Notes from Small Island, Month 1

Small Island (tm) is a very fascinating place. There are things here that you'd expect from living and working in a place like this, and then there are things that have absolutely surprised or flabbergasted me. To wit:

• The most noticeable thing you encounter when you first get here (aside from the outdoor luggage carousel) is the often-joked about but very real experience of driving on the left side of the road. This is made more unusual (for those of you having seen the "real thing" in the UK) by the fact that the cars are left-hand drive, as they are shipped from the States. The local advice for driving: "keep your ass in the grass."
• Small Island is not a particularly tourist-y place - since there's industry here, the local economy doesn't really depend on it. In my mind that's a great thing. You can go to the beach (especially during the weekdays) and there are maybe a few other people there.
• It's pretty Americanized (McDonalds! Big K! OfficeMax!) with a distinct Puerto Rico influence (Pueblo! Plaza Extra! Banco Popular!). However, if you didn't know better, you'd also notice a distinct absence of things: American food chains beyond fast food, Wal-Mart, etc. In that respect (and in many others), living in New Orleans is a good primer.
• This place is crazy with mongoose (proper plural: "mongoose dem"). Some of them are a little too acclimated to people. One tried to steal some of my breakfast burrito one morning.
• If you're going to another island, go seaplane. It's worth the experience, not having to go through security, and the landing in St. Thomas will get your attention (OH MY GOD THAT'S A BUILDING OH WAIT THERE'S THE WATER THANK YOU PONTOONS).

So those are some of the (many) anecdotal tidbits. In my mind, the biggest distinction is that it is very much unlike the place where I currently spend the other half of the year. It's almost bizarre, considering how small this place is (28 mi x 7 mi; 60,000 people):

• The food here is better. Far better. I have yet to be disappointed.
• People are far more sociable. Some of this is out of necessity, or homesickness, but there's a distinct group of young (and in my case, "marginally younger") professionals that are here to make a go of it.
• The mood is far more relaxed.
• Everyone here has a iPhone, too.
• No matter what the stereotype is about "less developed" parts of the world, I'll take this over ignorant (especially intentionally ignorant) rednecks any day of the week.

The difference in my mood here (and that of my lovely wife, who joined me for Month 1 of this adventure) has been remarkable, but when I think back on it, it's understandable. A lot of the whole "life satisfaction" thing seems to derive from the real estate axiom: "location, location, location." Certainly that has something to do with other factors (e.g. are you currently "located" in a career path that's satisfying), but regardless this is a fascinating experiment no matter how you shake it. Especially considering what comes next...