Monday I was back to work, and my new laptop decided this was the perfect moment to have a personality crisis. None of my additional mailboxes wanted to sync, no matter how many settings I poked at, and by the end of it I was thoroughly done with technology as a concept. Five o’clock could not arrive fast enough. We headed to Colibri afterward and ran into Duco, which is always the good kind of surprise. There is something genuinely lovely about being greeted with enthusiasm by your Saba people after being away. It reminds you why you came back.
Tuesday I made a valiant attempt to reclaim my tai chi walking routine, the one I had quietly abandoned somewhere in Connecticut. Good intentions, poor execution. I kept running out of time before work and the walk kept losing. I’m still working my way back into the rhythm of things on the job front too. But the evening redeemed the day, with porch time at Jennifer’s house, tequila sunrises, and pizza. Simple, but exactly the kind of evening that makes an island life worth it.
Wednesday was accounts receivable, all day, every hour of it, because I’d been out the prior week and needed to catch up properly. The phones were relentless and I only got through half of it, which is a special kind of frustrating when you know tomorrow’s pile is just going to be that much taller. Small mercy that it was girls night. I started with a pregame cocktail at The Hideaway, and once Anise and Jennifer clocked out around six, we regrouped at Colibri.
Thursday started fine and then fell apart. The afternoon was miserable at work, and I capped it off with a twenty five minute phone call to Paychex that I will be thinking about for a while. Apparently my status change means I need to move my 401K into an IRA, which sounds simple enough until you try explaining to a customer service line, repeatedly, that you are not currently in the United States. I made this point. Several times. To several people. None of them absorbed it. More than two thirds of the call was me on hold, with someone checking in every couple of minutes just to confirm, yes, I was still there, still waiting. When I gently suggested a callback might be more efficient for everyone involved, I was told no, I needed to stay on hold. I do not lose my temper often, but I came close.
The evening made up for it though as we had a few friends come by. Anise and Darren climbed the hill around six, and we roped in our Airbnb neighbors for a beer. It turned out they were planning to make their karaoke debut at Hideaway the next night, and we promised to show up and witness it.
Friday was a much better day, and I was almost caught up by five o’clock, which felt like a small miracle after the week I’d had. Dinner was at Tropics, where I discovered they had a shawarma special, a genuinely delightful surprise. We fully intended to make it to karaoke around nine, but we ran into our neighbors, who told us they were too worn out from a long hike to follow through on their singing debut, so we opted to skip it.
Saturday started with breakfast at Island Paradise with Samantha, a pleasant morning if ever there was one. We made a pharmacy run to The Bottom around eleven to beat the closing time, then spent the afternoon down at the harbor for World Ocean Day. We ended up at Ocean Club, a second floor spot I had somehow never been to before, for snacks and drinks. There we ran into Dominic, a young friend of Dave’s from a scavenger hunt back when Dave first landed on the island. Somehow aviation came up in conversation and this kid absolutely lit up. For a nine year old, his grasp of all things aeronautics was seriously impressive, and we had a genuinely good chat with him and his mom. By the time we got home, the day had caught up with me, and I opted to stay in with Samantha while Dave headed down the hill to Swinging Doors.
Sunday was quieter. I went into town for groceries and grabbed lunch at Saba Snack. Samantha and I spent the afternoon in the cemetery, of all places, talking through ideas for making it even more peaceful. Not a typical Sunday activity, but a nice one. That evening we had sundowners with Anise at her place, and her house is genuinely lovely, all seaside color and coastal touches throughout. We stayed until around nine before heading home.
Monday the internet decided to test me, clocking in at a painful 7.70 mbps for downloads. By 3:30 I had to throw in the towel entirely, my database kept timing me out over and over, and I logged off around 3:45 with a plan to make up the hours by trimming a couple of lunches later in the week. A Starlink setup is officially in my future, because this is not sustainable.
That evening I invited our friend Anne over to meet Samantha. I had a hunch they’d get along, kindred spirits who just hadn’t crossed paths yet, and the front porch delivered exactly the kind of easy conversation and people watching I’d hoped for. After Anne left and Samantha turned in, I was doing one last scroll on Facebook when I stumbled on a studio rental listing for the month of July. I forwarded it to Samantha immediately, since she’d mentioned wanting to rent for a month or so. About fifteen minutes later she appeared on the back patio to tell me she’d already booked a viewing for nine the next morning, smart thinking given how quickly things disappear on Saba’s tight housing market.
Tuesday work went more smoothly, though the island internet was still not fully cooperating. I spent part of the afternoon researching the Starlink purchase and landed on a plan: fly to Sint Maarten Friday after work, return Saturday, a quick twenty four hour trip just to grab the equipment.
Samantha, meanwhile, saw the studio, loved it, and locked it down on the spot. Money changed hands and just like that, she had a home base for the month of July on Saba. We celebrated with dinner at The Hideaway, where Samantha said some temporary goodbyes ahead of her flight back to the States on Wednesday.
All in all, a week of tech headaches, hold music, and porch time, which is about as accurate a summary of island life as I can give you. Til next time!