Top 10 list: It's hard living in the Vi Because:

Is top 11 ok? 😉

1-6 real problems, 7-11 annoyances

1. High costs for food and energy
2. Racism
3. Young people with guns/Crime, feeling unsafe
4. Getitng ripped off or hustled---ties in with #2
5. Government corruption and too much red tape
6. The hospital is lacking

7. Bad roads and drivers
8. Shopping = pain in the butt
9. Centipedes and brown recluse spiders freak me out! 2 BR bites in 3 days = hospital
10. Trash + hauling to dumpters + laziness = trash in bags outside = dogs = mess = annoying! haha
11. Constantly sweeping, mopping and cleaning screens and windows.

Might i also add....Despite all the issues that the islands face, there is no other place in the world i would rather be right now. The economy is slowing creeping back, we are moving towards renewable energy-YAY(tu), i think we have a better government than 10 years ago. Cruise ships are coming to STX again! As a whole i feel that things are slowly improving...we just gotta work on all these top 10 lists 🙂

Cory K.

Don't jinx the cruise ships, that deal was in place way before the economy went in the crapper. Turn around in a circle and knock on some wood. And pray that the people that came this year give the cruise ships a favorable review. We are in no way a lock.

I know that if I were asked to come up with a comparable list of things that made it hard to live in Louisville (where I came from) I could certainly do so. Recognizing the "hard or bad" part of living somewhere doesn't mean it's a bad place to live. And believe me, on STX at least, the population is constant, people are not leaving.

Everyone has to decide for him/herself if the good outweights the bad in any location.

But here's the thing about Louisville, or anywhere state side. If you don't like living there, it's pretty easy to scoot to one of the neighboring cities or a suburb or something where you're more comfortable living. You can't really do that here. What's more annoying for me is it's a lot like small town living here, except you can't drive to the big city to get your kicks when you would like.

What makes it hard for me:
1. I've been here 3 years. In that time I have been very busy working working working. So when I do get to go out and network or talk to people they are sorta friendly until you tell them how long you've been here. Then suddenly it's like, "well you should have it figured out by now fella, leave me alone."

2. Cost of living is horrible, and for what? I don't care that the views are pretty, when the apartment someone rents only has a hotplate and a phone booth style shower inside a phone booth sized bathroom they should charge something appropriate, but so many are trying to scam you.

3. The local population. I haven't experienced that much the form of racism down here, but some can be very hard to deal with. What's worse, the accents are so hard to understand, and if you ask them to repeat themselves they will, but in the exact same way they said it the first time. I don't have the best hearing from too many years in broadcasting and this effects me a lot at the auto parts store or when dealing with any repair man for things that need repairing at work.

4. So many employers down here like to hire you as a contract worker, not an official employee. This means you have to figure out your own taxes. And dealing with IRB is a lot like getting rectal cancer, minus the cemo.

5. Car insurance is insane and they usually want you to pay it in one go each year, and that hurts your already unstuffed wallet.

6. The shear boredom you can feel here if you don't have the kind of money others have to do things. Hearing them talk about all the cool things they do that you don't get to do is no fun either.

7. Missing family, friends and the norm. It doesn't help that my friends usually whine to me on the phone about how they wish I was there to do something with them. I don't wish to hurt them by being away, but I have to live where work is, and right now that's here.

8. If you do try to get back, it's very hard to convince stateside employers to hire you. I am almost fully convinced that they take a look at the address on my resume and assume they'll have to pay moving expenses or that I am possibly not in the know about the states, so they discard me.

9. Being here and being single is being about as lonely as you can get.

That's all I can think of that are worth typing, though there are plenty more things that get to me.

Cory - STT

"8. If you do try to get back, it's very hard to convince stateside employers to hire you. I am almost fully convinced that they take a look at the address on my resume and assume they'll have to pay moving expenses or that I am possibly not in the know about the states, so they discard me."

They also assume you do nothing down here but swill pina coladas under palm trees after gettting up at noon.

Good beer or the lack of it. The first ting I do when I fly backt to the states is walk into Chili's in the Charlotte airport and get a good Draught Beer, don't car if it's 10 in the morning. 🙂

I could bitch about some of the same other stuff but it won't do any good so I am sticking with beer.
Jay

Good point Trade.

My Top Ten Peeves about living here:

1. Trash thrown out on roads by locals and police (have seen them do it myself)
2. The high cost of inferior foods. (outdated and sometimes buggy)
3. The attitudes of people
4. Bad roads
5. Dry season
6. Hurricane Season
7. Having to fly through puerto rico

But hey....i would not live anywhere else. lol

Here stateside in the PHX area I find very few things why to move, in fact I never thought I would want to leave. That was until we went to STX for a weeks' vacation in Dec of 04. Since then moving there is all I can think of.
We will start splitting our time in Sept but we will probably never move full time, my wife doesn't want to be away from my daughter and grand kids. I would have moved three years ago if it was only up to me.

