Six Weeks of Surprises

We have just completed six full weeks of island living in Aruba.  Wow – that went fast!  A LOT has happened in the past six weeks, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.  We have been extremely busy with finalizing our residency, establishing our business, and just getting generally settled.  Has it been perfect?  No.  Has it still been overall wonderful?  Definitely, YES!

Each day we feel more and more like a local, which is awesome, and also comes with a few surprises.  When you visit Aruba and you’re on vacation, it’s a totally different experience than actually living here and doing every day life.  I have been noting some of the things that were most unexpected and will be sharing a few of those in this blog.

First off, many of you may already know that Aruba has best water filtration system in the world.  Yes, the WORLD!  It really is a beautiful thing.  I’m not talking about the perfectly blue crystal clear waters of the sea (that’s the best as well!).  We are talking about the water that comes out of faucets.  It’s so perfect that no one uses filters of any kind in their homes, not in their refrigerators, no water softeners, etc. because the water is just plain amazing.  People who visit on vacation realize this and I often see comments about “I can’t wait to drink the water!”  We have noticed a vast difference in our skin and hair from showering in this awesome water.  Things are MUCH easier to clean than the hard waters of Arizona as well.  The sum of this comment is, not only is the ocean water top notch in Aruba, so is the water to your home!

Here’s another interesting fact that is still hard to get used to – nobody has voice mail on their phone.  If you call someone and they don’t answer, chances are they will call you back.  They will see a missed call, but you can’t leave a message.  This isn’t just personal cell phones, this is businesses, government offices, anywhere.  It is taking some getting used to, but what happens is, the places seriously just call you back!  This has happened to us over and over again.  Kinda cool…

Something we love right now is that most businesses close for lunch from anywhere between 11:15 and noon until around 1:30.  Yep, doors are closed, phones aren’t answered at all, and they’ll be back after lunch!  I love this!  So many businesses we are familiar with are just a little too serious and that’s maybe why there is so much stress?  Chill out, people, go to lunch!  Now, the one thing we decided would be difficult about this is that if you work at one of those businesses and you want to visit another business during your lunch time, you can’t do that because they are closed as well.  Must not be a huge problem, though, and they figure it out.  Seriously love the laid back environment.  Also, most businesses are closed on Sunday.  We have noticed that Sunday is the day families are all at the beach- nothing wrong with that!

Speaking of the laid back ways of island life, here’s another thing that was surprising – You don’t pay for anything until AFTER the service is complete.  For example, when our pool company left their invoice, it was at the beginning of August and it was for their July visits.  When we purchased insurance for our vehicle, we have not yet paid because the written policy hasn’t been received yet.  Everything is signed and we have a document stating we have insurance, but nobody wants our money yet.  Wow – that’s definitely not what we’re used to!

I asked my daughters what has been the most surprising difference to them between living on an island and living in the USA.  Now, keep in mind, they were very well prepared for this move and probably even more so than the parents!  The biggest difference they came up with both had to do with how relaxed everything is.  For example, when we go out to dinner, we are probably at a table for about 30 minutes before even placing our food order. If you had to wait 30 minutes at Chili’s, there would be some unhappy campers, but here, you’re most likely sitting outside, drinking cold glasses of the amazing water or some fruity rum drink, so it’s no problem.  And then, you also have to ask for the check before it’s brought to the table.  It’s just assumed you’re going to continue to hang out and no one is worried about if there is a line of people with pagers waiting for an open table.  Not happening here!

I guess the common thread in everything that has surprised us is that people in Aruba are very laid back, they are happy, they are trusting.  This has been a breath of fresh air!  I feel bad saying that we are surprised, as the people are at the top of the list of reasons why we moved here.  It has been so nice to walk into any type of business from the local ice cream shop to the Aruba version of the DMV and be waited on by people who are happy to help you, and genuinely care how your day is going.

So far it’s very, very true that Aruba is ONE HAPPY ISLAND!

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

Buying groceries on an island is VERY different than buying groceries at any store in the U.S.  I was used to going into any given store (Fry’s, Walmart, Costco), filling my cart, using my coupons and coming out with everything on my list.  That has all changed, but it’s actually been pretty fun figuring out where to go for what and when to do it.  Yes – it is somewhat of a challenge.

There are a couple “major” grocery stores here in Aruba, Super Foods (pictured above), and Ling & Sons are the most popular.  What I have found between the two is that I personally like Ling & Sons better.  I have been able to find just about everything there that I was used to buying in the U.S.  Super Foods also has a huge selection of foods, but I feel like their prices are more so have more or less stopped going there.  Some of my favorite things at Ling & Sons is their deli – super yummy chicken salad – and they have 2% milk, most of the time.  You see, most people in Aruba drink “boxed milk”, since regular, refrigerated milk that we are used to has to be flown in and it’s quite expensive.  We are paying $6.57 for a gallon of milk.  Ouch, I know.  Most other things are just pretty normal prices, but you also do not find any kind of sales or coupons, so it does end up to be more expensive for food.  Not outrageous like Hawaii, but just a little more.

