tick tock

It's still sinking in that in 10 days, we'll be leaving Statia. I haven't quite sorted my feelings out yet. Obviously, it's a completely different idea to be leaving for good as opposed to our typical jaunts home between semesters. Then, that time home was always a novelty - precious few days to get all those things in that we'd been deprived of the months before. Now I'm reveling in the idea of returning to normalcy.

That being said, there are things about living here that I'm sure I'm going to miss. And a few things I know I will never miss. The following is by no means an exhaustive list summarizing my thoughts over the past few days as I've been preparing for departure.

Things I'll miss:

• Saying hello to locals and them replying "okay"
• Caribbean sunsets
• Snorkel dates with Jon
• Our small, close-knit church group
• The walking lifestyle
• My tan
• Looking for blue beads
• Watching Pearl grow up; laughing obnoxiously loud whenever she asks me if she can have a bite of whatever I'm eating
• Sneakily writing 'penis' on all of Lianna's unguarded grocery lists

Things I won't miss:

• Hand-sized spiders
• Taking 2-3 showers daily due to sweat output
• No hot water in my kitchen
• Guano raining down on me from inside the ceiling while I sleep
• Spiders hiding in my clothespins
• Having a use for clothespins

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Penny
• Summer trips
• Clothes I bought at Christmas (with tags still on!)
• A gym membership
• My crockpot
• A DVR
• Being employed
• A queen-sized bed
• Going organic
• Bookstores
• Watching movies in theaters
• Walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night with no fear of stepping on a gecko in the hallway
• Knowing where my poo goes when I flush it