Moving to St. Thomas for 3 months, next week. HELP! =D

Questions:
Are the electric wall plugs configured the same as on the mainland?
YES.
Is is difficult to get high-speed internet?
NO, but the local options are dodgey. RESEARCH THIS FORUM.
Is the water safe to drink?
BASICALLY YES BUT YOU MIGHT PREFER TO DRINK BOTTLED WATER.
How is the public transportation system?
IFFY.
Is it hard to find a basic part-time job (May-July)?
DEPENDS. COMING INTO SLOW SEASON BUT WORK ETHIC AND HONESTY WILL TAKE YOU A LONG WAY.
What is the weather like during this season?
TERRIFIC.
We have Verizon, do cell phones work well there?
I DON'T THINK VERIZON DOES. CHECK WITH THEM.CELLPHONES GENERALLY A BIT OFF AND ON, OTHERS CAN GUIDE YOU OR ELSE GOOGLE ON THIS SITE.
What is an average weekly grocery bill?
AVERAGE FOR WHAT?
We don't really drink much, are there fun places for us to hang out and soak up the local flavor?
OF COURSE! HOW ABOUT THE BEACHES FOR A START?
Any major faux pas that we would not know, being mainlanders, and should avoid?
PROBABLY MANY. "GOOD MORNING, GOOD EVENING, GOOD DAY BEFORE YOU EVEN ASK A QUESTION, AGAIN, RESEARCH THIS FORUM!
Are the toilets normal toilets? Showers/baths?
YES, WE HAVE "NORMAL" TOILETS HERE..AND THERE ARE SHOWERS AND SOMETIMES BATHTUBS. WE ARE VERY WATER CONSCIOUS HERE AND YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO CONSERVE WATER, THERE ARE INNUMERABLE THREADS ON THIS FORUM UNDER "CISTERNS, "WATER CONSERVATION", etc.
I doubt there will be many places to stay with laundry facilities,
RIGHT. THERE ARE SEVERAL GOOD LAUNDROMATS WHERE YOU CAN EITHER DO YOUR OWN LAUNDRY OR DROP IT OFF AND PICK IT UP THE NEXT DAY.

...the northern part of the island was nicer, cooler, less buggy and better for water.
Is the hospital anywhere near that area? We can't seem to locate a map of any kind for St. Thomas itself.
THE NORTHSIDE ISN'T REALLY NEAR THE HOSPITAL, ACTUALLY FAR FROM IT, THE CONTRACT NURSES HERE GENERALLY LIVE ON THE EAST END.

Are the locals generally friendly to mainlanders or do you have to put in your time before they acknowledge you?
WHEN IN ROME, RESEARCH THIS FORUM!
Is it easy to get away to the other islands for a day?
YES, RESEARCH THIS FORUM OR GO TO www.caribbean-on-line.com and research from there.
What's the best way to travel between islands and which ones require passports?
RESEARCH THIS FORUM or www.caribbean-on-line.com

Welcome to the Virgin Islands, I hope I've been of some help!

Good Morning, STT Resident!

Thank-you very much for your help. I feel a bit silly. After I posted my msg I spent a good 3 hours reading some of the other topics especially Gasp's excellent thread, the internet threads, and a few more that intrigued me. I didn't mean to post without doing enough research, sorry. I had been searching the web all day for sites that would help and I finally landed here much later on. I was so relieved and excited that I had to get in here and ask some of the questions bouncing around in my mind after midnight. I will check out the forums you mentioned. And thank-you for your answers as well.

Any additional advice or tips on island living (for 3 months) will be much appreciated! =D

Take Care,
Stephanie

Stephanie: I am going to start with your housing dilemma. Do you have a place to stay while you are looking for your more permanent spot? Is someone from the travel company helping you with housing? I ask because it is difficult finding 3 month leases. There are real estate people who kind of specialize in traveling health care workers. The reason they end up on the east end is because that is where the condos are. I know of people who worked at the hospital and depended on the dollar ride. The first place I would check is Sapphire Village- close to the "loop" and allows short-term leases, I think.

You are arriving on Carnival weekend? Saturday, April 30 is the culmination of Carnival and things will be a bit crazy, but will settle down after that. May-July is a great time, a bit quieter in terms of cruise ships, but still popular with summer vacationers, honeymooners, etc.Weather is usually nice. So, yes, you probably would be able to find something short term in retail or food and beverage. Don't know what your talents are, there may be other things to do also.

I have to make a comment about short timers and cell phones. Your Verizon phone will require local people to dial long distance to call you. Frankly, you may not get many return calls. Our local service is hampered by the mountains, so no, probably you won't have the same service to which you are accustomed.

Re: relating to the locals... You will find people will ask you,"How long have you been here?" and shrug their shoulders when they see you will be here a short time. If you are interested in the culture and ask questions of how things work- without comparing it to "back home"- you will find folks to be understanding and kind. The best advice I ever received (and the regulars can stop me if they have heard this one! 😉 ) is: keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. The pleasantries of saying "Good morning", "Good afternoon" and "Good night" are important. The answer to "How are you?" is "Not to bad" or "Not as good as you!" Since you are only planning on being here three months, enjoy! Make up a list of things you can't do back home and try them- sailing, snorkeling/scuba diving, walking on the beach, week-end trips to St John or Tortola, fishing...

This is you talking EE?
is: keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut.
LOL!! Never happen!
Ronnie

Hey, I said it was great advice! Not always practiced, huh??

Hello and welcome to the board.

Weather - take a look at our weather section at http://www.vinow.com/usvi/weather.php It has monthly averages, highs and lows, rain, hurricanes.

Grocery list - click on the home link at the top of this page and then click on Cost of Living from the home page. At the bottom of the cost of living section there are grocery list with prices.

If you here during June-July you might take in some of the Carnival activities on St. John. That will give you a taste of local flavor and literally as they have a food fair that offers a great oppurtunity to sample local dishes, deserts, drinks. You can read up on Carnival at http://vinow.com/general_usvi/carnival/ (the link looks the same as the preivous one buts its not, its just on the same main site)

Close to the hospital and close to a beach - You could try Wintberg area. Its close to Magens Bay and close to Tutu where grocery stores are/K-mart and not but say 15 minutes to the hospital in medium traffic and its considered part of northside. There are other areas too that would work.

Yes it takes putting in time before locals warm up to mainlanders. They are friendly & helpful but apprehensive/stand-off-ish at the same time.

Take a look at the Ferry schedules at http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/ you will see which islands you can get to easily on a daytrip. Its mostly inter USVI islands and then St. Thomas to the BVI. You can take Cape Air and the Seaplane to visit within the US islands that are further apart (St. Thomas, St. Croix, Puerto Rico) and Liat & American Eagle among others to visit other Caribbean islands perhaps for a weekend trip.

Basically all the islands in the Caribbean would require proof of nationality to enter or when returning besides visiting within the US islands.

All the best with your plans. If you have other questions feel free to ask, even if they seem silly 🙂 and keep us posted on your move and settling in once on island.

--Islander

Great advise just one thing that I have noticed is that if you pass two people walking you say "Good morning, Good morning" so you acknowlege both people.

Also slow down to their pace. Things move slow here and you have to be patient!

Henry: You also can say "Morning, morning!" to one person. Doubling words intensify them. For example, if you ate some questionable souse, you might say, "I feel bad bad!"