taste of the island

There are a few nice things about St. Maarten. One of them is the french pastries. We recently went to Marigot, the capital of the french side of the island. Although, I have not been to the french riviera, many people say it is very much like that part of France. It has a mall with a few clothing stores (very expensive) and there are lots of little shops and boutiques lining the streets. Above the city is Fort Louis (named after one of the more famous French monarchs). We took some stairs up to see the views. There isn't much preservation of it going on. One thing I have noticed on the island is that they don't really preserve anything. But there are some nice views and that appears to be what it's used for. We went with some good friends of ours (Josh and Danielle). After dinner we went to the famous "Sarafino's" pastry shop. The pictures highlight our trip.

"Water, water everywhere but n'ye a drop to drink"

to borrow from Samuel Coleridge this ironic and very appropriate verse. After complaining to several GEBE (the water and electric company) representatives we were told that we used all of that water so it was our problem. I literally had to explain to them how much water the bill had entailed. It was 300 dollars and was the equivalent of everyone on our entire floor coming over to take showers and use our toilet everyday for the last month. I tried explaining that this did not happen so there was obviously an error. After maneuvering up the ranks of supervision (and intelligence) we got to speak with the billing manager who looked at our bill and realized that it needed to be investigated.
Well it happens that.....get this....there is a leak in our pipes (imagine that). So the apartment management company shut off our water until it is fixed (when you know what start growing wings) and in the meantime we can use the open appartment next to us.
Any one of my weekly stories could be placed in the statement, " you know you are in St. Maarten when _____ "
For more enlightened thoughts about living in another country stay tuned.

Got water?

Water went out yesterday for about 8 hours. Luckily enough its back today. We were washing our hands with bottled water and contemplating if we were going to need to bathe in the pool the next day. Even more disturbing is the 300 dollar water bill we got this week. My neighbors average monthly water bill is 20 dollars, so needless to say we think there is an error. It is being investigated on "island time." But I certainly will be paying for it on "island time" as well.
Luckily enough we got temporary plates this week so we were able to put those on our car instead of the W's we were using (W for "waiting"). You see the St Maarten government makes you get new plates every year and changes the color. Somehow someone at the top must have forgotten and said "oh its that time again we better make some new plates." So despite being the same time every year, we have yet to see 2009 plates.
My second block of exams is next Monday so I have been studying hard. It is hard to do because it is very nice and sunny out everyday.
Hope everyone back home is surviving the hard economical climate. Obama and the "liberal" congress are getting you some help. The republicans, Fox News, and good ole Rush seem to think the system isn't broken and that we just need tax breaks. However the near 10% of the country without jobs may feel a little differently. Thank god change has come.