Tagua Nuts, Coconuts, and men who make out with fish.

After four straight months of a brutal work-load, and taking off studying time only to eat dinner, sleep, and talk to the family for a little while, Carina spent the last three weeks on break with us, and it was wonderful. Her last two weeks of the semester were especially tough, she had her last block exams and the week afterward were her finals, so we hardly saw her at all. Some nights I had to peer into her bedroom in the middle of the night just to make sure she still existed and I wasn't just fantasizing that I had an older sister ;) The first couple of days of her break were spent like this...

She and Piper would isolate themselves in the bedroom and took naps together, Cari definitely misses being around her baby having gone from full time mom four months ago to a full time med student now, they both loved their extra time together.

Piper was so tired one afternoon that I was changing her diaper and she put the blanket over her head right after I finished and just fell asleep. Later when we tried to pull the blanket down so that she could breathe, which we figured might be important, she screamed and immediately pulled the blanket right back over her face. So we decided to just let the hermit enjoy her nap with limited oxygen.

Once Cari was rejuvenated from her much needed rest, and once she got into a state of relaxation after hearing the results from her finals and finding out she did really well, she was actually ready to enjoy her break. First thing she wanted to do was go to Maho (Sunset) Beach. I've posted about this beach in previous posts. Normally we wouldn't be drawn to this beach, it's really small, heavily populated all the time, and not that clean, BUT, it's right next to the airport, and watching a 747 fly directly over your head is quite exciting. Having never witnessed this yet, Cari was really anxious to go, and it didn't disappoint. When the plane is descending from the sky it's so incredibly loud, and it generates so much wind power that the waves all of a sudden get humongous, I had to yell to Cari who was holding Piper in the ocean to get out because the waves were about to get huge, and I knew it'd be hard to hold onto her. Sand flies backwards behind the giant jet and it whips you in the face, gets you in the eyes, but it's a blast. Sand's bound to do that anyways. Every single time I come home from the beach and take a shower I'm always mystified as to how sand gets all over your body, even if you don't even swim and just walk on the sand and sit on your towel. Tricky, tricky sand.

Incoming 747. It's slightly terrifying when you're in the ocean and they get so close to you, all I can think of is how much it would suck if they crashed right into you.

So clearly I come from my mom and Cari comes from my dad, not so much resemblance here, but still sisters nonetheless.

Piper and I flirting underneath the umbrella?

Piper LOVES the ocean and all the airplanes, but after a couple of hours it sure wipes her (and everyone else) out.

My friend Kristin organized a "Cover the night-Kony 2012" event on the island which I was very excited about, I took the kiddos and we went to Maho and put up our posters. I was so proud of them for wanting to be involved. We had a nice conversation in the car on the way to Maho, they had a lot of questions about different global issues, and were asking questions about Osama Bin Laden, and 9/11, I was really happy that they're so interested. Andi, Tanner and Piper are all such smart kids, and they retain information like sponges. I get excited when I can teach them something they didn't know about before.

Casey's parents, Kent and Gayle, came to visit and stayed with us for four days, and we had a lot of fun with them. Those poor souls came on an overnight flight so they were just so exhausted when they got here, and were struggling to stay awake all night. They came bearing gifts of our favorite candies, and a cute quiet book for Piper. The Sunday they got here was Carina's birthday, she asked for a stethoscope and some first aid books, she's gotten really lame in her med school years. That night we just stayed in and made dinner and had the cake that Andi found on a pinterest recipe of course :) Cari loves peanut butter and chocolate (duh) so we made her a Reese's peanut butter cake and it was amazing. Pinterest does it again.

The first day they were here we took them to the market in Marigot which is the capitol on the French side. Most of the market consists of souvenir type clothing, jewelery, but there are some stands with really cool items for sale. Kent spotted this stand advertising these "Tagua" nuts.

They're these nuts that harden in the sun, and then this woman takes them and smooths them and sculpts them into awesome little animals, trees, flowers, etc. She had dozens and dozens, and they were really cool.

After an exhausting half hour of bartering with the tagua woman, Kent treated us all to some fresh coconut milk.

