When I told you the reasons we chose to move to Aruba, one at the top of the list is because of the friendly people. In this blog post, I am going to take you full circle from the people we love in Arizona, to why we love the people in Aruba, and back again to our Arizona “family”.
Let’s start back in 1997 (don’t worry – time flies!). This is when I met a very special person known as Dee Dee Swank (aka Dee Dee Barry) when we worked together at an amazing company called SA&B. Despite our age difference (ha!), Dee Dee and I became fast friends. Now, for those of you who also know Dee Dee, this should be no surprise. Dee Dee is absurdly fun, brutally honest, and the kind of friend that everyone needs in their life. We packed a TON of fun into the few short months we had together in the office before she left me and went to college at NAU. Dee Dee reminds me quite frequently that when she was away at school, I kept in touch by sending her letters at least once a week. Yes, that was the days when you actually wrote on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope, etc. Now, the other significant thing about Dee Dee’s attendance at NAU was one of her roommates during her time there, happened to be from the island of Aruba. What?!? We’ll get back to that in just a minute. This is Dee Dee and I celebrating our 15-year Friendiversary with a trip to Seattle:
Now fast forward a few years, our family has decided we are moving to Aruba and Dee Dee reminds me that she has the Aruban roommate connection, Jenn. We met Jenn on our trip to Aruba in 2014 and she has been nothing but incredible in helping us with our upcoming move. Anytime I think of a question, she is just an instant message away with more information than we could ever want. This past October during our trip to Aruba, we had the privilege of hanging out with Jenn at her “office”, the Screaming Eagle. She worked her magic and let us try some AMAZING food that we would have otherwise NEVER been brave enough to try!
Jenn is over-the-top helpful and we can’t wait to see more of her once we live there permanently (we are hoping she feels the same!).
In addition to Jenn being so accommodating, we have experienced a few other standout Aruban citizens. It seems that everyone is friendly and helpful, which isn’t surprising because how can you be remotely grumpy when you live in a place that beautiful? Here are a couple specific stories:
During our trip in 2014, we decided we wanted to visit the Donkey Sanctuary. This is a real place, with adorable donkeys that have been rescued on the island because they need healthcare of some sort, maybe they are just old, or even extra cute. Well, it’s in a pretty remote area and again, there is no such thing as a street sign on the island. We had stopped at a McDonald’s to ask if we were heading in the right direction, and a lady who was waiting for her food overheard our question. She strikes up a conversation with us, we find out she is originally from California, has lived there for 10 years, and then she just offers for us to follow her to the turn off for the Donkey Sanctuary! Now, in our conversation, she explained to us where she lives, and the turn off to the donkeys isn’t exactly just on her way. So this incredible woman named Michelle, goes out of her way to lead us to the correct road. Amazing! And aren’t these donkeys so cute?!?
Story number two that stands out in my mind happened during our visit this past October. Maddie was flying in a day later than we arrived, so we had to pick her up at the airport. Well, we could have made her take a cab, but we chose to go get her! The parking lot at the Aruba Airport is a little different than we are used to because there aren’t any people managing it, you don’t get a “ticket” when you enter, etc., but we knew you did have to pay to get out the gate. So once we gathered Maddie, we were trying to figure out how in the world we pay at this exit gate when we have no ticket and there is no person. I noticed a family also putting suitcases in their car, and went and asked if they knew what we should do. They all started telling me that there is a token machine in the lobby of the airport, and you have to use three florins to get a token that you feed into the gate. They asked me if I had florin (that’s Aruban money), and since we had only been there a day, I didn’t have any yet, but figured I could get some inside. They told me, “No, no, here.” And start digging in their purses and handing me florin! Really? And I am trying to give them my American dollars in exchange to which they are telling me, “No, no, please, we are happy to help you.” Really?!? Again, amazing!
The stories could go on and on of complete strangers just being so willing to help, to strike up a conversation, and just be island friendly. We cannot wait to be part of this culture and live in a place where it is completely normal to be so helpful to everyone.
Now to circle back to our Arizona family. As the time draws nearer to our departure, we have felt an overwhelming amount of love from those who have been part of our lives for the past 22 years we have been here. Each of you holds a special place that could never be replaced and we love all of you and what you have contributed to this chapter of our lives. We have been saying over and over again that we hope you will visit and that is sincere. We may not be starting out with any kind of resort-style living, but there will always be an air mattress on the floor and a hammock on the porch for you:) It really is all about the people!
Z Island Life 