Friday, March 30, 2007

Rythyms at Rainbow Beach, also walking distance from the house we are building. Notice the Cruzan rum selection?

The view from rainbow bar facing the ocean.
The beach between Rainbow and the house. Our own little blowholes!
Ethan pumping out the cistern.
Before picture of the house, front view.
Before Pic of the house, back view
Blue Moon, where I work.
Turtles Cafe, where I check my email
My new used bike!

And sunset!
Ah, paradise.
I haven’t updated our blog in a while because we have been trying to get settled. Now, that we are starting to settle in, I thought I would do an update of our lives for all of you that are still interested in the adventures of Ethan and Sara.

Before we left for St Croix, I decided to accept admission at Eller School of Management at University of Arizona. This came after some other planning had changed things. Ethan and I were both sold on going to St. Croix, so Arizona put some distance in the way and we are still figuring out what that means.

Then we got to St. Croix. It was a bit tough at first. We showed up here with a dream to build Ethan’s mom’s house, but no money, no car, no jobs, no cell phones. Gayle moved into the smaller bedroom of her two bedroom condo so we could stay in the bigger room. The classified ads in the newspaper were hopeless the first week and I started to get worried. Actually, I started to panic. Ethan of course told me not to worry and it was just a matter of time.

Then things happened quick. I heard from one of Ethan’s childhood friends that there was a restaurant in town that needed help and another friend of Ethan’s referred him for a position at a metal fabrication shop. The interviews went well and we both started work. Then, we started looking for a small truck. Trucks are very hard to come by on this island and the search was not looking great, when Budget rentals came up with a cute little Toyota 2x4. Unfortunately they sold it and when Ethan went back to check about other trucks, they admitted the guy didn’t show up with the money and Ethan jumped on it immediately. Then, I got me a bicycle! A beach cruiser at that. I love it and am enjoying the freedom of going places on my own.

So, we got jobs. We got wheels. We are meeting people around town and every spare moment we have goes towards working on the house. The cistern had more cracks than expected so it is taking a bit longer to finish, but after we get the cistern fixed and sealed, we will have water. With water we can do plumbing and cement so things will move along.

St Croix is becoming home for me. I hate to get sappy, but I really like it here and see this as a permanent move for me (well, after school and all). Life here is island life! It moves like Samoa or some of Thai islands we visited but we use American money and have some American amenities. It is perfect and comfortable and definitely where I want to call home.

So, I am attaching some pictures of our lives here and we promise that when we have space, we would love to have you visit. Anyone and everyone is always welcome. Just give us some time.

Cheers and Love,
Sara and Ethan