Ode to the beaches of St. John

The beaches here are beyond lovely. Hawaii can suck it. Mexico can suck something too. Pretty much everywhere in the world-aside from, I hear, Bali-can find something to start sucking on and suck, suck, suck till sore and raw. Here are a few shots. Sadly, I cannot track down a bunch. But these will do.

My madre at Francis Bay

The Garza girls at Gibney

Salt Pond

Denis Beach all to ourselves. Definitely a personal favorite.

Brown Bay

The most famous...Trunk Bay

Sadly absent: Salomon, Maho, Ditleff, and my rock beaches with unknown names.

Me and My Beloved Virgin

That is the title of the book I am reading right now by a famous old St. Johnian, Guy Benjamin. He's a brilliant old man with the Coral Bay elementary school named after him. Reading his book about how amazing St. John used to be-before the influx of building and tourism and such-makes me want to leave and never look back. We humans sure know how to ruin a good thing.

But I will be leaving soon, and as wonderful as St. John is in so many ways, there are a lot of totally ridiculous things that do not add to the charm, but just straight up piss me off. Here's a little list:

-Tip jars in the grocery store check-out line. I don't think so.
-Snotty and indifferent customer service. Why would I throw a tip in your little plastic jar if you are so rude?
-West Indian men. So over-sexed, brutal, macho, abusive. My West Indian lady friends always say that I am lucky to be with a white man, and totally feel like it is their role in life to be with these useless losers. They expect me to cheat on Jason without a care in the world. I AM GENERALIZING. There are a few exceptions, but VERY FEW.
-Chickens. I want to kick them, but instead just throw rocks in their general direction.
-Rats. The only time I have seen them is in my apartment, and that is NOT a good place for them to be.
-Lack of good friends. All my most amazing friends are in the states. I miss them constantly.
-Non-committal friends. People make plans, don't show up. Don't ever make plans, don't do anything but drink. I loved all the fun things we did in the States...dinner parties and this and that. Doesn't happen down here without a lot of effort (usually on my part).
-Idiotic government. I could rant for ages. I know all governments are pretty idiotic, but down here is a whole different level.
-Lawlessness. Murder? Well, no problem as long as you are related to a police officer! Rape, ah, too much trouble to investigate, don't want to piss anyone off.
-Disregard for environment. Maybe it is just more obvious here. 3/4 of the island is national park. People come here to visit a tropical paradise. Locals protect it voraciously. Well then why does everyone (locals and tourists) put their cigarette butts out in the beautiful sandy beaches and throw their garbage on the ground? The oceans are filled with plastic and the fish and coral are dying off. Again, humans always find a way to ruin a good thing.
-Tourists. God, people can be so annoying. Walking down the middle of the street, disrespect for local culture, not properly tipping (it is 20% here, just like in the states). "Go back to your suburb!" my neighbor Tyler would say. People come here to get away and experience something different, but when they get to experience 'island time' and the slower, laid-back pace with less amenities, they can't handle it. Drives me nuts.
-Expensive crappy food. It costs a lot to eat here because it costs a lot to transport food here. Our vegetables suck, our milk is spoiled, organic and local choices are rare. If only we were a more self-sufficient island with food production, like back when Mr. Guy Benjamin grew up here.
-Yucky bugs. Admittedly, this is a pretty weak complaint, but cockroaches and such are icky, icky, icky.
-Mildewy, smelly clothing and towels. I've had to throw some things away because they got too moldy. That smell has delved deeply into the interiors of my memory bank.
-Laundry. I curse you laundry! If I lived in a normal house with a washer and dryer, I would actually enjoy this task. But no. I have to trek weeks of dirty laundry to a busy, stiflingly warm laundromat. It is a sweaty, nasty, tedious workout. And it is expensive.

Those are my rants for the moment. When I get disgusted it makes it easier for me to think about leaving this place that I really do love. But guess what I love more??? SEATTLE!

Mum and Me

Yesterday my mother left her first visit to my little tropical paradise. And she absolutely loved it. I told her to brag about it to all the people who haven't made it down here in the FOUR PLUS YEARS that I've been stuck on this rock. Yes, I am bringing THAT up again.

There were soooo many pictures, I couldn't possibly chose from all of them. Unlike Sadie's visit where we only took about 3. I think that is because she used to live here, but SERIOUSLY--neither of them brought a camera on vacation. What is up with that? My camera goes everywhere with me.

The pic above was taken whilst covered in salt and grime and emanating a boozey smell after a day of boating to the BVIs. Oh, those days in the sun are long ones. I believe we were asleep for night around 7:30 or 8pm, which happened a little too frequently after days of sun and drinks. Life really is not so hard down here.