The days in the cunucu are long. We are mostly working around 10 – 12 hours every day and take Sunday off to recharge. And let’s not forget the heat here in Aruba, which also takes a lot of energy. We’re glad that the work is in the shade, under the tent, or else we would’ve been toasted!

As managers of this project, the work is not only in the cunucu but also continues at home. Besides the physical labour, the work behind the laptop is just as important, if not more. Managing the finances (we all know the stress a financial deadline can cause), creating a timeline so that each phase of the pre-, post-, and installation goes smoothly, handling the bureaucracy in Aruba (which seems designed to break and demotivate you), and making appointments and agreements with all the different parties involved. All this while staying positive, agile and flexible. One thing we’ve learned is that we are resilient! It’s not easy to have a deadline, create a timeline, and see it change for the 100th time. All that while looking forward to a much-needed vacation! Everyone knows how much Roel and I love to travel. Our last vacation catalysed this whole journey, in September 2022 in South Africa. While we are all tired, we’re also overjoyed to see how all the hard work, dedication, sacrifices, and devotion we have invested in our dream manifest itself every day. The progress is noticeable every day.

So back to the installation:
After the frames, the next step was the canvas! Now we really have the feeling of being in a tent; the cabins have taken shape.

The process of installing the canvas goes like this: Just as the frame was a big puzzle, so is the canvas. The cabin underneath the tent is divided into different panels—panels for the outside, panels that divide the interior, and panels for the roof. Stefano started at each tent by opening the packaging and inspecting all the panels, preparing them, rolling them up again, and sorting them so we knew when and where we needed them. Then he started installing each panel in sequence. The outer perimeter and the divisions in the cabin were the first to be installed.

With clamps, ladders, rulers, white pencils, scissors, and knives, the installation began. Each panel was held up against the corresponding frame and fixed with clamps. After that, Stefano would pull each canvas panel to remove all the folds and wrinkles. Just like Roel and I, he’s a bit of a perfectionist. Each panel was pulled and stretched until it was tightly wrapped around the frame. The panels were mounted with rivets (popnagel) in the frame. I think we used hundreds of rivets for each tent! I didn’t know what a rivet was before the installation, but that is one handy tool. And let me tell you something, Stefano did an amazing job, the panels are tight! Love it!

Then, one by one, panel by panel, the cabin came more and more to life. One of the most mesmerising moments was when the first panels with the windows were installed in tent 3. Roel, Stefano and I rolled up the first canvas window, and the view was just remarkable! Stefano was saying from the beginning about how the view would be ‘framed’. With each step, I understood more and more the beauty of the frames. It is as if suddenly you’re looking at a painting! You really have the opportunity to appreciate certain details more than before. For me, I suddenly realised how big one of the cadushi* was, how interesting the shape of a rock was, and how the trunk of the tree looks.

Beauty is sometimes in the little things that we overlook. We have to remember to take a moment and appreciate them.

What little thing can you appreciate even more today?

And so we will continue to make this dream a reality. Ban p’e!

Cu cariño*,
Josy

cadushi: cactus
cu cariño: with love