Background Story

Bob has been traveling between Dallas & St. Thomas, USVI, almost weekly since February of this year.  This is another consulting assignment, with a difference: this one will last 2-3 years at a minimum, and in the future he will only be able to return to "the states" every 4-6 weeks.  Obviously, it made sense for me to join him.  Since this is not permanent, however, we haven't really moved.  We have our house in Plano and are renting a furnished condo on the island.

It goes without saying that St. Thomas has great beauty, especially the beaches.  We had only been here before as a stop on a cruise, and that was fun.  Living here, tho, is not quite so idyllic.  While we are in a relatively safe area, there is a big crime problem, and drugs and gangs.  With little industry, many of the natives seem to face a hopeless future and resent the "whites" who they see only as tourists wanting to be served or as newcomers who want to change everything.  We've found that a geniune smile and friendliness can help, but it can be a little discouraging. 

It's also very expensive to live here!  Everything you buy has to be shipped in, mostly from Puerto Rico or Miami, so that has to be factored into the prices.  Electricity is ridiculous, so we do all we can to limit our usage: no a/c during the day being the biggest adjustment.  And the water supply is limited, so we conserve there, too.  We're living green! :)

Of course, it's not all bad.  The temperatures are consistently between about 79 and 91 during the summer.  It rains a little every day, so it stays green.  Our condo is right on a bay near the yacht club, and we enjoy watching the boats & boaters.  It's also just a short walk to the nearest beach.  It's not one of the more beautiful beaches, but there's sand and water and palm trees and lounge chairs, so it'll do when we don't want to go far. 

Bob, of course, will be very busy with work, but I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing just yet.  I had volunteered in the office at our church at home for a couple of years, so the missions group there tried to find me some contacts here without any success.  While I continue to work on that, I thought I'd do a blog as a sort of journal of our stay here: adjustments, surprises, difficulties, etc.

Hope you enjoy reading along!