Back Where I Belong

This is a complicated post to write as I just returned from a trip to Arizona, my second since moving to Aruba.  Before I begin, please note that when I asked Google to help me with this title, the first thing that came up was this song title with the featured artist Avicii.  Although I don’t know a lot about him, I do know that he passed away this week at the young age of 28 and that was very sad news.  Even though I wasn’t a fan, I still thought it would be nice to use his song as my title.  Rest in Peace, Avicii.

Each year, our youngest has to return to Arizona for state school testing so I chose to tag along for that week to drive her to and from the testing site.  In other words, I had an excuse to visit friends, go shopping, and eat my favorite food!  Since it had been nearly a year since my last visit, I was pretty excited about going to Target and Old Navy, eating REAL Mexican food and most importantly, seeing the friends I have missed.  All of those things were amazing, friends topping the list for sure, but wow, did I have complete confirmation that I couldn’t live there again!

Let’s talk about my very first experience with an American person at the rental car counter just after my arrival.  First thing, I still have an Arizona driver’s license because it is valid until I’m 65 and I just haven’t gotten around to the 40 steps it takes to get one in Aruba.  So she immediately tells me that I am a “local renter” and can only drive my rental car 250 miles.  She says in a very snotty tone, “Where are you going?”  Uh, one moment, let me figure out how far 250 miles is.  In the meantime, I insert my husband’s debit card in their little machine because my own debit card was shut down due to a fradulent purchase (hope someone enjoyed their $93 worth of perfume they bought with it), and she says, “Who is Jay?  Where is he?”  Well, that’s my husband and he isn’t here.  “You can’t pay with that.  Don’t you have a credit card?”  Um, no, I don’t because we don’t use credit cards any longer.  Then she tells me I can’t go to the ATM and get cash because they don’t take cash.  But maybe this OTHER guy she knows would rent me a car.  So she calls him.  Well, he has a car he will bring me for $79 a day when I rented this other one for $150 for the whole week!  No, thank you!  At my whit’s end, I say to her, “Help me out here!”  Her response was, “If I helped you I would lose my job.”  Excuse me?  Aren’t you in customer SERVICE?  (See previous blog post about customer service – gggrrrrrrr)  So at this point, my only solution is to take the shuttle back to the airport, plug in my dead iPad and message my husband in Aruba.  Because he’ll really be able to help me.  Right?!?  But he messages my sweet friend I am supposed to be meeting for dinner and in a heartbeat she says, “On my way!”  So thankful for friends who will rescue you!

PS – The next day I returned to the rental car place with my very own debit card and rented the car without even a hesitation from a very nice person who was working there.  Did I report this first situation?  Oh yes – gotta love those surveys they email to you!  And by the way, it was 250 miles PER DAY not total like she made it sound.  Ugh!

So not off to a great start but everyone else was nice after that for the most part.  What I did notice is that everyone is in a hurry all the time and no one takes the time to say hello or make eye contact or acknowledge your presence.  This is something I’ve grown accustomed to in Aruba.  Whenever you walk into any type of establishment – store, bank, wherever – everyone speaks to everyone.  I love it!

The other thing that freaked me out was the big roads and the fast cars.  Now Aruba drivers are a little crazy but you don’t have six lanes of crazy and everyone driving humungous SUV’s that could hold a small Army.  One of my friends commented as she rode in my rental car, “Beat the light!”  And was so amazed at how slow I drive now and that I’m not in a hurry to get anywhere.  Old Tammy used to drive like a maniac on those gigantic roads in my own giant SUV.  Ha ha!  Times have changed!

Let’s talk about the good things – the friends.  It was so fun to see those that I did and ran out of time to see some, of course.  It was so much driving, a little hard to communicate without a phone and only Facebook Messenger when we were in Wifi.  Then when we were in Wifi, I needed to be paying attention to who I was with and also try to talk to my family back in Aruba.  UGH!  But we squeezed in as many visits as we could.  Look at all these cute faces!!!!!

In addition to the friends, of course there was a lot of shopping and again I felt like a madwoman in Walmart and Target saying, “look at how cheap this is” and “look at how many choices there are”.  If you live on an island, you know what I’m talking about!  Yep, retail therapy felt good!

