Tropical Moms and Wannabe Tropical Moms - Page 3

[sapphos]

anyone in here unschooling in their tropical location? any Costa Rica mamas going to the Pura Vida unschooling Conference in CR?

[dex_millie]

Originally Posted by IslandBoundMama

I was reading through, very interesting...but I would really like to hear more from the moms in the BVI's or USVI's, especially regarding homeschooling in either/both, or possibly thoughts on public high schools, maybe ST Thomas? My fiance and I are very seriously considering taking our combined family with 5 teens (yes five!) there and living on a sailboat, and starting a business there. Back to basics, away from it all here, out of the rat race (I'm sure you all can relate!). Any and all advice is welcome!!! This has been a long time dream in the process over the last year especially, maybe even a "calling", I could really use some tips and advice!
Thank you - anyone in the Caribbean who knows that area or of anyone doing some similar adventure with teens!
Julia

Hi,

I am going to try and give you a little info quick while DS is being quiet for St. Thomas. I plan on going back in a few years.

There is homeschooling but I am not sure what kind or how many they have. The people I know are using one from their church. But I am sure their should be others.
Public school would be a culture shock to your teens at first. There are only 2public high school (grade9-12) the best one in my opinion is the one in town (Charlotte Amalie High School). I didn't go to a public school but my brother went to the other one. I am not sure the age of your children but of course their are the public schools for the rest grades, I just cannot think right now which ones is the best. I don't know how the public school compares to the states, but hey we all survived, went on to college and got a degree.
There is a Montessori School if you can afford it though. And a few other good private schools.
St. Thomas does have a good University though if your DCs will go.

The island is very very relax and slow. Depending on how involved you where in activities in the states you might miss it. But hey you can also try to start stuff down there too. I acutally can't wait until we are able to move down there.

Other little info. The BVI is ok but is quieter. I know Tortola you have to catch a boat(there is no airports there).

St. Croix is bigger than St. Thomas and I think with the schools it maybe the same. They do have nice fairs and stuff but you can always catch a boat or a plane over. My parents go over for the fairs sometimes there's is better than St. Thomas.

It is expensive down there. Sorry to say they get paid less but the food and things cost more.

I do like that it has alot of fruit trees though. On the piece of land I have my father has started planting fruit and vegetable trees.

Good luck w/ your decesion. Let me know if you need any more info. I just rample off as fast as I could. DS only gives me so much time on the computer.

HTH

[snowgirl]

Dh found out about a contract job position in St. Thomas for 1-2 years. After that, the company would move us to Florida. We were just there for a short vacation. Although, it is a great place to vacation, I am not sure about living there. I really love my community in Vermont and I don't feel that I could find it there. I do love to sail and would love to be able to sail the islands again. I think I would homeschool, b/c I heard the 2 public schools are Christian and Catholic. I really don't want her going to them. Montesori would be fine, but it is a lot of money. Also, I am not a fan of the heat. I think the summers would just kill me. Would I find any other moms like me there?

[gr8fulmom]

Originally Posted by sapphos

anyone in here unschooling in their tropical location? any Costa Rica mamas going to the Pura Vida unschooling Conference in CR?

when is it? I would love to go if we are in CR at the time

[dex_millie]

Originally Posted by snowgirl

Dh found out about a contract job position in St. Thomas for 1-2 years. After that, the company would move us to Florida. We were just there for a short vacation. Although, it is a great place to vacation, I am not sure about living there. I really love my community in Vermont and I don't feel that I could find it there. I do love to sail and would love to be able to sail the islands again. I think I would homeschool, b/c I heard the 2 public schools are Christian and Catholic. I really don't want her going to them. Montesori would be fine, but it is a lot of money. Also, I am not a fan of the heat. I think the summers would just kill me. Would I find any other moms like me there?

Huh?? We don't have any public christian school. We have private christian schools, which includes catholic, sda, non-christian, ect... But the public schools are not christian or catholic. The % of people that believe in God may be higher than the US put the public schools themselves are not christian.

Oh where did your DH find a contract for down there? What field is he in? We would love to get a contract down there also? As we plan to move in a few years.

[snowgirl]

Oh, I must have misunderstood. A employee at the spa I was at told me that. Dh is a software engineer. He found out about the contract through a recruiter. I don't think it is going to happen as he has heard anything back from her.

