Simple Things in Life in St. Barth

It's the simple things that make me happy.  The internet and no shoes.

For some of those who know the boring details, it has been two months and I still do not have internet at my apartment.  However, I should have it as of next week.  Many of us would be thrilled to throw our Blackberrys/iPhones (or other PDSa) out the window, escape from our computers, shut off our emails.  But when you have moved out of the country and are trying to (a) communicate with your friends and loved ones back home because a phone call is $4 a minute and Skype/Logitech/email are fabulous, and (b) trying to make administrative things happen (leasing, subleasing, banking, phone, internet, cars, medical, etc.), both in your home and new country, it gets a little hectic running in out of cafes which have internet.

So, I will spare you the icky details and just say, hurrah for internet next week!

And this morning I went to the gym.  There is one gym on the island (8,000 residents on the island, btw).  I decided to shower in the 30-second shower (it turns on for 30 seconds at a time -- water is not abundant here -- this is a very funny contrast to Reebok gym in NYC which is 140,000 square feet.) and head into town, Gustavia, after the gym instead of going home.  But I forgot my shoes.  A brightly colored sundress and Nike sneakers is really not an attractive look.  But it's really okay to skip across the street from my car to a cafe in bare feet.  Not my first choice, but nobody looked at me like I was crazy.  And it was nice to have barefeet dangling off my coffee-bar stool. . .

Sleeping with the Enemy

I promise to post some beautiful pictures of St. Barth soon enough.

Until then, I will share some of the "realities" of SBH.  

My two perceived enemies of the island are the sun and the mosquito.

Now the sun I love.  It's bright, warm and lovely.  I really love the hot weather.  No complaints here.  I love it when it it bright out.  Totally lifts my spirits.  It just has to potential to damage the skin/give you cancer.  A little concerning.  So I am a little SPF crazy.  Sunglasses, hat sometimes, etc.  The higher the SPF, the better, although there is no proof that the 100+ SPF is any better than 15/30.  I just like the way it sounds.

And the mosquito.  The french pronunciation is "moo-steek" which I smile at every time I hear it.  The moo-steek is smaller than the northeastern U.S. moo-steek but just as vicious.  And can give you dengue fever.  Which is no walk in the park.  These little buggers surround our ankles and calves like no tomorrow.  And when the light is out, bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz around our heads when we are in bed.  I am going to go purchase a mosquito net for my bed.  I used to think they were an expensive decorating technique.  They are actually a necessity in some parts of the world.

My favorite defense against the moo-steek is the moo-steek racquet.  It looks like a small tennis racquet and the net part becomes electrified when you push a button.  You simply swat at the moo-steek and ZAP!  It catches it in the net and zaps it.  Very satisfying.  I walk around with it constantly.

Bridgette is not such of the fan.  Of the moo-steek or the racquet.