Tag Archives: AUC

8 Things I Took for Granted Before I Left the U.S.

June 25, 2016AUC, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Uncategorizedadventures, American University of the Caribbean, arizona, AUC, Caribbean, countries, cultural, culture, Expat, International, Island, learning, Med school, medical school, moving, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXM, travelbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Before I left the United States, there were a lot of things I took for granted. I guess everyone thinks their own life is pretty typical until they get a taste of something else.

1. Traffic lights. We have a single traffic light in the entire country of Sint Maarten. It spends half its life blinking yellow. Here, we have few intersections and a lot of round-a-bouts. It’s actually a much better system, and a lot fewer accidents occur because of it.

2. Refrigerated milk. You can get refrigerated milk here, but not every grocery store carries it. I always buy ultra heat-treated (UHT) milk. It’s cheaper, safer, and easier, especially since we get so many power outages. Also, I can stick several cases on the fridge and use them as I need them.

3. Electricity. Speaking of power outages, we get them a lot. Our single power plant can only handle so much at once. So we go without water and/or power on a regular basis.

4. Air conditioning. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona where air conditioning is literally vital for life. Here, we like to use it now and then but we could certainly live without it. Our apartment complex took almost two months to fix our unit last summer when it died. We were OK; we have a nice trade winds breeze that we welcomed through open doors and windows.

5. Multiple traffic lanes. Unlike Phoenix’s six-lane highways, Sint Maarten has a basic two-lane road going all the way around the island. Passing anyone is an adventure.

6. Self-defense weapons. I used to carry mace everywhere I went. That’s just what you do in Phoenix if you’re walking around alone. I can’t carry anything here– not mace, not a pocket knife, not even a chair. Well, realistically I can carry a chair, but not legally. If you could whack someone in the head with it, you can’t legally carry it down the street. People will make weapons with anything, though– the supermarket next door once got held up by a guy with a stick.

7. Private beaches. There are no private beaches here! Every strip of sand on this island is public property. I took my dog to one of the less beautiful beaches this afternoon. There were a dozen locals there and me. And it’s a Saturday. If that beach was in the States, it would have been PACKED because so many good beaches are privately owned and the rest are perpetually filled. Here, you can enjoy the most incredible strips of paradise no matter your paycheck. I love that about Sint Maarten.

8. Sales tax. Yes, there is no sales tax here! Hooray for no math! Oh, and for not paying extra for stuff.

No matter where you go, there will always be something better and worse about it than the last place you lived. I guess the moral to the story is that wherever you are, enjoy the good things about that place instead of focusing on the bad things. There’s so much to appreciate in life!

Zika. We Have It Here.

June 17, 2016American University of the Caribbean, AUC, Caribbean, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint MaartenAmerican University of the Caribbean, AUC, Caribbean, Expat, International, Island, Med school, medical school, mosquito, overseas, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXM, travel, virus, zikabreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Yes, we have Zika. Our little island has joined the rest of the West Indies and is now home to this nasty virus. How common is it? Not too common. How bad is it? Depends.

The most obvious thing that effects our community is that some people have contracted Zika. There have even been a few students at American University of the Caribbean who have had it. You hear a lot of horror stories about how awful it is, but honestly, it varies from person to person. Some people have hardly felt a thing and didn’t know they had it until they were tested. Others have had severe flu-like symptoms that put them behind in their studies for a week or so. Ben and I may have had it and not known it.

Zika is known to cause birth defects in unborn children. The World Health Organization has recommended that women carefully consider delaying pregnancy. This really stinks for the families in our community who were trying to have children. It’s been hard on a lot of people.

Zika is scaring some of our visitors away. Many of us had friends who planned to visit, and some of them cancelled their plans because of pregnancy or fear.

I’m not particularly worried about it. I did take a few pregnancy tests to make sure I’m not pregnant, and they were negative. So we’re just going about our business as usual and being sure to wear bug spray and keep the door closed after dark.

So just in case you were curious or worried, we’re OK. Like any other epidemic, Zika is a little scary, and the media makes it sound much scarier than it is! But life goes on here and we battle the mosquitoes the same way we always have to for more familiar viruses like dengue.

Sint Maarten Book Fair

June 10, 2016Caribbean, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint MaartenAUC, author, book, book fair, Caribbean, cultural, culture, Dutch Side, Expat, Island, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXM, universitybreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Sint Maarten’s Book Fair is probably the coolest book fair on the planet. Not only does it showcase local authors, it also features many activities and seminars. I was so glad to be able to go to one of the days!

My friend Lisa knows about all the cool stuff to do on the island. She writes the Weekender section of The Daily Herald, so she knows all the events and goes to experience them and take photos. She sometimes invites me to go along with her, and I always have a great time!

There were several local authors who set up booths at the fair. I got to meet a couple of them:

This is Montague Kobbe. He writes historical fiction novels that are set in St. Martin and the surrounding Caribbean islands. I really wanted to buy one, but that will have to wait for a season of life when I have a real job. The books have good reviews, and I’m looking forward to reading them someday.

This is Heddrick McBride. He writes children’s books with main characters who look like Caribbean kids. If you’ve ever looked at the children’s section at the library, you may have noticed that most of the kids in the books are white. Very few feature black families or Caribbean culture. Mr. McBride saw that need and filled it. It’s awesome for the kids on the island to have good books about kids who look like them! You can find his books online here.

We use some of his books at Player Development SXM as reading material for the kids we tutor. As you can see, they enjoy them!

Roland and Laura Richardson were also there, selling the cookbook from Temptations Cafe that Roland illustrated with his paintings. Some of Laura’s poems are in there, too!

After visiting with the authors, I followed Lisa to a poetry reading under the gazebo. It was actually more like spoken word, and I had a great time! I wished that I had planned ahead and brought a poem to read, too. Lisa read a poem in public for the first time ever! It was really good.

