ARUBA, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya....

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain 

It’s a rainy morning in Florida today, thunderstorms and all.  I enjoy rainy days once in a while.  I was awakened by the sound of rain drops hitting my bedroom window.  Then making its way up the stairs was the aroma of freshly ground coffee.  Just perfect. Ok so last night my oldest blew my bubble once again.  He reminded me that he is growing and is no longer my baby.  I asked him if he was planning a play date with any of his friends during spring break. Do you know what he answered?! “Mom, I don’t have play dates anymore, I have hangout days.” WHAT?  when did this happen, why didn’t anyone tell me?!?! I have to come to terms with this growing up business. LOL  

This week as I reminisce about my travels, I’ve gotten an incredible urge to go somewhere! We’ll see what I can muster up during spring break.  I’m glad you have been enjoying it as well.  Today I want to tell you about Aruba; Aruba is a Dutch island in the Antilles commonly referred to as the Netherlands Antilles or the Dutch Antilles.  When I arrived I was expecting to see something similar to all the Caribbean islands I’ve visited.  Boy was I in for a sweet surprise.   For starters there is a constant breeze caressing you every single day of the year.  The architecture has a European feel. It was like nothing I had ever seen in an island before.   The primary language is Dutch although because of the influence of many cultures they developed a language called Papiamento; it’s a combination of Portuguese, West African languages, Dutch, and Spanish and English.  Simply fascinating. 

Our hotel room was overlooking the water. In the morning I would sit on the balcony and sip my coffee listening to the waves crashing against the shore.  I was in heaven.  I have never seen water like the water in Aruba.  Hubby and I went on a snorkeling excursion, the coral was magnificent; vibrant reds, blues, orange, and yellow I didn’t want to leave. I’m ashamed to say that at that time in my life, I was a bit immature and therefore did things that I wouldn’t think about doing now.  I can’t believe I’m telling you this!! Anyway while we were on our way to snorkel there was an annoying woman on our boat that kept complaining about everything. She was making fun of the tour guide because of his accent. Need I say more??? That said….. we were given some fish food to use while we were snorkeling to attract some fish to our area and take pictures.  We were told to use a little bit at a time to avoid a school of fish surrounding us. Sooooo, I couldn’t resist the temptation, while the “woman” snorkeled I threw “ALL” of my fish food around her head. OMG I was awful! Next thing you hear is the woman screaming to the top of her lungs and swimming like a crazy woman away from all the fish that were following her.  I know…. I’m going to fry in hell for that one! LOL

Just to let you know how impressed I was by the turquoise water; when it was time to head back, hubby and I got back on the boat. As everyone else was getting back inside the boat I could not stop staring in amazement at the water.  It was calling me, teasing me, enticing me, I kept telling my hubby “omg, I’m afraid I’ll never see water like this again” (I was right by the way)  Ok so then I did the unthinkable, I jumped out of the boat, right back into the water. The only problem is, I CANT SWIM!! Hahahaha hubby jumped in to save me. (Didn’t speak to me for a while after that) hahaha, it was worth it! Just look at that water, can you blame me??? LOL

Stay packed my FGAL readers... tomorrow we shall go to Argentina and Friday Europe :) are you game?