Turks and Caicos

Once again I find myself halfway through the month wondering were it went. At least I have an excuse this time… I went on vacation!
I spent 5 blissful days in Turks and Caicos visiting my brother and sister-in-law who live in paradise and who welcomed us into their home.

I cannot begin to explain what a big deal this is for me because
A. I have never been anywhere that required a passport before
B. I have never been south of N. Carolina before
C. I never take two vacations in one year
Turks and Caicos is a really interesting place,

the beaches are just beautiful but the interior of the island we were on seemed to be a huge construction zone, partly because of new development but also because they were hit by a hurricane a couple of months ago so there are many buildings being repaired. The disparity between the haves and the have-nots is pretty extreme which is how I understand a great deal of the Caribbean is. Some of the resorts are simply beyond decadent while many people who come over illegally from Haiti for work live in cardboard boxes. We were somewhere in the middle staying at a very nice house of average middle class American size with a remarkable view of the Caribbean Ocean a hell of a pool and lovely gazebos to sit in as day turned into evening. The flowers were gorgeous its funny to see all the “ indoor” tropical plants that I see at Home Depot growing happily in gardens.

I saw my first coconut palms

and I got to snorkel the coral reef (my favorite thing)

and of course my pasty NE skin got a sunburn in spite of my best precautions.
Unfortunately Lar got hit with a virus and wasn’t feeling so terrific for a good deal of the time. He did spend some quality time with the hammock though and we did get to go on a submarine ride out in the coral reef so he got to see the underwater sights. (sea turtles! barracuda! tons of fish!) He was a good sport about it though and brought home a conch shell the size of my head in his carry on bag just cause I wanted it.

It was a wonderful adventure.