Living without television, cell phones or a car and more random stuff

By Scott:

Trying to give a little flavor of life here on the Island for Katie and I. I guess the biggest change is the lifestyle. We don't have a TV and at present have no plans to get one. In the fall when my football habit kicks in I will probably head to one of the sports bars in George Town to catch the Longhorn games that may be on but for now we simply don't have television. We watch DVDs on our lap top and can follow the news on the Internet so paying the ridiculous price for television and particularly cable down here just isn't an expense we want to pay. From our weekend at the resort we know that cable includes all the US basic channels from Miami and most of the regular cable channels. Eventually we will get a TV but for now we don't seem to miss it.

Similarly we haven't gotten cell phones yet as they are pretty expensive and frankly who would we call. The only reason to have one is for emergencies and again eventually we will but for now that is also an expense we are foregoing. The hardest thing is not having a car. We got our first paychecks at the end of June and sent some money back to be deposited into our US account to cover a portion of the huge credit card bill we had with our move and last half month in the U.S. We have been basically living on the remaining cash since then trying not to use the credit card. We cant deposit it into a bank here because to get an account you need several documents one of which comes from our bank in the U.S. We have ordered the letter and it is on its way by way of my brother in Georgia. The first checks would have been used up completely on a used car so we decided we could make it another month without a vehicle and wait for our July paychecks to get the car. Once we get the car we add the expense of insurance too so we are calculating exactly what we need. Here in Cayman you don't get an auto loan you pay entirely up front. That's the bad part, the good part is you can get a good used car for around 5000 CI (about 6250 US), you just have to make sure it isn't an Ivan car. we are probably going to buy from one of the rental agencies fleets so that wont be a problem.

Not having a car has pretty much meant that our exploration of the Island is east of Savannah. George Town is still a place largely unfamiliar to us though I have to go in every so often for meetings and borrow the van when I have to do so. On the two occasions that we rented a car we drove in to the big supermarket, Kirks, just north of the harbor district and also to the home improvement stores so we know how to get there. We also went up to West Bay just to drive around but it will take time to get familiar with it all. George Town really isnt that big so once we get a car it will be easy to get to know it though with all the traffic we want to avoid it as much as possible. The funny thing is we still haven't done the biggest tourist things like walk seven mile beach or go to the harbor area where all the shops for the tourists are or go out to Sting Ray City to snorkel. Eventually we will but for now we just accept that our little sphere extends only as far as we can bike.

We have made some new friends. Whenever we go to Fosters we look for Ms. Ethel one of the cashiers. She was our cashier the first time we shopped at Fosters on June 1 and had looked weird at us because of all the things we were buying. We were obviously not buying vacation groceries and we told her we were moving in at the college. Everytime we see her she always asks how we are doing and what new things we have seen or foods we have tried. Countryside Village where the Fosters Supermarket is located is fast becoming a popular place. Its a bit like an America out door mall with Fosters as the magnet then a computer store, a dry cleaners, a hair salon, hardware store, bank, Haagen Dazs ice cream, Subway and even a realtor in some of the other shops. If you don't notice that everyone is driving around on the left you would think you were in any town USA. There is even a Wendy's going up across the street next to the Texaco station. That has Kira our business manager very excited and Katie very disappointed.

We got out first mail from the States (Thanks Mom) which made us very excited. We are expecting a package and are excited to see if it will come out to our little Savannah post office where we get our general delivery mail or if we will have to go into the main office. Even though we live in Newlands, it isn't big enough to have a post office so we have to go down to Savannah. Our post office is the size of a small shack with post office boxes all around it on the outside. It actually looks like a small movable trailer though it is obviously attached to some foundation. We are staying general delivery because a box costs 80 CI a month and you have to rent for a year (which is over a thousand US just to get a mail box). Since we will be moving in January we didn't want to get a box in Savannah anyway particularly if we are going to live in Bodden Town Breakers or even East End and also we can save money by just stopping in when the post office is open and asking if we have any mail.

We are headed out today to visit Pedro St James Castle the birthplace of democracy in the Cayman Islands. Later we will head for a beach. The weekends are our only real time away from work so between biking, swimming and exploring we fill them up pretty quick. Will let you know what we find this weekend. For all our family who are traveling including my brother Kevin and his family, Katie's sister Stephanie, and anyone else out and about on summer vacation, be safe and have good trips, we will talk to you soon.