pay my bills. I was really excited and very anxious. I haven’t had a big girl job for a long time (over a year) and it is a brand new position which I really don’t have that exact experience to make it super easy; which is why I was so excited. The chance to learn and prove myself in an unknown field. What I like to call a CHALLENGE! Well out of the gate it was a challenge. There are only 3 of us in this office: the doctor, the front desk girl, and me, the super newbie. Yesterday was the docs surgery day, so he isn’t in the office. No biggie, the front desk girl and I can handle things. NOPE, she was out sick. I was able to get into the office, but other than that I had no idea what to do, how to do it, or when to do it. Talk about learning by fire!  Felt like I was in a blazing firestorm. The first few days of new jobs are usually crazy getting all the computer access to applications, completing employment paperwork, being shown around the office and a little show you how to do it training, right? WRONG!  None of that for me. Phone rings, what greeting do I use? The doctor’s name or the actual practice name? Seems silly, right? Not on an island. Half know the facility and half only know the doctor’s name, plus, I’m a new voice that is not local, at all. After being alone all day, the IT guy did get my computer access set up, but not all the applications because the internet was down for a few hours. I still didn’t know how to use most of them anyway, so no biggie. I have about 20 post-its of calls to be returned today, once I have access to the scheduler, and another batch of prescription refills for the doctor to handle. Other than that, I was able to fix the fax and shred a bunch of stuff that should have been shredded a while ago, and I figured out how to use the phone system along with the headset, except how to put someone on hold. Thank goodness for those tasks. Yesterday would have been a longer day if all I had to do was answer the phone, and yesterday was my half empty pool. But today, I can walk in with more knowledge and look forward to more new things to learn and experience, like how to put a phone call on hold, among many other details. Today, I know that my pool is going to be half full.

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TOO Much Technology for Me...evidently!

I will apologize now for my long hiatus. My only excuse is that I did get caught up with my FINAL MOVE!!!! YA! But along with all the packing/unpacking, and repeating I forgot which of my 6 email addresses I used for my blog.  Thank you Tumblr IT dept for reminding me that the one I was trying to use was not correct. I will have more and more exciting blogs to share with you soon.  Promise. 

Now that I am in the sun I am trying to earn my even more blonde, blonde. Man this blonding is hard work and requires thinking!  Thank you for being patient and sticking with me.  

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Navigating Streets with Unknown Names

Driving around an island sounds easy….it’s just a circle, yah right.  It’s easy if all I had to do was stay on the outskirts of the island. The problems begin when you have to go up and over the island, or find a friend’s house and they never give you the address (because they don’t help you find them),  just “farm” directions. If you are from the Midwest, you understand farm directions….when you see the windmill with only 3 blades turn left about 4 combine lengths then right at the silo with the tree growing out the top, etc.  

But here, you have to understand the basics before it all starts to make sense. When you come to the Big Oak take the right; when you pass Oprah go another 3 streets and turn right; when you see the turnpike sign (turnpike sign? - it’s an island!) turn left; when you see the …..(fill in the animal: whale, seagull, etc.) that is the street you take.  When you come to the “T” in the road at the house with kids playground equipment go right. Yes, I have actually heard all these helpful directions.

I have tried to use Google Maps, and believe me it actually helps SOME. You can’t plug in the actual address because they don’t really exist, but if you can find a common land mark in the general vicinity it will get you close enough that you can then use the “island/farm” directions to guide you the rest of the way, or simply do what I do and call them 2 -3 times until you reach the correct location; but you have to have an idea of where you are to help them guide you from exactly where you are standing. If you try to ask the locals which route number to take forget it most don’t know there are even numbered routes on the island. GPS directions will help you there, but again you need the major landmarks to reach your destination.  

My sister and I learned this the hard way when we visited the island on my recon mission before permanently moving. What should have taken us 30 minutes from the airport, ended up taking us 3.5 hours completing exactly the same wrong circle 7 times before finding our way home. If we had only known from the get go that Oprah is a donkey dressed in sunglasses and a scarf at the overlook, or that the 3rd right we were looking for is a major road and not what looks like a driveway that goes straight up the mountain (Sorry people for having to turn around in your carport to back down your private drive, oops).  Eventually, you learn to look through the overgrown bushes and trees to see the 1 or 2 road signs that direct you on your way, and downtown the street signs are in the top corner of the 2-story building that is almost impossible for the driver to see, because you have to look up- away from the road all the while trying to remember to stay in the left lane. That’s exciting at first!  

Now that I have been on the island for 3 full weeks now, I don’t have to remind myself to stay on the left when driving; just a brief thought when backing out of parking stalls is still prevalent, but feeling natural otherwise. I understand the street markers even more and where they actually are in relation to my new apartment. Learning all the new unique ways of navigational is educational and fun, and just another reminder that I am not in KS anymore. I am working at becoming one with the island and its driving culture.

When you come visit, don’t be surprised when I tell you I’m up the road from Sibs (bar) and you turn at the turnpike sign, and if you reach Mountain Top (tourist spot) you need to turn around and go back down until you see the seagull, or something of that sort. Good Luck and happy navigating! 

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Pollyanna? Not Completely

I’ve been here a week now and I am truly amazed and comforted that there are signs daily of humanity still existing. No, not like people have been wiped out and we are in a zombie apocalypse (even though the current political environment might make you think you’d be better off being a zombie). What I’m referring to are the good ol’ days of helping another human just because it’s the right thing to do.  I’m from the Midwest and to me home seemed like it was filled with kind, friendly people that were willing to give you a hand or help out any way they can. At times, we were like that, but everyday and almost every interaction I have had with someone that is “local”  or at least more seasoned and local than me, has been about them trying to help me out.  

