Oooff. It has been a minute since my first Cayman post. Settling in has been crazy busy! We’ve been here in Cayman for just over 2 months including our mandatory 2 week quarantine. 6 weeks or so of actually living and breathing island life.
With the crazy quarantine situation behind us we had all of 2 days to get settled before work started. We hit the ground running and have had nary a day to just relax and enjoy Caribbean life ever since. No complaints though. It’s a beautiful spot to land, a good place to work, and one of the best places in the world to be in regards to Covid.
While we did have to wear masks for orientation (as well as in any public indoor space), prior to students arriving on campus, the government lifted the requirement the day before school started. This also meant that all students were able to return to campus rather than having ½ the student population start online as was the original plan. Anyway, the school has its strengths and areas to improve upon, but overall, it is a pleasant place to work. Small classes with excellent resources on a beautiful campus. It’s not all rainbows and lollipops, but I did see a double rainbow the other day on the way into work.
Speaking of rainbows and lollipops, our first landlord was a seriously bad human. She rented us a house infested with cockroaches that suffered from a leaky roof during the rainy season. When we protested and moved out, demanding a return of our deposit, it was radio silence.
We moved, for 2 weeks, into a 2 bedroom condo we dubbed the pirate ship due to its long, narrow dark wood interior. Nice place, if a bit dark. Located on the water with a plant-based focused restaurant on premises, I loved the location. The sunsets were to die for.
Alas, 2 bedrooms is not quite what we need, so we spent most evenings in the first week trying to nail down a long term 3 bedroom which we eventually did. It’s a lovely pad in a good location. Not on the water, but the water is never far away.
Cayman is an interesting change of pace from Colorado and India. It is relatively quiet and small with only a bit more than 50,000 residents…most of which are concentrated on the west side of the island near George Town, the ports, and Seven Mile Beach. It’s small enough that when I stopped into the grocery on a Saturday afternoon, I saw no fewer than 4 people I knew…and we’ve only just arrived. So much for anonymity.
We keep pretty busy. The kids are getting involved at their new school. Ainsley is swimming for a swim club, Noah is trying out basketball and a couple of other activities at school. Both are settling into new friendships beautifully. We try to make it to the beach at least on Sunday afternoons. Christina and I recently found our way into a group of colleagues that play beach volleyball on Wednesday evening. More beach time? Yes please!!
learning along the way 