Enthusiasm

ENTHUSIASM: 

Grab life with both hands and squeeze every last drop out of it.

... a motivational poster from the BVI Bovine Buddies.

Island Radio

I spend a fair amount of time in the car each day -- about an hour's total driving, plus a few minutes each evening waiting for HB to get out of work. I have never been one to drive in silence, I've always been a big fan of music while driving

In the radio wasteland of southwest Florida, I got used to the idea that music for driving meant CDs or an ipod. My 2007 model Volkswagen accommodated both options quite well and, admittedly, I got a little spoiled. Now that I'm using a rather older Hyundai for my daily driver, neither CDs nor ipods are compatible with the sound system, and I have learned to live wth the radio stations available to me.

For an island of 20,000 people, Tortola lucks out when it comes to radio, as we are able to pick up some broadcasts from the far-more-populous St. Thomas and St. Croix. Nonetheless, after parsing out the religious radio stations, I've realized there are only five radio stations to pick between for my daily drive time. In case you too want some in-car entertainment, here they are:

FM:
104.9 The Mongoose -- classic rock broadcast from St. Croix. No reception on northwest coast, or eastern third of Tortola.

104.3 The Buzz -- alternative rock broadcast from St. Thomas. No reception in Road Town or points east.

106.9 ZCCR -- reggae/hip-hop mix broadcast from Tortola. The extensive blocks of local commercials often make me tune out.

101.3 ZVCR -- reggae/r&b mix leaning more towards the reggae broadcast from Tortola. Usually don't get reception on this outside of Road Town.

AM:
780 ZBVI -- news interspersed with top 40 and reggae broadcast from Tortola. I find myself listening to this more frequently, as it gets good reception all over Tortola, and keeps me up to date on island events.

Blind Dog

There is a dog who lives along the road to our house that has the most remarkable eyes. Very dark pupils with very light irises. The first time we saw him, we were fascinated, as he seemed to stare into our souls.

We see him about once a week, usually hanging out in the driveway to his house. We would slow down when we saw him, and a mutual staring session would begin. Or so we thought.

After the third or fourth time we saw this dog, I realized he wasn't actually looking at the car. Rather, he was looking kind of past the car. He had his head and eyes turned to where the noise was coming from the car. As we would pass, his head would follow not the object of the car, but the noise from the car, creating a strange sort of visual doppler effect.

In a flash of startling creativity, HB and I have taken to calling him "Blind Dog."

Tariffs

A fairly dry subject for today, as we jump into the exciting world of trade tariffs. It may seem like a small, inconsequential thing at first -- the taxes imposed by the BVI government on nearly all goods imported into the territory. Tariffs aren't something I researched, or really even thought of, before deciding to move here. More and more, though, I realize how much they impact me, and impact life here in general.

To my knowledge, the only goods that enter the BVI tariff-free are books, educational materials, and computers. Everything else is subject to a minimum duty of 10%. Duties range as high as 23-24% on some items like automobiles. If you are visiting the BVI, these tariffs strongly impact the costs of goods you buy while here. Not only are you paying the shipping premium of bringing that CD or bottle of water to the island, but you are also paying for 10-20% on the original purchase price of the CD or bottle of water plus the cost of shipping it.

As a visitor, perhaps this doesn't matter very much to you. You're only here for a short while anyway, and so what if things cost a little extra? You're in the Caribbean. If you're planning on moving here, however, tariffs can impact you in a big way. Everything costs more here because it's imported. I've already discussed the cost of groceries at length, but tariffs help put a price premium on everything.

I think the difficulty of coordinating shipping combined with the high tariffs also diminishes the supply of items in the BVI. Often it is difficult to find specific things, and it is always difficult to find a variety of things. If you are looking for a certain model cell phone in a particular color, you will probably need look elsewhere -- online, or in Puerto Rico -- to find it.

In the long term, I feel the tariffs help make the BVI a less consumerist culture. There are not infinite choices of infinite items, and many transplants quickly discover how few of those infinite items they needed anyway. If shopping is your favorite form of entertainment though, you may want to carefully consider a move to the BVI, and the impact of tariffs on your pocketbook.

Growing Season

I am still unaccustomed to the dual growing season that happens in the BVI, and, I assume, throughout much of the tropics. Springtime, March and April especially, is the main time to see flowers in the BVI, but there is a secondary bloom that occurs now, in November.

 
Not all flora participates in the November bloom. In fact, it seems rather limited to hibiscus, rhodedenron and bougainvillea. I suppose the breadfruit trees bloomed again, too, but their non-showy blossoms make them a bit more forgettable.

  And I'm not so sure I should refer to November as the "second bloom" for the bougainvillea.

Based on their enthusiasm this month, I rather think the bougainvillea regard this as their first bloom.

Livestock

HB and I had a pleasant drive on Monday, out exploring Tortola. Our observations confirmed that all of Tortola is one big farm.

This fairly large herd of cows seemed unusual somehow as we drove by. It wasn't until I looked at the photo afterwards that I realized it's because they're confined -- penned in by barbed wire -- rather than strolling nonchalantly in the road as usual. I wonder if the confinement is one of the causes of the skinny appearance of this herd?

The cattle egret was living up to his name admirably.

Since the roadcows were not, in fact, roadcows, we had to content ourselves with this brindled roadgoat instead.

Northern Swells

Around this time of year, the northern swells come in and waves start getting big. Surfers get excited, as there start to be actual surfable waves, usually in the range of 4-6 feet. Even super-placid Brewer's Bay will have a few small curlers in it.

Over the last two days, though, the North Coast of Tortola has seen surf bigger than anything remembered in the past five years.

Cane Garden Bay, seen from above has been transformed from its usual tranquil blue to a churned-up stormy green by the incoming waves. HB and I went to Josiah's Bay to check out the surf where it was likely to be largest.

We were astounded by the massive waves we encountered, many at least 10 feet, if not more. The rock wall to the right in the photo above rises about 8 feet above the sand, and some of the waves towered over it.

The effect of the surf crashing into the wall was lovely.

Although I'm enjoying the difference in the motion of the ocean, I'm hoping the ground swell dies down fairly soon -- I miss swimming!