After we finished drinking the milk, the worker cut it open for us so we could try the coconut meat, too. We also got a real sugar cane to try, and it was...interesting. Way too sweet for my taste, unless you're into dumping packets of sugar down your throat, then you'd probably be a huge fan.

Day 2 of their trip here we went to Grand Case (pronounced cause) which is another city on the French side, it has a lot of restaurants, and shops. The place was pretty hopping. Walking around with Kent and Gayle was a lot of fun because they like to stop and talk to random people, and walk into buildings where they hear music coming from, and it made me realize you can embark on a lot more cultural experiences if you just chat it up with people you don't know, and venture into different places. We stopped for a little while to listen to this group of kids playing their steel drums in this old warehouse, and then on the way home from dinner we sat in on a church choir practice and you wouldn't believe how catchy their songs were. I was signing them for the next two days.

The main area of Grand Case that attracts tourists is essentially a very long alley that's filled with all of these different shops, pretty strung up lights, and some really cool art museums.

The restaurant we went to that night was off a recommendation from a couple we met on the street. The restaurant was called "Sky's the Limit" the couple told us it was delicious local food, I don't know what that couple was smokin', but the food wasn't anything to rave about. The whole atmosphere was just kind of funny, and by kind of funny, I mean weird. It was an outdoor restaurant, right in front of me was a lobster tank, and I swear to you the lobsters were dueling, the whole time we were eating I couldn't stop watching them deck each other in the face over and over. Psycho. The menus made Cari and I laugh for days. Almost every single entree ended in "food." So you can get "Pork chop food," or "Steak food" and for some reason I thought that was really funny. Not to mention every single entree came with literally ten sides, ranging from coleslaw to macaroni to spaghetti to rice and beans. I don't think any of us finished our plates, it was toooo much food. But our server was awesome, super nice and quick, plus we were solicited halfway through the meal by this lady who was selling her homemade coconut desserts, and those were delicious.

After dinner we took Kent and Gayle to Carousel, the gelato restaurant by our house because it's the best gelato on the island, and they had to try it. The Carousel has a carousel in the back (WHAT A COINCIDENCE) that Piper tried for the first time that night. At first she wasn't wanting to go on it, but when we were leaving she was screaming hysterically and wanting to ride the carousel again, so she's officially a carousel lover.

We were sad to see Kent and Gayle leave on Thursday morning, we had a blast having them here, and had a lot of fun new experiences. Plus I got to try my first sticky rice and mango with fresh mangoes from the market. Very yummy.

Since Cari didn't have school, she went with me to bring Andi to sailing one night. The yacht club where Andi takes her sailing lessons has a nice view of the lagoon and all of the ships and yachts that are docked. We took Piper with and watched as Andi finished her lesson and started putting her things away. It was a perfect night until Piper was walking on the dock and the yacht instructors giant dog ran by, his leash dragging behind him caught on Piper's foot, the dog kept running and dragged Piper behind him down the dock!! It was absolutely terrifying, Cari and I both ran to her and had a heart attack, the dog turned a corner on the dock and the leash came loose off of Piper's foot and she laid down on the dock screaming hysterically. All I kept thinking was how lucky we were that her foot was released when he turned the corner, or she would have ended up falling in the ocean most likely. She screamed for a while but she's a champ and soon she was okay. Now when we take Andi to sailing she makes sure to ask where the dog is before she'll even get out of the car.

Before Cari went back to school we made sure to take her to Orient Beach which is on the French side, it's by far my favorite beach. It's really clean, the water is so clear, and the best thing about it is how much is going on there all the time. There's a lot of people kite surfing, there's a water trampoline, and its a great beach for people watching. Orient is also notorious for being one of the more popular nude beaches, but that's only off to one side of the beach, we stay on the opposite end, but every once in a while some nudey swaggers by, here's a pic of one guy I found particularly funny, just for your viewing pleasure ;)

The highlight of people watching was definitely this one man who was in the ocean with a bag of bread, schools of fish were swimming after him like crazy, he was able to pick them up by hand and I thought, "wow, that's really impressive" then he'd take the fish and kiss it on the lips, and I thought, "Wow that's really gross! I'm gonna camera stalk him" so for like twenty minutes he kept repeatedly catching fish, kissing them, and washing his mouth out with ocean water, it was so weird and random. People kept clapping on the shore for him, he was getting an audience for sure. He saw me with my camera and kept telling me to take more and more pictures, i'm appreciative that he was so cooperative.

