Island Interview

A couple of months after we booked our trip to St.Thomas, Brandon discovered that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands (whew, mouthful!) was looking for a clerk for 2012. He decided to apply and received a letter back stating that although the judge wasn't planning on doing any interviews until December - he'd make an exception for Brandon since we were going to be there in October.

Knowing that he was going to be interviewing made me look at the island in a different way. If there's a possibility we could be living there for a year, I wanted to observe things I normally wouldn't take notice of (grocery stores, roads etc.).

Cons:

On the downside, the roads here are terrible! Pot holes, speed bumps (that are more like curbs), steep hills, narrow roads, and did I mention that they drive on the left hand side? While researching about St.Thomas I'd read that you shouldn't bother bringing a nice car to the island because after six months you'll have so many dings, your suspension will be shot and you'll need to replace your brakes. Okay, that's not so bad. Maybe I'd kinda like to drive a big clunker and run into things whenever I want. We rented a jeep for the week and Brandon had no problem driving on the left (so hopefully I'd be able to get the hang of it as well).

The grocery store was an interesting experience also. We were able to find almost everything that they have in the states it's just much more expensive (because everything has to be imported). I also found it odd that once you unload your cart of food on the conveyor belt you have to bring the cart back to the front of the store (you can't bring it with you through the line - probably so people don't steal them). So you return your cart, head back to the line, bag your own groceries and then you have to carry all of the bags out because you don't have a cart to put them in!

Pros:

The weather. Honestly, I've never experienced weather I enjoyed more than this. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I just don't do well in the cold. I find Encinitas to be cold most of the time (yes, 70 degrees is cold). I've been to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Hawaii and they all have tropical weather -- but it isn't quite like St.Thomas. The water is warm enough to go wading in without cringing, and refreshing enough to keep you cool in the warm sun. The island breeze was constant and before it could ever get too hot, a cloud would cover the sun for a few minutes and provide relief. My skin loved the slight humidity also (although my hair hated it).

The people. Everyone we came in contact with seemed so happy (how could you not be in a paradise like this?) I could also get used to running on "island time." Everyone is so laid back, there doesn't ever seem to be a frantic rush. That would be good for me, since I always seem to stress about being everywhere on time.

The experience. I've never lived outside of Southern California!! It would be a great experience to live somewhere for a year before we decided we want to settle down and have a family.

But I digress...back to Brandon's interview. It went really well! It was about two hours long, and he also got a chance to meet with the judge's current clerks to pick their brains about living on the island and working for the court. We won't hear for a couple of months, but I'll be sure to keep everyone posted!

Right before leaving to his interview