Believe it or not, I was not the first, I will not be the last, nor am I the only BareFootMom out there. They exist everywhere, not just on St. Croix. A little over a year ago, another barefootmom and I were just beginning to get to know each other, then BAM! She and her family moved off island. Her name is Suzanne and her beautiful blog is WeGrowHere.
She blogs about her sweet, simple love & family fun-filled island life followed by her move to America: challenges, ups, downs and fights with washing machines. I can only imagine. She has gone from living Bush to living Bustle, while being a loving mother, sexy wife, and seeking other sleep-deprived normal mamas to befriend. She was kind enough to let me bug her with questions and share them with you. I encourage you to hop over to WeGrowHere and catch up on her perspective. You will laugh, You will cry. You will pee your pants. (fyi- grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine- its a long one, but worth the read)
WeGrowHere: Life from Bush to Bustle.
How long did you live on St. Croix? Well, technically I did two stints on St. Croix. I first moved to St. Croix as a fearless college graduate the moment they handed me my diploma. I worked as a nurse in the Emergency Department at the Juan F. Luis Hospital for a year, which was a challenge to say the least. I ran home after my first year but St. Croix has a funny way of getting into your heart. So I return two years later on traveling nurse assignment and stayed after meeting my husband. On the second go round I lived on St. Croix just a few months short of three years.
(You’re right, St. Croix does have a funny way of getting into your heart)
In general terms- where in America do you live now? We now reside down by the bayou, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
(In terms of moving to America, not such a bad choice. I see lots of similarities to St. Croix in the lifestyle, culture, even cuisine. Great find Suz!)
Were you’re children b’an on St. Croix? Unfortunately only one of my children possess a St. Croix birth certificate. All were conceived on the island though, if that counts for anything.
(Hell ya that counts!)
What was the ultimate decision for making the move stateside? Well it is kind of an in depth story but the nitty gritty of it is that my husband was exploring his job options on the island but unfortunately, at the time, there was little industry or jobs that could provide the income we needed to give our children the lives we dreamed for them. I was almost eight months pregnant (YES SHE SAID 8!!!) and knew that I didn’t want to make a move with a new born or be left alone with three kids if my husband found a job stateside. So we agonized and analyzed, I might have even cried a bit, but we ultimately made the decision that the most opportunity for us and our children was in America. We quickly consolidated our lives into a few flat rate and partial post boxes and made the move. Looking back, we made the right choice because my husband found a job he loves few months later.
(I love that you refer to America as “AMERICA” as if it really is this newly discovered world so far way. Land of opportunity. I totally get it. Because St. Croix is soooo different than AMERICA)
What is the thing you miss most about STX? Where do I start? Everything. Like anything in life, absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. Our family we left behind is what comes to mind first. Seeing the water everyday, a color which I can’t put into words, the rainbows we would see on our morning drives to preschool, the trade winds whipping through our house, the beaches, the kind drivers, the diversity, and the fruit.
(Check out Suzanne’s post on how to cut & eat a mango!)
The locals and the people who choose to move to St. Croix from other islands or places was one of my favorite things about St. Croix. It is such a diverse island. And those who choose to move to St. Croix seem to be people that aren’t afraid to get dirty, seek an adventure, rough it, or work to make things happen for themselves, and I liked that.
(I tend to generalize everyone who lives on St. Croix as Cruzans, but you are right, there are so many people from islands all over the Caribbean who reside here)
But most of all, besides family, I would have to say I miss the sense of community and network of moms which exists on St. Croix. It is a small island but with that brings the comfort of frequently running into those you know and feeling like you belong to something. Everything is so spread out in Louisiana. Life seems to congregates off the interstate exits in the strip malls and mega stores.
(This is truly my favorite part. The island family you must make and thrive on to survive. LifeLong friends in the making. Tears)
Wah is de ting you don’t miss at all? The customer service on St. Croix is the worst. I used to make the most of it while I was there but now that I have seen the light I don’t feel guilty addressing it. It feels so nice to be able to drop that bitchy armour I used to carry with me into businesses, banks, the post office, ready to stand up for myself the moment someone cut me in line, blatantly ignored me, or chupsed me for no good reason. Businesses in the states go out of their way to make their customers’ life easier and I am the blubbering idiot who is standing there saying thank you one too many times. I just really appreciate the kindness here.
(FYI – CHUPSED is NOT a typo. It is a…way that people suck their teeth at you as to say, “go f yourself, can’t you see I am too busy doing nothing to help you?”)