What do I mean by that? Well, you sit down at the bar (any bar), and all you have to do is give the proper greeting: Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, or a simple Good Day usually is well received, then from there you are off to the races having a conversation with someone you just met. I don’t mean idle chit chat, I mean an actual conversation. Usually begins with “where you from” or “how long have you been on island”.  Once I mention I just moved here last week it immediately moves into the typical, “What do you do” or “what brought you here, work?”.  As soon as I say I’m looking for work they inquire into my background and then they start to think of companies or things I can do for employment. It makes networking so much easier. Not only is it about helping you find a job, but you also get invites to go do stuff. 

Just tonight is a prime example. I sat at a bar in a bar I’ve never been in before and I was waiting for my new acquaintance that will be my landlord next month. I was there to present him with a security deposit check that I am forcing him to take. Yep, FORCING him to take it. He was just willing to have me show up Nov 1 and get the key etc. Really? That nice? Well, I won’t have that, so we agreed for a check that he refuses to cash and it isn’t even for 1/2 the first months rent. Nutty!  But okay (he has Midwestern connections in his blood, literally). While I waited for him to arrive, I’m just chatting up with a couple next to me. Very nice folks and I’m totally eavesdropping on their conversation, of course I can’t help but to interject my thoughts and they were ecstatic to continue conversing with me. I was offered a job on the spot, but sadly I’m not a nurse, so it isn’t going to do me any good. (any nurses want to move down here, I have a job for you as soon as you land...granted this one is with a hospice group).  Then chatting it up with another lovely woman about her baby that she brought in with her so she could have a nice meal out. The baby will be 1, it’s a restaurant and no smoking is allowed and it’s not loud at all. That seems pretty normal, then I watch her hand off her child to anyone that wants to take him. He was adorable and well behaved so he was passed around like a tithing basket at church. You read that right, mom is willing to hand off her child to anyone that wanted to take him, but as she told me, they can’t look too shady. Everyone in the bar watched out for him, including myself, and I just met all of these folks. The next thing I know she is inviting me to her son’s 1st birthday party this Saturday, she took my name and number just so she can keep me informed of the plans. I also have an open invite to go sailing with another group of folks. Really?! I haven’t been invited to this many activities by so many different people that I just met since......EVER!!!

Now, I know what you are thinking. These are crazy people, mass murderers, and rapists and I”m an easy target. Well, that is a fair assumption based off where you are coming from; except that is not the case at all here! People are just that friendly and want to help anyone they can that has just moved, because they remember all too well their first days on the island and how they needed help and friends to survive. It’s all about paying it forward and that is how you survive on this particular island. 

Granted, I am not a complete Pollyanna! There are people on the island that might want to kill you, rape you, or mug you. Those types are everywhere in the world and no island is an exception to that rule. BUT, those types are not hanging out at the bars meeting new folks and trying to help them out. They are on the streets waiting for the right opportunity to help themselves out and it never seems to be in the areas where everyone is watching out for you. If I forget to text my “friends” that I made it home after we were just hanging out, they will drive the island looking for me.  Do your long term friends do that for you now? I’m no Pollyanna, I’m lucky to have chosen an island that proves humanity still exists and there is good out there.  Good night, I made it home, safe and sound!

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They Like Me, They Really Like Me!

You hear of crazy things people do to find out what others really think of them, and it all starts at very young ages. Elementary school you would call up classmates (usually the opposite sex) and ask them to take a rate call. Which would end up with you listing off different names (your name being one of them of course) and the called individual would rate them on a scale of 1-10. Basically, it’s the early days of Nielsen ratings or telemarketing surveys. Then as we age and technology grows up you can use websites with number of re-tweets, amount of friends you have, or the number of connections etc. all which are designed to show you how popular you are or how well you are liked. In the dating world it could be the number of winks, swipes left or right, or flirts you get. Then I have actually heard, maybe just on TV, or on the West Coast, folks throw funeral parties. Yep, they invite their friends over to celebrate the death of the party thrower that is actually still alive. Why? So they can hear what folks would say about them, or in other words, if they were liked, really really liked....

Well, Not me! I didn’t do that, not intentionally at least. For me, it was the decision to jump off my mainland and move to an island, in the Caribbean, far far away from home, family, and friends. Why? Not to see if they really like me, but because I wanted and needed to for me.  But what ended up happening is that you do learn how much family and friends either really care about you or just act like they care. They either go out of their way to spend as much time as possible before you fly away (they really like you) or they say they want to see you and then you don’t hear from them ever again. Well,at least not until they want to take a vacation right where you so happen to live (they don’t really like you). Then there are those folks that you see and interact with that  you enjoy being with, but you don’t think much more than that and they end up surprising you the most with how much they profess how sad they are you are actually leaving. Wow, where did that come from?! (I didn’t know they really really liked me). Nutty. 

I don’t know if any of those methods are a bad thing or not, I’m not here to judge. I just think it sometimes takes extreme measures for people to truly confess how they feel about you. I personally wouldn’t throw a funeral for myself; that seems like too much work, and rate calls are a little sophomoric, especially since everyone has caller id and would know you are the one calling and asking, and very few people still actually take surveys over the phone...down with telemarketers! Instead, just decide to make a major life change and jump off the body of land you live on. Then you will know who likes you, really really likes you! And I too know who I really really love and miss, until I see them again.