Day Three: Flamenco Beach and Snorkeling with Sea Turtles!

No early morning phone call today so we slept in a bit...until about 7:30 because the sun was yelling at us to get up. Yeah, we're on the front end of our time zone, so our sun comes up lots earlier than yours (I'm assuming you're probably reading this in Michigan!) and sets earlier, too. In fact when we Skype with Stan and Jessie at 7:30 p.m. we're in complete darkness and they still have some sun! It's kinda wierd...

Hannah at a busy Flamenco Beach

Hannah's been asking to visit Flamenco Beach. However, we arrived on the weekend so I wanted to wait until the visitors from the main island had left. I figured today would be a good day. It was okay, but still way more crowded than I like it. In fact, it's best when there's no one else there! And that's happened to us several times in the past!

Tamarindo Beach...AKA "The Ugly Beach" (Even though it isn't)

After a short stay there we went looking for some snorkeling equipment and headed to Tamarindo Beach. Now, for any of you who have seen my Culebra pictures, I lovingly call this the "ugly beach" because, well, it's ugly compared to Zoni or Flamenco! However, the snorkeling is wonderful and if you snorkel around the reef at the south end you can continue on to Resaca Beach, which also has wonderful snorkeling! And that's what we did. 


My Hannah is a CHAMP!!!


We snorkeled for probably an hour and a half to two hours, and she was into it every second! Within the first five minutes, we spied a young green sea turtle grazing on the sea grasses. She was so graceful in the water and seemed to not have a care in the world. As we held hands and flipped our flippers, we would point out other interesting plants and animals in God's spectacular aquarium!


After a while, though, I suddenly realized I had swum right up to the reef we were supposed to swim around, and we were trapped there with too little space to turn around. Although we were both a bit freaked by it we ended up standing on the rocks (which you are NOT supposed to do) to figure out how to get ourselves out of our dilemma. Eventually we did and just as I was coming to grips with my guilt over messing up the reef, a guy on a boat came by and told me we needed to swim around the reef instead of on it so we don't kill it. Geez, I felt really awful, but fortunately Hannah only caught the part of his little speech that instructed us to swim AROUND it when we went back. We thanked him for his help...

Our plan was then to keep the sea grass always in sight (if possible) on one side and the reef on the other to avoid another mishap. It worked really well, and in addition to seeing all kinds of beautiful fish, from tiny to about four or five feet long, we were treated with a visit with a Hawksbill Sea Turtle that looked very much like the one in the picture! 

A Hawksbill Sea Turtle (NOT the one we actually saw, but looked just like this one!)

It truly was a spectacular experience, snorkeling with my 12-year-old, and reminded me of why we came here: for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that will shape the rest of her life.

Hannah combed the beach for sea glass upon our return to land and soon we decided it was time to head for the shower and supper! She was in bed by 8:00 and when I went in to pray with her shortly after, she was already asleep.

Thank you, God, for the sights we saw today. Thank you for allowing us to do this together.

Day Two

This morning I received a phone call from Abbie saying there was a turtle hatching going on at Zoni Beach!!! Although it was about 5 or 5:30 in the morning, I bolted out of bed, woke Hannah, we threw on our swim suits and headed out the six miles to witness the excitement! We were NOT disappointed!! We were able to assist her in getting the last four of 74 baby leatherback sea turtles out to sea! I cannot even begin to explain how excited we both were to be part of this event. I took video of it and have worked much of the day trying to get it to upload, but unfortunately I've so far been unsuccessful... 

The Last Two!!

He's about the size of the palm of my hand.

As far as I know there isn't an English-speaking church on the island, so all morning I was thinking of Westwinds.... However, it was such a God-experience to see those teeny babies swimming out to sea, realizing that they will grow to be over a thousand pounds in adulthood!

They were so excited to be wet!!! It was hilarious!

They all made it to the ocean! Yay!!

Sorting the Eggs

This mama dug a 35-inch hole to lay her eggs in!! Wow!

Upon our return home we did our usual shower and breakfast routine and then went in to meet Abbie at the school. She showed us where my classroom will be. I am so excited and overwhelmed at all that needs to be done, but Hannah worked on cracking open a coconut we found on the beach while I cleaned and began to sort through and organize things. I will take some classroom pictures to share..


After working and lunch we returned to Zoni Beach because Abbie told us that Sunday afternoons the "gringos" meet at Zoni to catch up and hang out. It was nice to chat and begin making acquaintances with people here. Several people we have met or will be meeting are retired teachers! That's fun!!


We then stopped by a little grocery to pick up some popcorn but they don't sell just regular "make-it-yourself" popcorn :/....so we got microwave...just this once. We had decided we'd have a "snack supper" after we showered. It was fun to run into one of the students there! She's really excited to have us here this year, so that was a nice boost for us!


Even our shower tonight was eventful! Right in the middle of it, Hannah's light went out, her hot water quit working, and my water stopped mid-stream. Nadeen had warned us in her note that we needed to take short showers due to the water source being a cistern, but we've been pretty careful about it! Hannah was worried that she had used too much water when she washed the car yesterday, but I assured her that wasn't the reason. I must admit, though, I was nervous about not having water!!!


