Well good morning. I know this is the moment that many of you have been waiting for. This is my first blog from St. Thomas, USVI, and this is the beginning of the rekindling of this blog's three months extinguished fire. To start things off we have a photo of myself sitting on the balcony of our hotel room near the airport the second night we were here. And the photo above is of the view from that same balcony.
The story is as follows. We arrived a week and a half ago on a balmy Wednesday evening in St. Thomas. We rented a car for one day, loaded our considerable baggage into it's trunk and proceeded to take several wrong turns on our way to the Best Western Carib Beach Hotel 200 ft. away. We were able to get a quick meal at their restaurant on the beach and then crashed out hard in our bed back in the room. The next several days were spent making phone calls trying to find a place to live and a long term car rental and staying at the other Best Western across the bay. The beach there was nice, but we were both hoping to find some relaxation and get settled. On Saturday afternoon we were able to get our permanent housing and long term car. So we showed up at the Regatta Point condo complex near Bolongo Bay on the south side of the island. Our place was pretty nasty. Ants and musty mold in every corner. We took a trip to a grocery store recommended to us by the girl at the car rental place and encountered an immediate and significant experience of life here on the island. The food was old and incredibly expensive - and we thought we were at the cheap grocery store. Jodie and I strolled down the aisles, our jaws agape, in a crowd of island locals amongst whom we were the only white people. She asked me if I wanted to get cereal (a favorite food of mine) and I shook my head no, I'd just passed a box of frosted flakes marked 12 dollars!! When Jodie spotted one particular young man cruising the store with a gun in his pocket, appearing not to be shopping but simply staring at people we decided our cart was full enough and promptly left. We have not returned.
Over the next couple days Jodie started her job and I cleaned the house, spraying for ants and scrubbing out cabinets. The kitchen is now in relatively usable shape and the bugs are at least out of sight. Jodie's job on the other hand is an interesting experience to say the least. There have been a few occasions on which we have experienced a degree of racism from the locals, not being served at a food vendor, being ignored or refused help when we've asked for things like directions, or even quiet disdain from a grocery store clerk. But these pale in comparison to the degree of scorn Jodie's co-workers seem to have for her and the other white hospital employees. And as one's relationship with one's co-workers is often the most important factor in having an enjoyable work experience, well I'm sure the situation speaks for itself.
Nonetheless, Jodie and I are incredibly happy to be here. The time we are able to spend together and at the beach more than makes up for any challenges we've faced. Yesterday we joined our three neighbors (also travel nurses) and one of the ER doctors for a trip over to Jost Van Dyke in the British VIs. The boat ride there, into the wind the whole way, was incredibly rough but it was well worth the trip. I've never seen a more perfect beach - fine white sand, clear bright blue water, beautiful palm trees and a perfect clear, sunny day. We brought a bunch of beer and a couple of bottles of booze and relaxed in the sun and in the calm water all day. Unfortunately we forgot to bring a camera with us, but one of the girls brought hers, so eventually I'll get a few pictures from that day.
Anyway, things are wonderful and we're all settled in now. Our neighbor two doors down has opened up his wireless internet signal to us so we have internet at home. Here are some photos of our place and of the view from our place. Pretty much every single day here is gorgeous. If you're jealous then you're reading this correctly. That's all for now. Take care, we miss you, I'll be updating much more frequently now. Peace.
