next step - get Mark and Max

Another long weekend! President's Day weekend meant we had some extra time to play and get ready for our journey to BC to get "the boys". We re-discovered Coki beach as a great snorkeling beach where we fed the fish and saw some great marine life. The beach has a very sandy bottom with some reefs a little further out. The water is very clear and a gorgeous Caribbean blue. Angel fish and other smaller tropical fish swim right up to you and will eat out of your hands. The only down side is it's quite the popular beach.

Julian had a busy week at school. As we are leaving on Wednesday - we'll miss over a week of school before spring break. We'll also be away over his birthday - so the class is doing a little birthday celebration for him at school tomorrow. What this means in reality is that I am bringing cupakes to school tomorrow. Sounds straight forward but try finding a) a bakery or b) muffin tins when you need it.

Julian lost tooth number two today which was a big event considering this time he didn't swallow it. I'm sure the St. Thomas tooth fairy will visit.

It has been six very positive weeks in St. Thomas. Having said that - it has been a very long time to be away from Mark and Max and we can't wait to see them. We are also looking forward to seeing family and friends.

I am not, however, looking forward to wearing socks.

getting tings done in deh Caribbean

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.

meanwhile, back in Vancouver...

Mark e-mailed me some photos of the moving truck outside our house in Vancouver today. Correction - he e-mailed the photos to Julian who was very excited to see photos of the truck but equally annoyed to be missing the event.

"Daddy's really lucky to see the truck," said Julian.

Somehow - I'm not exactly certain Mark is seeing it that way. One of his e-mails to me today described last minute chores like washing mud of bike wheels in the cold and slush before they were loaded in the truck.

We have lived in our house on West 14th Avenue for almost seven years. A lovely house with many happy memories. We moved in as a family of two - and are leaving as a family of four. I'll miss the house - however, the bigger void will be left by the community we are leaving. We are truly blessed with the best family, friends and neighbours anyone could hope for. It's a good thing I'm not there sobbing at the front door.

Yes - somehow Mark drew the short end of the stick - dealing with the final details of the move and finishing work while looking after Max. The transition part has been tough.

Over the past few months, there have been many kind offers of help from family, friends and neighbours that have been greatly appreciated. There were also hours of packing and organizing help from Mark's parents, my parents, Carol and Eric, and Sarah. I know Mark has really appreciated all the help, support, and offers over the last few weeks.

So what happens to our belongings now? They sit in a warehouse until we can provide the shipping company with our visa papers. Once they have these documents, the container goes on a train to New Brunswick where it is loaded on a ship destined to St. Thomas. The actual travel time will be approximately three weeks. Or so they tell us.

Now it's more hurry-up and wait - while two houses sit empty.

wild things

At some very early hour this morning after the chickens and Julian decided it was time to rise, I took my cup of coffee outside to conduct a quick survey of the landscape.

The weather was lovely - sunny and windy. The ferry to St. John was leaving the dock. And a small creature with long legs was lying under the chaise. A very dead and sticky frog. I was - however - very pleased it wasn't floating in the pool. We've actually seen quite a few frogs - including one that Dad had discovered in his bedroom before he left.

After a quick breakfast, Julian and I decided to explore Coral World - an ocean park and attraction on St. Thomas. We were the first car in the parking lot (thanks to the chickens) and had the run of the park for much of the morning. We watched a scuba diver feed some hungry fish. There was a pool of baby sharks that you could pet following their feeding time - apparently a "hands-on" experience. Julian wanting to avoid any "hands-off" experiences showed absolutely no interest in putting anything in the pool. A stingray pool also offered a similar poke-the-fish experience. There were sea turtles being fed (romaine lettuce)and many interesting tropical fish and birds.

In addition to the official animals in the park, there were quite a few stragglers. A very large pelican was loitering, waiting for feeding times. I actually watched one less than brilliant visitor intentionally approach the Pelican to have a photo taken - and came very close to becoming human shish-ka-bob. Iguanas were also soaking up the rays along paths in the park.

Coral World is on Coki Beach located on the northeast corner of the island. With some very clear water, white sand and an extensive reef - it's a popular beach that promises great snorkeling or diving. After our tour of the park, we went down to the beach. And because we had enjoyed an earlier start, the taxi-loads of cruise ship passengers were arriving just as we decided our sandcastle construction was complete and that we needed some lunch. Not a moment too soon.

Yesterday Julian was invited to his first Caribbean birthday party. One of the girls in his class lives around the corner from us and was having a pool party. And with Julian's birthday in a few weeks, I am imagining a similar event at our new place. Despite the close proximity, I was once again faced with having to find a location with no real address. I realize now how much I had relied on mapquest and yahoo maps to get me around in Vancouver. However, after a quick call and further directions - we arrived at a lovely house (clearly marked with balloons) that literally had children spilling out of the swimming pool.

Julian had a great time - confidently jumping into deep water and doggy paddling to the side. Of course, I was only half-listening to conversations as I was watching Julian struggle to the edge of the pool with his very newly acquired swimming skills. It was an interesting group of people - from several true St. Thomasians born on the island, to some other recent transplants. One family from Argentina arrived eight months ago - no english - and the twin girls attending school were already speaking english fluently.

It was a fun afternoon and just about the right amount of time to spend with that number of children fully-loaded on sweets.

Wild things exist in many places and come in all shapes and sizes.

and then there were two.

My Dad left yesterday after almost three weeks with us. It was tremendous having him here while I've been trying to figure out life in St. Thomas.

Someone with whom to discuss options. Someone to entertain Julian while I waited three hours in line to get my phone hooked up. Someone who gave me a greater sense of security.

Dad enthusiastically took on the role of chef, pool and beach activity director, house organizer, navigator, and advisor. Dad was also responsible for happy hour - which may explain why Julian has been asking for beers.

