Updates, Updates, Updates

Brace yourselves and maybe grab a snack...this is gonna be a long one!

We made it to St Maarten on the Edge (barely...it was overbooked by 30 people). The ride was pretty rough, but we made it in just over an hour with only slightly queasy stomachs. Once we got some food in us, we were good as new. Here's a picture of the ferry and a picture of Saba from the boat.

We were so excited to meet Jon at the airport in St Maarten and head to Anguilla. After switching from a teeny tiny room to a tiny room, we settled in. The hotel is located on Island Harbour. I think this is the fishing center of Anguilla.
The next day we got in our rental car and drove (on the left - always exciting!) to Shoal Bay. We went to Rendezvous Bay on our previous trips to Anguilla, so this was our first time to go to this beach. It was beautiful! The only "event" I remember is that Lee lost his sunglasses when he dove head first into the ocean. Apparently, in his excitement to get in the water, he did not think this situation through entirely.

This is Lee and I at Mango's on Anguilla. Yummy seafood pasta! Not so yummy caesar salad (whole anchovies on top - sorry Jon!).

Saturday we did a sprint through Phillipsburg in St Maarten and then headed back to Saba. I'm always surprised at how glad we are to be back...even after counting down to leaving. Just a few minutes after taking off from St Maarten, we took a hard right turn and headed straight back. A caution light came on, and the pilots thought it best to go back and switch planes. We couldn't agree more! Landing on Saba is special enough without a caution light!

Jon, Lee, and I hiked down to the Sulphur Mine one day. Don't worry - we did NOT go in there. This is a picture from the hike, and, yes, that is indeed the end of the runway just to the right of Jon's head!

Here's Jon and Lee at Swinging Doors anxiously awaiting some ribs! And then Jon boarding the plane again after a week that went by so fast.

Car update: the driver's seat is not latching in or something so as Lee drives the seat falls back farther and farther until he's practically laying down. Sounds like a problem? Not when you have a scrap piece of 2 x 4! Lee's resourcefulness on Saba has never ceased to amaze me/make me laugh out loud!

One last update: we had a MAJOR scare with our student loans. The loans are a mess. We're on our 3rd loan company since starting medical school because one by one all the companies are pulling out. Since February, we've been going back and forth with the last loan company. Our loan is going through...no it's not...yes it is. Tuesday Lee called to check on it and was told that our loan was fine since it was already approved but no more loan applications were being accepted. Wednesday Lee called and was told that our loan had been terminated and there was nothing we could do. Um...excuse me?! What followed was text book "men and women are different." Lee: Here's the problem; here are our options; let's decide right now this very second what we're going to do. Me: tears, tears, tears; I don't know what we should do; tears, tears, tears; call Dad; tears, tears, tears. Seriously, my eyes HURT the rest of the day. Thursday we get an email from Saba University's office in the States saying that the loan officer must have pulled some miracle because they were notified that our loan was going to go through. We know better than that...there was a miracle, and we know for sure Who pulled it off. Today Lee called Saba's U.S. office and was told that they received the disbursement today and were wiring our portion of the money to our account this afternoon. Whew! Praise God! All is well again for us, but I know lots of other students are still in a mess or have had to transfer to a school that still has some loan companies working with them.

So there it is - a recap of the last week. We're on our way to a cookout at Shawn and Sonya's (our landlords). And then it's the countdown until the next round of family comes Monday!