We spent a couple of hours just laying on the sand watching people and laughing at crazy stuff Piper does.

Besides beaches and shopping and restaurants we spent a lot of time at home watching movies and relaxing, and a bunch of time in our pool. Our "backyard" pool area is by far my favorite place on this entire island. The view of the ocean is absolutely amazing. It's hitting me more and more every day how little time I have left on the island and I'm trying to take advantage of everything more. I've been going down to the ocean to hang out a lot more lately, especially at night it's so pretty and you can see the moon and stars perfectly because there's no city lights to disturb it. Its so quiet and nice. I went out there at midnight a couple of days ago and sat on the ledge and this old man yelled down from his porch and said "I'm glad you sat down! I thought you were going to jump off the cliff!" So apparently one can't enjoy the view without it being interpreted as a suicide attempt ;) that guy and I talked for a while and then on my way up I stopped to talk to our security guard, Jerry, who's literally my best friend on this island, with the exception of my family here, I talk to him more than anyone else, he's awesome. But I'll definitely miss the ocean view here.

The last thing Cari made sure I do before school again was her hair. Her gray roots were not cute, and she's gotta look cute in her little white doctor coat. My friend Ellen from Aveda is a gem and sent me some color to do her highlights.

Our friend Karla and her three sons move back to the states on Wednesday, so after church today we had them over for brunch to say goodbye and thank them for all of their help ever since the first second we got here when they picked us up at the airport and had us over for dinner and sent us home with a bunch of food and things we'd need in the apartment. We'll miss you guys like crazy!

It's been a really fun break with Cari around a lot more, and showing her the island she hasn't seen yet since she's had her nose in a book for months. Being a doctor looks hard, guys.

My brother Dillon and his wife, Amy, had their baby this week! They ended up having to get a last minute c-section but both Amy and Vince are healthy and home! Dillon had to go out of town for work training the day after Vince was born but we're happy that they're all reunited now. I'm so excited to see him as he gets older, and i'm SO anxious to meet him.

This upcoming week we're getting back into routines. Cari heads back to school and I'm looking forward to having Piper all to myself again ;)

Her funny story of the week has to be last week when she picked up her doll that was "crying" which of course only she can hear, since its HER baby. She grabbed the doll and said "You wanna go in a time out?" then she walked her doll to the bedroom, put her on the bed and walked out. Then she put her ear against the door and said, "are you done crying now? you wanna come out?" then she walked in and got her "baby Emma" and gave her a hug and called her a good girl. She's such a little mom, she's way too cute.

I'm off to a 10 way call video chat with all of our siblings, its hard to get al of the siblings together at one time, so we just do it virtually. Hope everyone has a good week!

Piper and I show our butts the world, Papo and Gerry come to the island, and Katie and Danny head back the the U.S.

I shall make this blog post a much more lighthearted one, no more talk of near death sicknesses, and my life epiphanies. My sister Hannah asked me to "please quit posting emo blog posts," she also said if she wasn't mentioned in the first two sentences she was going to be mad. Here ya go, Hannah, ya psycho. My staph infection is MUCH better. Once again thanks for all your kind thoughts. Internally I feel completely fine, I haven't had a fever or anything in weeks, I'm not dizzy, no nausea or anything, so that's awesome. My only lingering symptom is the fact I am now 1/4 snake and I shed skin wherever I go. I called the doctor a week ago and said my feet had now begun shedding...

