Week Two on the Island

I can definitely say there are pros and cons to coming here for school. I'll try not to say too much about the cons because we will survive. For one, I do not have my books yet...even though I ordered them in March! Actually, I did get an e-mail saying they have arrived on the island, I just need to go to Roseau to pick them up. The cab fare is around $50 - $80 EC to get it AND I have to pay the customs which is around $35 - $50 EC! Talk about pricey! I would recommend buying books on the campus from the upper class men who are selling...but, I didn't know that. Food is incredibly expensive here. You would think that a country that has such a low annual wage per person would have less expensive food items. That is not the case. Everything here is more than in the states by 2 to 3 times. We have seriously cut back on the food consumption. Wes and I will be a lot thinner by the time we are done since we let the kids eat the majority. Milk and eggs are stored on the shelf...not refrigerated. This makes for some interesting omelets! We have already had a rotten egg...bad smell...really.

On the plus side...the weather dosen't change much...it is hot all the time. We get a rain shower about every day, but it feels really good. Karissa and Jillian are loving school and the ocean. They ask to go to the beach every day after school. Karissa has learned to catch crabs. So far she has caught two. The last one pinced her, but she went back after it anyway (after screaming at the top of her lungs).

We do have some wild life in the house...we just found a lizard on one of our chairs. Jillian discovered it and started freaking out over it...we just put the chair outside and let the little guy go on his own. I guess our upstairs neighbors killed all the rats before we got here. I guess there was quite an infestation of them...to the point they had to kill them with their bare hands. Melonie said they were the size of squirrels. I'm glad we missed out on that excitement.

Wes has fallen in love with snorkeling...his back is red from being in the water all day while the kids and I are in school. He goes out with a couple other dads on campus. He found a place where there were a few lobsters, so maybe he can catch some and we won't starve! He said he tried to grab it but broke its anntena off. I think he needs better equipment.

All in all, things are good. This is not the place for materialistic people who are used to being pampered and living in luxury! So, if that is you, don't bother coming down. But the rugged beauty of the island really is breath-taking. The one down side is the trash...seems that people just dump it wherever they feel like it. I'm not sure they have a landfill or anyother way of disposing it.

Well, I guess that is all for this week. Hopefully we will have lots more to say in the time to come.

Oh, and care-package ideas: scented candles, peanut butter and cereal.