We managed to catch the last seminar of the event. It was about how science fiction drives science fact. The panel discussed topics like technology, the mind, and how today’s ideas shape the destiny of the future. It made me a little sad that my master’s degree is online. I forgot how much I miss listening to and discussing academic lectures. It was a privilege to hear ideas from some of Sint Maarten’s great minds.

If you’re in Sint Maarten next June, be sure to check out the book fair! I’m sad that we’ll be gone before then, but I’m so glad I could be a part of it this year.

The Dean’s List Again

May 27, 2016American University of the Caribbean, AUC, Saint Martin/ Sint MaartenAmerican University of the Caribbean, AUC, Caribbean, learning, Med school, medical school, Saint Martin, Sint Maartenbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

We’ve started Round Three of medical school, and we’re celebrating two semesters of achievement in the books! Ben made Dean’s List once again last semester.

Tonight was the recognition ceremony, complete with a speech by the lovely Dr. Julie Taylor. I think Dr. Taylor is one of the coolest people I know– she’s had over 100 publications and a lot of important jobs, but she doesn’t act too important to talk to someone like me. I’m pretty low on the totem pole as far as the medical world goes. If I ever end up in a prestigious position, I hope I’ll remember to be like her.

Speaking of awesome people, here is Ben receiving his second Dean’s List certificate! I’m so proud of him. He has worked so hard these past eight months to stay toward the top of his class and, more importantly, perform to the best of his ability. He’s going to make one great doctor someday.

The night ended with an Asian dinner catered by AUC staff and time spent with friends. Here’s a photo of us on the patio of American University of the Caribbean. Don’t you love that view? Too bad the students have to spend more time staring at textbooks than they can staring at those mountains. But as you can see, it pays off!

Two semesters down, three to go!

A Red Dive Platform in the Ocean

May 26, 2016American University of the Caribbean, Caribbean, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, Spouses Organizationadventures, American University of the Caribbean, AUC, beach, Caribbean, diving, Expat, French Side, International, Island, Med school, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXMbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Some days, you just need to forget life and find something weird to do.

Like this diving platform floating in the ocean. You need something like that.

After block week, which is the week leading up to Ben’s big quarter-term med school tests, we sure needed a red floating dock to jump off. Ben and Matt wanted to surf after their tests, but I had hurt my shoulder. So Stacey and I decided to wander around Galion Bay Beach, and this was what we found.

It might seem silly, but this thing was the best medicine for a couple of tired, stressed-out med school spouses. Sometimes, you need to let loose and act like a kid!

How’s your week going? If you’re feeling stressed, maybe it’s time to tap into your inner child and do something weird.

French Food and Fashion in Marigot

May 19, 2016American University of the Caribbean, Caribbean, Expats, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, Spouses OrganizationAmerican University of the Caribbean, AUC, Caribbean, culture, Expat, French Side, International, Island, Marigot, Med school, medical school, Saint Martin, Shopping, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXMbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Where in the Americas can you find France? The Caribbean, of course! The French side of the island Saint Martin is definitely tropical, but there are pieces and pockets that feel just like a part of Paris. This afternoon, my girlfriends and I went for lunch and fashion in the capitol town, Marigot.

There are a lot of places to get a croissant and coffee in Marigot, and all of them are delicious. This is France, after all. I never liked pastries all that much until I moved here, where real pastries are made. The most popular shops are the touristy ones by the port, but within the winding streets of Marigot, you can find even better treasures.

We stopped at The Coffee Shop Club, where we were greeted by brightly-colored walls and kind faces. Seriously, the people who work here are some of the friendliest I’ve met on the island. I’ll go back just because of the people. All I got was a tea, but the other girls ordered smoothies and lunch. It was delicious! I know, because I sampled a little of other people’s food. We were lucky to have Aqiyla with us, because she is the only one of our group who speaks French fluently. The rest of us needed a little help with the French menus.

St Maarten Shore Excursion: Beaches and Shopping in Marigot
from: Viator

What’s an afternoon in France without a little fashion? We went shopping at some of the more affordable boutiques in the area, and they reminded us of the familiar mall stores back home.

Jennyfer has a lot of sweet, trendy styles that I hadn’t seen yet because I haven’t been shopping for clothes since I visited the States a few months ago. I have to say that classy must be making a comeback, and I actually liked most of the clothes here. I wanted to buy a dress I loved, but then I thought of our mounting med school debt and the closet full of dresses I have at home.

Pimkie is pretty much the clothing store version of Pinterest with a tribal flair. I loved browsing through and looking at all the sayings on the shirts. One of them said, “The Dream is Dedication: Dedication is Expensive.” I think that shirt should be the official medical school uniform! My favorite tank was based on a quote from the book Peter Pan. When Peter Pan is wounded and left to die on a rock in the ocean, he says bravely, “To die will be an awfully big adventure.” The shirt was a bit more inspirational: “To live will be an awfully big adventure.” I might go back and buy that one.

We stopped for a while at Z Boutique on Rue du Republique, but most of the men’s clothes were in an odd size and I didn’t see anything that I wanted. I also forgot to take a photo, because I was so eager to get to Roland Richarson’s art gallery!

Roland’s wife, Laura, was at the gallery when we arrived. Stacey and I have been to the gallery often, and we introduced our friends to her. She let us wander the grounds, and we showed everyone the paintings of me and Stacey that Roland has done.

All of these ladies with me are fellow Caribbean med school spouses, Canadian and American expats in the Caribbean. Being an expat is bittersweet, because your heart is divided into pieces, and “home” has many definitions. There are a lot of things we miss about home, but I think that when we return, we’ll miss times like today. These days are short and precious.

Breana's Blog

A writer's adventures around the world