And then, there was the food.  Again, so much of it and so cheap!  Ha ha!  Aruba has no lack of good food for sure, but there definitely is a lack of good Mexican food.  Take me to Arizona any day for some real tacos, beans and cheese!  Oh, and can we talk about the giant drinks that are served with endless refills?  Yeah, doesn’t take long to get sucked back into that (literally!)…

So here is where I get to the really honest truth about this visit.  I wouldn’t trade our Arizona friends for anything but I sure do wish I could pack them all up and move them to Aruba with me:(  After just a few days, I just really wanted to be back here in the warmth, close to the blue water, and driving on these not-so-crazy-afterall roads.  It really was confirmation that this is where I belong.  However, we will always call Arizona HOME as that is where we spent 22 years and our girls were raised there.   Don’t worry, Arizona friends, you can’t get rid of us that easily!

The return flight took us from Phoenix to Newark and when we landed it was 31 degrees!  What?  I was not prepared for that step off the plane at all!  Morgan and I thought we were going to turn into ice just walking up the jetway into the airport.  Then everyone inside had on their winter coats, scarves and boots.  I managed to pull off a pair of capris and a sweat jacket but still had on my flip flops!  It was pretty awesome to see the NYC Skyline from the airport windows!

The warmth of Aruba never felt so welcoming when we finally landed here.  And it is such an awesome feeling to know when you are truly Back Where You Belong.

 

 

Easter Done Right

As you’ve probably figured out by now, holidays on our island are quite a big deal.  Easter is no exception.  Today marks our second Easter in Aruba!  I do believe Easter may be celebrated even more than Christmas here, or at least a very close second.  Easter in Aruba is all about family and it’s very heartwarming to see.  In the US, it seems that Easter is about pushing people to purchase fancy clothes for the kids, fill the Easter basket with a million gifts, and show up for church that weekend whether or not you regularly attend.  It’s mostly about the eggs and the bunny.  Spend, spend, spend.  Doesn’t seem to be the case here.  Yes, there are some baskets in the stores, but definitely not a major thing.  There are also egg hunts for the kids, but that just adds to the family outings.

Easter Holiday really starts on Thursday of Holy Week.  Many businesses close early on Thursday, and Good Friday is definitely a day off.  It’s refreshing.  Another big event on Good Friday is a sunrise walk to Alto Vista Chapel.  Hundreds of people gather for the walk.  This tiny chapel serves as a place where local Catholics go to pay their respects for many different reasons.  It’s incredibly beautiful and a place we visit often.  This is a photo from when we enjoyed sunrise there as well.

“Devout Catholics in Aruba fast on Good Friday until 3 pm, which, according to Mark 15:25, is the hour when Jesus was crucified. Traditionally, all food for the Good Friday family dinner has to be prepared a day ahead of time. Typically fish appears on the menu. Absolutely no fowl or red meat is served.”  (Bati Bleki, March 30).

The biggest part of Easter in Aruba is camping.  What?  Yes, camping!  HUNDREDS of tents line our beaches.  I’m not just talking about tents, I am talking full on shelters, kitchens, showers, port-a-potties, the whole home away from home!  There will be no school for the week after Easter, tons of people take their vacations from work, and this is where you will find them.  And by the way, EVERYTHING is closed on Easter Monday.

We just spent a big part of our Easter weekend on Eagle Beach amongst the campers and it was definitely all about family.  Now, I’m sure at night, there is probably some alcohol flowing, but what we witnessed was kids playing, moms and dads cooking, and just enjoying each other.  Here are some photos of kids playing in the sand and just tons of people in the water.  I personally think this is so much better than a fancy dress and a basket full of candy and gifts!

Of course it’s also not Easter without church services.  I know there were services at all the churches on the island, but when we were sitting on the beach, the church service came to us!  A group came walking out with a giant banner proclaiming “Aruba Adora a Jesus” (my very rough Papiamento believes this says “Aruba Loves Jesus”).  They gathered around their sign, sang some worship songs, and just walked along the water as they continued to sing.

Yes, Easter, just another thing that Aruba does right!