Just for clarification - is the sucking teeth thing perceived as racism? I've only experienced it a couple of times and never perceived it as such (bad manner perhaps may have been what I thought if I took much notice at all.) Does it have specific meaning in local culture?

...5. Racism. (sucking teeth)...

Hmmmmm.....Lets see....

A couple of comparisons.

1) 40 below zero in northern Maine in January, 80 here.

2) Last new truck I bought in Maine after the purchase I had $2100 in sales tax and another $900 in excise tax before I could register the vehicle.....

3) Last January....or maybe it was December, I had to get out of bed to close the sliding door in my bedroom one night because it was a little cool. Northern Maine, $400 per month to heat my house.

4) The water in Madawaska Lake was 60 in mid summer....Here, over 80 in summer. 74 in winter...Brrrrr....Won't swim in that any more!

Now, the top ten or however many negatives there are here.....

1-9 is the drivers. When I first moved here, I just thought that drivers were very discourteous.....Now, I believe they just can't drive.

Number 10 is pretty much all the stuff everyone else mentioned.....

There are very few places I would rather go to live at this point.

Sucking your teeth ("chupsing") is not racism. It's just a way of say "F off" or "you're an a hole" or express general displeasure. I'm white and do it all the time to people regardless of their race. West Indian's do it to West Indians. I wonder whether people's experiences with what they perceive to be racism are more the result of their misconceptions about the culture and people's attitudes in general. When I get treated bad down here I don't assume first that it is because I am white, but because the person in question is either a) having a bad day, b) I did something wrong or copped an attitude myself, c) just plain mean. My husband is West Indian/Crucian and has problems with customer service all the time--more problems than I have in fact. Usually when he loses it with them, I have to come in and mitigate the situation and am pretty good at getting whatever needs to be done done (Innovative in particular :)).
Obviously there is always going to be racism wherever you go, but I've found it to be far more worse in the States than in St Croix.

My most difficult things about living here:

1) Dust and Dirt everywhere, no matter how much I clean.
2) Saying you live in the Caribbean and statesider's thinking you're a flake.
3) Weeds like tan-tan that get everywhere
4) Saying goodbye to friends who leave
5) Bugs

The biggest thing that is difficult here is the cost of food and the fact that you can't do one stop shopping so the cost of driving to the stores to get what you need is expensive. Second thing seeing so many people come and go (making friends and saying good-bye). The culture is very interesting - my daughter's(islander) friend from school was talking about her dad (who had died) and described him as a white man - my daughter said, "I thought he was black." (my daughter had seen a picture of him), the girl answered, "He's African American, yes, but he's white." I asked her if everyone from the states was white and she looked at me like I was the stupidest person she had ever come into contact with and said, "of course."

Interesting perspective. Color doesn't matter nearly as much as class and/or attitude.

"1. Trash thrown out on roads by locals and police (have seen them do it myself)"

It's definitely not just locals. I see tourists do it all the time out of the safaris.

And not all locals. I'm local and I would never think of throwing trash out of the car.

"The biggest thing that is difficult here is the cost of food and the fact that you can't do one stop shopping so the cost of driving to the stores to get what you need is expensive."

A few years ago I decided I will only shop for groceries once a week at one store, and will eat for the week based on what is available at that store. I don't always get what I want, but I always find something and no longer run myself ragged.

I've already posted my Top 10 negatives, but feel like I need to add that I'm also VERY HAPPY being here. 🙂
(not rich or handsome, mind you, just happy)

It's just that the THREAD STARTER asked us for our "negatives."

I'm going to take a WILD GUESS and say that WHAT BOTHERS MOST OF US on this board about living here, is that we see what a paradise this place really COULD BE, ...if only ___________.

I never thought dust was much of a problem there. I know there is dust from Africa. but here in AZ we have dust storms that they must shut down the interstate or there will be horrible car crashes and many people killed. Where are you from that there is no dust?

terry: When you live with your windows open, the dust tends to get everywhere. You are right, not to the point of car crashes, but just to the point of annoying!:-)

I forgot to list ...

The VI's oppresive Marijuana Laws that need to be changed. No provisions for Med MJ or posession of small quantities for personal use.

And not being able to vote for Barak Obama.

1. No trash pickup ... comes into big play when the dogs are killing iguanas but otherwise no event.
2. No service at service stations ... does anyone check your oil and water these days?
3. Video rentals - I mean come on has anyone tried to return a movie at Blockbuster on a big ship day?
4. Mail ... well, what else to say? It gets here when it gets here or it doesn't.
5. Racism? It was interesting to me to be on the other end of this nonsense. After 14 years I don't see much of it any more but it was a learning experience to say the least.
6. Milk. Fresh fruit and veggies. But that's what you get on an island. It was the same on Key West 35 years ago. Yes, I am old.
7. Cable. Enough said.

