Festive music, good food, and beautiful weather...

I love to eat, and am enjoying the variety of new tastes here on St. Croix!  

The biggest difference (about eating) is the grocery stores.  They sell some really interesting products and brands, and it's fun to try new things.  But so far the grocery stores I've found aren't as clean and well-maintained as they are in the states, and three times now I've bought food that is spoiled or had bugs.  I hear there are some good stores, I just need to do some more exploring!  For now, I'm spending more time at the farm stands, and farmer's markets, buying locally grown, and mostly organic, fruits and vegetables.  We've gotten used to eating meat every-other day, at most, and I don't think anyone really misses it (the meat).

Before you look at the pictures below, let me introduce you to a Caribbean style of music called "Soca."  It will REALLY get you jumping!  The link will open in a new window, then you'll have to click the "play" arrow.  I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do! 

"Superblue - Fantastic Friday" 

Here's what my take-home was the first morning on the island, some of which I made into a stir fry:

I've read that it's good to get a variety of different colored veggies, as they have different nutritional values.  I think this stir fry must have been a power-house!!!

 

So far, every time I've gone to the market, I've come home with something new for us to try.  I couldn't resit buying a handful of the fruit below.  The skin was thick and waxy, and the flesh inside was sweet, but a little tough.  Who (those of you who are not on St. Croix) knows what they are?  I'll give you the answer at the end!

The star shaped fruit below is called "Carambola."  Mike and I had it when we went to Costa Rica, and I've seen it at the Mexican markets in Phoenix.  It's sweet, juicy, and very pretty in fruit salads.  The red fruit is called a "Malay Apple," and added a nice crunch to the fruit salad.  

Okay, for those of you (like myself, until recently) who have no clue as to what the funny yellow mystery fruit is... they are CASHEWS!  Yes, the sweet nuts you get in a can, from Planters!  Here is an excerpt from something I found on the web:

"Cashew nuts are actually the kidney-shaped seeds that adhere to the bottom of the cashew apple, the fruit of the cashew tree, which is native to the coastal areas of northeastern Brazil. While cashew apples are not appreciated in the United States, they are regarded as delicacies in Brazil and the Caribbean. Cashews are always sold shelled because the interior of the shells contains a caustic resin, known as cashew balm, which must be carefully removed before the nuts are fit for consumption. This caustic resin is actually used in industry to make varnishes and insecticides." (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=98)



Well, it's time to stretch my legs and go over to the beach.  I keep thinking I need to take advantage of this nice weather before it goes away, then I remember, "Wait - it's going to be like this all year long!"  Have you planned your visit yet?

Our house

The kids and I have been here two and a half weeks now (Mike got here several months ago). 


We moved into a beautiful house, with a 3-year lease.  It is a 4Bd/5Ba, with the master bedroom and common areas upstairs, and three small bedrooms downstairs, along with a small living room and kitchenette.  Jesse and Morgan each chose a bedroom, and the remaining area will be for our family and friends who visit.  

When these photos were taken, the only furnishings in the house were those belonging to the owners.  Since our own household items were delivered, it's a lot more cluttered, and we're still working on getting organized.

The picture below is taken from the front door.  We're maybe a football-field length away from the sea (or less).  For the first few days, we left all the windows and doors open, and enjoyed the outside sounds and the constant breeze.  But it wasn't long before we decided that the humidity was too much of a problem.  The floors and surfaces were always wet, and we knew our furniture and electronics wouldn't hold up to the salt air.  So as soon as the movers left, we closed all the windows and set the A/C at 79, which seems to do a good job keeping the climate controlled inside the house.

With electricity costing 51 cents a Kilowatt hour, (compared to Phoenix, which is less than ten cents/kWh), we've been told that this house costs as much as $1,000 a month for electricity.  Ouch!  Many houses don't even have air conditioning, but the humidity and general climate is different, depending on where you live.  Where our house is, it feels like the waves are breaking right into the front door!

The front windows have electric hurricane shutters that come down with the touch of a button, or if there's a power outage, with a manual crank.  This is supposed to be a busy hurricane season, so I'm sure we'll get to use them.    Hurricane season is from Jun 1st to Nov 30th, so although airfare is less expensive during this time frame, it might not be the best time to visit.  Oh, it would be fun if you were already here safe and sound, but the problem would be delayed and cancelled flights and such. 