[michaelsmama]

Livin in Honduras

Hey all-
Just wanted to say hi and share our story (briefly) - though i see most of you are in costa rica or wondering about moving there. This is our second time in honduras, first was 10/04-12/06 at the Farm of the Child www.fincadelnino.org a catholic orphanage in rural honduras on the north coast (onn the caribbean). I was a social worker there and my dh school administrator. ds1 was 18m when we moved there and ds2 was born in the US during our time there, spent first year there. loved it though many challenges to living so rurally, but living in such a strong community was a blessing and joy.

now we're back, dh is working for catholic relief services and we're in the capital, teguc. it's a huge city and not my favorite place to live, as it has all the problems of any major city. i spend most days at home with ds2 and dd, though after 4 weeks we're making many friends among the embassy and state dept community. ds1 goes to an american accredited private school here which so far we love, and has given us lots of families to be friends with.

with dh's job we'll be moving a lot over the years which should be interesting as well as challenging. but for us, the draw to have our fmaily experience such different cultures and environments is great. tegus is a huge noisy city, but we could just as easily be in a smaller city in some other country this time next year.

if you're interested in learning more about our life, check out my blog (in signature). if you want to email 1:1, post a comment and i'll come here and find you (i'm not on here as often so don't always receive pm's).

[zubee]

I think if we could manifest a house there and a way to travel there whenever the mood struck we'd do okay but for a *permanent* place, I don't know.

[Jasmyn's Mum]

I haven't been on MDC for a while and I am so glad I found this thread. We are now living in CR. We have been here for over a month and I am in love with this country:. We are in Ojochal so, Gr8tful Mama, I will be here when you come for a visit if you want to look me up

We really want to stay here and have found a great community here. We just need to know that we can prosper here. My DH does IT stuff and is a Web Master. I do Nutrition, Homeopathy, Reiki, Iridology and other alternative medical modalities. We have an opportunity to run a hotel for the high season. It's a good opportunity for us to stay some place for free and get the inside on the hotel biz. It's more of a B&B with 5 rooms.

We thought about CR for a long time even though we had never visited before. 9 months of Winter in Calgary last year lit a fire under my behind to get moving. Also, we want to grow our own food and get off the grid and all that other stuff that I think would be more difficult to do in Canada. I can't stand the cold. What can I say? I am Arab :

We are still getting to know how things work around here. They are planning on building a private Spanish school in Uvita so I am excited about that. DD is 4 1/2 so I "homeschool" her. I don't have a curriculum or anything yet. She can read and write and is extremely artistic. That's all I think is necessary at this point.

I would love to connect with any MDC Mamas in my area. Please PM me and say hello. The hardest part about moving is the beginning when you don't really know anyone. I will keep my eyes on this thread.

[gr8fulmom]

Hey there... we'll definitely look you up next time we're down that way... most of our friends live closer to Dominical than Ojochal but we know that area very well too... we actually stayed down that way on oour last trip for a week or so... I'm not sure exactly when we'll be back... by April for sure! I wav hoping to be back in November but now its looking like Jan/Feb for a month or so... my very close friend is due with her first baby at the end of Jan... she lives just east of Dominical in the Lagunas area... she wants us to come down for her birth but we'll have to see... right now its a maybe

have you found the talapida farm where you can fish for your lunch and then they grll it for you? Great fun for the kids and adults too! and great eating after its down your way... ask around if you haven't heard of it...

glad you're enjoying CR... its a beautiful place... hard to not enjoy! pura vida

[ckmannel]

Netherland-Antilles perspective

Hi all! I'm new here but I thought I'd throw my two cents in. My husband, infant son, and I live on a really small island called Sint Eustatius. It is part of the Netherlands-Antilles. We are here so my husband can do his medical school class work then back to the US for clinicals. It's not a touristy island because there really aren't sandy beaches. Overall, I would rather live elsewhere, but it has its charms.

The pros: slow pace (I never wear a watch), cheap cigarettes and booze (if you're into that), awesome snorkeling and scuba diving, an opportunity to live in a place totally different than where you were raised (priceless).

The cons: expensive energy, low health care standard, limited access to fresh/nutritious food, tons of roving livestock (don't even get me started about roosters!), very limited mobility (unless you are a really strong swimmer ), and it is tough to describe, but there is a different work ethic and standard here. If you want something done quickly and done correctly the first time, this is not the place for you.

