Unless you know Morse code or are Jennifer then Katie and I haven’t communicated our current situation very well. For the most part, everything is great. The people are very nice and helpful, my boss seems really great and has been invaluable. She offered to let us stay with her if we didn’t find a place before Monday. She even let us use her address to get Katie registered for school.
We looked at a house on the beach yesterday. The water was stagnant and the giant cockroach in the master bedroom was a real turnoff. The rusting refrigerator and dead giant crab in the kitchen didn’t help matters. Definitely not for us. Katie nearly passed out while we were looking at the house due to heat exhaustion.
I went to the bank to open an account this morning. No big deal unless you are in a country that is infamous as a tax haven and refuge for money launders. The lady initially told me to take the application papers homr to be completed and maybe in 5 days the account could be opened. I politely explained our situation and she was quite helpful for the remaining hour and half that I was there. She opened an account, but the bank would not accept the cashier’s check issued from First Federal until a 15 day waiting period was completed.
Luckily I have some connections at First Federal. Jennifer wired some money, which will probably not show up until Saturday or Monday morning. I was still left with trying to figure out a way to purchase a car and pay a security deposit for a place to live. We arranged with the bank to increase our ATM withdrawal to $5,000 a day. Katie and I walked to a nearby grocery store and took three draws of $1,000 C.I. each… all in $25 increments with the Queen’s face on the front.
We looked at 5 properties this afternoon with a realtor originally from Bulgaria (but speaks like she is from Latin America) whose name is GiGi. We made an offer on a 3 bedroom condo that is on a centrally located part of the island, close to my schools and Georgetown, the capitol city. It has a nice view and pool. Just as important, it comes with a King sized bed. There are also a lot of kids around that Michael and Katie can play with. Attached is a picture taken from the small balcony of the unit. It is on third floor, but there is an elevator we can use when needed.
Tomorrow is a national holiday, Ash Wednesday. All of the banks and most businesses are closed. Playing of music in public is strictly forbidden. I am meeting someone tomorrow to look at his car to purchase.
7 mile beach is a 2 minute walk from our hotel. The sand and water are perfect. The water is as clear as pool water. Hopefully we can go to some places with some good snorkeling after we all get settled in.
ZF2DX has made a few contacts with half an antenna sticking out of the window and the other half inside our room. Katie has been instructed to put aluminum foil around her skull to keep the RF waves out and also told to not touch the antenna while I’m transmitting in order to decrease the possibility of RF burn.
