Before we moved down here, a number of locals offered helpful hints on how we should approach life in St. Thomas. Take time to greet everyone - formalities are important. Be patient - some times it takes longer to get tasks completed. And get involved in the community.
Coming from a large urban community more inclined to avoid eye contact, greeting everyone takes a little getting used to. When I run along the waterfront in the morning, there are a lot of people to greet. And if someone doesn't look at you and say "good morning" - chances are they don't live here.
Julian who has always been a very social and extroverted child - has fully embraced the meet and greet. In addition to a very enthusiastic "good morning!" he will usually launch into a supplemental "show-and-tell" conversation. Everyone will know Julian soon.
Patience is also an important skill. Some tasks have been accomplished extremely quickly. Others require some knowledge of the system or just being prepared to wait. Take for example any shopping. I've been looking for some outdoor furniture since I've arrived and while choices are limited, I found possibilities in three different stores. In all three cases, however, the furniture was boxed up with no price. When I asked the price - no price could be found. Could I come back in a few days? In some of the stores, the selection is endless but you have to order it - and ordering means waiting a couple of months for it to be shipped. Waiting also assumes that you are patient.
Grocery shopping has also been an exercise in planning and remembering who gets deliveries on what day. Before I actually figured this out - it was initially a bit shocking how sparce some of the grocery stores could look before they received deliveries. Figuring out what to make for dinner is challenging at the best of times, especially when there's close to no fresh produce in the store. So now I know: among my local stops - on Tuesdays and Fridays, the Marina Market gets their fresh fish and on Sundays, the Fruit Bowl gets their fresh produce. Clearly - an island very dependent on its shipments.
And speaking of dependencies - power. There was another power outage today in the Red Hook area near our home. The outage didn't extend as far as our house - but the entire Red Hook "village" area was in the dark. I approached the local hardware store that had posted a hand written "YES - WE ARE OPEN" sign on the door. After one of the staff greeted me at the door and let me into the very dark store - I was led down an aisle by flashlight to find some lightbulbs (yes, ironically).
Very surprisingly - there were a number of businesses in this area that did not have back-up generators. The pharmacy and a few more touristy stores that fully rely on power to conduct business. Obviously, from our perspective this is all good. I see some future sales visits to these shops in my future.
When I was in Red Hook today, I had coffee with a realtor, Nancy who showed me around in November and set us up with our house. (Fortunately, the coffee kiosk Lattes in Paradise did have a back-up generator and very nice coffee.) Nancy has lived here over 30 years - and in addition to being a lovely person with a hysterical sense of humour, she has some great insight into the community. She is also a sailor - so we chatted about sailing and what the area has to offer. As new residents - there will be a number of "communities" we'll get to know. From the business community and those within the boys' schools and sailing, to our local community, there will be many new faces and a lot to learn. And it will be a great adventure.
Now I just have to work on my patience.
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