OK, ran out of things I don't like. I love being here! Conserving water is something I have done for years. Reuse, recycle, repackage has been my motto since the first Earth Day. Would not like living in the states. They drive too fast and drink too much coffee! Shopping I never liked anyway. Love wearing sandals all the time.

Pamela

Guess I'm lucky, I bought a house in Tulipan and we get trash service. I only realized this AFTER going to the dump for a year. I had a garbage disposal (and dishwasher) put in by a great local guy who did it for cheap. So I've got those 2 items on the annoying list covered 🙂 I got my Dishnetwork hooked up about a year ago and the TV gripe is now gone. Innovative is actually giving me great 1mbps internet, Fios it is not (Fiber optic internet) but I can live with a solid 1mbps connection for the most part. I can't think of any service stations that check your oil and water any more.

So what is annoying to me?

1) Isolation, from friends, family, business and impulsive desires (sometimes a good thing). It's hard to be spontaneous, pick up and "go somewhere" when you have to pay $$$$ to get on a plane to do it. We REALLY need more affordable air service to STX, Southwest airlines or even lousy but cheap Spirit airlines would be huge.

2) Watching some people get by on the backs and hard work of others. There are some really, really lazy people here that the hardworking one's must work even harder to compensate for. This is not a local vs. import thing, I see amazingly hard working local's that have spent their entire life overcompensating for the laziness of others. Conversely I see many imports who came here to "check out" and don't do a damn thing to better themselves or their community through hard work and a job well done. Unfortunately the mentality here is far too passive and apathetic for people to demand more from the slackers. There is a fine line between laid back and being a push over, and here the hardest workers often end up being pushed over by the sloth. In the states a quarter of the employees I see would've likely been fired and another quarter would then get the message and improve their game.

3) Number 2 is the cause of so many poor service interactions with people. When you do get a good person to help you they are often so overworked that they may not be as polite as they should be, namely because they are covering for all the trash around them.

4) The entitlement mentality. The ridiculous demand for reparations for something that didn't even happen to those living today is one manifestation of this. Other manifestations include the frivolous lawsuit's filed by the lazy against the hard workers, the labor board complaints with no merit that are so prevalent, the government worker's who act like they are doing you a favor when they do their job, people who act like welfare is a right etc. I separate this from number 2 only because I've even met hard working people who have this same entitlement mentality...that drives me nuts. The entitlement mentality is one of the biggest obstructions to human advancement I've ever witnessed.

5) The roads that make 60,000 miles tire wear out in 15,000 miles. Seriously, if we could trust our government we could double or even triple the gas tax (which is a tiny 7c), build stateside quality roads and we'd all still save money on tires and vehicle repairs. Unfortunately we cannot trust our government.

6) WAPA...no one should be at the whim of the spot market for oil for their power rates. Hedging is a tool that anyone with a single source of energy MUST use but they have no concept of this.

7) Grocery prices, although I am stateside now and must say that groceries have gone up here in the last year or two pretty significantly. I thought things in the island were worse than they were but am now realizing that my old rule of thumb, which is that you pay "full retail" for groceries in the VI with no discount is still pretty much true. The lack of one store to get everything and the lack of many things I like in a consistent basis.

8) The hospital, they have visiting hours in the emergency room...you aren't supposed to be there so long that people are visiting you. I had to close my leg wound there for 2 hour with a used Napkin given to me by another patient who was finishing up their breakfast. I am terrified that when my son comes he will need medical service that is above and beyond what can be provided by the hospital here. I have a MASA card to help with this.

9) This one is personal and ridiculous: No ice hockey rink (my favorite thing in the world is playing ice hockey). Offset slightly by our awesome beaches but that for me is the hardest thing to give up.

Can't think of a 10th. There are many positives to living here and as you can see many of my negatives are things that would be VERY hard to change as they are somewhat cultural. However, I saw many of these same things growing up on the bad side of the DC area and they HAVE changed there. People stopped tolerating laziness, demanded more from their neighbors/co-workers and cleaned things up in many places that were once barely inhabitable. Consequently the quality of life for all has gone up tremendously, many parts of the DC area that were horrible are now very nice. If it can happen in DC it can happen in the islands.

Sean

9. Being here and being single is being about as lonely as you can get.

Cory - STT

Aww....this sounds so sad. Can't someone help Cory out?

It is hard to be single here. Its hard to find a mate/spouse here for a lot of reasons. The islands are still the kind of place where it might be better to come with a mate or like being single.

Good beer or the lack of it. The first ting I do when I fly backt to the states is walk into Chili's in the Charlotte airport and get a good Draught Beer, don't car if it's 10 in the morning. 🙂

I could bitch about some of the same other stuff but it won't do any good so I am sticking with beer.
Jay

Draught beer gives me a headache.....I like bottles, but you have made some interesting cocktails?