It was inevitable. My comic relief, my extra shot of estrogen, my gal pal Justyna has left Rodeo to rejoin the real world. We tried very hard to convince her to stay. Gabe, Gerrard and myself felt that it would be perfectly acceptable for Justyna to call up good old boss and tell him that due to unforeseen circumstances she wasn’t able to make it back to work for another...hmmm, say week or two. A few days before leaving Justyna sustained a minor head injury while climbing under Saltwhistle’s life lines. After being terrorized by a scratch and win ticket hustler, thrown overboard and now nursing a conspicuous forehead laceration she could have easily made her boss believe that she was injured, traumatized and unable to fly home, at least not for a while. We begged, we pleaded, we reasoned. But, unlike ourselves, Justyna is a scrupulous, hard working individual, who actually likes her job. She was impervious to our questionable arguments and misguided methods of persuasion. She couldn’t stay. She wouldn’t stay, but she did promise to come back. I hold on to that promise. It was such a treat to have her spend those 9 days with us. She is a courteous guest and a lighthearted, high spirited companion. Most of all she’s a damn good friend. We all had a lot of fun together. We shared such great memories, in fact, that when we got to Dominica we passed up the opportunity to seek more waterfalls inland, because we felt that this new adventure might take away from what we experienced with Justyna. As strange as that might sound I, at least, wasn’t ready for any awe inspiring sight seeing sans Justyna.
Despite ourselves we’ve seen many beautiful places since she left. We spent the next 5 days in Les Saintes. A cluster of picturesque islands off Guadeloupe’s south coast. Terre-de-Haut, the main town of the archipelago was one of those places we could see ourselves settling in. It was charming, unhurried. Its residents laid back and friendly. The islands receive enough tourists to sustain local businesses and the most populated areas have just enough modern conveniences to afford a comfortable, delicious life filled with French delicacies. What more could you ask for?