airport taxi dispatchers

Today is the 4th time that I land on the island. And by far the least friendly welcome:(
On the plane I was reading a book about the human need for being and remaining in control, so to a certain extent I understand what took place and can justify it; for the rest, I am just astonished.
I breezed through passports, no queue, no lengthy questioning/explaining why EU citizens don't require a carte de sejour, lastly the usual no baggage. I was out on the street within 5 minutes of leaving the plane. That was a wonderful feeling. Until it got rained on by another not so friendly island folk.
There must have been no other plane landing prior to mine for a while, as the waiting area was clear and there were hardly any people in front of the exit. I happily walked out and headed for the first taxi in line, hoping that since there is no one else around, I might get a solo ride, rather than getting a tour of the island with 10 other tourists, before being brought home.
As I was already trying to make eye contact with my lady taxi driver, I was called to a halt. A man in a uniform, which means little here on the island, bearing in mind the plethora of uniforms around, asked if I needed a taxi. Without really stopping, I turned my head towards him and replied yes. I guess my not stopping upset him, because he changed his tone and objectively impolitely demanded to know where I was going. His colleague and he, the 2 for sure nondegree, close to neandertals told me to go to the first taxi. At which point I thought this is even more Kafka than I initially assumed. I did get upset and said that that is exactly what I was doing, ie going to the first taxi!
I can't remember the exact words, but the conversation followed a pointless exchange of bordering on rude ripostes. He claimed I HAD to stop and inform that I was seeking a taxi, plus tell them where I was going. Grounds for which he showed me an illegible tag on his uniform shirt and a sign on his booth which read TAXI STAND. I was so taken aback by his imposition of authority that for an instant I did stop and stand speechless, trying to figure out if it was island humour I was not realising, or whether some sort of new nazi laws were implemented while I was away, and now I in fact did have to inform uniformed people of where I was headed.
So buffled and upset I finally said I was going: home. This was either not heard by him and his colleague, or simply was unappreciated, as they both screamed once more where I was headed. So purposely low I muttered my destination, after which again I was pointed to go in the direction I was already going. Low, because I don't like the big brother attitude of the US airports, and since that was where I was coming from, I had a strong need to rebel against having to inform of addresses and other data. Certain things are private and I really disagree with having to share so much..
So why should I have stopped?? The man claimed I had to because that was his job to dispatch people to taxis, and that he was there in service of his government. HA! I am seriously not sure what kind of service he did for me, for one. Secondly, not sure what citizens of this island pay taxes for, because of it's to cover his salary, I'm sorry for every NAF wasited.
I honestly wish I had more positive items to post about SXM, but it's either my attitude towards this place that attracts negative events, or it's just plain honest truth, there's more bad than good to write about.

Mix pictures from the island

Beach and Sky in Terres Basses

grey skies

As insane as this may sound to many people living north of us, I miss the cold, the grey, the fog.
Whenever I would move south, I would always experience this, so I am not surprised now.

Today the skies were grey:) I could not see Saint Bart's. Even though it often rains between the 2 islands making Saint Bart's invisible, today was differnet. For the first time I did not see the horizon... It was an amazing view. The sea no longer had it's caribbean turquise aspect and far away the dark blue would fade into the grey of the sky. Wow, I felt as if I had woken up in another country;)

Seriously speaking, I don't miss the constant grey of Amsterdam, the days, and weeks without seeing a ray of light. But what I do wish I had more of is variaty. It's bad enough that you can hardly notice the change of seasons here. Out our window you always have the same view. So on top of there being little differentiation between seasons, I sometimes long for waking up to a differnt sky then the day before. Just give me a little, a tiny little variety. Constance is somethign I am not used to in weather conditions. Not caring to check the weather forecast, not bothering to put my nose out the window to see how may layers I need on; these are things I have comepletely ceased to practice haha. As it is the same, everyday.

So I am glad today was different:)

night life

We finally had a fantastic night out:) New year's eve was also good, but we definitely danced much more last night. At last I experienced sxm's party face. And I liked it:)
Dinner at Bliss with really good music accompanying us, followed by some dancing we couldn't resist before we headed off to the mansion. This club at first seemed like it was a bad choice, the music, compared to the just left dance floor at bliss, was nothing special and I couldn't decide what I thought about the drag queens, which I shortly realised were actually women...dressed to look like drag queens, or just badly dressed -? haha
But the music improved, the drinks kicked in, fishnet legged policewomen replaced the drag queens, and we danced like we haven't in a long time:)

ziplock bags, cake covers, etc

Since we have moved into our new home, we have discovered that there is plenty of products we can't live without, or new habits we need to strictly observe. Our home was not well kept by previous tenants and when we arrived it was a tropical zoo, lizards, cockroaches, an every now and then mouse, grasshoppers, and all sorts of insects I have not seen before, suddenly were part of our household. We soon discovered that cleanliness is only partly a method of keeping our home just to ourselves. Closed windows help as well. Nevertheless, we are below the tropic of cancer so certain living beings are inevitable. But we have implemented a few rules which help reduce the occurrence of our little friends;)
Since insects and roaches easily enter cupboards and drawers, at first we would wash everything (plates, cutlery, cups) right before using it, even if it was just washed recently and put in place. Soon we realised this habit is cumbersome and difficult to follow a l w a y s . But we do keep our utensils in zip lock bags, a few cups and plates for daily use are stored in a plastic cake cover and basic pots and pans ended up in a large see through click close storage box.
Other habits we had to take on involve never leaving any sort of food out in the open, including unbegun fruit - I personally really dislike eating straight out of the fridge - so fruit I foresee to eat in the next day or 2 are kept in a clay bowl with a lid. Dishes with any food remains (even if it's just bread crumbs) should never be left in the sink. And although I have never liked a full sink, now it's not about aesthetics, now it's a bit of paranoia that any minute food might invite little hungry insects.
The most difficult habit to follow is the closed windows:( we have AC, but a part from it being unhealthy, apparently electricity is very expensive here on the island. Plus it seems so illogical to sit in a closed room, when we live in the Caribbean on a hill with plenty of nice cool wind. In fact, when the windows are open, as they're are on opposite ends of the living room, we can get the house perfectly breezed through with no effort, never feeling the above 30 degree weather outdoors. The minus is, this is how all the little living beings enter. We plan to find out if there's a provider of net doors on the island. As it seems the most logical solution, yet it's a solution I have only seen applied in 1 of the many houses we visited during the house hunt.

But I still like the turquoise views...

Cotton plant and Marigot's Marina at sunset

More pictures from Fort Louis Marina In Marigot

Sunday eve in Marigot