Hello and happy new year to all! It has been a long time since our last update, too long I am sure. Well I suppose in order to catch you up I should first tell you we now live in the Netherlands.
That is definitely our biggest news.
We have been here for almost three months now. Annette is working for another chiropractor and I am currently going to school to learn Dutch. We are both doing well and getting ready for our Dutch experience. We haven't updated in almost a year so I would like to fill you in briefly what has been going on. For starters our clinic is transferred over to a new qualified chiropractor from Florida. We had a very tough time finding someone willing to come down. The clinic was advertised in chiropratic schools and all the popular chiro web sites for more than 9 months. We received many inquiries but nobody serious.
We knew we could not stay indefinitely in Antigua and we set a departure date for November of last year. The date being set as Annette's first day of work in the Netherlands. Earlier last year Annette went on a trip to Holland visiting chiropractic clinics and possible job opportunities. All the clinics she went to offered her jobs (this does not surprise me at all) and she was able to choose which one she preferered. That was a great bonus to us and made getting here much easier. We still had the problem of selling the clinic and we both, of course, did not want to simply close the doors. Along with our predecessors, Mike and Jana, we had built up something really special and we wanted to see it continue. We did finally find someone. His name is Bruce and he was living on his sailboat in Rio Dulce. Rio Dulce is one of the best hurricane harbors in the Gulf of Mexico and is also a Guatemalan port (home of the only castle in all of Guatemala). Bruce was retired and I am not so sure he really wanted to work but he was still there last time I checked. Bruce is a young 44 year old and I hope that something inspires him and he keeps on with the clinic until he is able to find someone else. Anyway our timeline began to run out and Bruce was slow getting to Antigua so Annette went ahead to Holland and I stayed back for close to a month in order to make the transistion. Well it all worked out and the best thing is there is still someone serving the Antigua area and we where able to leave feeling better about that. Before Annette left we threw a vbig party at the clinic as a thank you and farewell. We cleared all the furniture out and it was a lot of fun seeing everyone together and sharing many stories. It was not easiy leaving so many good friends and amazing country side but we did it. It was, for me, an unforgettable experience and I learned many things from it. For all of you now kicking yourself for not visiting us before we left, as I said to a good friend of mine already, kick harder. We did however leave most of Guatemala behind so you can still go, you just have to do without two really good guides. I am beginning to suspect if I catch you up too much this e-mail will be way too long so I will try to keep it short. I don't think we ever posted pictures or told you about our last house in Antigua and now we are working on getting pictures of our new one. There is quite a difference to be sure. In all three years of living in Guatemala I rode on two elevators. One out of necessity and the other just because it was there. I now ride the elevator everyday at our new apartment.
In the picture we live on the 6th floor or in Dutch terms the 5th floor. Our apartment is located in downtown Almere 4 minutes walking distance from the train station. We still have no car and we plan on buying one sometime this year. However public transportation here is excellent and a car is more of a convenience than a necessity. We of course have bikes. I have Karen's old bike which is refered to as an oma fiets (grandma bike). It is a complete cruiser with saddle bags and speedometer. It also has front and rear lights and three locks for security. Adjusting to Dutch life is not to difficult. You just have to learn to drink alot of coffie. That is all for today I think. We hope this letter finds you healthy and happy. Until next time.
Sincerly,
Nathan and Annette