..and the doctor told me to come in for another check up. In his office he said that I had a serious case of "scalded skin syndrome" and that it worried him it was spreading so much, and he put me on a second round of antibiotics and advised that I should also get a shot of penicillin. THAT was an experience, woooo, baby! I walked into the nurses office and she sat me down and I held out my arm and the nurse said, "Oh no, sweetie, we can only put 2cc of medicine in through your arm, this is a much bigger dose of antibiotics, so it needs to be put in your bottom." I had never gotten a shot in my butt before so I said okay and I laid down on the bed on my stomach and pulled my pants all the way down, the nurse proceeded to shoot the needle right into my HIP. I was just laying there mooning her for no reason whatsoever with the door wide open because "the doctor and the nurse are the only people in the office and there's no need to shut the door" so there I am naked on the table with no shame. The entire time I was just thinking I could have totally just pulled my shirt up slightly to get that shot, the nurse probably thought I was a creep for stripping down so much. So word to the wise, if you're ever getting an injection in your butt, just pull your pants down a little, or pull your shirt up, no need to expose all. I started crying during the shot because it was a combination of my being menstrual (yep, gonna play that card 'cause I'm a girl, and I can) getting a huge shot, and being sick of being sick. My friend Katie constantly teases me because I told her I'm not a sensitive person. Growing up people always said "you're crying so I know this is serious 'cause you're not usually a crier." and it's true! Growing up with five big brothers, if you cry, you're weak, and you're made fun of relentlessly, so you learn to grow thick skin. Thanks, bros. But here I feel like I've been crying constantly while I'm sick, and Katie doesn't believe me... so anyways, I'm in the nurses office crying, and she sees that I'm crying and she hands me a cotton ball to wipe my tears with which was perfect because that made me laugh and my friends Cecily and Matt said it would have been perfect had I of eaten the cotton ball like in "Elf." I'll keep that suggestion around for next time. I came home from the doctors office just exhausted. It had been such a long and trying day. I'd been googling my disease online all morning and looking at images and freaking myself out, hence the hasty trip to the doctors, but our car wouldn't start and I luckily was able to borrow Matt and Cecily's car to go, and I couldn't get a hold of Cari or Casey on skype, they were both on campus and the internet on campus had conveniently gone out that day. It was just a mess. After I got home and had been sitting for a while when I went to stand up my butt was SO sore, like I'd just done the stair master for an hour, which I guess is another common side effect of getting a booty injection. Love it. I walk around like a 90 year old lady right now with a combo of a sore butt and rare flesh feet, I need a hoveround wheelchair like those old people who drive them all the way to the Grand Canyon. The best is when I'm playing with Piper and she's 50 feet or so from me and I say, "i'm gonna get you" which is when you'd normally run and grab the child, however at my pace, I waddle over to her and by the time I get there she's bored with the game and onto something else, it's hilarious. Easter this year felt so weird not being at my parents house, but we had a bunch of our friends over to help ease the pain. I mastered my moms mustard sauce for ham, and by mastered I mean I made it and then Cari doctored it (get it, 'cause she's gonna be a doctor?) until it tasted good. I thought it would be funny to act like bunnies in pictures with Katie and Cari, but clearly I got way more into it than they did.

Our meal was delicious, we brought some plates down to our security guards and they were quite impressed, they expect food from us all the time now. They're constantly asking "what's for dinner tonight?" Easter in St. Maarten is a four day thing. Friday - Monday most stores are closed, and people are partying on the beach, hanging with their families, barbecuing, it's fun. So on Easter Monday (which is totally a thing) we had a primary activity at church for all the little kids. Instead of dying eggs which gets quite messy, Cecily spent much time hand-shaping egg cookies that the kids decorated, and then we had an Easter egg hunt in the parking lot and side lawn of the church, and an egg spoon race. A couple of Caribbean factors that play into the egg hunt was the heat, and the chocolate in the eggs melted, it was so funny. Definitely not used to that in April being from Minnesota!