Also for hurricane protection, the front porch has a roll-down screen that is installed at the beginning of hurricane season, and removed after the season has passed.  When there's a hurricane, you unroll it and clip it into permanent anchors in the floor.  This prevents damage from flying debris, mostly.


The house has plenty of windows, which helps minimize the feeling of being shut-in.  You might notice there isn't much on the walls.  They're ALL made of concrete (as is the floor between the levels), so we can't just tap a nail into the wall.  I've never been in such a solid house before this, I'm sure it'll be unfazed by the hurricanes.

The kitchen is small, but gets the job done.  We haven't used the dishwasher yet, in order to minimize our water consumption.  We've learned to wash everything as we go along, which was a real pain for the first few days, but now we're used to it.  If you leave even the tiniest crumb on the counter, or juice in a glass, the ants will stream onto the counters. Everyone is doing their part, washing, wiping, drying, and putting away.  

Below is the view from the window above the kitchen sink, looking out at the very heavy vegetation of the unused lots behind us.  You can also see the top of the garage, and the solar hot water heater.  It does a good  job - the water is always scalding hot, and we've never run out, even when we all four takes showers after returning from the beach.

 

Speaking of showers, our water supply comes from the rain.  There are two huge underground tanks that fill up with rain run-off from the roof.  Then it goes through some kind a filter and is pumped throughout the house, just like with a pump in an RV.  Many people just add bleach to sanitize the water in the cistern, but Mike bought and installed a UV filter so we don't have to use bleach.  The water is soft, clean, and with the addition of a carbon filter in the kitchen, it tastes very, very nice.  

Of course you want to know where you'll be staying when you come visit.  The guest room currently has a nice set of bunk beds, and there is a queen bed in the lower living room.  I hoped we'd be able to fit the queen bed into the guest room, along with the bunk beds, but all the rooms are too small.  When we have the guest accommodations just right, I'll take pictures and dedicate a post entirely to planning your visit, including packing suggestions, airline options, etc.

I'll leave you with a picture of our driveway.  Just driving away from the house, with this view straight to the Caribbean, evokes excitement about all the beautiful and wondrous things that we might be on our way to do or see. So... have you planned your visit yet???

Until next time,

Laurel

First Family Day on St. Croix

This is my first post since the kids and I arrived on St. Croix, just a little over a week ago.

We got here in the late afternoon, on Jun 7th.  As soon as we landed, the ground crew pushed the portable stairs up against the plane, and we climbed down into hot, wet, winds.  One of the kids commented that it was just like they see on the news, with Air Force One.  I realized that all their previous flights had been straight from the plane into an air-conditioned walkway and straight into a climate controlled terminal.  Haha!  Those days are over, kids.   

As we walked across the hot and windy tarmac toward the terminal, where we knew Mike would be waiting for us, we were tickled to see this huge mural that was painted in Morgan's honor: 

Mike met us with lots of hugs and flowers.  The first thing I noticed was how healthy he looked.  The life he was living, and I expect the rest of us to adopt, is minimal junk food, healthy eating, and lots of physical outdoor activities. 

I had warned Mike in advance that we were carrying LOTS of luggage.  Our military PCS orders allowed 5 checked bags each, but between the three of us we kept it down to 15 total, including our carry-ons.  So Mike was prepared, having borrowed one of the government trucks to carry all our stuff.  Notice that the baggage carousel is "outside," by our definition.  That's just the way it is here! 

We had to drive straight from the airport to the police department to drop off the firearm I had transported.  The police gave Mike a hard time about the gun size, saying it was too big, but he convinced them to go ahead and check it into their armory, where it will be kept until either Mike or I get the permit that will allow us to possess the gun at the house.    One of the things that's challenging about this place is the lack of standard guidelines.  Many things just "depend on who you talk to."  This is particularly difficult for military people like us, who always have the "regulations" to go by. 

After we went to the rental house to drop off our bags (and for the kids to stake claims on which bedroom they'd have), we drove to downtown Christiansted for supper.  Friday nights during the "off" (non-tourist) season are very quiet here.  There was one other couple at the restaurant.  The waiter brought us a bottle of insect repellant and a menu, which was in English on one side and Danish on the other. 

 

At the end of this first day, I was so tired that I don't remember any more about how the day ended and I don't remember going to sleep.   I just remember that it felt really nice to be all together again, and I'm sure I was eager for all the adventures the following day would bring.