Last day of the month. One of our jobs is to use up the data on our data SIM cards. These are the amazing Digicel SIMs we bought in Martinique and can use Caribbean-wide. Tomorrow the monthly clock of our SIMs re-sets – and any data we haven’t used for the month, we lose.

This is often a pipe dream. We don’t usually have any data to spare. School and everything else. But since this is still summer holidays – which has meant data to spare! I’ve updated two computers today and have uploaded 2,500 photos – so far. I still have another 2.5K to go. I haven’t put my photos on the Cloud – since last December.

On our last trip to Martinique, we bought the girls their own data SIM card to share. This means we have three monthly deals now. It’s made all the difference for data usage. I no longer need to police the data. I didn’t realise how stressful it was either, until I stopped doing it. And the funny thing is the kids aren’t on it any more. Just less shouting!

We’ve also had free wifi in the marina. Unsurprisingly, it’s been pretty slow overall. Strangely though, it’s been just strong enough to play Netflix. Almost nothing else works. Delph and Lu watch movies at night. They stay up too late – but we let them. They’ve been happy. And school starts again – next Monday. This is like the hold your breath bit before the new reality hits. Schedules are up and highlighted. The computers are updated. Half the photos are on the Cloud.

Then there were two new Covid-19 cases in Bonaire last week. Its tally now stands at 7 people. No one has died from it, so far.

One of the new cases is a local person with no (as yet) known contact with any other positive cases. Or tourists. Bonaire was very quiet the day this came out. This little island has had a very smug feel to it to be honest – I’ve thought. The amount of times I’ve heard people saying, ‘We don’t have it’ or ‘It’s not here’ – in a Dutch accent.

My first thought was that everything will close again. Though things didn’t close down here like they did in Barbados. It does mean that the bridge between the Dutch islands is largely gone now. You have to quarantine now in Bonaire from pretty much all directions. And in some instances, CV-19 tests are required, though I can’t tell which ones. It is pretty confusing. Dutch, French and German tourists are still here. I can see it from the towels everywhere reserving the sun loungers.. hehe. Just kidding. But they are here.

So, on the eve of September, we take a collective breath. New season. New potential wave – since we’re now including that into our lives. New school. New data. Maybe new friends. New love.

Bless us all.

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