Daylight is fading.  The sound of the ocean’s ebb and flow, rhythmic and familiar now, forces its way into my tiny living room.  Birds offer up their final chirps of the day, more of a solo effort now than during their morning chorus.  Guests on bicycles, towels draped around their necks, roll on by, moving a bit swifter than usual as it is the time of day when the mosquitoes like to feast.  They are likely heading back to their villas to wash off salt water and sweat in their outdoor showers. The restaurant will slowly begin to fill as patrons clink glasses and chat about their days spent snorkeling, scuba diving, reading on the beach or hiking on the trails.  The food here is superb, the restaurant touted as one of the best in the Caribbean.  The views aren’t too shabby either.  From the open-air eatery moonlight bathes the marina and sailboats silhouette against ink-blue skies. 

We’ve been here sixteen days now.  Sixteen days of all kinds of wonder.  The beauty is outstanding but we’ve asked ourselves more than once if this is the best place for us.  The job is demanding; the learning curve twists and winds, sometimes in a good direction, sometimes not. We’ve been hotter than hot, chewed up by mosquitoes, caught in a monsoon-like downpour, been battered around on boats slamming against cascading waves.  We’ve been sunburned and scraped up and I’m wondering if I’ll ever have clean feet again!  But we’ve also been completely awed by a country of outstanding beauty, its waters sparkling and twinkling in the sun.  With the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other side, we’ve climbed up high on the hills and looked down onto paradise.   We’ve made some great friends and wined and dined with amazingly interesting people.  We’ve laughed with joy and we’ve cried with frustration.  We’re adjusting, adapting, acclimating to a whole new world. It’s an adventure and adventure is defined as: ‘a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.’ So for now, we’re riding the waves as they rise and fall…..