Tip # 10

I've heard iguana soup is a delicacy here...I still need to try that before I leave...

Try peeling a banana from the bottom.

My whole life I have always peeled a banana from the top – you know, from the stem that connected it to rest of the banana bunch. Well, after moving here, I was taught by my friend that it is actually much easier to open the banana from the opposite side.

When you move here, try peeling the banana from the bottom. As it is a completely different country, with influences from many other countries, there are things here you have never even heard about, let alone tried. Don’t let what you think you know blind you from trying something different, that may be better.

For instance: cheese.

This island is part of the Netherlands. This should be self-explanatory in referring to cheese, but to be more explicit, frankly, I am astounded by how many students here choose to buy the big bags of Kraft cheddar and American cheese, when delicious Gouda is half the cost.

Also: chocolate.

Again, I never fail to see a Snickers bar or a Kit Kat dangling out of an unsuspecting student’s mouth, despite the wide array of delicious dark and hazelnut chocolates.

I think it has to do with peeling the banana.

We are so used to things one way, we won’t try anything else. And, because of this, we miss out on a lot.

You don’t often get the opportunity to live in a country with new things to try, so, try festival cookies instead of oreos. Try Fria instead of Sprite. Try cooking with plantains and cilantro. Try the bakery bread, rather than buying the fluff shipped in from the States.

But most of all, try peeling the banana from the other side. You’d be surprised how much easier and better it is. 

Tip #9

photo by Zsus of the Woodwind, since I don't own an underwater camera....

Bring a mask and snorkel.

Though he won’t openly admit it, growing up, my McDreamy’s favorite Disney movie was ‘The Little Mermaid’.  

It has only been since moving here, that I have realized how well this movie suits him…us, really.

There is a world here that is completely different from what we know back home.

You get sucked into it. It’s magical, really.

Carrot-orange Elkhorn coral stands erect and unfaltering, in huge castles, towering over rigid hills of amber fire coral. Violet sea tubes trumpet out from the sand in a harmonious pipe symphony. Iridescent emerald and amethyst sea fans, with wide-stretched, vein-ridden fingers, wave, regally, as you pass.

And that’s just some of the coral.

What really rivets your attention is the bright aquamarine parrotfish, noisily crunching on the reef, and the graceful, elegant angelfish. Spotted cowfish, filefish, and trunkfish, all who look like they’ve been painted for some ancient Indian war, ironically lazily and absent-mindedly swim nowhere. Long, skinny trumpet fish swiftly skim the surface of the water, speeding away from you, as you shy away from a menacing open-mouthed moray eel. 

And then there are my favorites: the fat, Muppet faced puffer fish and the unicorn zebra fish (I think these are actually called spotted drums, but unicorn zebra fish is a much more fitting name).

But it is the special occasions that you remember most: the times when you witness several playful turtles surfing inbound currents, and quietly observe stingrays burying themselves in sand to lure future prey. Or the singular occasion when your mind is feverishly fixated on following a six foot long reef shark, despite the nagging trepidation in your body, willing you to escape in the opposite direction.

The seaweed really is greener here.

And all you need to have to see it is a mask and snorkel. 

Well, and you may want a fish ID card, so you don't have to make up the names of the fish...like I do.