Time Warp:
As you can see from the fact that this post comes more than 2 months after our 2-year anniversary, we have fully embraced CST (Curaçao Standard Time). As discussed in our year 1 Blog Post, one must truly learn to slow down. Everything goes slow. There’s no point in fighting it or stressing about. Embrace it and move along….sloooooowly. One thing we’ve learned is not to try to achieve too many things in one day. Set achievable goals: if you can get one or two errands or jobs done each day, you’re doing fine. If you get too ambitious, you often end up disappointed. In other words: chill. It will be there tomorrow.

Less Stuff Breaks:
This isn’t exactly true…stuff still breaks. The change is that we know a lot more about preventative maintenance and even fixing some things ourselves. I’m not the handiest guy, but I’ve learned some basics. I’ve never bought and used so much WD40 and so many tie wraps in my life. Turns out these are the most used items in Curaçao homes. Something always needs lube or to be strapped down. Also, it’s important not to be shy to ask for help. Our C4C Facebook Group is full of helpful people, and the list of trusted skilled labourers has been super valuable. As with the time warp mentioned above, if you can’t change it, you might as well embrace it. Pay attention to how people fix things, ask questions, and truly, ask for help when you need it. Keeping up with things like painting, cleaning A/C filters, and keeping things dust free are super important. Overall, we are way less overwhelmed than we were before.

Perfection is a Fool’s Game:
This sort of goes with the point above. When it comes to cleaning, yard work, painting, etc., trying to achieve perfection will only bring you pain. Lol. Forget perfection…go for “a bit better”. The key to happiness is low standards. I’m pretty sure that’s why my wife stays with me. This is a tough one for me. As many of you know, I have a bit of OCD (should be “CDO”…alphabetical would be better). It’s hard for me to stop until the job is done. When it comes to dust, pet fur, and leaves outside, the job, by definition, can NEVER be done. Lol. Do your best, then have a beer and move on.

Make an Effort…People Appreciate It:
Like me, you may not be great at learning languages, but simply trying is very appreciated by people here. “Bon dia, bon tardi, Bon noche, danki,” etc., go a long way to building bridges. Even if those are the only words you learn, using them will always be greeted with a smile. Along with that, make an effort to be helpful, polite and gracious. These are traits that everyone says they love about people from Curaçao, so try hard to emulate them.
This is also true with respect to social settings. People here are very social, like getting together and seeing friends, and love treating each other. When invited somewhere, try to go when you can. Honestly, life is just more fun here.

Beware the Flora:
There are very few animals in Curaçao that will harm you. I’m pretty sure the largest predator here is the cat. Stray dogs usually run away. There are no venomous snakes, etc.
But the plants?? Between Manzanilla, Acacia (pika/Sumpina), Bougainvillea, etc., it seems the plant life is far more intent on killing you than any animal here. If you go hiking or in the mondi (bush) for any reason, wear good shoes with tough soles. You may need those shoes in your own yard. Hell, you might need them in your shower…these plants are evil!! If you are ever driving in a local neighborhood and hear, “I hate these freaking bougainvillea” in an obviously Canadian accent, you’re probably near our place. It’s good I’m not on blood thinners.

Curaçao’s 4^th Official Language…Honking:
Curaçao’s official languages are Papiamentu, Dutch and English, but for anyone driving here, YA GOTTA KNOW HOW TO HONK!! People here honk to say hello, please go ahead, thank you, I’m here, I’m leaving, I see you, dushi sanka, and now and then, EFF U. The tone, duration and intensity of the honk can mean infinite things…like aloha. When I used to vacation here, I often felt like my honks were not good. Before moving here, I sat in my driveway in Canada and practiced my honking endlessly. Now, I am super fluent in honking. My wife has often stated how proud she is of my achievement. She’s a very patient woman. My neighbors were not so patient.

People Come and People Go:
One thing that has been great is the making of new friends. But along with that comes some sadness. Many people, after moving here, figure out it just isn’t for them and they move along. Others are here for temporary work, etc., and they end up leaving as well. In Canada, sure, some people moved, but in general, I found people stayed put a lot longer and more consistently. Here, it isn’t always like that. We’ve made many great friends, that for one reason or another, had to leave the island. It’s always sad, but thankfully, some come back for visits. It’s just a fact of life when living on an island, I guess. I can’t imagine ever leaving, but that’s me. It’s something we weren’t prepared for, but we are learning how to deal with it.

Find Your Routine:
This is probably the biggest thing. At the one-year mark, we still didn’t have a good routine. We were kind of floundering, trying to figure out how to organize our time and days. We’re doing way better at this now, and life is better because of it. Our days are organized, and way more productive now. The one thing we’ve had troubles with is finding a good exercise routine we can maintain. We often sit down and have drinks while discussing this, but that’s about as far as we’ve gotten. Oh well, I guess that will be something for our year 3 post. Lol.

We hope you enjoyed our year 2 update. We’ve still loving living here, and super happy to not be cold. Stay tuned for an exciting year 3. We hope to make more new friends, do more exciting things, see more of Curaçao’s beauty, and hopefully not age too much!! No matter what, there is still no snow (so, woooohooo). And remember:

If all else fails, go to the beach and have a drink!! (or ten)