Where to live?

       Where do I live?
     I think this is a huge questions for most new students. I have had the experience of living in basseterre and frigate bay and the Royal. So this is my honest assessment. I will also tell you what I have heard from other students.
     My first semester on the island I was an ARP student. At that time I thought my children and husband would be joining me on the island for the next semester so I opted to live short term at the Royal to get to know the island and find a home for my family.

     Living at the Royal my first semester was a great way to get to know people that I went to school with. I lived above and next to many of my friends so it was easy to knock on doors when you were going out and meeting up was easy. We rode the bus to campus together every morning so there was the time waiting for the bus that we talked and socialized. All in all it was a good experience for me. I didn't have some of the problems that others experienced. That has been two years ago. At the time the staff would clean your room for you once a month, and I had some change go missing and others also had stuff missing at times. So if you live at the Royal I would suggest you lock up any money or valuables if they still do house cleaning. Some people experienced a mold problem, and I think this is pretty common on the island due to humidity. It just seems amplified at the Royal. I didn't have a problem with it. I would suggest you keep a keen eye out in the beginning and tell someone at the first sign of any problem. Also if you pay your rent on time or early it is easier to get what you want ( IMHO).

Royal Bed: Day 1

Royal Room Day 1

     For my Med1-Med4 semesters I lived in a nice apartment in Frigate Bay. Still on the same stretch of road as the Royal, but I had more space and a kitchen. A big plus for me was having separate living space. I like to cook and I like eating at a dining room table. I like to watch tv from a couch or chair. I like to sleep in a bed. At the Royal I did everything on the bed or at the little table. I think they may have changed the furnishings since I was there so there may be a desk in all of the rooms now. My apartment was great. I loved living near restaurants and being able to walk to the Bamboo lounge (a night club) was great. I never had to worry how I would get home or who I would have to ride with to get home. I had some freedom to come and go even though I didn't have a car. I had a pool and an ocean view. I used the pool some but not a lot, and I hardly ever used the beach by my apartment. It was a nice view though and I would stand on my balcony at times and enjoy the beauty. The nice thing was that my apartment was quiet and relaxing. It was well decorated as a vacation home and it felt like home away from home. That was also important for me.

My View of the Ocean from my balcony in Frigate Bay Apt.

Frigate Bay Apt.

Frigate Bay Apt.

     This semester ( I am staying one extra semester due to a failing grade in Neuroscience) I live in basseterre. I am very close to the value mart/ IGA and the town of basseterre. I can take an H bus to campus and home. I like that. I like that I can walk to a real grocery store, although I do prefer best buy or Rams to IGA. It is a bit noisy here compared to my frigate bay apartment. I can hear everything. I hear my neighbors, I hear the dogs outside barking, and I hear people working their garages. There are cars on the street next to my apartment that I hear zooming by. I didn't have that in my apartment in Frigate Bay. I don't know if the street was quieter, I suspect not, but I believe the building was more insulated against noise, and the ocean probably masked a lot of the noises that could have been heard. There were occasions where I could hear people outside or my neighbors in my Frigate Bay apartment, but it was usually noises like moving chairs across the floors or going up and down stairs. So all in all there are pros and cons to either location. I miss being able to walk to my favorite restaurants, and being close to the strip or club. Just because I like the freedom of dropping in for an hour and then leaving when I want to. I have to take a taxi now and I don't like not having that control.

Corner of Frigate Bay Apt.

What I have heard others say:

     Some people really like living closer to campus. They like walking to school everyday and being able to go home and eat lunch and come back to campus. They don't mind being a little removed from the Frigate Bay area. They are ok with taking taxis to the beach when they want to go and come home. For me it is a financial thing. To go to the beach and home is ten us dollars minimum. Just getting there! Not to mention that if I were to be there all day it could easily cost me $50 to $75 for a day at the beach.  

     Most people that I have talked to do not like living out farther away from campus and Frigate Bay. They feel very isolated and they feel like they aren't in with the other people.

     Usually people end up with roommates when they live other places and they generally don't like living with that person down the road. We all change when we get to the island so it is very difficult to know who you are going to get along with best once you get here. We also grow up a little. So someone who you feel like you have a lot in common with before you get here, may grow faster or slower than you and you will end up having differences that could make it difficult to live with one another. Also, I would suggest that if you are looking at roommates that you be very honest with each other. If you are messy say so. If you like your living area to be well kept but you are messy in your bedroom then put it out there. To live with others you have to be willing to lay out some ground rules in the beginning and then it is up to each individual to respect those rules so that there can be harmony in the home. Remember both or all of you have to study and are here to become doctors, don't let petty stuff like dirty dishes get in the way of that.


My Two Cents:

     Live at the Royal your first semester, or in Golf View or the White "Crack Houses", Island Paradise, Sea Lofts, St. Christopher's Club,- for the ballers- Ocean's Edge. You will be close enough to the Marriott to walk and get food (american food) and you can ease into the Caribbean lifestyle.