I am pretty certain Dad enjoyed the adventure and hopefully feels more assured having seen where we live.

However, now that I'm a mother - I'm beginning to realize you never stop being a parent. And you never stop needing your parents.

Dad was barbecuing some lamb for dinner a few nights ago. A great dinner. Lamb, roasted potatoes, salad. A bottle of Ravenswood zinfandel for a mere $10. When he returned to the cooled grill to ensure the gas was off - a large rat jumped out from the grill testing Dad's heart strength. And my worst phobia. For some people it's spiders, for others it's snakes. For me it's rats. I don't like them in Ratatouille, the Nutcracker Suite or Charlotte's Web.

Naturally, as soon as I heard a full report of the flying rat (the size of a cat in my mind), I immediately swung into lock-down mode. Full outdoor lights. Doors shut. Kitchen santization.

Of course, the longer I obsessed about rats on the property, the more I had convinced myself they had moved into the house and were trying on my shoes. By the time I went to bed, I could hear one (or an entire family) in my box spring. The longer I tried to rationalize why there wasn't a rat in the house, the louder the noises were. So - I wandered down the hall to my Dad's room where he was fast asleep. Very fast asleep.

"Daaaaad," I said quietly.

No response.

"Dad!" I said a little more abruptly.

Snoring.

Despite better judgement, I woke poor Dad and dragged him to my room where we - (actually just Dad) - looked under the bed with a flashlight.
Nothing.
I still wasn't convinced. And without really having to ask - Dad said "well - we can take the bed apart."

I'll have to remind myself of this when Julian next wakes up with a bad dream.

But all is well - because I have a fancy new alarm system in the house and as soon as those rats read the signs - they won't go anywhere near the house - or my shoes.

boats. boats. and more boats.

From cruise ships to little sailing dinghies, boats come in all shapes and sizes in this part of the world.

Wandering along Yacht Haven, a parking lot for multi-million dollar yachts with interior space several times greater than the average home, you can get a glimpse of lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Of course, the real action is with sailing. And there is no shortage of sailing boats. Another reason moving to St. Thomas became very attractive to us.

We visited the St. Thomas Yacht Club today.

Located a 1/2 mile or three minute drive from our home, it is a small club with a lot going on. They have a very active junior sailing program that Julian can participate in - sailing Optimists, small boats perfect for children learning to sail.

We met the club manager and had a good chat with him over brunch. A race was underway and he was going to head out to see how it was going. Did we want to come?

Actually - before I could even attempt an enthusiastic reply, my Dad was out of his seat saying "That sounds great!" We are a shy family.

So off we went. A short trip out to see a fleet of J-boats, IC-24s and a handful of other nice little race boats do a bit of racing in the area. A very nice way to spend the afternoon. (Mark: you'll be here soon - I didn't do any actual sailing - honest!)

The other type of boat we are becoming well acquainted with is the ferry that runs to St. John from just below our house. I can confirm with accurate conviction that the ferry starts at 6:00 am on weekdays. The ferry ensures that everyone is indeed on board and that there's no chance that anyone's left behind. Horns, PA systems - you name it - they have a way of announcing the boat is ready to go.

Boats, boats everywhere.

getting around St. Thomas

I have been driving on the left hand side of the road for two weeks now - and have graduated from mumbling a repetitive mantra of "keep left. keep left. keep left" to whipping around ring roads like I own the place. Well, almost. Parking lots still result in confusion - but not sure whether that's just me or the other people who own the place.

The island is small - 32 square miles - 13 miles (20kms) long and 3 miles (5 kms) wide. For comparison sake - Salt Spring Island is 16 miles long (27 kms) and 8 miles (14 kms) wide. The main roads are quite good. Other roads including the one to our house are narrow and full of pot holes (as in large areas where cement is missing not places to buy local weed).

Living in the East End - I drive Julian about 6 miles to school. St. Thomas is also a very hilly island with some very steep inclines. A roller coast everyday that I hope the truck brakes can handle.

According to the census, there are over 52,000 people living on St. Thomas. And from the traffic, it appears that most of these people own cars. Children must own cars here too. When you add in a typical cruise ship day - we counted SEVEN ships in yesterday, that's roughly 12,000 tourists -- there's a steady ebb and flow of people and traffic.

There's a clear "rush hour" that starts just after 7:00 and traffic is very steady. While I actually leave the house closer to 7:45, I have a lot of company on the road.

All roads lead to Charlotte Amalie, the territorial capital of the US Virgin Islands. The downtown district still reflects some Danish (and pirate) heritage. While many of the streets have English names - some still bear those given by the Danes such as Dronningen's Gade for Main Street. The Danish flag flew on these islands from the 1600s to 1917 when the US purchased them for $25 million. And where was Canada when they listed these islands for sale?

There is some interesting Danish West Indian architecture. Some of the buildings have the second stories overhang sidewalks for cover from the sun (and tropical rain showers) and rooms are designed to take advantage of tradewinds. The green VI Legislature Building is on the waterfront downtown. Built in the 19th century, it served as barracks for the Danish militia, the US navy, and at one point the only high school on the island.

A popular trading port since its beginnings, Charlotte Amalie (pronounced Ah-mahl-yah) named after the Danish Queen remains the root of the island's economy. All three islands were declared free ports in the early 1800s in the hopes of bolstering the flailing economy at the time. Apparently, a wise move. Today, St. Thomas is the most visited island in the world by cruise ships. On any given day, the jewelery, clothing and liquor stores are overflowing with visitors - continuing their long-time merchant tradition of fleecing consumers of their hard earned cash.

For a small island - there is a lot going on. You may not be able to get there too quickly -- but everything happens on island time.