LIFE ON THE ISLAND

Outside the Sandals Resort in Dickerson Bay

Well lololol! I must say that life on the Island of Antigua is a lot different than I thought it would be. Not only is it ridiculously expensive... it is not as hot as I thought it would be. From what I hear form the locals and other students is that this is Antigua's winter season so even though its 80 degrees outside it is less humid than the summer months.  Anywho...well I am all moved in and I have 95% of my life back in the states situated. I wish that I could have completed certain things prior to leaving such as my tax stuff and car insurance but oh well...So I thought that the best way to provide you guys with an brief overview of my life on the island is to touch on each topic separately instead of typing a long ass page of info so here goes:

Apartment:

My view from my living room balcony

My view from my bedroom balcony

I requested to live off campus because I brought my little doggies with me. My apartment is on the water which freaks me out because every time I stare out into the ocean the water looks so intimidating and so massive in comparison to the Island. My 1 bedroom apartment monthly will run you about $990.00 and that includes everything but electricity (includes internet, water and weekly cleaning as well). It is a little outdated but it is very livable. It came fully furnished with a tv, 2 balconies (in the bedroom and living room), and a kitchenette (refrigerator, stove, dishes, pots and pans). Many uppers live here is as well which makes it cool. I also feel so safe here and due to this I plan on staying here for the duration of stay. :)



Driving & Antiguan People:

Fruit stand

Horses :)

Goats! The baby ones were super cute!

My oh my do they drive fast! On my first day here we decided to rent a car. I'm not sure if you know or not but in Antigua they drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is located on the right side LOLOL! Let me just say that it took a day or so to get somewhat use to these changes. The roads are really narrow and have a lot of pot holes....oh and animals floating around LOL! I can't tell you how many times I've had to blow the horn at a goat roaming into the road. Now let me say this... its not as rural like it sounds. Where I live you find more animals and definitely has a small feel to it.  I actually live less than 5 minutes from the school which (is beautiful) super convenient. A local told me that the area that I live in is the conservative area (ooookkkk) LOL! Downtown which is in St John's is more like the city with a small town feel. The people are friendly as long as you are friendly to them...in others words, if you are respectful, kind and speak they will do the same. I found that some are quite standoffish at first but my southern charm works every time. After an a minute or two with me, they were conversing with me like I was a long lost friend. LOL! Now I don't want to sound ignorant but personally I believe that the culture is similar to Jamaicans because of the similar dialect. Now if you ask a local...he or she will tell you that they speak differently and are different culturally (shrugs shoulders)! 

Long Term Car Rental: 

My cute little car that I have killed the undercarriage of

I decided to rent car for the full semester because when I want to go...I want to go! Many students obtain a contract with a Taxi Service or take the school bus to get back and forth to school but I couldn't do it. I made decided prior to coming to the island that I will try to keep my life similar to my life in the US as much as I can. My rental car is $400.00 a month and this includes liability insurance. I know what you are thinking $400.00 is a lot of money I know but its kind of the going rate around here...well for us US medical students. For some strange reason they think that we have a lot of money so they over charge us for things like this and at the farmers market smh. :( But the guy that rented me the car has been so patient and kind to me even though I have now broken the mirror (sort of), missing two hub caps, bent the rim, and got a nail in my tire which had to be patched. LOL! I am starting to think that they know that we will damage their cars in some way so that's another reason why the rates are a little higher lol!

 Food/Restaurants:

The view on the patio at Ana's Restaurant

Another view at Ana's Restaurant

Water Service

Ok so the food on the island is not what I expected at all. The only chain restaurants that I have seen is Burger King and KFC (what an interesting selection). There are a lot of local places to eat such as Putters (sports bar), Ana's Beautiful restaurant on the beach in Dickerson Bay), Big Banana (pizza) and other places that I have not tried (LOL). My favorite is Ana's but I cannot eat there as often as I would like since they are so expensive which is understandable because they are next to the Sandals Resort. :) Now the grocery store is crazy expensive! A pack of Oscar Meyer Bacon will run you about $48.00 EC (Eastern Caribbean Dollar) in US that is about $17.00!! And everything is priced this way due to everything having to be imported to the island. Every morning I have a cup of coffee, half a bagel and 1 slice of bacon cut in half LOL! (Oh and I bought the cheaper brand of bacon of course!) I also had to order water service because you cannot drink the water on the island. My friend brought his Brita filter and stated that the water still tasted a little salty. Water service is about $6.00 US for a 5 Gallon of water. Not too bad right?

Laundry:

LOLOLOL!

The norm once you start living outside of student housing (they have laundry facilities or a washer and dryer in apartment) and if your place does not have a washer and dryer or a washing facility you hire a laundry service. Of course where I live does not have a laundry facility! :( I pay about $9.00 US for them to wash, dry and fold a load of clothes. They pick them up and drop them off, which is very convenient (I know I know but super expensive right?). The husband and wife duo was the cheapest that I can find on the island. They are so sweet just like a lot of other locals here. :)

Antigua is such a beautiful island with amazinggggg people. Overall I like the island and I feel blessed to be here (thank you AUA XOXO). No it is not like my apartment in the US nor did I expect it to be. When you decide to live/go to school on an island we must all keep in mind that the resources will be different; I too had to come to grips with this as well. :)

Well that's it for now. I have one more day of orientation and then class starts this Monday. Next weekend I plan on making another post about the school and about my personal experiences during my first week of school.

Thanks for reading Guys!

Kay R.