     Get to know the island and yourself and your friends. If you choose to live with friends your next semester don't ditch the ground rule conversation, you might regret it later. Your friend whom you thought you knew so well might have some really crazy living habits that you weren't aware of.

      Don't sign a year contract unless you know you are going to love it and then you only have to be there one semester. In fact, if the only thing you take away from this post is don't sign a year long contract, then I have done my job. Do not sign a year long contract with anything here on the island. You never know what might happen and getting things like deposits back is almost impossible. Even if there is a problem and you would think that you should be given the option to move with your deposit, it may not happen that way here. Stick with a semester lease until you have lived there a semester.

     I personally like Frigate Bay the best, but you may like living closer to campus, so examine yourself and what you like to do to relax. Through a very thorough examination of what makes you happiest you can determine where you should live.

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Money,the root of all of my problems

I have a wonderful life. I have four beautiful, well-behaved children, a wonderful suportive husband, and a nice home in the states. My home is not expensive and does not abound with interior decorator style, but I think I have made it pretty nice. I enjoy decorating and I have done what I could with the money that I have had available. "Money I have had available" is the key phrase.

I have not had an enormous or even piddly amount of avaiable money. My checking account is usually overdrawn and I can't go buy new makeup or clothing whenever I want. In fact I can never buy those things without taking it out of the budget from somewhere else. I wanted to change that for my children and my husband and myself. I went back to college to get my degree which started out as an education degree so that I could teach. The problem was that I was going to have so much debt that I would not be able to pay my student loans back on what I would make as a teacher. So, I began as a biology major (again, my first love and major). I had chosen not to do biology b/c it requires so much extra time out of class. Most of the medical school prereques were the only classes I lacked for graduation so not only did it allow me to do what I wanted to do when I was little girl it also allowed me to graduate two years earlier than an education degree would. Little did I know at that time that teachers would suffer the greatest job loss they had seen in decadeds. It was nice to know that I was not trying to get a teaching position at that time. In my excitement to get started with medical school, I began looking into medical programs and how to apply, etc. Imagine my surprise when I learn that I have to pay 255 dollars to take the MCAT. Then imagine my surprise when I realize that I also have to pay 160 for the first medical school application and 60 for the rest AND that they will most likely all send me a secondary which will ask more questions AND cost me 75-100 dollars more. Then I read that Kaplan suggests you apply to ten or twenty schools if your GPA isn't stellar (3.5-4.0). I am a mother of four children with bills to pay and my husband has a great job but it isn't THAT great of pay.

I couldn't afford to do pay that for medical school applications. There was no way. OH. I forgot to mention that most applicants use Kaplan study prep and that course is $2000. Again out of the question.

So I apply to caribbean medical schools. Most of which do not have federal loans. Most of which in fact have no loan program. Then I come across ____ which has a loan program although it is not Federal funding it could work in my somewhat desparate situation. The medical program is comparable to the states and the campus was beautiful. I was super excited to begin my term at ____.

I was accepted to a preview semester where I would have to pay my own way, but I could take online master's class to help with living expenses and my husband could help with incidentals along the way. It would seem that everything was going to work out.

Until yesterday, the school announces that the previous loan program is not an option. I was a little panicked. Ok, I was a lot panicked. So now I will have to work with the directors to come up with a creative way to finance my time here or return home and use the davenport living money to help me take the MCAT and apply medical school.

____ has been very helpful in working with me and speaking to me. I know that this situation is absolutely the worst for them as well. This semester was pegged to be the biggest class of students enrolled and without loan money some students may plan to wait which . . . well you get the point. . . . it isn't a good deal for anyone.

So now I have to study. I am going to try to do my very best on the tests that I have on Monday, but with all of this stress these may be my lowest scores yet which would cause further insult to injury.

If I had a million dollars I could fix all of my problems and my life really would be something to envy. I would donate the left over after funding my family's education, oh wait there would be nothing left over if I paid off all of my student loans and my husbands and put back money for all of my children.

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Lost Blogs

Well, I wanted to start blogging b/c I love to read blogs. I have failed. So I am starting again.

I got into UMHS. So I am on the island and my family is still in the states. The family is planning to move here in August, but it is expensive and takes a lot of planning. We have to rent our house in the states and store all of our belongings plus sell what we cannot afford to store.

Currently I am in ARP at UMHS. The program is a precursor program which reviews the prereques and preveiws several of the basic sciences. We have a test every week on the module that we finish. It mimics medical school but is a bit slower paced. Some modules may last four weeks and other modules last one week. Our tests are based on the number of weeks we have class. It isn't too hard and so I have some free time.

I have some great classmates which help to make it all interesting. Now that I have found my blog I will work to keep it updated. Hope you will find me here again soon.

Blessings

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