The Roller Coaster is Scary
we wanted this.... Right?
Almost a month into living into on St John. And most people have been asking the question. HOW”S IT GOING?? The easiest way to describe it would be to compare it to a roller coaster. Not the little one at your childhood theme park. A really big one. With highs and lows. You better hang on tight!
One of the hardest things about this move is, well, everything. Chelsea has been working for almost three weeks and I just recently started to train at two different restaurants. All of the free time until now hasn’t been all that it’s cracked up to. I spend most of the time sitting our house. It is hot and their isn’t a lot to do. WIthout a car it doesn’t leave a lot of options for things to do. Walking to cruz bay takes 25 minutes and the only thing to do is eat and drink. Walking to Solomon beach is around 45 minutes.
Siting in the apartment is tough. Our place is positioned up the hill on a corner called supreme corner. I talked before about the street being busy but I didn’t talk about how loud it really is. From early in the morning until past sundown big semi’s and dumptrucks drive up and down the hill. When they approach the corner they lay on their horns. Sometimes for up to one minute straight. These are train horns or boat horns. And some of the locals drive around with some of the loudest stereos ever. They have speakers mounted to boards and placed against the back windows of the cars. Along with that we have wild chickens that roam around and make noise outside the windows at all hours of the night and day.
The noises and wildlife aren’t all bad. At night the tree frogs making noises becomes a beautiful symphony that is undescribeable. We also have lots of wild iguanas that I’ve grown quite fond of. I’m not sure if the one I see from the window is a boy or girl so today I named it Billy.
A little over a week ago I went out to apply to places and almost everyplace I walked into wanted to hire me once I got a health card. I have turned down two jobs already because of the hours or the fit. But I really need work. So I started training at Chelsea’s restaurant 1864. It’s fancier than most of the jobs I have had so it will challenge me. Which I feel is good. The second job I took is at another restaurant that is beach side. I trained one shift and it is definately a shit show to say the least. I’m still trying to finish training at 1864 and their isn’t any transparency about scheduling or even when I will work. As the bills continually come due I’m losing it a little more every day. Every day I’ll have little victories with thinking that WE CAN DO THIS. And then the island knocks me back down to thinking WTF did I do. IS THIS WHAT WE ASKED FOR? This might be one of the most beautiful terrible places I have ever been.
And then you have a really good day. You wake up next to a wonderful partner. You go to the beach. You swim in the ocean. You talk to the wonderful positive people who live here. You see some beautiful things. You open your eyes and realize you do live in paradise. Things are tough. Everything you do is tough. But with time things should get easier. These experiences we go through will build us to be able to handle more obstacles as life passes by. Take them all and cherish them. Because you do only have one life to live. I’m thankful to be where I am. I am thankful for another day.
Keep your head up it will get easier.
After one month it has gotten a little easier. I’m still not sure if we will live here for more than our lease of 6 months.
Working and interacting with others definitely helps me stay more positive. I’m a social person and I need that.
What we learned
Nothing. I repeat nothing is easy on the islands other than getting bug bites and sunburnt.
- Wear bug spray until they stop eating you alive.
- PLAN your days out. Everything takes a ton of time.
- Budget when you can. It's expensive AF down here.