Stay Or Go?

Should I stay or should I go..? We have found that there are several points of view when you discuss the subject of staying on a small island vs getting off the island, ...and sometimes the latter as fast as you can.

We spent what felt like six long months in snobbish Barbados, and soon it will be a quick year that zipped by in beautiful friendly Grenada. Both experiences are probably just enough time to get to know what it's REALLY like to live on a Caribbean island and become enlightened about what it's like to be somewhat “local”.

We really enjoy being in Grenada, and we found our niche with locals and expats, while we came to understand issues about island living. The locals here love to remind expats that “we bone heeah” and so we understand their pride and love for their home country. And we can see it would be easy to feel the same way as this bit of paradise casts a magic spell on expats designed to keep you here forever. We feel more at home here than the bustling city life we left behind in Vancouver.

And yet sometimes there is that hidden pull to find an abundance of really fresh groceries, more affordable clothes, and a bit more city life.… emphasis on sometimes. That happened to us here - perhaps it's the start of island fever finally setting in (see previous post) - and yes those feelings have contributed to our decision to go to Mazatlan for a year so we can compare daily life there to what we have enjoyed here.

Over the course of the past year, we have waved goodbye to a few friends who have left the island. Some left because their holiday time was up, or their contracts were up, or their snowbird time was over. Still others have their own personal reasons for leaving, and we found some who were willing share. As it turned out, well, island life simply did not suit them.... and we must admit that we have also felt a twinge of some of these from time to time...

“There is no Superstore here.”

Yes, substitute Superstore for Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Costco, Target, Lowe's, Soriana, Mega, or any other large department store found on the north american mainland, and the main reason / excuse remains the same. They want better shopping... No, we don’t have any of those large stores here, but we do have the coconut man down the road, several local grocers, the seamstress making shirts, the local handcraft shop where you can buy things carved from black coral, and the fisherman selling fresh fish at the market on Saturdays. Besides, if you make a decision to stay on an island long term and feel the urge to shop, you can order in from the on-line companies - we have heard they deliver virtually anywhere. Your new island may not have one of the big box stores, but you can get your basic needs met here - this is a tropical paradise and no one wants to change that.

“The island is turning me into an alcoholic.”

Hmmm... we are sure that the island didn't drag anyone's ass down to the local beach bar, plunk them onto an empty bar stool, and pour rum shots and beer down their throat, night after night. We all love sipping on those umbrella drinks from time to time, and yes, it is a part of island life, but it doesn’t mean we are all running around here drunk all the time. ...Just part of all the time....

“The locals don’t accept me.”

This is a touchy one. We actually experienced this too when we first arrived. We were not black enough, not island enough, not Caribbean enough, don't sound the same, and our hair... well it just don't look the same. Basically, the locals did not know which box to put us in as we were not here on a short holiday or a work visa. Several times per week we have people tell us to enjoy our vacation. We say we are having a great time here but we “live here”. Then they stop and give us a funny look – one guy even went so far as to say he didn't believe me and got quite aggressive about it. But if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. The key is to be nice to everyone you meet here. Smile even when nobody is smiling back. Be kind even when nobody makes an effort to be kind to you, and always, always give compliments. Before you know it, you’ll be the well-liked foreigner. Make local friends - we have many. It changes your perception of the island and it changes your life.

“The island is so expensive.”

Duh! Of course it is. Those nice BC blueberries and red delicious apples you like so much are actually imported from whence you came. That means they were airlifted to the islands or perhaps crossed an ocean to finally sit pretty in your local supermarket of choice. Instead of complaining that the berries and herbs are not of the best quality and are more expensive than a gram of uranium, realize that in the great white north they are saying the same thing about fresh yellow-fin tuna, great tasting rum, and fresh coconuts. It’s all relative and we learned early to stop complaining about what we don’t have and start enjoying the local fare.

“The island is so backward and uncivilized.”

Yes, the internet is slow, red tape is torturous, the lines at government institutions and banks are long, and we can't get our favourite Canadian beer here. But, we can slow down and sit with our laptops at the beach enjoying a picnic on our folding chairs in the middle of January while sipping on our new favourite local beer. There is poverty here and you see it at first when you arrive. But it disappears as it becomes part of the fabric of the island - it just the way things are here. People are happy here. We have a distant memory (lingering nightmare) of rushing around everyday for 12 hours to get to and from a job in sub-zero weather and total darkness only to wake up the next day and do it all over again – now that is backward in our books.

Bottom line: Moving is not easy, no matter where you go. Every day there are people who want to embark on new adventures and we applaud them. Some stick it out for awhile, some stick it out for life. Those who don't stay have figured out that it's perhaps not the island that doesn’t fit their life, but their expectations of life that doesn’t fit the island. The island has been this way for centuries and you can't change it. Moving to a tropical island when you are used to living in a fast moving metropolis (aka rat race), with everything you need at your fingertips, is a huge decision. And yes, some call it insanity. But they are likely the same people who just can't seem to understand how to give up a lifestyle of abundant consumption.

So what about us? We have taken careful notes, and many hundreds of photos of our experiences here in Grenada, and we have made many new friends here. We have come to love life in Grenada with all its charm and wonderful differences. Grenada has taught us to live in the here-and-now and leave behind our previous life and expectations. Things are different here and most them are wonderful differences once you have been here long enough to fully engage in that “I'm a local” feeling. It would definitely be an easy place to make a new home. We will be sad to leave at the end of March when we take our adventure west to explore Mazatlan for a year.