However, we made our popcorn and brought out the grapes and yogurt from the frig. We plopped in front of the television and Hannah readied "Princess Bride" for us. Then we held hands and prayed. We thanked God for the wonderful opportunities He has already given us and asked Him to help us figure out the water situation and to give us wisdom in all of our choices. It was a precious time spent together.


We enjoyed the movie and as we were putting things away it occurred to me that it could be a circuit breaker issue... Well, turns out that's exactly what it was, so our problem was easily solved!! Yay!


Now Hannah's in bed, hopefully sleeping and I'm ready to turn in, too. Thank you, God, for Your reminders today of your presence and Your love for us!

The First Full Day

Today was our first full day here. However, I can't truthfully say it's going to be the norm, since today was largely taken up with playing at the beach! 


We tried to make a video of the house....actually, we DID make a video of Nadeen's house (where we're staying for the first three months), but it won't upload to the blog. I guess tomorrow we'll take some pictures for you instead!


We started our day by meeting Abbie at her school. Hannah thought the place was pretty cool and is feeling excited to go. She even said she might want to go for two years there....I'm thinkin' not because I already miss home!!! My classroom is chock-full of books but needs lots of attention in order for me to be able to really feel as though it's "my" classroom (all you teachers out there know exactly what I mean!) so we'll be working on that together this week.


Thinking that getting a post office box would be no biggie, we stopped by the Post Office and were informed that I need two pieces of picture ID. Naturally, I didn't bring my passport, just my driver's license, so that's one more thing my hubby will need to find and send to me! If you're itching to mail us something, please feel free to use Abbie's school as my address temporarily! I'll post it at the end of this...

Looking Across to Culebrita

We then took a trip over to Zoni beach so Hannah could experience the place I'm always talking about! She loved it!

Hannah at Zoni Beach

 Hannah tried to do a handstand, which she did for about 2 seconds, but then a wave came over her and knocked her down. It was hilarous. Before we went home, Hannah found two coconuts, so we brought them home. Tomorrow we are going to try to open them. YUMMMMMMMM!!!! 

Hannah Trying to Crack Open a Coconut

The View From Where We Sat

After the beach we came home, cooked dinner and ate. Hannah thought it was delicious, although I was a little skeptical as to whether she would like homemade beans and rice with shrimp! Then we cleaned the kitchen together like we'll do every night and then played Bananagrams, one of our favs. 


Due to some heavy rains here lately, the island is swamped with mosquitos! In fact, we can't even count how many mosquito bites are on Hannah. I tried, believe me, but gave up after about 25. 


Although it's just a little before 8:00 I think we'll be going to bed soon, as all of this travel and adventure is catching up with us!!


We sure love all of you and miss you already!!


Suzanne and/or Hannah Gibbs
c/o Abbie's School
PO Box 456
Culebra PR 00775

Hannah wasn't very excited about waking up at 6 this morning. However, she was more than a little pumped about what the day had in store! 


Fortunately most of our bags had been repacked and loaded into the van last night so we got ourselves cleaned up, dressed, and ready to head for the airport! After one missed exit we got ourselves turned around and made it there without any more mistakes. Stan dropped us off at the curb where we had a wonderful guy who checked our big bags and handed us our boarding passes. After hugs and kisses good-by, the two of us were off to find our gate! That was an adventure in itself! 


Miami's airport is HUGE so to get to Gate D46 we had to ride the SkyTrain. Hannah pretty much loved it, especially because we got to go up several sets of escalators to get there!

 On the SkyTrain (Hannah has her new "Flying Biscuit" shirt on, too!)

Once we found our gate we went in search of breakfast, then headed back to wait for our flight. On board, we were all set to go when the pilot announced, "Folks, we are having our brakes adjusted a bit so we'll be just a few more minutes." Grrrrr. After that few more minutes the pilot came back on the loudspeaker and reported, "Well, folks, we need to have one of our brakes replaced. Sorry about the wait, folks, but it will probably take about half an hour." It was an hour later (with not one but two wailing babies on board) before we took off. Hannah, however, was a trouper and made conversation with her neighbors! :) 

Since our flight was delayed it meant that getting to the ferry in Fajardo on time would be a miracle. Thank you, God, for that miracle!!! Our driver, Joel, found us immediately outside the baggage pick-up door, loaded us into his van, got us to the ferry dock, made sure we had the correct tickets for both us and our luggage, and helped us get it into the boarding area! He was an angel!!! From there, a couple of very helpful gentlemen made sure we got all six bags safely onto the boat! 

Leaving the ferry dock at Fajardo

Once we set sail we had a great ride across to Culebra and Hannah even took a little nap. She was fidgety with excitement when I woke her as we approached our landing, and once we docked she spied Abbie (whom she's never met!) before I did! We hauled off our luggage and Abbie brought us to our home for the next three months, located at the top of Mount Resaca. Tomorrow we'll try to give you a tour!

