Moving for a Career Opportunity

I have recently been offered a teaching position at a school on St. Thomas. I would like to come for a pre-move trip to live like a local and get an idea of what it will be like to live there. I have lived in Puerto Rico and Italy as well as Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, and Florida so different culture and lack of access to luxuries should not be an issue.

My question to start off is for a starting point of good places to rent for maybe a week or two that I could gain this experience.

My next is, do any new members ever room together and split a house when they first move there to offset the relocating costs for maybe the first year or do any of you rent out rooms for supplemental income?