If you are considering moving to a Caribbean island with little ones, I would recommend looking into the hospital/medical facilities available and make sure that they meet with your standards. Our hospital only has 3 general practitioners and no equipment, not even x-ray. If you need emergency care, you are SOL! To end on a more positive note though, I am glad that we had the opportunity to try tropical living. I always wanted to do something like this and as a life experience it was valuable. I just had an overly-romanticized view of island life.

[AlpineMama]

I would love to live in the tropics. When I was little we used to spend a few weeks down on the islands every year. I could totally see myself chilling there. However, DH is very much against the hurricanes, the feeling of being "trapped" on an island, and thinks that the locals don't really accept you as one of them unless you lived there from birth onwards. Oh, and the whole job outlook thing seems hard too. Oh well, a girl can dream, right? I wish we could make it down there for at least a vacation, but we're broke right now. Sigh. One day.

[EMS]

anyone from costa rica still here?

We will likely be moving to cr this summer, and i'm interested to have the perspective of someone who's lived there with a family. my husband is applying to various teaching jobs around the country. many are in escazu (though I imagine we would live somewhere else in the san jose area). one is in monteverde. we would love to live there--our main hesitation is that we will be moving with a 3-month old baby (as well as a 3 yr old and 5 yr old), and the nearest hospital is several hours away. also, in monteverde the salary is almost nothing.
any thoughts about either of these situations? anyone live near either of these places? what's it like? eager to hear your perspectives.
thanks!

[Jasmyn's Mum]

We are still here. It has been three months and we have decided that this is not the place for our future. We are just dodging Winter at this point. Still looking for a good place that has lots of kids and like-minded people that isn't too expensive to stay until Spring. FTR, if any of you know of such a place in CR, I am WIDE open to suggestions.

All things told, I am glad we came. We learned a lot and have LOVED the Nature here. It's just not quite what we were looking for. Plan B is New Zealand.

[gr8fulmom]

Originally Posted by Jasmyn's Mum

We are still here. It has been three months and we have decided that this is not the place for our future. We are just dodging Winter at this point. Still looking for a good place that has lots of kids and like-minded people that isn't too expensive to stay until Spring. FTR, if any of you know of such a place in CR, I am WIDE open to suggestions.

All things told, I am glad we came. We learned a lot and have LOVED the Nature here. It's just not quite what we were looking for. Plan B is New Zealand.

monteverde area?

I'm sorry your not liking the Ojochal area... I like closer to Dominical much better... but there is a pretty cool french community where you are isn't there? What exactly don't you like? What exactly are you looking for... I've been all around Costa Rica and I could try to make some suggestions?

[gr8fulmom]

we are definitely going to be in Dominical for Feb 09... will you be around Jasmyn's Mom? please pm me!

[Jasmyn's Mum]

Gr8teful, we are in Grecia and we really like it here. I would like to try to stay here if we can. I didn't like Ojochal because I found it a bit "yuppy". Pm me when you know for sure you are coming. It would be great to connect with a fellow MDC'er

[3kids21mama]

Thanks for this thread!

I am so excited to find you ladies.
I am a single mom of 3 living in the US dreaming and planning a move to Central America. My kids are all teenagers and I am hoping to find out about schools vs homeschool. Is internet school being used by any there?
I am a bit concerned about being 'alone' in a foreign country and am so glad to find others discussing the move to CR or somewhere in CA.
Thanks!

[Orchid46]

caribbean grandmother

: do I qualify??????????? from Jamaica

[Eartha]

Originally Posted by 3kids21mama

I am so excited to find you ladies.
I am a single mom of 3 living in the US dreaming and planning a move to Central America. My kids are all teenagers and I am hoping to find out about schools vs homeschool. Is internet school being used by any there?
I am a bit concerned about being 'alone' in a foreign country and am so glad to find others discussing the move to CR or somewhere in CA.
Thanks!

I am also a single mom of 2 (both boys, nearly 4 and nearly 14) who will hopefully be headed to off to Panama to live in 2009. I too am concerned about being 'alone' there, but I did live in Czech Republic with my first son for a few years and survived just fine, even with little knowledge of the language. I'm so looking forward to my new adventure! I homeschool my oldest, and will likely continue, as I can't afford a private school, and don't intend on being too close to one anyway (I'm looking around the pacific coast, an hour or so out of Panama City). I'll probably do some sort of an online-curriculum. I'll wait and see with my youngest. I'd love to talk with you--or anyone else--more about your plans and your thoughts on moving to CA, and to share mine as well!