Lugging our belongings for the last time into the house, Hannah immediately became friends with Punkin, the cat, and the two lovebirds. She found her bedroom, in which Nadeen had graciously left her a fun cabinet to keep her clothes!

Then we drove to the grocery store, explored what their choices were, picked up some food (we hadn't eaten since breakfast so we were pretty starving!) and returned home to fix our first meal on the island!

Both of our beds have a pretty nifty mosquito net around them and Hannah says it makes her feel like a princess! Fun!

After reading a bit, touching base with Stan and Jessie, and showers, we were ready for our first night's sleep here. So goodnight!!

A Day in Miami

After a good night's sleep in a not-so-great Ramada we wanted to get our list completely done so we could check out the beach!

We started off delivering the keyboard to ABF in Miami, which was close to the hotel and easy to find! Whew! BIG load of of my mind. That part of the transition has been a huge weight in my head, so having it was more than wonderful to pass it off to the shipper! Plus that, they told me it should be in San Juan by Monday so I can pick it up early next week! Yippee!

The next part of checking things off our list seemed like it took an inordinate amount of time because we were so unfamiliar with the area and kept on having to look for places. However, we picked up a few things at a time and Stan even got me a new camera to replace my rather old one that always shows water spots on the pictures!! Thanks, Stan!

Our stop for lunch was a very fun experience. We went to Taco Rico's on Highway 1 in Miami and the food and people there were amazing. Every morsel was a taste of heaven as we ventured into some new territory. If you're in Miami on Highway, that little diner is well worth finding!

Once our bellies were full it was time for the beach! Well...after we stopped for sunscreen! Stan had on his must-do list South Miami Beach so that's where we headed. It was so fun to drive through the very expensive areas of Miami and then into the Art Deco district, especially being the architecture lovers we are! I'm not so sure Hannah was as enamored as we were, but she sure liked watching the big ships!

Stan and Hannah at South Beach in Miami 

Suz and Stan at the same place! (Go figure!!)

The Breakwater on the South Beach strip. Just one of many buildings we enjoyed!

Her first experience in salt water was really fun, too. She didn't quite know what to make of the taste but loved how much easier it was to stay afloat! Venturing out as far as she could was a challenge she couldn't resist and it was great hearing her squeal with glee every time a "snark" (that would be Dad) grabbed her from behind! She found more shells than I would let her keep, so Dad offered to carry them home for her. What a guy!

Since South Miami Beach is a place we may never get back to, we decided to spring for a sorbet treat at on of the fancy outdoor restaurants along the strip. It was great fun...and delicious, too, complete with a tasty homemade cinnamon graham cracker thingy. 

Then we headed back to our not-so-exciting hotel, showered, and repacked all the bags so we'd be ready for tomorrow. We need a really good night's sleep tonight!

Lord, thank you for such a memorable day today. Thank you for pointing us to some out-of-the-way but very fun places. Please be with Jessie back at home and help her to finish her classes well this week! 

Miami!

We had a great start this morning even though we had to say "good-bye" to my brother. We were on the road shortly after 7 a.m. and Hannah was determined to make it from Atlanta to Miami in about an hour...


Although it took considerably longer than that (surprisingly enough!), Hannah did really well in the car, amusing herself by reading, looking for license plates from different states (she found 30!), doing some word searches and puzzles, looking for alligators in the waters along the side of the highway in Florida, and watching a movie. 


The weather was beautiful most of the day, except for a short downpour once we were near West Palm Beach. The we stopped by West Palm Beach to drop off some things for friends of ours and saw their sons' sweet bachelor pad and heard updates on their busy lives. By then, we were all looking forward to the end of our drive. After one more hour on the road, we made it to Miami!!!


So here we are in our room. All we have left to do is drop off the keyboard at the shipper, pick up a few last minute items, and then we'll be ready to relax and check out the beach!


If you think of it, please say a prayer for Jessie. She's home by herself and that's a lonely spot this week with the rest of us gone. She has summer classes she's finishing up, so she's trying to concentrate on that in addition to preparing for attending EMU this fall. Busy girl!


Thanks, God, for a safe trip so far! Thank you for my wonderful family and the life-changing year we are all headed into!

Halfway

This morning we got up at dark-thirty and headed south! Our trip was pretty uneventful, with only one point where we were at a stand-still for a little under an hour. Of course, that put us a tad late getting to Atlanta.


Once we arrived, though, it was wonderful to spend time with my brother, James, and have dinner in a cute and funky restaurant called the Flying Biscuit. Yes, it's true! They had a little bit of a quirky southern menu and some fun beer we sampled. I must admit their biscuits were definitely the best I've tasted!

After dinner we returned to the hotel where James surprised us with our own room!! What a guy!!! We thought we'd be bunking with him! Hannah swam in the outdoor pool (and was able to go the full length underwater!) while Stan, James, and I visited.


We're ready for a good night's rest so we can do the second half of our trek to Miami tomorrow.


Thank you, God, for a safe drive here and for the fortunate timing of being able to spend time with James!