Immediately after the Easter church activity we rushed home to drop off some friends and then I took Andi and Tanner to meet up with two of their friends for a hang out and Katie and I went to Phillipsburg (the capitol on the Dutch side) to meet up with my friends Gerry and Papo who were here for the day on a cruise through the Caribbean. Gerry and Papo live in New York but come to Minnesota every fall to visit Gerry's mother. They came into Caribou Coffee two years ago and I was working and I totally loved them. We spent a ton of time talking, they were caught off guard by my "Minnesota nice" personality since they'd come from New York and were used to no eye contact when you entered an establishment, let alone a full on conversation. They came in three days in a row over Thanksgiving weekend, and the next year they came in again! It was awesome. The year after that I had switched jobs and gone back to Starbucks where I'd worked before Caribou but I'd switched because of more flexible hours while I was in school. I remember one day at Starbucks I saw them come in and I got so excited. They'd gone to Caribou and asked where I was and my friends at Caribou told them and the next day they came in, it was so cool. I told them I'd be moving to St. Maarten the next month and they said they were coming in April on a cruise so we exchanged emails and set up a lunch date. Katie and I met them at the Hard Rock cafe on the boardwalk and it was so nice to catch up and have friends here. Papo is originally from Puerto Rico so he told us all about island life and told me which dives I should go on and offered a bunch of insider advice. I sure love those two and look forward to seeing them in MN again this fall!

My best friend on the island, Katie, and her husband Danny just moved back to the states today since this was his last semester and they're on to clinical rotations in the U.S. I dropped them off at the airport and Katie and I promised we wouldn't cry but I got a little teary right as they walked off. I'll miss them like crazy, so many good laughs and fun memories. I told them to try their hardest to get placed in Michigan and get a two bedroom house so I can drive up and visit them. Thursday night we went out to eat at a steakhouse called Rare to celebrate Danny passing his last comp test at AUC, then we had them over for dinner Friday night since they had a sad empty apartment, and Saturday morning they came for breakfast and I dropped them off. Here's some pics from the week. I went to their apartment and saw their "To Do List" on the fridge that said, "Leave SXM forever, and say goodbye to Michelle" So sad, but I'll see them again soon.

Katie had a goal to get really tan before she moved back to the states, because how embarrassing to come from the Caribbean being really pale, so we spent a lot of time by the pool these last couple of weeks. Piper is a champ, she totally just chills on the stairs in the pool and has conversations with Katie and I, she'll stay out there for hours before she requests that she wants to go home. But lots of time outside means lots of sunscreen, we load on the SPF 100.

I'm so glad that Piper actually enjoys swimming, it'd be rough living here with a toddler that hates water. We sure enjoy our cooling off in the pool.

Funny Piper story of the week: I have learned that there are inherent thoughts mothers have, that a nanny just does not. Example 1: Packing diapers everywhere you go. I just haven't gotten into the habit of "thinking like a mom" yet. Its definitely coming, but its not quite all there. So Sunday we got to church and I had forgotten to pack diapers. Sure enough, within the first hour Piper had made a mess in her diaper. Piper isn't the kind of baby who will let it slide to be dirty, if her hands are dirty she will incessantly tell you that she needs to wash her hands, and she'll tell you when she's done a dirty deed in her diaper. So Andi goes to change her and we decide to just risk it and put her little bloomer panties on and hope for the best. So I take Piper with me to Primary which is where all of the younger children are and they sing and have kid lessons. So with ten minutes left in the meeting I hear an older girl, Keisha, exclaim "somebody pissed themslves! There's piss everywhere!" I looked around and noticed that Piper had hid behind the whiteboard in shame for what she'd just done. I got up immediately and went to assess the damage and it definitely pee, and definitely from Piper. Keisha said, "Piper! Piper pissed herself!" I was so embarrassed and tried to keep the situation on a down low, so I grabbed a wet soapy paper towel and cleaned it up as fast as I can. Piper wobbled (because her pants were wet and uncomfortable so she was walking funny) out from behind the whiteboard and started to cry. Normally you'd pick her up and console her, but she was all wet with pee! Gross! So I held her up arms length away from me and brought her to her Cari to soothe her. We decided to just take the panties off and let her roam around even more naked than before. In the last hour of church she apparently tripped on a cord and fell on her stomach and her dress went up and she exposed her butt to all the world. So at the end of this week Piper and I had both unnecessarily mooned people. Runs in the family I suppose. This week we're praying Cari survives AND does well on her finals, and are so looking forward to her three week break to just relax and show her the island she has yet to explore. It's gonna be a good couple of weeks! Miss & love you all!