Why I Love Amazon

The other day I was on Amazon, about to order a DVD for the girls. When I pressed on the DVD, Amazon bots very helpfully informed me "You purchased this item on April 4, 2010".

What?

Thanks! I would have never remembered that on my own! (Now, where is that DVD?)

Another reason why Amazon is cool in my book:

I'm a valued customer! They will refund me without my having to actually return the item! What's not to love?

You Get What You Get

Having lived here for over two years now, I am getting wise to how to effectively grocery shop on the island. I arm myself with a list, but am fully aware that it serves only as a very loose guide, and tend to repeat a preschool mantra as I go through the aisles: "You get what you get, and you don't get upset".

Alas, living on an island where almost everything is imported, I've become accustomed to not finding something that I really really want, even if that same item was spotted just last week. When the stock runs out and there has not been a re-stock since (most often for weather reasons, but occasionally due to airline strikes too - thank you Air France), the place on the shelf just remains empty until the next shipment. In fact, I've ditched planning meals until I've done the shopping and seen what I've been able to buy.

The place where I am most disappointed the most often is the produce aisle. Fruits and vegetables often look ... less than edible, like they have been sitting there a long time, and often they have been. Vegetables that are most reliable here seems to be romaine lettuce and cauliflowers, but even with those I've been disappointed. Good looking fruits are hard to find and when you do, they are inevitably quite expensive. For Hana, this means little because she, as a matter of principle that only she understands, avoids all fruits like the plague. Manolee, however, is always eyeing blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and when I do find good looking fresh fruit, I do indulge her. 

The other thing I've had to do here is going to several supermarkets to find specific things. For example, the "US Market" carries 99% French products and I go there for certain cheeses, yogurt products and certain French snacks. The Grand Marche in Cole Bay carries the little yakult drinks that Manolee loves, but the other Grand Marches on the island do not. The one on Bush Road carries S&B curry packs and 2kg packages of sushi rice, while the other ones do not. Of course, none of this is consistent, so I find myself sometimes trekking out to Bush Road for something only to find the place on the shelf empty... well, you get what you get and you don't get... upset. Things could be a lot worse. In fact, I love being able to buy American, French and Dutch goods. I buy Kepcap Manis in the Dutch/Indonesian condiment section and Chiu Chow Chili Oil in the Asian condiment section and cornichons in the French condiment section.

I've been told that St Maarten/ St Martin is really modern and well-supplied, compared to other Caribbean destinations, and that is why a lot of the super yachts choose to stay on the island during the winter months. Indeed, in high season you see multiple yacht crews (they all wear white t-shirts emblazoned with the yacht names) clutching clipboards with their shopping lists, filling up multiple shopping carts way up high. Among the items I've spied on such carts more than once: tubs and tubs of mascarpone (tiramisu, anyone?), boxes and boxes of "Apericubes" cheeses, dozen bottles of champagnes, and an entire case of Febreze (!).

Island Specialty - Continued

Some pictures of cars I've spotted recently. Today's theme would be: self-proclamation

Look-alikes

I've noticed that in many families with two children, one child often resembles the mother and the other often resembles the father. Rarely have I come across children who all look like only one parent.

'Tis the case with my two girls. Hana is definitely more PeeWee and Mano is definitely me. So it's always a pleasure when I catch them looking like one another, as in this picture below:

Both mine!

Island Politics

There was an election recently - to vote for the head of the collectivite. Although I am eligible to vote, I don't really understand the system nor the local politics, and made a somewhat unconscious decision to abstain. I was intrigued by certain things, like the electoral boards that went up around the neighborhoods with posters of various politicians representing different political parties. I believe there were like 5-6 parties running, and each of them had to present a "list" of their candidates - but you vote for the party, not the individual candidates. I guess it's like voting Republican in the US but not choosing the Vice President yourself - that choice is made for you.

Anyway, it was the RRR party that won the local election (see people celebrating above) - but what has really got my attention is the scandal that (already) rocked the new government merely 2-3 days after it took power. Apparently the new president gave a speech - it may have been the inauguration speech - and somehow someone got wind of the strange coincidence between that speech and another speech given by the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso back in 2011. The biggest laugh was on the speech writer, who claimed that it was actually written by a consultant, who had also written the original speech in Burkina Faso. This consultant however is nowhere to be found. He was found on Facebook, with an account that was created a week ago, and with only one friend - the President's speech writer.

Hmmmm? Isn't life interesting on SXM?

The other interesting factoid is that SXM registered the lowest turnout nationally for the first round of the French presidential election last Sunday. Less than 30% of registered voters turned up to vote. I venture to guess that lots of people on SXM do not really feel French - a large number do not even speak French - and they may feel that whatever happens on the mainland doesn't matter for the island. St Barths, however, had a 56% turnout and voted overwhelmingly for Sarkozy (62% vs 34% in SXM). I wonder if more people will turn up to vote the second round?

Prohibited (Now?)

These signs started going up a couple of months ago:

Women go topless in all the beaches on the island, but naturists stick mostly to the south end of Orient Bay, Cupecoy or Happy Bay (or so I hear). Makes me wonder why the authorities felt these signs necessary now - I've seen them in Long Bay, Plum Bay, Friars Bay, Galisbay.

On a related note, last week a naked man was found loitering in the Nettle Bay Beach Club, was taken to the Police Station and then, God knows how, he promptly escaped. He remains at large.

Sunset Beach Bar

Planespotting at the Sunset Beach Bar is always on all the must-do lists for St Maarten. Truth be told, the food is mediocre and the live music is always too loud, but it remains one of my favorite things to do when people visit.

You can't help but get excited spotting a plane approaching - a tiny dot in the sky. As it gets closer everyone gets their cameras ready on the decks or run out to lie on the beach to get a shot of it from below. When it's a big jumbo, the thrill is palpable.

For departures, it's a bit less exciting than it used to be since they elongated the runway about two years ago. The planes no longer have to back up all the way to the fence. Still, when a jumbo takes off, the blast is still powerful enough to send caps, beach umbrellas, books, towels and some lightweight people out into the water. I never tried it myself, but a girl who braved it said that it feels like a sand blast - and proudly showed me scratches on her arms from the projectile sand.

We last went there last Wednesday with my dad and my niece. It was packed - I had forgotten that 7 cruise ships were in town - see below:

Lots of landings...

...including the majestic Air France:

Then the anticipation as a jumbo prepares for takeoff:


And the chaos that ensues along with the sand blasts:

Good times!