Oh, and I don’t miss the library in St. Croix. The libraries here are a thing of my dreams.
(Oh, Suz, I’m gonna have to hurt you on this one. Our children’s room was closed for over a year….had to re-teach library behavior all over again…)
What do you love the best about living stateside? Well, first and foremost I love our home. I am not boasting but we now live in a four bedroom, three bedroom house with a yard, washer and dryer, dishwasher, screens, etc., which is something we never could have afforded is St. Croix. The dollar goes so much farther here, especially in the real estate market. I am still wondering what we would have done had we still been in St. Croix living in our 660 sq ft two bedroom one bath condo with three kids. We would have made it work, no doubt, because that’s what we did in St. Croix, but it wouldn’t have been ideal.
(SCREENS??? YOU HAVE SCREENS?? WOW! You are living the life!! Its hard for statesiders to appreciate the importance of screens when you live on an bug-happy island)
It also feels so nice that since moving, we have cut our grocery bill in half and hello, have you ever been to Whole Foods? It’s a things of beauty. No rotten overpriced produce or stinky dripping meat in sight.
(Now, she is just bragging. Whole Foods is a mythical, made up land of my dreams)
What do you like the least about living stateside? I don’t like that life seems to revolve around being a consumer. And as I mentioned before, I miss the diversity which existed everywhere in St. Croix, mostly for my children,
What was the hardest adjustment to make? Besides driving on the right, we found it hard to drop our obsession with conserving everything. We really haven’t changed our ways as far as mission to conserve, but it was hard for us to be around my family without being nags when they would leave lights and fans on with little to no thought of the wastefulness of it.
(I think it is our responsibility to educate those who over consume on EVERYTHING. It is not our CHOICE to live this way, we MUST live this way in order to preserve our precious, limited resources)
Are you able to live your “paradistic” lifestyle in the States? Do you believe Paradise is a state of mind and you can make anywhere Paradise as long as you are with the ones you love? In the days leading up to our decision to leave St. Croix, we were sitting there mulling over things and we both just looked at our happy, healthy children giggling at our feet and I think that was the defining moment for us. We realized that we would be living a life in paradise, no matter where on the map we chose to reside, as long as we had each other.
(PEOPLE! STOP! Go back and read that last line NOW!)
I am so thankful for that moment because the truth is, I can kick my shoes off and be a barefoot mom anywhere. I am ultimately in charge of my happiness and how I choose to raise my children.
(Oh shit, here is where my tears start…)
And in case I ever need a quick fix to get me back into that “paradistic”, barefoot state of mind, since I don’t have the beach, I can take a quick trip down an old oak tree covered road, sit with the kids at a certain park, or head to New Orleans for a taste of their rich culture and cuisine. I think each state and island holds it own unique treasures, which just have to be discovered, to return one to “paradistic” state of mind.
(Oh, she is one wise mama!)
And when all else fails, I just head over to BareFootMom for a quick dose of island life, which she does such a perfect job of documenting.
(See? Wise.)
Are there any funny transition stories you’d like to share? We made our transition to the hustle and bustle of big living among the cornfields at my mother’s house in Indiana. As we were getting comfortable, playing outside and enjoying the summer we quickly noticed the issue. The moment my kids saw water, be it a plastic pool or sprinkler, all of their clothes came off. I am sure the neighbors were a bit shocked when they saw those brown banas streak past or when my oldest would relieve herself behind a tree. Because that’s what she was taught to do when she was outside or at the beach and there is no toilet. Go in da bush and take care of business. So I guess you could say we had to tame the kids a bit.
(I hate that the innocence of childhood is being taken away…but we have to protect our children)
Another story:
When my daughter had been attending her new preschool for a couple of weeks, the teacher pulled me to the side and explained to me that she noticed my daughter possessed a certain innocence of years past which few kids posses these days. She said it was obvious that we come from a much smaller, much better community. And all I could do is shake my head and smile. Because yes, yes we did.
(Yes, you did. BUT, I know you are doing your best to preserve the culture and the St. Croix way of life, which is appreciating life in and of itself)
Ahhhh, who is ready to turn off your phones, turn on your husband, be thankful for your jobs, hug your children and put off that third run to Target for the week and just be thankful for everything you have in your life?
Thanks again Suzanne (and George & little ones) for sharing life from the other side.
Tags: caribbean living blog, st. croix blog
Not.