About when to buy something, morning is always best.  If a store received something and it’s on the shelf first thing when the store opens, you need to be there to get it.  Once it’s gone, it’s gone until the next plane or boat brings more.  Milk is a good example of that scenario.  We have tried to purchase milk late in the day a couple times and there just isn’t any available.  Same goes for the fruits and veggies.  What’s put out that morning is what you get for the whole day.

In addition to the bigger stores, there are a million and a half Chinese supermarkets everywhere you look.  I am not exaggerating.  About every third building is a little supermarket.  We have one right up the street from us that I have come to love.  It’s called Mega Stone.  The other day, I ran to Mega Stone and bought Roma tomatoes, lettuce, Gouda cheese, a 2 liter of orange soda, burger buns, and hot dog buns (guess what we were having for dinner?), and I spent less than $10.  Love the local markets!  Another favorite is just down the road and it’s called Hong Kong Supermarket.  These places are great when you just need a few things.

Another favorite place to shop for sure is PriceSmart, which is our equivalent of Costco.  They are actually based in San Diego, and Costco is related.  They have some Kirkland items and even a food court like Costco, but at this food court, they have fried chicken, cheeseburgers, and french fries in addition to pizza, salad, and ice cream!  PriceSmart is great for things like toilet paper, bacon, and bags of chips.  They also have a great selection of meat items.  In addition to food, there is also electronics, furniture, clothes – just like Costco!

One important thing I have learned is that if you buy U.S. brands, you are going to pay for them.  For example, a bag of Lay’s potato chips will cost about $5 here, but there is a Dutch brand that costs $1.99.  We tried the Dutch and liked them, then found Lay’s at PriceSmart and Maddie said to go back to the Dutch brand, she likes them better!  Score!  Sometimes figuring out the language on the labels is a challenge, but most of the time there is a picture, so you pretty much know what you’re buying!  Here are some of our favorites so far:

Another major difference is the bread items here, as it’s all fresh, fresh, fresh!  We happen to live right behind one large bakery, Bright Bakery, which makes it very easy to always have good bread (and cookies that are to die for!).  Bread isn’t imported at all, so that means it’s also cheap!

All in all, grocery shopping is an adventure with all the different places to shop, all the different brands to choose from, and figuring out when to buy what.  We haven’t had to change a lot of what we eat and are starting to figure out where the best buys are.  It’s really just part of the adventure and actually pretty fun.

Life is Different, Yet Still the Same

Living in another country is obviously going to be different in a lot of ways.  Trying to maintain somewhat of a lifestyle that you were used to, however, means that some of the things will stay the same.  Like working, for instance.  I am blessed to have a job that I am able to do no matter where I live, so not a lot has changed there.  Except now I have a much better view as I sit at my desk for many hours a day.  Something that is different, though, is that I am able to walk just a few feet to the pool or jump in the car and take a little break on the beach as well.  Those of you who know me know how very happy I am about this!!!

A lot has changed for sure!  One thing that takes a minute to get used to is the driving in Aruba.  I have previously talked about how it’s much better here, and I still stick to that comment.  Drivers are generally very courteous, which is a very welcome change.  There are very few traffic lights in Aruba, and roundabouts are the normal “intersection”.  Once you get the hang of them, they’re quite easy to maneuver and they really do keep the traffic flow going!  We have learned that it’s pretty difficult to get lost around here.  Even if you don’t recognize the street you just turned on, eventually it will lead you to somewhere that is familiar.  We refuse to say that we’re lost,  but use the phrase, “We are exploring.”  This is one of the perks of living on a very small island!

Another difference from what I am used to is hanging laundry to dry.  Now, we do have a dryer, but why waste the energy to use a dryer when you can hang the clothes out and they are dry within an hour?  For some reason, I rather enjoy hanging the clothes – it’s almost therapeutic.  We did this in a previous vacation rental and I felt the same way.  We shall see if this attitude remains or if I’ll be using that silly dryer in the future!  Please note – our laundry only consists of t-shirts and bathing suits (hooray for no more ironing!!!!).

Back to differences about cars – here in Aruba, there is only Premium gas at the pumps.  There is also diesel, but not three choices of unleaded like we were used to.  In case you’re wondering, the cost of gas is a little over $5.00 per gallon.  Here it is sold in liters, and charged in Florin, so it’s hard to figure out the price.  Fortunately, we definitely aren’t driving as much as we did before and we have a very gas efficient car, so we’ve actually been spending way less on gas than we even budgeted!

You may think that living on an island would consist of sleeping on the beach all day and drinking Balashi beer or rum punches, but the normal things still go on like cleaning and cooking.  Sorry to burst your bubble on that one!  I must admit, however, this new normal is one that seems to be very easy to get used to!