The End is Here

This is the last post from our 2 years in St Maarten (of course we're already in the States as I write this). Our last couple weeks on the island flew by. It was full of bittersweet moments. We made sure to get some more beach time in while it was still our "backyard." We had a nightly Carousel outing. Dinners with friends. Moonlight kayaking. Hiking. We tried to make the most out of our last days, especially spending time with friends since we had done a good job of enjoying the island over the last 2 years. We even managed to get checked out of our apartment and get our entire deposit back (minus the mandatory(unnecessary) cleaning fee), now if you knew our landlord company, you'd know this is nearly unheard of! We also had the pleasure of ending our time on the island with Tropical Storm Isaac. Thankfully the storm turned so we were able to fly out on time.

It has been an awesome 2 years. We have so many wonderful memories and friendships from St Maarten. We want to thank everyone who has made this experience so special. Thank you to all our AUC friends, Soc at Island92, Chris and Sally at Octopus Diving, Susy and Juan Pablo at TriSport, and everyone else we've met along the way. We love you all and miss you already. See you in 2015 for graduation!!

Last picture of St Maarten

After 2 years of looking at these, we finally got one to celebrate Owen passing all his exams!

Hiking with Cows

Market in Marigot

We decided to try shark

Actually pretty good

Shark dinner with Cayleigh, Jason, and their friend Jack

Sean, Alie, and Ella (before taking them to the airport)

Night kayaking (with Chris, Thao, Cayleigh, & Jason)

Last good beach day  (2 days before leaving, due to Isaac)

Before

After

Before

After

Our shells on the window sill

Always loved watching the wall of rain come over the mountains (thanks Isaac)

The outer bands of Isaac, even that can destroy the beaches and make for nasty weather

Goodbye St Maarten

Last Dive Trip

Well the last couple of weeks on St Maarten flew by. Luckily I did get a chance to go diving one last time with Octopus Diving! Unfortunately we were not able to get a cool, deep dive in before we left as the owners left for vacation just before us leaving. But I did get to go on one last dive trip a couple days before flying back (unfortunately Owen wasn't able to go), and I actually got to go to a new site! Diving new sites gets hard to do the more you dive :) It was really rough seas, as Isaac was coming our way just a few days later. We dove at Japanese Gardens and Tug Boat off Titamarre. Even though seas were rough, the dives were still pretty good. Here are a couple pictures (more here) from the dives, I tried to get some pictures while also just enjoying being under the water one more time, though hopefully will only be a short absence from diving.

Huge Stingray!

Doctor Soc

Doctor Soc

Well after a year of joking around with Soc about getting him a honorary doctorate from AUC, we finally pulled it off (sort of). We arranged for a white coat with his name and the AUC logo to be delivered to us via a visitor. I created a honorary doctorate certificate and found a great frame for it. We even got the one of the deans to sign the certificate and come to the radio station with us to present it. It was a total surprise to him (he definitely thought we wouldn't pull it off) and it was great. We had so much fun seeing his surprise and excitement. We have had a great time getting to know Soc this last year+ and hope to call into the show sometimes. Here's some pictures from the presentation.Thanks for some great times Soc!

What it looked like (before signed)

Presenting the white coat

Pretty sure he thought he was just getting a white coat

The Dean presenting the honorary doctorate

Definitely surprised and excited

Tony visits the Island

After being here almost 2 years (and being only 3 weeks away from leaving) Tony finally made it to the island! We had a nice extended weekend with him, right after Owen finished his exams.....which we found out he passed at the end of the long weekend!! So we are officially free to leave the island without having to return until graduation! Anyway it was a pretty low-key weekend with Tony. While Owen was taking his exam, I took Tony to Octopus to do a discover dive. Despite getting very sea sick, he had a pretty good time. We also watched the planes for a bit and ventured into Philipsburg for some shopping. All the touristy things :)  We spent some time at the beach, went out for dinners, and celebrated Owen's passing scores with gelato sundaes at Carousel. Overall it was a relaxing, enjoyable long weekend. Thanks for coming to visit Tony!!

Beautiful day for being on the water

Learning a few skills first

Dive pictures are not very flattering if you don't take the regulator out :)